"Miss, our house burned down"

Two weeks ago, one of the kids at our After School Centre at Boeung Tumpun put up his hand and announced that the previous night his house had burned down. Nobody was injured but they lost everything they own. That is tragic and hard no matter who you are.

The fire was set by someone seeking retribution for an unpaid loan and burned 5 houses down.

Let me give you some background. The communities that Flame identifies are groups of people where the kids aren’t in school. Public school is actually free here in Cambodia, so why are there so many children not enrolled? Most of the kids in our centres have needed to help their families by collecting plastic bottles or cans to recycle. Some of them look after younger siblings while the parents work. These families are in a fragile state.

When there is a major life event, like someone falls sick and needs medical attention, a parent dies or when the house is burned down, the risk that these families face is increased. There are no safety nets. They don’t have savings. They don’t have insurance. They are suddenly thrust onto very dangerous ground.

This is where the Flame team on the ground steps in and helps where it’s needed. Our case workers assess what is going on and why, and then take action. In the case of the house being burned down, the family needed everything replaced and our partners the Svay Rieng Football Club made a donation which more than covered all the household items and school related items that we needed. This family were kept safe.