Volunteer Viewpoints
Volunteers Alicia and Riny share their thoughts as they see our field work at first hand during their orientation.
Tagged: child protection
Compassion and Accountability in Cambodia: ChildSafe and Friends-International
A piece by Panha Chezda, published recently on Chaktomuk Insight highlighted the startling claim by the head of the Department of Social Affairs in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, that some organized beggars could be earning upwards of $3,000 a month. Another recent article from ChildSafe Movement also put the spotlight on the alarming rise of large-scale family-organised child begging in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This raises a dilemma. When...
2025, A Year At Friends
As we move into 2026, let’s look back at just a few of the highlights of 2025, from the exciting to the challenging, at Friends-International. In January, we looked at how our FI programs...
Looking Out For Families
As the ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia continues to hold, we look at some very positive actions taken by the Thai government and NGO’s to protect vulnerable migrants during this crisis. Our Friends Thailand...
Bridging Worlds: A Volunteer’s Perspective – Part One
As an important part of their orientation, all volunteers with us spend time ‘on the field’, with the teams, to better understand their role in supporting our work. This is a carefully controlled exercise,...
2024, The Year We Turned 30!
2024, the thirtieth year of Friends-International, is drawing to a close. Let’s spend just a little time scratching the surface of the incredible activities of our #everydayheroes over the past twelve months! Our year...
Chanthy – ChildSafe and Creative!
Our Communications Coordinator James spent some time with the Siem Reap teams this week, catching up on the range of work that our Kaliyan Mith (KMSR) #everydayheroes are doing in Cambodia… A Community Afloat...
New Future for a Single Mum
From dangerous work in the entertainment sector, to becoming a successful businesswoman with our support, this is Ut’s story…
Led to Better Futures!
In March 2022, brothers *Ag Ag & *Zaw Zaw happened upon Tha Ngae Chin Myar, Friends International Myanmar (FIMM) when they followed a group of children bringing lunch boxes to the program center. Our...
A Family Again
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Rushed to the hospital for emergency care, 14 year old *Kimly’s life was on the line after going through repeated physical abuse by her stepmother. Her life was saved by...
From Recycling to Rebuilding
*Sandar, a 12-year old girl, had been experiencing the hardships of life since a very young age. Her family could barely afford their daily needs. She had to do her part in collecting plastic...
A Family in Recovery
In 2019, when Tom was nine years old he and his four siblings could not go to school because they had to take care of each other. Their parents were not capable of raising...
A Champion of Child Protection!
For this story, we will focus on one of our #EverydayHeroes from Indonesia–Mrs. Ms.* A vital member of her community, Mrs. Ms. is a mother, a shopkeeper and – a trained ChildSafe Agent! As...
Ending Exploitation On The City Streets
This next story is from our Thailand team. It highlights the risks of abuse and exploitation many children face on city streets. It also shows how our #everydayheroes, social workers and ChildSafe Agents, work...
ChildSafe Agents – The Right Support At The Right Time
We’re going to put the focus onto some of the recent work of our #everydayheroes in Thailand in these next couple of posts. We’ll show how integration between our teams and ChildSafe Agents helps...
