Last Wednesday was a public holiday in Cambodia, but many of the Riverkids staff came into work anyway to conduct a parent meeting with the families of the kindergarten students.
When parents are actively involved in providing their children with an education and protecting them from exploitation and abuse, it makes all the difference in ensuring that students stay in school, out of work and away from traffickers. At parent meetings, Riverkids staff try to educate families about the value of their children and the necessity of treating them properly.
On Wednesday, Riverkids staff began the meeting by explaining that Rivkerkids' mission is to give children opportunities while protecting them from exploitation and abuse. The staff talked with the parents about the progress the kindergarten students have made and showed the parents some of the children’s work. The staff then asked the parents to actively contribute to their children’s education and well-being by making sure the kids are clean and properly dressed, and by escorting them to school across the busy road that separates the Riverkids site from the main slum area. The staff reminded parents that Riverkids will provide their children with school supplies, snacks and breakfast, but that the parents have to take responsibility for making sure the students attend school regularly.
The staff then asked the parents if they had any questions or feedback. None of the parents had anything negative to say about Rivekids and most said they were very happy with the kindergarten program and wanted Riverkids to continue helping their children with their educations in the future.
When the discussion period was over, the staff introduced a board game they had created to encourage dialogue about difficult issues among community members. In the game, players are presented with problems that are common in the local community, for example: “A neighborhood child has been orphaned and has no one to take care of him.” If players give a constructive answer, (for instance, in this example: “call an NGO to help the child and let him stay with our family in the meantime”), then they can move forward. If they give a non-constructive response (for instance: “Leave the child alone, he’s not our problem.”), then they have to stay where they are. The first player to reach the end of the board is the winner.
The social work staff decided to create the game because there’s often a lot of tension between community members, and when difficult situations arise people usually just argue with each other rather than working together to find a solution. The staff wasn’t sure how the parents would react to the game, but it seemed to be a great success. The parents discussed the problems calmly and they all came up with appropriate solutions to the issues. Since the game seems to work well, the Riverkids staff will present it at the next meeting of Chab Dai, a coalition of anti-trafficking organizations.
When parents are actively involved in providing their children with an education and protecting them from exploitation and abuse, it makes all the difference in ensuring that students stay in school, out of work and away from traffickers. At parent meetings, Riverkids staff try to educate families about the value of their children and the necessity of treating them properly.
On Wednesday, Riverkids staff began the meeting by explaining that Rivkerkids' mission is to give children opportunities while protecting them from exploitation and abuse. The staff talked with the parents about the progress the kindergarten students have made and showed the parents some of the children’s work. The staff then asked the parents to actively contribute to their children’s education and well-being by making sure the kids are clean and properly dressed, and by escorting them to school across the busy road that separates the Riverkids site from the main slum area. The staff reminded parents that Riverkids will provide their children with school supplies, snacks and breakfast, but that the parents have to take responsibility for making sure the students attend school regularly.
The staff then asked the parents if they had any questions or feedback. None of the parents had anything negative to say about Rivekids and most said they were very happy with the kindergarten program and wanted Riverkids to continue helping their children with their educations in the future.
When the discussion period was over, the staff introduced a board game they had created to encourage dialogue about difficult issues among community members. In the game, players are presented with problems that are common in the local community, for example: “A neighborhood child has been orphaned and has no one to take care of him.” If players give a constructive answer, (for instance, in this example: “call an NGO to help the child and let him stay with our family in the meantime”), then they can move forward. If they give a non-constructive response (for instance: “Leave the child alone, he’s not our problem.”), then they have to stay where they are. The first player to reach the end of the board is the winner.
The social work staff decided to create the game because there’s often a lot of tension between community members, and when difficult situations arise people usually just argue with each other rather than working together to find a solution. The staff wasn’t sure how the parents would react to the game, but it seemed to be a great success. The parents discussed the problems calmly and they all came up with appropriate solutions to the issues. Since the game seems to work well, the Riverkids staff will present it at the next meeting of Chab Dai, a coalition of anti-trafficking organizations.
-Jane Boyle
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