Foundation for Developing Cambodian Communities Ltd

Cambodian Kids Can focuses on the rural area of Prey Veng, Cambodia, a highly populated agricultural region vulnerable to natural disaster. Here, and across Cambodia, children as young as eight are forced out of school and into work. For a child with no education, there is little opportunity to break the cycle of disadvantage. Girls are most at risk and in a province where half of the population live in poverty, education changes everything.

At Cambodian Kids Can, we empower through education. Opened in 2005, Mekhala House provides up to 40 girls in rural Cambodia with a safe place to live, access to vital healthcare, comprehensive education and personal development programs. Living at Mekhala House the girls attend the local Government schools in Prey Veng and come home to a safe homely environment where they receive extensive after school tutoring and additional English language and computer literacy classes. Staff also operate programs in self-confidence, emotional development, life skills and leadership and the girls are offered mentoring and healthcare.

Equipping these young women with the skills, knowledge and confidence to pursue their dreams for the future, they become change-makers who break the cycle to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.

While at Mekhala House, the girls are encouraged to maintain strong connections with their families and broader communities. They are encouraged to return to their remote villages during important festivals and family events, and are given food parcels on their return.

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