Daughters of Cambodia

This is a  painting done by an employee of DOC

Daughters of Cambodia (DOC) was created by a British psychologist in 2007. She was studying the effects of the sex-industry on young women in Cambodia at the time and wanted to offer an alternative employment option that women could choose instead of working on the street, thus Daughters of Cambodia was born. Nine years later, DOC runs a cafe and a hotel, along with many production businesses. These businesses offer employment to those who have been working in the sex trade as alternatives. Though it was clear in speaking to some of the women working at the cafe that they will never make as much money at these businesses as they did on the street, DOC offers an option for those who choose to leave the sex trade. 

DOC also has expanded to working with male sex workers in a partner program called Sons of Cambodia. They offer many amenities including medical care, counseling and day care to all their employees and made it clear that taking part in any of their programs is voluntary. They are not a shelter and do not require their participants to live outside of their community in order to take advantage of what DOC can offer. They provide education opportunities and creative classes. The photo here is one that an employee painted herself. I have chosen not to picture an employee on this post due to the sensitive nature of this work and to respect their privacy. DOC is also a faith-based organization and offers religious classes based on Christianity to their employees. It was unclear if the people working at DOC’s establishments are required to attend these classes. It was also not obvious if the resources and classes are run and managed by Cambodians or foreigners. 

 DOC works directly with the Cambodian community and is offering an alternative lifestyle to those who do not want to take part in the sex trade any longer. This is particularly important for children who are trafficked or pressured to work on the streets in order to help support their families. DOC cannot provide the same financial compensation that women or men may find as sex workers, but this may not matter to those who are abused and/or mistreated in this line of work. Though DOC’s mission to spread Christianity may not be culturally comparable to this area of Asia, it is important that these people are being given other options for employment. 

Equity Cambodia

This is Sothida

Equitable Cambodia (EC) was created out of the localization of an NGO by Bridges Across Borders Cambodia. However, that branched off to become Equitable Cambodia which is not locally run by Cambodians. They goals as an organization are community organization, rights educations, empowerment, research, and advocacy. With 48 local employees (20 of them are female), EC has been run by Cambodians since 2003. Currently, most of their cases include issues of land grabbing, conducting legal training, and community organization. 

EC working mainly with people and empowering them to stand up for their own rights. This allows them to work in many different areas such as health, food security, and education but also puts them at odds with the local government. EC working with local law students for universities as interns to help develop their skills. Many of the current employees at EC started as interns. Sothida was one of those interns, who know is heading the Community Organization for Housing Rights Program. She said that she wanted to work for ED because she has a passion to practice law in Cambodia. She wanted to help find justice for poor people in her country and how gets the opportunity to promote that law for the people of Cambodia. 

One of the projects that EC has taken on is helping local communities organize against large sugar farmers to prevent land grabbing or educate them in what they may do to fight for their rights at Cambodians. This is dangerous work because of the government system,  but it is clear that each and every one of these employees is passionate and eager about their work to better their own communities. It is inspiring to see a group of Cambodians take charge of their rights and fight for what they want their fugues to look like. Sothida and her team are continuing to add drops to the bucket of Cambodia. 

Ponheary Ly Foundation

This is Ponheary (right) and Lori (left)

Comprised of two powerful women, the Ponheary Ly Foundation (PLF) is a mix of both “western” and “eastern” philosophy. Ponheary Ly is the founder and mastermind of this NGO. Born in 1962, Ponheary was born into an educated family. She started school, but that was quickly interrupted by the conflict with the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge influence dictated her life until 1979 when Vietnamese military liberated Cambodia. However, Ponheary lost her father and years of education during this time. 

In 1981, she started school again and it was soon after that Ponheary became a primary school teacher. Ponheary worked hard to became a teacher, which included learning how to speak English, French, and Russian. To make ends meet, Ponheary and her siblings also became tour guides. This was when Ponheary became more aware of the problem of child beggars in Cambodia. They are forced to work for money and are robbed the opportunity to go to school. Ponheary saw the problem with this and used the opportunity of being a tour guide to education tourists about the problem. 

Ponheary also started funding children to go to school. In 2001-2005, her and her family helped 200 children afford the uniform to attend schools. It was around this time Ponheary also met Lori on one of her tours. Lori was inspired by Ponheary’s story and mission to allow more children attend school each year. Lori, who was in banking, was able to help Ponheary financially and eventually started the Ponheary Ly Foundation. Lori eventually moved to Siem Reap full time to help Ponheary manage the foundation and now they support nearly 2,800 students. 

PLF works with 5 primary schools and are following their students as they continue to secondary school, high school, and even university. Currently, there are 50 students who are attending a university with the help of PLF, including 1 medical students. 

PLF has no intention of growing. They are aware of their size and the scope of work they can accomplish with their budget of $500,000 USD. They want to continue to fund children through the entire education journey, instead of dropping support after primary or secondary school. Lori discussed the challenge this presents with some of her donors that are more interested in funding young children, but lose interest as they grow older. They also have a social enterprise to manage. PLF is partially supported by a guesthouse in Siem Reap called Seven Candles. This is also where Lori and Ponheary Ly’s family live. With all these moving parts, PLF is growing their staff and donor reach. They want to continue to support children through their education journey, which included providing meals and clean water at school, IT and computer classes and giving them a sense of consistency and peace while expanding their minds.

Started by Cambodians, PLF is an inspirational story. As they grow in size, PLF has hired a multinational staff made up of Cambodians, Americans, and British, just to name a few. With the help of Lori, Ponheary was able to bring her dreams into reality and now manages a large NGO that helps thousands of young students every day.