Servants to Asia's Urban Poor - Cambodia

Collaborating/partner agencies
Lavalla; Veterans International (VI); Center for Child Mental Health (CCMH); CSI; National Pediatric Hospital; ROSE; TB center; Pasteur; District Governor; Krour Sa Tmey; Disability Action Council (DAC); Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS).

Mission/Vision
To improve the live of the poor in the Mean Chey district.

Areas of Focus (projects)
Children with Disabilities; Malnutrition Clinic for Children with HIV/AIDs home care; HIV/AIDs Education; Orphaned Children (from AIDs); Sanitation programme; Women ‘s Health; Immunization.

1. The Little Conquerors - disabled kids: In a karma-based society like Cambodia, disability is often a shameful and hidden problem. Servants treats disabilities and trains the families to carry on the therapy at home, we try to bring families together for mutual support. Servants also mainstreams as many kids as possible into local schools.
2. Women's Health: lack of access to reproductive knowledge is one of the key factors keeping women and their families poor, sick and in danger of early death. Working alongside village midwives, we hold regular clinics in the community providing health check-ups, education and family planning.
3. Nutrition: Half of all children are malnourished in Cambodia. We treat the most severely malnourished under 5 year olds in our district. A clinic is held in the community once a week, followed up by home visiting. Community workers help us locate children and carry out health and nutrition education.
4. HIV/AIDS Homecare: Servants has mobilized an extensive network of community workers (mainly from local churches) to visit people living with AIDS and offer a helping hand a listening ear and an encouraging prayer. Servants medical staff follow up with compassionate counseling, pain-relieving medication and support.
5. Project HALO (Hope, Assistance & love for Orphans): Servants currently helps Cambodian communities care for over 700 children affected by AIDS, through extended families, teen-headed households and foster families. We also mobilize Christian young people to take on the role of "big brother or sister" to one orphan each, visiting and encouraging.
6. Brothel Clinic: Servants runs a clinic in the heart of one of the slum brothels in our district. We supply condoms, AIDS prevention education and treat STD's. During the clinic the sex workers are encouraged to attempt escape from the brothel lifestyle and go to a Christian safe house where they are cared for and learn new skills.
7. Childhood Immunization: While much of our work is treatment for diseases and disabilities we must also attend to the fence at the top of the cliff. By carrying out the unglamorous task of extensive immunization for babies and children we prevent thousands of future cases of disease, disability and death.
8. AIDS Education: The answer to halting the onward march of the AIDS epidemic is not cure but prevention. And the best hope for prevention lies in changing human behaviour. Servants reach out to the most vulnerable groups in Cambodian society with straightforward facts and education about HIV/AIDS.
9. Emergency Relief: At times, the only Christian response to an urgent need is to provide emergency relief. Cambodia suffers from flooding on a yearly basis and several slums have been wiped out by major fires. People who are already struggling, lose everything and Servants is often called on to provide emergency supplies.
10. Community Sanitation: Research has shown that poor sanitation and access to clean water is one of the biggest causes of ill health and therefore poverty in Cambodia. Servants works with communities and schools to build toilets and playgrounds.
11. Kids Plus-'If - HIV positive children: The mushrooming AIDS epidemic in Cambodia has meant that increasing numbers of children are being born with the HIV virus. Servants works passionately to keep these kids as healthy and happy as possible for as long as possible.

Funding agency(s): (2003)

ROTANAK Foundation; Tear Fund UK and other Individual Donors

Other Information

Servants Cambodia is currently in the process of localization. The above programmes will come under a new local NGO called TASK by late 2004

Projects Requiring Funding