With the rapid development in Sihanoukville, hundreds of poor families from the countryside are moving to the city to work on local construction projects. This often involves moving from one site to another when a building is finished. Many families bring their children and most live in crowded, makeshift housing camps at the sites. 15…
Some of the families we work with, like many parents around the world, struggle to find safe, affordable child care. Such was the case for Sreymom* and her husband. The young couple had moved to Sihanoukville from the countryside in hopes of a better life for themselves and their three children – two boys aged…
Scheduling clean up days at local beaches is one of the ways M’Lop Tapang is teaching Cambodian children and youth about environmental awareness. Increasing trash is a growing problem in Sihanoukville. Read more: ” ‘Mountains and mountains of plastic’: life on Cambodia’s polluted coast” (The Guardian, April 2018)
Last weekend the local police department contacted our Hotline for assistance in helping to find the family of a little 3 year old boy who was lost. The police had become aware of the boy when neighbors told them that the boy had been walking around on his own all day and night. The police…
18-year old Vanna*, the youngest of seven children in his family, grew up in a poor rural rice farming area outside of Sihanoukville. He dropped out of school in Grade 3 because his parents couldn’t afford to send him to study. We met Vanna in 2017 after he had moved to the city to…
“My older brother and sister stopped school in Grade 6. I want to be the first person in my family to graduate from high school.” 15 year old Makara* had to drop out of school in Grade 3 because of a family environment of poverty, alcoholism, and violence. For the last several years Makara and…
M’Lop Tapang’s Vocational Training Programs help vulnerable youth secure decent work that will allow them to lead a more dignified life. Areas of training include sewing, bicycle and motor repair, electrics and plumbing, and cookery and hospitality. 18 year old Chenda* grew up in a poor family. His mother is a beach food vendor and…
16 year old Theary* is in grade 11 now. She is one of more than 1,100 Cambodian students from poor families that are being supported to attend local public schools here in Sihanoukville through M’Lop Tapang’s “Back to School” program. When Theary was very young, she and her family lived and worked on the streets. …
Monitoring and evaluation of all of our programs is important. In June, 2018 an external evaluation of our Vocational Training Programs and Employment Services was completed. View the complete report here: http://mloptapang.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/External-Evaluation-of-MLop-Tapangs-Vocational-Training-and-Employment-Services-Programs-June-2018.pdf
Heng* was born in Phnom Penh into a very poor family. He was one of seven children in the family. His parents died when Heng was 10 years old. He dropped out of school in grade 2. In 2015, when he was 17 years old, Heng moved to Sihanoukville. By then he was living on…
