One Family at Railway 2 Community – by Sakona and Sophea

Several months ago, our community nurse and social worker department staff managed to work with the local authorities to help one vulnerable family in Railway 2, one of the slums we are working with.

The background of the family is unfortunate. As they do not have their own house, they have to stay under a neighbour’s house where all waste sits. The wife has just given birth but is now working as a sex worker in order to support the family. The husband who is an alcoholic and drug addict, stays at home, subjecting the wife to further abuse.

Riverkids has decided to support the family by paying the rent for a house and providing them the health care needed by the mother and her baby. For a baby who is unable to feed on the mother’s milk, the provision of proper nutrition and Lactogen milk is the next best alternative we can give under our Baby Bellies Programme.

Although there were signs of improvement in the husband’s attitude and behaviour recently – he helped to look after the baby while his wife was out working – we remain watchful on his progress and continue counselling until domestic violence stops completely.