Pour un Sourire d' Enfant School in Cambodia

My first stop in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia on my trip in December 2007 was to this remarkable school called Pour un Sourire d' Enfant. It blew my flip flops off! The staff are hyper-organized and really have a vision for the school. The school was established in 1997 and has supported over 6,000 vulnerable children in the past 12 years.

There is a really focus on family health and motivating the mothers to stay involved and work at the school in order to support the children.

This French NGO supports on average 2,500 vulnerable children per year.

The three main focus areas:

Hygiene, Nutrition, Protection
Includes: meals, maternal and childhood protection, micro-credit, kindergarten, literacy, handcrafts

Professional Vocational Training - 1,300 children
Includes: secretary , technology, cuisine, bakery, garden and hospitality services

Education - 1,200
Includes: academic classes and French language skills for those that cannot be integrated into state educational system because of their situation, ie. age, family breakdown.

Mothers work and sew at the school to help pay for medical services, safe houses and university tuition. The mothers earn $20 per week vs the average of $5 in the factories.

How to connect:
- great program for an exchange with a international school
- supporting vocational students in job placement
- university scholarships
- merchandise projects to export of businesses (mothers)



Contact:

http://www.pse.asso.fr/

On-site contact: sarapich@site.pse.org or cmfdespallieres@wanadoo.fr