Winding the hope

CONTENT PHOTO STORY: Facing Delimma [P. 1] FEATURE: My Child or My Job [P. 2] ..............................................................................

PHOTO STORY: My So-Called Home [P. 3] FEATURE: Is It a Place to be Home?

[P. 4] ..............................................................................

PHOTO STORY: Is There a Better Choice? [P. 5] FEATURE: Truck Accident: A Major Concern for Garment Workers [P. 6] ..............................................................................

PROJECT COLLECTION [PP. 7-8] ..............................................................................

PHOTO STORY: Dump Kids [P. 9] FEATURE: Children and the Dump [P. 10] ..............................................................................

PHOTO STORY: Floating Education [P. 11] FEATURE: Kompong Kneas Children Fight for Literacy [P. 12] ..............................................................................

PHOTO STORY: More Than Home FEATURE: We Also Need Education

[P. 13] [P. 14]

DMC, 2013

FACING

1

DELIMMA

Hen Kheang, 31, is a garment worker who is now on her maternity leaves.

She is facing a dilemma of whether to quit her job to look after her baby or send her to her mother to take care instead of her. Three months of maternity leave is too short for her to look after the baby to grow big enough to have other nutrition food beside breast milk.

Discussion for a better solution: Hen Kheang is telling about the challenges that she is facing to the coordinator of Workers Information Center. They are discussing possible solutions for the baby, and the current situation of workers during maternity period.

She was about to put her baby to sleep. Later, Hen Kheang told that she wants to give breast-feeding for 6 months as suggested by the Ministry of Health. However, she could not bring her baby to the factory. There is no child care center at the factory. She does not want to send her baby to her hometown because then her mother will feed her baby with formula milk. Plus, it adds another expense to her small incomes. “I heard that feeding the baby with formula milk, the child could easily get sick,� says Hen Kheang.

MY CHILDOR

BY CHAN MUYHONG AND NOV POVLEAKHENA ADDITIONAL REPORT BY CHIN PANHAVION AND NHEM PISETH

Sitting on a small bed in front of her rental room in Phnom Penh, Hen Kheang has just put her baby to sleep. The hammock is still swinging in the two square meters room.

“I am still considering about it. I am not sure whether I will send her to my mother in the province or I will quit my job to look after her by myself,” says Hen Kheang, a worker in Hong Wa garment factory, who is now facing dilemma between leaving her three months-old daughter or her job.

Hen Kheang moved to Phnom Penh and started working as a garment worker ten years ago. She is one among many other women who face same challenges. Eight years ago, she quitted her job as a garment worker to take care of her first baby because the length of maternal leaves offered by law is not enough for her baby to grow healthily.

Giving birth to her second child three months ago put her in the same challenge because once she takes long leave, her long-term contract will come to an end. She will lose all the rights and benefits of being a senior worker. New short-term contract will be renewed every six months.

A regional coordinator of Women Information Center (WIC) who works very closely with garment workers for almost two years, Preab Marath, says many female workers in garment industry are facing the same issue like Hen Kheang.

She says, “If they choose to breastfeed the baby for six months, they will have to become new-contract workers.”

According Cambodia labor law, women are entitled to 90 days ma-

2

MY JOB

ternity leave with 50% of base salary including perquisites paid by their employer during the leave. Women have the rights fully to receive any other benefits if there is any from the employer. However, the special benefits mentioned above can be granted to female workers who have “a minimum of one year of uninterrupted service” in the enterprise.

According to Meoun Tola, Head of the labor program at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), more than 70,000 workers are working in 600 garment factories these days. And women make up to 90% of them. He adds that garment industry in Cambodia generates about US$4 billion revenue a year. Yet, the workers working in this sector are living on a based-salary of US$61 per month with harsh working condition and occasionally exploited by the employer.

In Hen Kheang’s case, what mentioned in the law does not seem to be in practice.

“I wish there was a child care center in the factory. I do not need a child care person. If there was a room to put my child in while I am working, I will be able to breastfeed her and take care of her by myself. I will not need to send her to my mother in the province anymore,” Hen Kheang says adding that, “I see the ‘Child Care Center’ label on a room in the factory.

It is quite a big room, but it is used to store more sewing machines once in awhile when there is tough deadline for cloth delivery.”

According to Moeun Tola, Cambodia Labor Law is already good enough. He says, however, there should be a revision to article 182

and 183 in Chapter 08 . “In practices, the employers still fail to comply when it comes to providing wage.

