We believe that with the right education and support, one child has the potential to lift an entire family out of poverty and that a generation of educated children has the power to change a whole society. Through intensive, long-term investments in children, CCF is helping students build the skills, confidence and integrity they need to become the progressive spokespeople and leaders of change in their communities.
Since 2004, we’ve been working with some of the most impoverished communities in Cambodia, centred around the former garbage dump at Steung Meanchey. Back then, our world revolved around the health and wellbeing of 45 children living on the garbage dump. Today there are around 2,000 students working towards a better future for themselves and their families through CCF’s award winning education program.
The garbage dump was closed in 2009. However the need for CCF’s services continues as Steung Meanchey remains an entry-point into Phnom Penh for destitute families with no option but to try and make a living through scavenging or begging on the city streets.
Through a range of programs that focus on 6 core areas – Education, Leadership, Community Outreach, Healthcare, Childcare and Vocational Training – we take a holistic, on-the-ground approach to developing integrated solutions to the complex issues of poverty.
THE CCF MODEL
The two guiding pillars of CCF are Education and Leadership.
1/The Education Program is the driving force behind CCF’s operations, providing a pathway out of poverty for students and their families.
2/The Leadership Program ensures that students graduate with a strong sense of social justice and a commitment to making a better future not just for themselves, but for their community and country.
We learnt early on that transforming the lives of impoverished children through education isn’t as simple as opening free schools. We needed to do more – we needed to address the issues and dysfunction that kept the children away from the classroom. It’s only by addressing these barriers to education that we could achieve our goals of taking impoverished children and giving them a better, dignified life.
Through interconnected programs, CCF works with families to build plans for escaping debt, educating their children and developing job skills for parents and older children. CCF works at the grassroots, community level allowing us to see firsthand the effects of poverty and develop targeted solutions.