Category: Children’s Home

Construction of the workshop for the vocational training of the boys at the Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia has started. And most of the work is being done by the boys themselves. Each boy does his part according to his strength and capability. The smaller boys do much of the fetching and carrying.

Some also mix cement.

So far the boys have received their vocational training informally, by pitching in and helping with whatever is being done at the Home. However, the plan now is to provide vocational training more systematically, hence the construction of the workshop. The workshop will be suitable for training in skills such as welding, electrical work, motor-vehicle repair and servicing, and carpentry.

Working on projects such as this brings out the best in the boys. They learn teamwork, endurance, discipline, and creative thinking. They also gain a sense of fulfillment as they assess what has been accomplished at the end of each day.

The children at the Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia are busy digging their newest and largest fish pond. It will be three times as as large as any of the existing ponds. The children are working on it in the afternoons after their formal classes. They hope to get the pond done before the rainy season starts in June.

This new pond is intended for white pinkish tilapia, which are larger and more expensive than the black ones being reared in the existing ponds. We hope to start with 100 fish.

Fish rearing has been introduced at the Home not only to provide food for the children but also for the market. It is part of the livelihood training program and a means of helping the Home become self-sustainable one day. These aims are in keeping with Goducate’s mission to help the needy help themselves and with its desire that its projects should work towards sustainability.

From the 11th to the 23rd of January, I ate, slept, worked, and chatted with the children at the Goducate Children’s Home in Preyop, Cambodia. A typical day for a child in the home would go along something like this—wake up at crack of dawn to do assigned tasks or chores, have breakfast, attend school (in English) and Khmer classes, then back to doing assigned tasks in various part of the home or pursue own leisure activities.

Many fruits, vegetables, and herbs and spices are grown in the grounds of the Home to feed its residents. Chickens and fish are also reared to provide food for the Home. Through their assigned tasks children are taught agricultural skills and poultry and fish rearing. With their team work, and with the older children helping and guiding the younger ones, the tasks are done effectively, and the children acquire leadership and mentoring skills.

The older ones also learn skills such as welding, repair work, and basic construction and electrical and mechanical skills. During my stay the boys were repairing and reinforcing a brick wall along the perimeter of the Home, to keep out intruders, not only human ones but also animal oness such as snakes. The bigger boys mixed the concrete, laid the bricks, and carried the heavy loads, while the younger ones learnt by occasionally having a go at the work and helping in any little ways they could.

My short stay gave me the impression that the various skills that the children are learning, and the constant moulding and guiding that they receive will stand them in good stead when they leave the Home, whether they head for village or city life, and that they will be able to make a difference in their community.

Guest writer Wei Jie, Volunteer from Singapore