Because of the 6-months contract, workers couldn’t have the seniority of one-year, and then they could not get other benefit besides the half-month of basic salary for 3 months,” he says.

He adds that International Labor Organization’s (ILO) new revision of labor law has increased the days of maternity leave to 100 days and entitles to 75% of their based-salary with other benefits. And “Cambodian Labor law should do the same.”

A mother of the three-months old baby still needs another three months to breastfeed the baby before her baby can be fed with formula milk or other food.

Hen Kheang says, “I heard that for a baby to grow up healthily, they need to be breastfed until six-months old. I am worried that my child will get sick very often if I feed her with formula milk now and plus my mother is also old now that she will not be able to take very good care of my baby, but that is the only choice I have now.”

Article 184 and 186 in Chapter 08 of Cambodian Labor Law (1997) mention clearly that women are allowed one hour break to breastfeed the baby. This one hour time can be divided into 30 minutes twice. Lunch break does not count. And any factory with at least 100 female employees should set up a child care center or a nursing room. If there is none, women can leave her child in the nearby child care center and the employer has to pay the fee.

3

MY

SO-CALLED HOME

In a rental room about two kilometers away from her working place, Srey Touch lives with a group of five others members, two men and three women. The room costs 20 dollars per month. The room with 4m x 3m is divided into two sleeping spots--the ground and the upper floor.

At the age of 18, Khun Srey Touch has worked for MING DA garment factory for four years.

Touch originally comes from farmer family with six siblings in Svay Reang Province.

Because the rental room is cheap, there is no bathroom. Therefore, people there are required to have bath in front of their room. In the rainy season, there is flood sometimes since there is no sewage system yet in that area. There are only a couple toilets outside for everyone living in the whole building to use together.

There is no light in the toilet, either.

Besides working with no day-off at the garment factory, Srey Touch also does some housework such as cleaning and cooking.

The members in the room share housework with one another. Some go shopping whilst others do the cooking.

4

IS IT A PLACE TO BE

HOME

Dirty mud covers the pathway; tiny rooms are erected one after another; jars are settled in front of each room and considered as the washrooms of the residents; and here live garment factory workers.

The garment factory workers are facing problems of low hygiene, health, privacy, and narrowness of the rental room.

Based on the publication of OpenDevelopment, the export of garments and textiles from Cambodian has grown 17.5% year on year. This indication shows the massive demand of labor force in this sector, and some people choose to dessert their home village to work in the garment factories in the city of Phnom Penh. Some rental rooms for garment factory workers are erected in the suburban areas of the city.

According to Preab Marath, Coordinator of Center of Garment Factory Workers in Por Sen Chey District, the low salary of the garment factory workers is the reason they share tiny rooms [2-2.5m2] with four to six people. They need to spend approximately 20 to 25 dollars per month to spend on a room rental fees.

“Based on the current situation, if they [garment factory workers] live with many people in a room, each of them spend less than $8 including water and electricity services. On the other hand, if they live with two people in a room, the rental fees can exceed to $15-20 per each individual,” adds Marath.

Sao Nimol, 17, is one of many other young garment factory workers in Por Sen Chey District. She comes from Svay Rieng, and has just been in Phnom Penh for one month to work in the garment industry at the outskirt of Phnom Penh. With her mother and other roommates from her village, she is living in a tiny room with no washrooms inside, and thus, she has no choice, but to force herself to take a

BY LIM CHANPHIRUN ADDITIONAL REPORT BY PROM VEASNA TY SAMPHORTH VICHEKA AND OU BANUNG

bath in an open space in front of her room.

She raises her difficulties of inadequate water sanitation and proper washroom for her privacy. “Living here, we meet a lot of difficulties. The space we are living in is narrow, and no hygiene and especially we have to take a bath outside the room. I feel embarrassed, and dare not take a long bath,” says Nimol.

“I decide to live in this small room with many people because of my limited income. We can save some money, when we live with many people in a room,” she adds.

Likewise, Nimol’s mother, Sao Chanthy, expresses her feeling of embarrassment during bath taking and worries of the safety during the nighttime.

She says that when she first came, she felt very shy of taking bath openly.

“I am shy when people look at me, and when I want to pee at night. I dare not go to the toilet and wait until the morning,” Chanthy says.

The hygiene of the toilet that they use is still in unpleasant condition.

