“When we met the hundreds of children and their families working and eating in the middle of the rubbish dump of Stung Mean Chey we could not sleep in peace any more”, told Mr. Christian des Pallières to C.S.C. journalists. Deeply moved by the unbearable images of the children eating and practically living in the middle of the garbage, Christian and Marie-France felt that the time for a concrete action had come. “If we can make one of those children to share a smile with us, it is already something good –we said to each other”, he continued. Early 1996 after a testimony given in France to several members of their relatives and friends this Catholic couple decided to start a primary school in the same area, not far from the garbage dump, with the objective to facilitate the schooling of the children. Having gathered enough resources to start with they welcomed the first children on May 20, 1996.
Today “Pour un Sourire d’Enfant” is a non-political and non-religious Association. Its main general objective is “to defend the most elementary rights of children in the world”. With this principle or general objective as a guideline PSE has made the preferential option for the most vulnerable children, starting with the children of the families whose livelihoods depend on the rubbish dump of Stung Mean Chey, south-west of Phnom Penh.
A couple of kilometers away from the rubbish dump –right side of
 PSE students |
the main road coming from the city- we can see the Vocational Training Center “Phiap Ngongam nai Koma”-“For a Smile of a Child”- where more than one-thousand children receive love and education. “Most of the students are very late in their schooling and even quite a good number never had the opportunity to go to school they were 12, 14 or 16 year-old. The system we have developed help these students to make two levels in one year till level 7th. From level 8th to 12th the students shall normally study one level per year” said Mrs. Des Pallières to C.S.C.
It is a fascinating experience to pass through the area after school hours and look at the hundreds of noisy students wearing a characteristic white shirt and a sky-blue skirt (the girls) or sky-blue trousers (the boys), leaving the school, most of them in direction to the biggest rubbish dump of the city.
 Happy PSE children |
“It has been a world tragedy the fact that the last Tsunami has suddenly killed over 200.000 persons in very few hours. We are all very sad. However, what about if we look at the Cambodian tragedy as well? In less than three years over 2 million people lost their lives due to the genocide or as a consequence of the genocide. We cannot forget this part of the Cambodian history”, Mr. François Marion commented in his dialogue with C.S.C. reporters. In their dialogue with C.S.C. reporters Christian and Marie-France said that it difficult for them to understand how come the world so easily forgets a tragedy like this one of Cambodia. “We can easily see the scars of this tragedy in the minds and hearts of our children's parents of PSE”, added Marie-France.
Cambodia is still suffering the effects of its 30-year civil war that started on the early 70’s of last century. In 1993, after the Paris peace accord, Cambodia started a process of reconstruction. All Cambodian institutions were virtually destroyed, including the educational system. Children have been the first victims of the nightmare of their country leaving as a result not only the extreme poverty of most of the families but also thousands of homeless, orphans, handicapped persons, family violence, maltreatment of children, broken relationships, lack of confidence among each other and the evil of ignorance.
- Around 50% of the 12 million Cambodia’s population is under 16 year-old.
- 45% of children –nearly 2.5 millions- suffer of malnutrition and lack of medical care.
- 66% of children do not have access to clean water.
- In the year 2001 there were 50,000 orphans, children of AIDS patients’ parents.
- The UNICEF estimates that if the growing rhythm of AIDS continues the same, by the year 2010 the country will have around 142,000 orphans.
Besides the education and attention of the students PSE accomplishes everyday other activities such as:
1. Feeding pregnant mothers and children at the rubbish dump and bringing them basic medical care. At 6.30am, 7 days a week, an average of 500 to 600 meals are distributed directly on the dumpsite. On the weekends and days off, the number of meals increase since children, usually at school, come back to the dump to work.
2. An educational program outside of the Vocational Training Center PSE for the children who are not late in their schooling.- This is a support to poor families whose children have the ability to get integrated into the public education system, however, due to poverty cannot send their children to school. At present moment nearly 2,000 children are receiving this support. The organization pays the scholarship fee and if necessary, it gives incentive to compensate the financial income given by the children to their parents.
A PSE student, Sam Nang, 19, told C.S.C. he came to study at PSE center in the year 2002. “I heard about this organization from my mother. I used to work with my mother in the rubbish dump and one day she told me she wanted me to go to study at a good school she knew… so I decided to come here”, said Nang. “This centre not only provide good training but also gives us meals, accommodation and uniform” he added.
Mr. F. Marion told UCAN reporters about some future plans of PSE, especially concerning the professional training center that has as main purpose to complement the education of those who finish their formal school studies, as far as they can go regarding age and personal capacities. They need practical knowledge in order to get a job and to become self-sufficient. “Pour une Sourire d’Enfant” is now providing different professional training programs such as Secretariat, administration, selling,management, hotel business-catering and hairdressing and beauty industry. “We are trying to develop these professional trainings looking at the needs of the country and according to the real capacities our Association PSE. The entire professional training have a component focusing in computer science and foreign languages, which are essential to any professional in Cambodia”, said Mr. F. Marion. A final concern Mr. Marion mentioned was about the new occupation of hundreds of families who are now making their livelihoods from the rubbish damp, since the government has the plan to finish it by the Year 2007.
If you are interested in contacting PSE please look at:www.pse.asso.fr
E-mail: pse@site-pse.org
Article Source: C.S.C. Catholic Social Communications - Catholic Church Cambodia
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