Programmes

In the garden (residential child)

Our school cares for up to 35 children, orphaned mostly because of the AIDS epidemic, (formerly because of Malaria and the war). Some children have been abandoned or have a physical disability due to Polio or Tuberculosis. The children mainly come from remote villages in Kampot, where previously they received no care, or were neglected or marginalized. We provide sleeping facilities, food, clothing, medical care, material items and 24 hour adult supervision and counselling. We have a high number of adult staff in relation to the number of children resident, (1:2 ratio) to ensure real quality care and attention towards the individual child. We work in coordination with the Ministries of Social Action, Culture and Education, as well as the local provincial departments, district chiefs, human rights groups and other NGO's.

Traditional Pin Peat music lesson with Maestro Maes Saem (children on Outreach Programme)

We also assist a further 160-170 local children from the surrounding community, who come to our school during the daytime only, to study music and take ballet lessons. Those children who come from very poor villages, also receive a meal at our school and all children are entitled to medical care whenever they need it. By providing services for the local community, we also help families over-burdened by poverty, their children learning positive cultural and scholastic education providing a resource for the future and helping prevent child-labour and juvenile delinquency.

Traditional ballet practice

Our school specializes in the tuition of traditional classical Cambodian music, ballet and theatre, as a form of post-traumatic therapy, but also as a form of vocational training and as a way to preserve Cambodia's traditional arts and culture after the genocide of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. Our teaching staff come from the National Theatre and Cambodian Royal Ballet. We also have a programme to document and record traditional Cambodian music, to help ensure its survival, after the deaths of so many of the great masters during the Khmer Rouge period.

Teaching of academic subjects

Until 2009 we used to teach academic subjects in line with the national curriculum, from pre-elementary level to university entrance level at our school.

After assistance from Reach out to Asia to modernize and render more effective our school, we have recently started a new scholastic programme; from September 2009 all our resident children have started to frequent local state schools for their morning lessons. Local schools have now developed better quality schooling than 10 years ago and the Ministry of Education is doing many things to improve education in Cambodia. By going to state school, (accompanied by our staff member), our children can participate in the latest educational developments, they can make new friends and build a bridge with the outside world. They will of course have the same opportunity as before to study up until Baccalaureate II level (University entrance level).

Our smaller children enjoying their own theatre production

Our school has been holding several internal workshops for staff and children on Child Protection. These workshops are part of a series of therapeutic and development workshops on various important themes programmed for this year 2010 by Reach out to Asia’s consultant. The workshops include games and relaxing techniques as well as individual capacity building.

With the help of Reach out to Asia's consultant, we are also starting new links and hopefully future training and cooperation with the arts association "Ragamuffin". This association has very good, specialized training and workshops involving non-formal and non-traditional art therapy. We very much hope that one of our graduated students, can participate in training and our staff and children also receive workshops from this association and from then on that our own school can do regular art-therapy courses. These types of courses are very important for psychological and emotional healing. When training and workshops get underway we will post new more detailed information. For now we must look for a financial sponsor so that we can enroll on the course and workshops.

Children gathering flowers. Any child with a disability receives prosthetics/orthotics help from the “Cambodia Trust” in Sihanoukville Province

The school supports itself for the costs of administration, electricity, water, cooking fuel,
mosquito nets, books, cooking and cleaning utensils etc. (approximately USD 8’500.00 to USD 9’000.00 per year). Our self-help activities include, monthly public concerts, performances at festivals, making and selling silk and cotton items, cultivating some fruit and vegetables, rearing ducks and fish and concerts given abroad by the director. We have also produced our own music CD for sale and are growing ornamental flowers to sell.