Every day, Cambodian Srey Mey Keo goes to school like any other 12-year old. After school, however, Srey Mey works as a scavenger, collecting bottles and cans with her parents for less than €3 a day, helping to pay rent on the room they all share.
Srey Mey is one of 67 Cambodian children currently benefitting from a collaboration between Maltese drama outreach programme DoCambodia and Le Restaurant des Enfants (LRDE), a charity in the capital city of Phnom Penh.
“Our restaurant provides food for street children, but more than the food it’s about education and a sense of family,” says Sreymom Chea, a member of the LRDE committee.
“When children come here they can eat, play and feel like a family, and we motivate them to attend school.”
For the last three years, LRDE has been working with DoCambodia, an NGO founded by actor Alan Montanaro, which sends groups of volunteers to Cambodia every summer and supports the children through a sponsorship programme.
Ms Chea, a university graduate and herself a former sponsorship beneficiary, was in Malta last week to make contact with present and potential sponsors, as well as meeting President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.
When children come here they can eat, play and feel like a family
“We started with the idea of teaching English through drama, but it was never our intention for it to be a one-off thing,” says Paula Fleri-Soler from DoCambodia. “When the sponsorships began, we realised we could make it sustainable in the long run.”
The sponsorship programme covers children’s basic meals, school materials and uniform. The child’s family is also provided with food on condition that the child attends school, which Ms Chea says is needed because children often have to work to support their families.
LRDE monitors the development of the child, directly receiving school reports and updates, while godparents receive regular updates and are encouraged to communicate regularly with the child.
“The money is important, but the main thing is the motivation the children receive from their godparents. Most of them are street children; they don’t have complete families,” says Ms Chea.
“When I had a godparent, every time I remembered them, I realised I had to study. Now with technology it’s even easier to stay in touch.”
Currently, some 300 children visit LRDE every day, and Ms Chea estimates that 220 children will attend school with its support this year.
Since opening its doors five years ago, the brainchild of a French philanthropist, it has also expanded its work to include babies in need of care. Alongside this, the organisation operates its own sponsorship programme, with four students currently studying at university.
One of them, Pechenda Meak, who was in Malta with Ms Chea, has worked with LRDE since she was in school, and is currently responsible for the children’s health and education.
In fact, of the eight staff members currently employed by LRDE, five are former godchildren.
“It’s a matter now of making sure they have the funds to keep it going, but it’s a well-oiled machine,” says Ms Fleri-Soler. “Feeding 300 children a day is no joke.”.