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Placement: Homeland, Battambang, Cambodia
Project Title: Examining the Situation of Street and Slum
Families in Battambang Town
Abstract:
After years of brutal civil war and political infighting,
Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the region and
the world. Marked by economic impotence and widespread corruption,
modern day Cambodia is home to millions of people living in poverty—their
situations exacerbated by land confiscation, an under-funded education
system, and a myriad of development issues.
With the majority of the country’s poor living
in the rural areas, urban centers such as Battambang Town, continue
to attract migrants in search of economic opportunity and personal
security, many of whom find themselves homeless and isolated instead.
The slum and street people of Battambang are neglected by the government,
ostracized by society as a whole, and stuck in a cycle of economic
inopportunity that leads many to gambling, drugs, alcohol, and crime.
The most vulnerable victims of the ills and dangers of street life
are of course the children—their families caught in a difficult
situation and their potential eroded rather than bolstered by the
opportunities of the city.
The aim of this project was to do two things: firstly,
to gather information that is specific to Battambang Town on the
backgrounds and current situations of families living on its streets
and in its slums; and secondly, to identify trends and factors that
affect the health, wellbeing, and security of street children and
their families. The information gathered in this research is meant
to surface a framework that begins to map out different areas of
concern and potential engagement for non-governmental organizations,
particularly for the host organization and research partner, Homeland.
This project was initiated as a crucial effort to help improve the
security and opportunity of street children as the number of street
and slum families continues to increase in Battambang while reliable
information and statistical data about them is scare and incomplete.
Twenty-five street and slum-based families participated
in the project which was conducted using a 46-question survey and
11 follow-up interview questions and administered between December
2006 and February 2007. The survey was divided into five sections,
each aimed at gaining information about a particular aspect of the
families’ background and current situation: Family Size, Structure,
and Child Mortality; Family Movement and Relocation; Economics and
Employment; Education; and Nutrition and Health.
The results present a snapshot of the situation
of street and slum-based families in Battambang Town and provide
statistical data that is based on answers from over 11% of the street
and slum families that Homeland has counted in five areas of Battambang
Town with the largest concentrations of street and slum families.
The results of the project are being disseminated to local agencies
and non-governmental organizations with the aim of instigating further
research and efforts to improve the security and opportunity of
street and slum families by focusing on the factors adversely affecting
their situations instead of the stigmatizing judgments that they
are often met with.
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