Plan Cambodia Annual Progress Report 2010

A YEAR IN

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SUMMARY REPORT

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GOOD REASONS

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why Plan works in Cambodia

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OUR PRIORITIES

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in Cambodia

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• Nearly one child in ten dies before their fifth birthday

• Improving the quality of education

• 45 per cent of children aged between five and 14 years old are engaged in work

• Protecting the health of children and their communities

alwe • 40 per cent ofSpeople live below the poverty line

• Ensuring children grow up with clean water and decent sanitation

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CAMBODIA 2010

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• Offering families opportunities to increase their incomes to counteract poverty

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• Protecting children from abuses like having to work and giving them a say in matters affecting their lives • Working with families to reduce the impact of disasters

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THAILAND

Microfinance projects are helping many small businesses get started

Cambodia Facts Capital city: Phnom Penh Population: 14.4 million Languages: Khmer (95 per

cent), French & English.

Climate: Cambodia’s temperatures range from 21° to 35°C. Southwest tropical monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October.

The northeast monsoon ushers

in the dry season, which lasts from November to March.

Economy: Per capita income is rapidly increasing, but is low compared with other countries in the region. Most rural households depend on agriculture and its related sub-sectors. Cambodia’s major exports are rice, fish, timber, garments and rubber.

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CAMBODIA Country Office Program Units

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Focus on:

child and family health In the poorest areas of Cambodia, many children do not survive beyond the age of five. Common, preventable illnesses like diarrhoea are devastating for families here. Plan is improving health services, and teaching families and schoolchildren how to stay healthy by keeping their homes and communities clean and hygienic. We work

with families to bring clean water and proper sanitation to their villages. We’re also preparing young people for a healthy future with information on issues like drugs and sexual and reproductive health.

Children are consulted during a disaster risk reduction assessment

State of the Art Healthcare When Khin was preparing for the birth of her second child, she knew what to do.

Leaving her village, she travelled 15 miles to the new health clinic at Prey, a village in north-west Cambodia. ‘I wanted my baby to be born safely,’ she explains.

As any mother would understand, Khin wanted to have the best care she could during childbirth. She certainly found it at Prey Health Centre. This brand new state-of-the-art facility drew crowds of over 1000 people and featured on national television when it opened last June.

Health experts claim it could be a model for health clinics across Cambodia.

It’s hardly the kind of centre you’d expect to find in Siem Reap, a remote and isolated part of western Cambodia, but families here were determined it should be built, with good reason.

Fourteen per cent of Cambodian children will die before they are five years old, many from common childhood illnesses like respiratory infections. With the right treatment or information, these deaths could be prevented.

Yet, like many poor, rural communities in Cambodia, Prey had little or no access to decent healthcare before the new centre opened. Health facilities in the poorest parts of the country are often badly equipped and unhygienic. Local people say the staff that work in them can be uncaring, or ask for fees that the patients cannot afford.

Instead families rely on traditional healers, herbal remedies or unregulated clinics in urban areas when they are ill. This is often dangerous and can leave children particularly vulnerable.

Community action Residents in Prey knew they had to protect their children’s health if they were to have the chance of an active, more productive future.

So they approached Plan with a proposal for a local health centre which would serve the needs of the whole community.

Once Plan had the go-ahead from the Ministry of Health, we agreed the community would provide land for the centre, and contribute labour by building a fence around it. Plan would pay the construction costs and the Ministry of Health would supply equipment, staff and the design.

Produced for Cambodia by Plan International Australia.

The collaboration has proven to be a blueprint for building community health centres across Cambodia. From the start, the involvement of families and children has meant the clinic is rooted in the community’s needs.

Responding to families in Prey has led to some innovative thinking. For example, the centre is modelled on a traditional Khmer home and is built on stilts. The area underneath provides shade or shelter from the rain and is used for parking or by relatives waiting for patients.

Inside, there are six rooms, including a consultation room, birthing room, pharmacy and temperature-controlled storage for vaccines.

The staff are different too. ‘They are experienced, skilled and friendly, they work every day and are always punctual,’ says Mak Samphear, the district governor. Fees are clearly posted for everyone to see, and there is no charge for vaccinations.

Serving the community Perhaps the biggest difference, though, lies in the way the centre is run. As Nann Narath, the head of the clinic explains: ‘The community is the main pillar of this health centre.’

Every month, its management meets with a support committee that includes village leaders and children from the area. They make sure the clinic is at the heart of the community, an approach that allows staff to reach out to local people.

At the moment, they are building relationships with traditional birth attendants – the local women who normally deliver children, and encouraging them to bring expectant mothers for antenatal appointments. Nann Narath says: ‘We are doing all we can to get pregnant women to come here for check-ups.’

Within a month of opening, 900 patients from 24 villages had already visited the clinic.

Families in Prey are a little overwhelmed by the attention, but proud of their achievement.

The health centre at Prey will provide services for 14,000 people in total. Together with communities, Plan is now looking into the feasibility of building more health centres in the area.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy reasons.

The Bigger Picture Plan is working with children, families and communities to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in Cambodia. We have only given you a small insight into Plan’s work in Cambodia with this report but over the past year we also: • Offered training to 200 teachers to improve their teaching methods and raise the standard of children’s education • Worked with families to improve their access to clean water by installing 213 community wells in 107 villages • Gave vocational and business training to 144 people, boosting their chances of employment and a higher income • Saw a 70 per cent decrease in violence against women and children thanks to our community education and child protection programs Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these results. With the resources provided by sponsors, Plan expertise and the collaboration of communities and local partners we are making a big difference to the lives of people in Cambodia.

Thank you for your involvement!

To learn more about Plan’s work in Cambodia visit plan.org.au/ourwork/asia/cambodia

‘Residents in Prey knew they had to protect their children’s health if they were to have the chance of an active, more productive future.’