PIO Provides Basic Education, Training to Children at Stung Meanchey Dump Site

By Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

To date, hundreds of children living surrounding Stung Meanchey dump site in Phnom Penh have attended classes in basic literacy and math, as well as non-formal life skills training. These classes have been organized by the People’s Improvement Organization (PIO), a local Non Governmental Organization. However, not only does this organization provide food for the developing mind, it also feeds the young scholar’s body.

Noun Hengleap, vice-director of PIO, said that the children who attended basic training are generally trash pickers themselves, or the children of parents who work as trash pickers at Stung Meanchey dump site. It is the work of the PIO to provide them with literacy and math skills.

She told the Cambodia Weekly that according to a PIO report, a total of 242 children included 149 boys and 93 girls attend classes at the Stung Meanchey Center.

She said that the training, which conforms to the national curriculum of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), was introduced by PIO in 2004, and the main purpose of training is to provide free training to the poor and vulnerable children so that they can, if desired, continue their studies at secondary schools.

Hengleap said that initially at least, to encourage young and unformed intellects to attend the school, teachers had to entice the children with full and bounteous hands.

“For the last three years, we have been bribing the kids with food to get them to attend the training. When the fun is over, that is when our work begins. Through our programs we provide some of the most vulnerable women and children in Cambodia with hope for the future. Through education it is our belief that we can improve the lives of the Cambodian people. They will be able to take greater control of their lives and create their own trajectories out of poverty,” she added.

She pointed out that PIO opened its first schoolrooms at Stung Meanchey dump site in August 2004, running classes around the kids work schedules at the dump so they could still earn a living. “As the school is located right in the center of the community and is free, more and more parents are allowing their kids to attend.”

Neou Virak, PIO Administrator and Teacher, estimated that there are about 10,000 people living around the dump site.

Virak said that the workers at the dump site were mostly children, barefoot and shirtless, some as young as four years old, who work to earn less than a dollar per day. Many of them started work as early as 3am, with a 7pm finish.

He stated that all children who attended PIO classes also received lunch every day, with a monthly allowance of five kilograms of rice per month. Class attendance also entitles the student to health care and a range of other benefits provided by the organization. For the homeless or orphaned student, there are also dormitories at the Stung Meanchey Center.

According to Virak, PIO serves 600 children a day through a variety of programs that include non-formal education and vocational training. This training is provided by centers located in Stung Meanchey, Borei Keila, and Borei Santepheap II which is situated in Khan Dangkor, Phnom Penh.

Vice-director Noun Hengleap said PIO has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MoEYS and follows the national curriculum for grades 1 to 9.

According to this MoU, it allows PIO to provide education to Cambodia’s most vulnerable sectors of society, and its efforts are recognized by MoEYS, Hengleap said. She added a child that graduates from PIO will be able to continue at any government school at the appropriate level.

“Our work is focused primarily in our Outreach centers. We work directly with the people in the community and provide the children and their families with education and rice,” Hengleap said. “For the older students, we offer a vocational training program that teaches girls beauty salon skills. Learning a skill provides the opportunity for the girls to earn an independent income.”

Kep Chuktema, governor of Phnom Penh Municipality, said the City appreciates the work of the PIO in helping the weaker members of society help themselves through education.

The Governor told the Cambodia Weekly by telephone on August 21, 2008 that, “I think that the organization’s activities are great help to the children in Stung Meanchey dump site.”

He said that according to the latest estimates, there are about 20,000 families and 1,000 children who benefit from the work of PIO and other organizations operating at the Stung Meanchey dump site.

17-year-old Sok Sambo, a grade 4 student at the PIO School, said that he was so happy that he could go to study with the PIO. He is the son of dump site workers and he can count four brothers and six sisters in his family. Currently, five of these enquiring minds, apart from Sambo, are attending PIO classes.

Sambo said, “I think that if there is no support from PIO, my younger brothers, sisters and I probably may not be able to go to school because of financial constraints.”

Thon Phally, 15, is a grade 2 student of the PIO’s School, with self improvement very much in mind.

She said, “I used to study at a state primary school in 2005 but I was forced to stop because my family was unable to pay and I was to look after my younger brothers and sisters.”

“Now, I am happy that I am able to study with PIO. I know I must study hard and make the most of this opportunity to complete secondary school. Once this training is complete, then the future looks bright,” she added.

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