Author: EMily

Following a week of yellow-zone lockdowns, on Friday the 17th of September, communes in Siem Reap province were placed into red-zone lockdowns. The...

Due to the significant financial losses our families suffered from countrywide redundancies; our immediate reaction was to fight the potentiality of starvation. After months of hard work, logistical challenges and everchanging restrictions, our critical emergency food distribution processes were running smoothly and effectively, and it was then time to turn our attention towards intensifying our “at home learning” strategy. Following the success of our Double Your REACH campaign, we are now very proud to share with you the 5 core areas of development that our education team have been working on behind the scenes.

Worryingly, the current threat of the Covid-19 outbreak is just one of many problems at the forefront of our families minds. Right now, a number of...

For the past year, we have been using words such as “difficult” and “challenging” in an attempt to paint a picture of our day-to-day reality, but in all honesty, these singular words undermine the enormity of what not only our families, but also our team have been going through. This whirlwind of an update is going to give you some hard hitting insights into the current conditions of Siem Reap city, the many layers of ongoing suffering, and the recent events that led to four of our staff members being removed from their families.

Currently, with lockdowns in place across the province, our approach to logistics in the weeks ahead will be challenging, but our resilient team h...

REACH's programs have been methodically designed with a solid purpose; to break long-standing, inter-generational poverty cycles. Although we talk about this goal frequently, it is imperative that we continually evaluate our programs by assessing the impact that they are having on our families. Whilst we can systematically collect data, carry out surveys, and track our findings, it is the organic offering of this information by determined mothers and fathers that tell us the most. Returning from a recent house visit, our social worker was almost in tears over the conversation she had just had with one of our resilient mothers, Lyna*. This is Lyna’s story.

Our communication with Green Gecko Project first unfolded in November last year when we hosted a screening of the film to all of our staff. The purpose of this screening was to educate our staff on the dangers and warning signs of human trafficking which is a huge risk to vulnerable children and adults in Cambodia. After seeing this on social media, leading actor Sarm Heng, who grew up with the love and support of Green Gecko - an NGO founded by Tania Palmer in 2005 to prevent the human trafficking of street kids and their families - got in touch with us to collaborate. Sarm and Tania came to REACH for a meeting, and we learned that the initial purpose of their involvement within this film was to be able to raise awareness on the dangers of illegally crossing borders in search of work.

As I sit here with tired legs, three days on from our final bike ride with REACH’s teenagers, I feel an immense wave of gratitude for every sponsor...

It has been 8 months since our direct response to the pandemic prompted the distribution of monthly emergency relief packages; a critical lifeline for so many families. As government schools began to reopen in stages, we made the decision to re-evaluate the distribution protocol to further ensure and monitor that their children’s education is being prioritised by all guardians.

At REACH, we firmly believe that collaboration is key. By connecting with like-minded organisations, with strong values and parallel go...