Helping Children Grow Up In Loving Families

Direct services to support families in caring for orphaned and vulnerable children has always been at the core of Children In Families’ activities. However, building the capacity of other community stakeholders is also essential for ensuring that families and communities in Cambodia are empowered to provide children with a safe and healthy childhood.

Children need families. But families need supportive communities to help their children grow up to become healthy, positive adults. (“It takes a village,” right?) 

As an example of this community capacity-building, CIF’s Family-Based Care team recently trained frontline gatekeepers in Kampong Laeng District in Kampong Chhnang Province. If you are unfamiliar with the term “gatekeeper,” in this context it refers to people responsible for preventing unnecessary institutionalization of children.

When a family is in crisis, they may see placing their child into an orphanage as their only option. Trained gatekeepers can help encourage families to look for other avenues to address their needs, allowing families to stay together. 

Local authorities and others from six different communes were trained in six different groups over three days. Overall, a total of 147 commune leaders, council members, village chiefs, police, school directors, and teachers were trained in: 

• The advantages of family-based care
• The harmful effects of residential care
• How to ensure family support efforts are disability inclusive
• Practical ways to prevent family separation

The Cambodian government has formally recognized the right of children to be cared for within a family. Cambodian laws and policies prioritize family-based care and seek to minimize the number of children in residential care. But, at the local level, many of those responsible for implementing those laws and policies feel a need for additional support.

Children In Families is happy to help in filling that need. We want our efforts to be sustainable. Sustainability requires that the principles guiding our practice be broadly understood and supported throughout the communities in which we work. 

One participant from the Commune Council for Women and Children shared:

"I commit to use what I learned today for the benefit of of my community, sharing the value of family preservation, preventing separation, and strengthening commune-level interventions." 

This particular training was funded by Amyas Valora Foundation, but your support through GlobalGiving is crucial for enabling us to continue all of the work that we do, including community capacity-building efforts like this one. Without having well-informed community gatekeepers, CIF’s family preservation efforts would be hindered. Trainings like these maximize our long-term impact.

Thanks so much for investing in the futures of Cambodian children through your support of CIF!