Who Will Children's Community
Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia
Chairman: Gerald Trevor
Where: Phum Bopel, Kampong Tralach, Kampong Chhnang – 52 km from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
How many children: 48 at present
Ages of the children: 3 years to 14 years
Why did Sakka choose “Who Will:”
Who Will is a new community. The children have been living there since August 1, 2009. The children of Who will are "economic orphans." Some have lost one or both parents, some have been pulled out of dangerous situations. The management of Who Will has more than 20 years experience in Cambodia, and the project is well run and well organized.
The children live on the property. There are 4 houses, each house holding between 10 - 13 children. Each house has a caretaker, sleeping, eating and bathroom facilities.
Most urgently needed:
Caretaking of 48 children, particularly medical, nutrition, educational materials, classrooms, books & teaching materials. USD 3 per day will take care of all needs of one child. Also they are in need of environmental assistance, including power supply, trees, desks and chairs for the children.
How Sakka is Helping:
Sakka Foundation has launched the "Sponsor A House" program. By sponsoring all of the costs of one of the four houses on the property, Sakka contributes to 25% of the caretaking, food, nutrition, medical and educational needs of the children at Who Will.
The Who Will Story
Having been involved with Cambodian orphans and distressed children for more than 10 years, Gerald reached the opinion that the current pattern of orphanages is outdated and children should, wherever possible, be raised in a proper family environment. Permanent residence in an orphanage should only be considered as a last resort.
Who Will is building a village that will ultimately comprise 10 family houses and ancillary accommodation to enable the project to function as any normal local village community. Each house will have three children’s bedrooms, a supervisor’s suite of bedroom and en-suite shower room and a kitchen/living room. Initially each of these will have a house mother with space for up to 12 children. The house mother will be responsible for bringing up her family as if their true mother. She will buy the food from the market, cook, clean and generally be their mother.
As the project evolves, the house mothers will be replaced by married couples with a maximum of 2 of their own children. They will be offered occupation rights to each house that will be conditional on them agreeing to “foster” up to 8 disadvantaged or orphaned children. These couples will probably be from poor local families so should have good connections in the area. Hopefully they will have some form of family support although Who Will will retain a supervisory role with a local Village Manager living in the village to ensure that the standard of nutrition, health, education and discipline matches the strict rules/code of conduct that will be established. Ultimately this village will appear to be just another country village and it will be fully integrated into the community ensuring the children will not carry the unjustified stigma of “coming from an orphanage”.
Who Will’s role in the future management will likely entail subsidising food and education costs in addition to its general supervisory position.
We have not come across such a project and it could well be the first of its kind. The pattern can be replicatedin other areas both in Cambodia and other countries once the blueprint has been finalised and the concept tested.
Development of the project
The style and design of the building has been deliberately kept simple and in accordance with local building methods. Gerald has considerable experience of this type of development in Cambodia and the directors of Who Will are therefore confident that the plans can be brought to construction and on budget.
Who Will is building a village that will ultimately comprise 10 family houses and ancillary accommodation to enable the project to function as any normal local village community. Each house will have three children’s bedrooms, a supervisor’s suite of bedroom and en-suite shower room and a kitchen/living room. Initially each of these will have a house mother with space for up to 12 children. The house mother will be responsible for bringing up her family as if their true mother. She will buy the food from the market, cook, clean and generally be their mother.
As the project evolves, the house mothers will be replaced by married couples with a maximum of 2 of their own children. They will be offered occupation rights to each house that will be conditional on them agreeing to “foster” up to 8 disadvantaged or orphaned children. These couples will probably be from poor local families so should have good connections in the area. Hopefully they will have some form of family support although Who Will will retain a supervisory role with a local Village Manager living in the village to ensure that the standard of nutrition, health, education and discipline matches the strict rules/code of conduct that will be established. Ultimately this village will appear to be just another country village and it will be fully integrated into the community ensuring the children will not carry the unjustified stigma of “coming from an orphanage”.
Who Will’s role in the future management will likely entail subsidising food and education costs in addition to its general supervisory position.
We have not come across such a project and it could well be the first of its kind. The pattern can be replicatedin other areas both in Cambodia and other countries once the blueprint has been finalised and the concept tested.
Development of the project
The style and design of the building has been deliberately kept simple and in accordance with local building methods. Gerald has considerable experience of this type of development in Cambodia and the directors of Who Will are therefore confident that the plans can be brought to construction and on budget.
