When our social workers first met 12-year-old Veasna* he was living with his mother in a make-shift shack near the beach built from discarded pieces of plastic and wood. The situation was dire. The environment was unhealthy and unsafe. Veasna’s mother, 35-year-old Champa*, was using drugs (ice) regularly. Veasna, a bright outgoing boy, had never…
Hot water burns are a common childhood injury. Earlier this week 5-year-old Sreymao* was playing around in her house when she ran into her mother who was carrying a pot of scalding hot water. The water spilled and the little girl suffered burns to her shoulder. Immediately after the accident happened, Sreymao’s mother applied toothpaste…
Before Covid-19, Sreymom* was working as a housekeeper at a local hotel. Her husband was working as a moto-taxi driver. They didn’t make a lot of money and had to be very careful with it to support themselves and their five children. When the global pandemic began, the local tourist industry was impacted greatly and…
M’Lop Tapang’s Counselling Room is filled with all kinds of toys, games, puppets and arts supplies. These kinds of items are often used by our trained counselors as tools in helping troubled children communicate and express their feelings. Six months ago, 7-year-old Dara* was referred to our counsellor by one of the teachers. Dara was…
Although our education programs are still officially closed, we do have about 100 very vulnerable children coming to M’Lop Tapang’s center for daytime care support right now (hygiene, nutritious meals, health care, recreation). This morning Chamroeun*, a little seven-year-old boy, was in a classroom drawing pictures with some other children. The staff in the room…
M’Lop Tapang’s Child Protection team often works with youth in conflict with the law as well as with their families. One of the recent cases they have been working with is with 15-year old Vannak* and his mother. Vannak, who had never been in trouble with the law before, was arrested more than six months…
In 2005, Keo Thy moved with his pregnant wife and two small children from their hometown in the rural provinces 300 km away to Sihanoukville. They were looking to escape the life of poverty they knew in the countryside and hoped that Sihanoukville could offer Keo Thy a job and a chance at a better…
The families that M’Lop Tapang works with live with daily economic hardships. This was true before Covid-19, but even more so now. Sophea*, a single mother with two young children, is one of those parents who is having a harder time now to support her family than she did before Covid-19 happened. Sophea earns an…
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted families and children around the world and the situation in Cambodian is no different. During the week of May 25-30, 2020 our staff conducted a short survey of 154 families that M’Lop Tapang works with regularly, asking them about the impact of the economic downturn that has happened over the…
“If it wasn’t for this work, I would have to walk around the neighborhood with my children looking for people who needed their clothes washed. I don’t know what else I could do” Sreymao* is a young mother with four children aged 5 months to 14 years old. She is also one of the members…