The worst condition of the toilets can provoke sickness and disease to the users. The toilets have not been cleaned, and no one wants to use it, but has to because they are the only toilets in the area. Chathy says that the toilet was so smelly and unhygienic that she wanted to vomit.

Aside from the problem of hygiene of the toilets and the privacy of the washroom, most of garment factory workers accept to live in a very small room in which they have to do the cooking, eating, sleeping and dressing. Plus, inadequate food nutrition weakens their health, making them feel dizzy during working hours.

Uch Sean is a garment factory worker who also came from the same province as Nimol. “I sometimes feel dizzy, because I don’t eat food that contain enough nutrition. I don’t have

enough sleep because the room are too narrow,” she says.

Chea Sophal, Co-Monitoring Manager of the Better Factories project from ILO Cambodia, says that to enhance the welfare and health condition of the garment factory workers, cooperation from every stakeholder is required.

“The involved ministry should examine the quality of the food that are selling around the rental sites whether the food contains enough nutrition or not, and actually the ministry who has the jurisdiction to do this is the Ministry of Health. Moreover, the workers themselves should try to seek for comprehension about their health.

They should have known how much they should eat to get enough calories for their work loads,” he says.

Keo Bunna, Chief of Benefit Division from the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, explains that the government in negotiation with the employers has agreed on seven types benefits of the workers including, treatment fee, pension, and other important budgets, but adds that the employers cannot give more benefits for living expenses of the workers.

“It is the heavy burdens of the employers and government to provide the benefits for living expenses of the workers because it costs too much to cover this,” he says.

Various non-governmental organizations and government have critically discussed the Rights of working conditions of the garment factory workers, but the conditions of their welfare on where they live have been over-looked.

“Many NGOs are working on the conditions at the factories, but not the living sites, so the workers themselves should take good care of their health, hygiene, and the food themselves,” says Preab Marath.

5

IS THERE A

BETTER CHOICE? The report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and World Bank in 2006 [Women and Work in the Garment Industry] find that garment factory workers face a lot of difficulties include health and nutrition, breastfeeding and childcare, workplace harassment including sexual harassment, personal security (safety in the factory and safety along the road), etc. Hence, it means the transportation is also counted as the big issue that threatens workers’ living conditions.

According to the report from Free Trade Union of Workers of The Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), traffic accidents happened to garment factory workers in 2012 occured around 11 cases, in which 354 people got injured and four people died, and the accident caused by truck crush. In addition, in 2006 the report of World Bank and ILO show that, “Traffic accidents were the single most common cause of insurance claims, and resulted in the most time lost to sick leave after typhoid. Over 50% of workers had been in a traffic accident themselves or had a close personal friend who had been in an accident in the previous year.”

Mostly, garment factory workers choose trucks as their transportation. For people who missed the trucks and are not able to pay for the rides, they decide to share a tricycle motor taxi with many people to go back home. The garment workers take risks while transporting because their vehicle is mostly overloaded.

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TRUCK ACCIDENT:

A

MAJORCONCERN FOR GARMENT WORKERS

BY MECH DARA ADDITIONAL REPORT BY HENG SOKCHANNAROATH, LOUV LYKEAV, AND KHUN NAYHEAK It is six in the morning and the sun has yet to rise, but many people are already on their way to workplaces along Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng.

Every morning hundreds of factory workers leave their homes in Kompong Speu, Kandal, Takeo or Kompong Cham provinces for Phnom Penh where their workplaces are located. They are packed in trucks that take them to the gates of the industrial sites.

Mean Chanty, a 30-year-old woman from Kompong Speu, has been working in a garment factory for over 10 years. She wakes up at 4 a.m. to make a long trip to work by truck and reaches her factory at 7 in the morning. Every day she walks about one kilometer from her home to reach the road where the truck picks her up.

“When I walk, I am worried about my safety because it is still dark and I am afraid of robbery or sexual harassment or other crimes,” says Chanty.

In a recent morning, when her truck arrived at 6 a.m. outside her workplace at the Canadia Industrial Park, she was standing and holding the metal bar at the side of the truck loading about 50 people including a few pregnant women. Most women and men are in their 20s and 30s.

“I am scared that the truck will overturn. Authorities pay little attention to workers because they do not check that the truck is overloaded,” says Chanty adding that, “I cannot rent a room near my workplace because I have to look after my mother.”

