Family Reintegration & Family Support

M’Lop Tapang works everyday to reintegrate street living and working children into their families.

There are many reasons that lead to a child leaving home to live on the streets including domestic violence, poverty and lack of access to education. Our Outreach team meets with street living children to help identify these issues and offer support to families so that they are able to provide a safe and stable home environment for their children. Services range from micro loans for a small business set-up, home repairs, participation in our alcohol support group to day care for babies and toddlers. Our social workers follow-up on each case regularly to make sure the family situation has remained stable, and that a safe, healthy, and positive relationship between child and family is being upheld.

Community Education

We strive to inform the local community about M’Lop Tapang and the services available to children. M’Lop Tapang meets regularly with families and community members living in the slums of Sihanoukville, local authorities, and with students learning at the town’s local universities. Our message is always the same: we want Sihanoukville residents to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a street child – and how each community member can make a positive contribution towards protecting these children and improving their chances for a better future.

One way that we reach members of the community is through performing arts. We host regular community wide arts performances that showcase the talents of former street youth. Theater, dance, music and circus performances carry messages about issues effecting street children such as child abuse, HIV and education.

Street Volunteers

Former street young people who are involved with M’Lop Tapang form our team of Street Volunteers. These youth act as peer mentors and role models for younger children who are facing the same issues that they faced: domestic violence, lack of access to education, discrimination for being poor and low self confidence. The Street Volunteers also work in the community helping to fix homes, clean beaches and organize community events. These young people have made a positive change in their lives and are helping to improve the lives of people struggling in their own community.

Radio Show

As part of our community education and outreach program, the M’Lop Tapang radio show was launched at the beginning of 2007. The show airs daily, providing a platform for sharing information about M’Lop Tapang and the services available to community members. The program addresses a variety of social themes such as child rights, HIV/AIDS and drugs, and also includes a phone-in session where people can call in and ask questions anonymously. The show has proved to be immensely popular and reaches approximately 20 000 listeners per week.

Emergency Support

Many families with whom we work live in extreme poverty. They live on rented land without access to clean drinking water or sanitation systems. Flooding often destroys homes leaving families with no shelter or belongings. Furthermore, land evictions continue to be a serious threat all across Cambodia. M’Lop Tapang provides emergency support to families in the form of food, shelter and medical care. As well, we meet with families to offer the services of our many programs including education, vocational training, counseling, baby care, dental care and micro loans. We have assisted hundreds of families who are struggling to get by.