Children's Action For Development Our Programs
CAD has developed strong academic programs but these are enhanced by more holistic programs designed to strengthen the whole family unit; including community education, nutrition, vegetable patches and sport. As a result, CAD has genuinely made a difference in the lives of many children and some of our successes can be seen on Our Success Stories webpage
School Construction
Thanks to our long-term partnership with Classroom of Hope and Navitas, CAD has been able to expand into the area of school construction.
- In 2018 CAD built four new classrooms at Ek Phnom Primary school
- December 2019, we finished construction of another 4 classrooms at Andoung Trach
- December 2020, we constructed 4 classrooms at Toul Lveang
- Two classrooms at Preak Drob will be completed by December 2021
- Four classrooms were built at Bou Khna in 2022
Community Education
Children’s Action for Development (CAD) provides community education classes to parents. They are taught about the importance of sending their children to school and reducing child labour. Training includes the impact of migrating for work, drug usage and child trafficking. Interactive group discussions are a very important part of the CAD program and form a link between the community and schools; they also allow CAD social workers to complete home visits to determine if there is any evidence of domestic violence or other problems in the home.
Nutrition
The majority of rural children attending public schools do not start the day with breakfast in their belly. Imagine if you skipped breakfast, walked 5km to school, worked hard, had a small lunch, ran around, walked home, helped mum in the fields and with the chores and then had a bowl of rice and leafy greens at the end of the day?. We cannot build a system of quality education on an empty stomach so CAD provides a meal or snack to the children during both in the morning and afternoon sessions of Supplementary Class. This provides some healthy and much needed nutrients to help get them through the day.
Vegetable Patches
As part of our Life Skills program, kids create vegetable gardens at each of the schools. The children learn which seedlings to use, how to plant, water and maintain their plants. They decide how much they are going to sell at the market and how much will be split amongst their families. This teaches the children incredibly important life skills and has been very successful.
Sport
Children's Action for Development (CAD) believes it is important for the children to have a balanced life. Cambodian kids enjoy playing with other children in their village but there is usually nowhere to do this other than on the roads.
Soccer is still very popular and was supported in 2022 by Future Sense Foundation. CAD fielded two 2 teams with 30 children (11 girls).
It is wonderful to see the kids let go of their worries for a small period of time. What a delight it is to watch them smile, giggle, muck around and just be children!
The boxing project continues to be supported by Mr Michael Chase Corley. There are 5 students and 2 teachers.
Photo: A Future Sense volunteer getting some exercise with the kids.