About 100,000 workers have moved to the outskirts of Phnom Penh where the garment factories are located. However, hundreds of workers in the nearby provinces take trucks to go to work. The journey can be perilous for them.

According to Mean Chanty, it is normal that workers are overloaded in a truck and stand in unventilated space. The bumpy trip can be hazardous for them because of road conditions and limited traffic law enforcement. She pays $12 per month, or about 20 percent of the minimum

wage of $61 for transportation.

Based on a report of the Free Trade Union on accidents involving trucks transporting garment workers, there were 11 truck accidents in which four workers were killed and 354 injured in 2012.

Preap Chanvibol, chief of the Transportation Ministry’s Road Safety Department, says five Cambodians are killed every day in road accidents, and at least 1,894 people were killed and 7,000 injured in traffic accidents last year.

“47 percent [of the accidents] were caused by speeding, 15 percent by not respecting the priority, 11 percent by drunk driving and others by reckless driving in 2012,” he says. “Workers ranked in the second place in road accidents in 2011.”

Sum Phorn, deputy director of the National Social Security Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, says according to the work injuries reports compiled by his department, there were 12,126 accidents involving 14,233 workers in which 10,709 were women, in 2012.

In those accidents, 59 workers died, 571 were seriously injured and 13,585 lightly injured.

“The increasing number of accidents is due to truck accidents,” he says.

Him Yan, director of the Ministry of Interior’s public order department, says the country lost $310 million because of traffic accidents last year.

Mean Chanty recalls that in March 2011, the truck swerved off the road, skidded into a rice field, and overturned as the driver tried to avoid a collision with another vehicle on their return trip at night.

“Two workers died and about 100 workers were injured,” she says. “I was unconscious; I was hit on the head; my teeth are broken and I had a cut on my face. It took me about a week to recover. I did not want to take the truck again because I was scared... but I do not have any choice.”

According to Dy Chanty, a 32-year-old worker who travels from

Kompong Speu to Phnom Penh every day, some drivers do not check their vehicle’s condition before traveling.

They often ignore workers’ advice and sometimes are drunk while driving.

Dy Chanty was one of the workers injured when a truck overturned in 2011. “I feel unsafe when I am on the truck. We have to take the truck though it is dangerous for us... nothing we can do about it.”

Heng Sophak, a 33-year-old driver who makes the trip from Kompong Speu every day, says he has to drive fast because he needs to reach the workers’ destination on time.

“It is difficult for me during the rainy season because the road is slippery,” he says.

“It is hazardous for workers, but if I did not overload the passengers, I would not have enough money to pay for the gasoline and to support my family. I do not like to do that but I have no other option.”

“The factories and government need to guarantee workers’ safe transportation while they are on their way to and from work; they make a lot of revenue from workers,” says Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union.

Chea Sophal, monitoring co-manager at the Better Factories Cambodia International Labour Organization, says though no factory provides transportation for workers, the Labor Advisory Committee has started in September 2012 to provide a monthly additional $7 to cover housing and transportation expenses, which helps solve some of the workers’ problems.

“If factories have the ability to provide enough financial support for better transportation for us, we would feel safe when we travel,” says Mean Chanty.

Additional payment would not solve all the problems, according to Preap Chanvibol. “[We] need to educate and inform people about traffic laws; the authorities have to enforce traffic laws; and people need to respect the laws... to help reduce the number of road accidents,” he says.

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Photo by Nov Povleakhena

9

KIDS

DUMP The rubbish truck comes and deposites waste from Siem Reap city. Scavengers, who come from ten villages, gather around the dump searching for recycled materials that they can sell. Normally, they can earn around 10,000 Riels ($25) per month.

Anlong II Dumpsite in Siem Reap province became a waste disposal area in 2009. Because it is located far from the city, the dumpsite does not cause pollution to the urban life. Since its establishment, Kem Phalla, Anlong II team leader of Kalyan Mith Center, says 27 children are working on the dumpsite to help earn income for their family.

Children, aged 6 to 15 years old, come to work on the dumpsite when they are free from school. Head of Anlong II Primary School, Sek Bunthang says children began to neglect their studies since the arrival of the dumpsite. “Before the existence of the dumpsite, kids did not have jobs to do. Now, kids are sometimes absent because they go with their mothers to do scavenging.�

Nouem Ngoeung, Anglong II Commune chief, says the dumpsite is 2 hectares. Tons of rubbish are disposed and burned everyday. A fact sheet produced by Women in Europe for a Common Future suggested that the burning of plastic produces harmful substances in the air that disrupts the respiratory functions and affects the reproductive and development system.

