CHO Land – The Safe Haven site

CHO has purchased 50,000m² of land eight kilometres from Poipet, on which the construction of more than fifteen purpose-built buildings is envisaged within the next ten years.

Short Term Objectives:

1. To build ten secure homes for children and single mothers who have been trafficked, or are at risk of being trafficked into Thailand.

2. To provide skills, training, counseling and bible teaching whilst they live in the safe haven for six months to two years.

3. To re-integrate safe haven residents back into a community and enable them to set up their own business using the Micro – Loan scheme.

4. To support ex-safe haven residents through annual progress meetings.

CHO plans only short-term support for a safe haven, envisaging that success of this project will prompt the government to take an increasingly large role. Dually, it is hoped that through working at the source of the problem of child trafficking, as well as through providing a support for those already trafficked, CHO will encourage a decline in the problem.

Long Term Objectives:

1. To build and run two Christian primary schools and a three floor university, to provide education for children and young people of all ages.

2. To build a two floor community centre, to provide a meeting and skills training site for workshops, church and the CHO offices.

3. To construct a guesthouse to accommodate medium to long term volunteers from overseas.

4. To establish a Bible college which will teach young adults to become pastors and church leaders.

CHO particularly wants children from the long Cambodian border towns to have educational opportunities. At present many are unable to attend school and very few graduate. If a parent wishes their child to receive a full education they must travel to Phnom Penh. Therefore CHO wishes to make education accessible for all in the hopes that the children from the border towns have the opportunity to bring Christian influence to Cambodia through leadership.

The Christian school that CHO is building strives to provide an equal standard of education to schools in the west. Therefore CHO wishes to forge links with established schools in order to benefit from their experience and gain knowledge in areas such as IT or business management. The support of other schools is crucial in gaining credibility for the CHO Christian School and thereby increasing its effectiveness.

CHO would like this school to be good quality, so as to be an example to others and gain a good reputation, so that the Cambodian government will encourage other schools to mirror it, thereby increasing educational standards across the country.