10

CHILDRENAND THE DUMP

BY OUK ELITA ADDITIONAL REPORT BY SOTHEA INES, KHIEV CHAKRIYA AND TOUCH YINVANNITH

The smoke is filling the air of a very hot afternoon in one small village in Siem Reap. Pieces of plastic and broken glasses scattered everywhere across the sandy ground. Sound of a truck is approaching. As close as it can be identified, it is a rubbish truck.

This is a landfill in Anlong Veng village of Prasat Bakong’s Tropang Thom commune where tons of rubbish are disposed and burned everyday.

Slowly but surely, a figure is emerging from the mountain of waste.

A small kid is wearing a pair of plastic boots and dirty old clothes. And this is his workplace.

He is not the only one. Approximately 27 kids aged 6 to 15 are working at the dumpsite along with their parents and older siblings. Pov Keoun, 13, a third grader is also among them. She is quite small for her age and she wears worn-out clothes that is too big for her build.

“At the time my mom didn’t have any money to spend on rice, she asked my sister to go scavenging with her and my sister asked me to follow.

And so I did,” says Keoun.

She stopped for a while when she fell sick with symptoms of lung infections, but is starting back again now that she recovered. “I pick cans, bottles, some rice for pigs, and I found shredded ice sometimes,” she continues. When not at school or at the dumpsite, Keoun comes over to Friends-International to join a parttime class or does some drawing activities.

Friends-International set up an office about a kilometer away from the dumpsite in mid 2010 shortly after the dumping activity began with a purpose to address the children’s hygiene and health. The organization offers health service, fresh water, boots, and masks for the young scavengers in addition to educational activities.

A small pre-school is available with no charge for parents working at the dumpsite to leave their kids for a daycare. “Small kids used to come with

parents to the dumpsite because nobody looked after them. It is not very safe,” says Phalla, who manages a team of 5 staff at Friends-International at Anlung II. Houn Sokha, 25, a social worker at Friends-International Anlung II says when she began her work, the children were still wearing flip-flop and using bare hands when scavenging.

“Now they have boots and masks,” she says.

In the afternoon, from 13:00 to 14:00, there is a class that teaches Math and Khmer to assist children in the neighborhood who are not coping well with the study pace in public schools. In order to encourage them to stay in school, children are also given school materials such as books, pens, bags, and uniforms until they finish their study.

Pek Koung, 13, studies in the morning and comes to Friends-International in the afternoon to attend the Math and Khmer tutor. At 3 p.m., he goes to a school nearby that offers free English class. He begins his scavenging from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“I did not use any gloves or protective clothing at the landfill before, but now I do,” Koung says. Koung has four siblings and he is the third child.

One of his older siblings sought work abroad in Thailand while Koung and his younger sibling, aged 8, joins him in working at the landfill with their parents. Koung encountered the occasional cuts and scratches from broken glasses, but when asked if he ever felt revolted by the smell and atmosphere of the landfill, he said no.

Nonetheless, adults working around the waste infected area admit to having a hard time coping with this environment. Houn Sokha says she almost gave up when she first started working at Friends-International in Anlung II. “When I first come here, the landfill was very steep and muddy. There were flies everywhere and the smell was so strong,” she says adding that

she tried hard and soul to adapt herself to the smell. “I would fall sick the very next day I come from the dumpsite. The kids would suffer similarly at first, but now they are used to it,” Sokha says.

Sek Bunthong, a school principal at Anlung II public school, says he reported the repulsive smell in the surrounding area to the commune, but did not see any response. “Children covered their noses everyday. Whenever the rubbish truck comes, we can smell it from 100 meters away,” he adds.

The revolting smell was an apparent concern, but it may be the burning of the plastic that the community should be most worried about. A fact sheet produced by Women in Europe for a Common Future suggested that the burning of plastic produces harmful substances in the air that disrupts the respiratory functions and affects the reproductive and development system. Pollutants are further deposited into land and water, which eventually cause contamination among humans through consumption.

However, these health concerns appear trivial to the kids working at the dumpsite when their family earns an average of 2 dollars a day. Standing amidst the landfill with other scavenging families is Sam, Koung’s mother.

She was wearing long-sleeved clothes that were covered with dust and stain.

A mask was hanging beneath her chin and flies were zooming about and on to her body as she speaks.

“When my kids come to help me, I can earn more money so we can buy some rice and fish,” Sam says. “I want my children to study both Khmer and English so they won’t be stupid as I am. They don’t have to help me if they don’t want to.”

But Koung, whose dream is to be a painter, says he still wanted to come to the dumpsite to pick up the bottles and cans. When asked why, Koung said, “I love my mom.”

11

FLOATING

EDUCATION

Because of the limited space, Kompong Kneas Primary school can accommodate less than 40 students. Even though, Kompong Kneas primary school plays an important role in offering education to children on the floating village, this school still lacks of table, wall, black board, and space for children for playing around.

The best transportation for student in Kompong Kneas is boat. Children sometimes share the boat with their friends in order to reach school. The students are required to know how to swim, otherwise, they cannot attend school. Parents can send their children to school after they make sure that their children are able to swim. According to Som Chib, so far there is no drowning case happened to children in Kompong Kneas floating village.

Kompong Kneas primary school is located on a floating village in Pursat’s Kro Kor district. It was built in 2009 with the support from Rural Friend for Community Development (RFCD). Som Chib, a community chief says there is a teacher sent from Department of Education, Youth and Sport in Kro Kor district so that this school’s educational program is recognized.

Students in Kompong Kneas primary school are divided into two grades-grade one and grade two. They have to be separated into two parts in the same room, according to Pich Nin, a community teacher. The reason is that there is only one school with one room in this floating village. Thus, the teacher has to spend half of the time for grade one and the second half for grade two.

KOMPONG KNEAS CHILDREN FIGHT

An old wooden house of around five square meters is floating on Tonle Sap River. There are many holes at every corner of the house. It looks just like an old banished house, but the voices of children reading book make it different. This is the Kampong Kneas Floating School.

It is the only primary school in Kompong Kneas village of Pursat’s Kro Kor district that offers formal education, at two levels—grade one and grade two--, to the children who live on the river. However, this school is gradually destroyed because of storms and floods.

There are around 40 students in the two levels. There are many more students from grade one than grade two and most of the students are boys.

Pronh Vannak, 10, is one of the grade two students. His farther brings him to school by boat everyday. He says he is happy that there is a school here, which allows him to study.

“I want to be educated; I come to study because I want to become a doctor in the future. I like my school though it is small and old.”

Pich Nin, a 26-year-old teacher who has been teaching in Kompong Kneas village for a year, says the school has no name. He says, “The school is small and there is not enough table and chair. So we have to separate the class into two shifts – grade one in the morning and grade two in the afternoon.”

According to Srey Chantha, the village chief, it is difficult for children on floating village to get education compared to the children in the downtown or city. The reason is that there is not enough study equipment, teacher, and classroom in the floating school.

Transportation is another problem for children there.

There are 49 families in Kompong Kneas village. Most of them are fishermen. Their family condition is not good but they still want their children to go to school, according to Som Chib, a community’s chief.

He says this only school was built by community people with financial support from Rural Friend for Community Development (RFCD) in 2009.

BY CHOUN CHANNA & SOK CHAN ADDITIONAL REPORT BY PHAL SOKPHEARY AND TOUCH SOPOR

FOR LITERACY “So far there is no response from Kro Kor district education office to the building of school and providing enough materials for children in this floating village yet though we have requested.”

“We do not have enough table and chair for students. Sometimes, three to four students shares a table and chair. Students do not have enough books, pens, and school uniforms.

Not all students can wear school uniform to school because they are poor,” Nin says.

Chea Srey Pich, a twelve-year-old grade one student, says her mother brings her to school every day by boat. She adds that she is really delighted that she can study eventhough she does not have enough materials for study.

“I never think I will quit school though I do not have enough books and pencils, and even a school uniform. I want to be well-educated, so I have to try,” says Srey Pich adding that, “I wish I could have enough study materials like others.”

Similarly, 12-year-old Eul Bun Theath, a grade two student says that he comes to study because he wants to have a good future. Sometimes he could go to school on time and sometimes he was absent because he does not know how to row a boat.

“My family has only a boat. Sometimes, I was absent because my parents took the boat for fishing and nobody could bring me to school.”

Sak Yan, director of educational officer in Kro Kor district, says there are 57 schools in Kro Kor district.

There are five schools in seven floating villages. Kompong Kneas floating village does not have a proper state school yet because there are not enough students.

“We cannot just build a school without any students,” he says. “Their parents do not want them to attend school but let their children work in order to find money to support their family.”

However, the chief of education office says he has already submitted a request to the Department of Education, Youth and Sports to build more school in Kompong Kneas village but

12

there is no response.

Lacking or not having regular teacher is another challenge for children in Kompong Kneas village.

Sam Chib says the school just has a permanent teacher from the Department of Education at the end of 2012.

Before, there was a temporary teacher from the community supported by RFCD. “Although, there is a teacher from the government, the teacher does not teach regularly because his house is far away from school,” he adds.

Pich Nin, a teacher from community, always teach students whenever a permanent teacher is absent. Not enough salary and transportation fee are the factors that cause teacher to be absent so often, according to Pich Nin. He says, “We cannot blame the teacher because they need to feed their family too. Their salary is not enough, so they have to find other jobs.”

Most teachers rarely want to teach on the floating village, yet the Department of Education, Youth and Sports does not have any extra incentive to support them. Sak Yan says, “We do not have any extra money for teachers who teach on the floating village.

Every teacher has the same salary.”

According to Sak Yan, a new teacher is required to teach in one floating village. Because they are new, they have no choice.

“The teacher does not have enough salary but they can find other job when they are free from teaching.

They also can get extra money from NGO on the floating village.”

However, Pich Nin who was born in Kompong Kneas village says he wants children in his village to have good knowledge and good future.

“I really want the government or any organizations to build enough schools, provide enough materials, and offer regular teachers in Kompong Kneas village,” he says.

“If there is enough support from the government, I believe that children there will have the chance to study like other children and have a bright future.”

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MORE THAN H O M E

A pimary school for disabled children located in Takhmao town and established since 1993, Lavalla, funded by Australian fund, accepts 30 students per year. The school is recognized by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Students are sent to further their study in public high school with partially financial and accommodation support after they finish here. To study at Lavalla, disabled children have to be over 12 years old, and can manage to take care themselves independently.

Accommodation, food, and uniform are provided, and class curriculum requires students to study both in the morning and afternoon. Plus, students are studying two grades at the same time. Besides the general subjects, there are variety activities for students to learn for their life experience such as volleying, swimming, machine fixing, sawing, gardening, and cooking.

This is a study time for a special class with 8 students having both physical and mental problems. It is created this year at Lavalla school.

Different from students in ordinary classes, these students in the special class will be taught only one grade per year, but students are still required to study two times per day both in the morning and afternoon. Sok Chenda, a 41-year teacher, who has been teaching disabled children for 15 years says, “I feel so much attached with this class and I teach here because I really pity on them. Eventhough they are different from ordinary students, they have a very high motivation and commitment to study.”

Ny Hanna is one of 8 students in special class in grade one at Lavalla school. A 14 year-old girl was sent from one NGO to receive education. Among the students in special class, Hanna is the outstanding student who can catch up what teachers teach, according to her teacher, Heng Chenda. Comparing to other students in special class, Hanna is able to read and write by herself quite well. In the next few month, Hanna will be sent to do the head operation in Bangkok.

“Even though these students in the special class do not have proper physical support, they never show their depression toward their study just like Hanna,” says Chenda.

WE ALSO

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NEED EDUCATION

BY KONG META ADDITIONAL REPORT BY OUM VANNAK, AND SOK ENG

Sitting in the middle of the room in his bed is a teenage boy of medium height. It is Sunday and Kong Chandara is scribbling Khmer alphabets on his notebook.

It is only last year that Dara, 18, started his first day of school in a local organization. He can write a few basic words now, but reading is still an impossible task.

Dara’s mother, Kem Deak, 65, says, “I was worried after he was born. His legs were unusually small.”

Her suspicion became true as Dara grew up. He could not walk properly nor was his speech fluency.

Dara stayed home most of the time as he grew up in Prek Samrong village, Takmao Commune, Kandal Province. “Because of his disability, I cannot find a suitable school for him,” says Kem Deak.

Although education is for all, there are still some barriers for disabled children to access to education either formal or non-formal as there is not enough information about it and the public schools are not widely available for them. Still there are some of ganizations working on the issue.

According to Education Management Information System of the ministry of education youth and sport in 2008, the number of disabled children enrolled in Cambodian public schools is less than one percent.

Oum Sreynan, 34, a school director of Lavalla, an NGO school for disabled children, says her school only accepts children who have difficulties in moving, for example, they may lose arms or legs. Each year, 90 students with disabilities are sent from her organization to continue their study in public high schools.

“It is very difficult for disabled students to meddle with regular high school students. Classes and bathrooms are not designed to be userfriendly for those with disabilities,” says Sreynan. She wishes to get more students to attend the school, but due to financial constraint, the school can accept only 30 students per year.

According to article 29 in education law, the Ministry of Education shall develop programs for educational establishments to provide accessible facilities for students with disabilities such as buildings, classrooms and

study places to facilitate them in accessing education.

Ouch Nimol, a director of Marist Solidarity Cambodia, says Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has not done good enough to help children with disability. “There is no particular technical training for deaf and blind people; the teachers are able to teach only ordinary students. If looking at the school infrastructure in Cambodia, most of the buildings do not truly facilitate disabled children,” he says.

Government plays an important role in improving and assisting the disabled children’s education.

Ly Chongtheng, a general head of Department of Education, Youth and Sport in Kandal province, says the government policy to place students at school is already good. “We develop different campaigns to encourage disabled students to attend school.”

Besides the facility concern, there are still some challenges for disabled children when they move to a big society in educations.

Sok Pheurng, a 20-year-old in grade ten at Hun Sen Takhmoa high school and also a disabled student, says some classmates discriminate disabled children.

“During the break, I remain sitting in the class because I am afraid I may disturb our friends who need big space to play around.

According to Ly Chongtheng, the department has tried to stop negative perception towards disabled people, but the discrimination still exists.

“It truly hurts me when some people used bad word to call disabled children especially among my classmates. I want people to respect and treat disable children as ordinary people,” Pheurng says.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: This magazine was produced by the Batch Nine students of the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) of the Royal University of Phnom Penh as part of their Multimedia and Online Journalism class. The DMC is financially supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Unlike the previous projects which focused mainly on portraying disaster and women issues, the focus of this project is on rights to education and safe city for women. Six groups of students produced six multimedia news packages, including mini-documentaries, feature stories and photo stories. This paper which includes feature stories and photo stories is a supplement to the mini-documentaries which

are featured on the DVD. The aim of this production is to support journalism students, who will be prospective journalists and media practitioners, to cover the above mentioned issues professionally and ethically and to bring those issues to be heard publicly in order to seek for possible actions as well as to bring about positive changes in response to the problems.

This project was produced with the financial assistance from ActionAid Cambodia. The views expressed herein are those of the producers and therefore in no way reflect the official opinion of ActionAid Cambodia.

MANAGEMENT TEAM Instructor/Supervisor: Ung Bun Y Design and Layout: Nhem Piseth Design Supervisor: Tith Chandara Editor: Ung Bun Y

WORDS FROM REPORTERS: Winding the Hope is another masterpiece from the Batch Nine students of the Department of Media and Communication. It is produced as a fulfillment for the Multimedia and Online Journalism course. Through out the project, we have learnt many components of media-related skills—photography, in-depth reporting, documentary filmmaking, video and photo editing. On top of that, we firmly believe this publication can be served as a supporting document for non-governmental organizations, governments and the public who are working on the issues of education and safe city to make informed decision on their future policies. Besides, we would also like to extend our thanks to our donor, ActionAid Cambodia, for sponsoring this project and other people who have contributed to make this project done successfully.

FIND US ON:

Winding The Hope

windingthehope

Writers & Photographers: Chan Muy Hong, Chin Panhavion, Choun Channa, Heng Sokchannaroath, Khiev Chakriya, Khun Nayheak, Kong Meta, Lim Chanphirun, Louv Lykeav, Mech Dara, Nhem Piseth, Nov Povleakhena, Ouk Elita,Oum Vannak, Phal Sokpheary, Prom Veasna, Sok Chan, Sok Eng, Sok Somphoasphalyka, Sothea Ines, Touch Sopor, Touch Yinvannith, Ty Samphorth Vicheka & Ou Banung Proofreader: Ouk Elita Photo Editor: Tith Chandara Cover Photo: Touch Yinvannith

www.windingthehope.wordpress.com

DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF PHNOM PENH Russian Blvd., Phnom Penh, 12156 Tel / Fax: (+855) 23 884408 | admin@dmc-cci.edu.kh www.dmc-cci.edu.kh | www.dmcpost.com