Annual Report 2012 Contents 4 Letter from the Founder 5 Accountability & Transparency 6 What We Do & How We Do It 2012: Numbers that Matter 8 Feature THE PHNOM PENH POST 7DAYS SEP 7 - 13 , 2012 SEP 7 - 13 , 2012, 2012 7DAYS THE PHNOM PENH POST Feature 9 Making a difference down in the dump CLAIRE KNOX N the southern, industrial fringes of 8 Phnom Penh, six O heavily pregnant women spill out of a tuk-tuk and waddle across a pitted, dusty road. Streaming through the gates of the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) – an NGO providing education, accommodation and healthcare to over 1,200 children in one of the city’s poorest districts, Steung Meanchey – the women wait patiently in line to have recent ultrasounds examined. Established in 2004 by ex- Hollywood movie mogul turned third world altruist, Scott Neeson, CCF launched its Maternal Care Program in 2009, and the labours have yielded impressive results. Year in Review Face slightly weathered but warm, with a toothy grin and mop of tawny, sun-bleached hair, 53-year-old Adelaide native Neeson scaled the career ladder swiftly – from humble beginnings hanging posters at a country theatre, he soon moved on to film distribution in Sydney and in 1993 hightailed it to Los Angeles, eventually nabbing the plum role of President of 20th Century Fox International. During his tenure he oversaw the where he oversaw the releases of blockbusters such as Titanic, Braveheart, Independence Day, X-Men and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In 2003, a respite from the Beverley Hills soirees and Marina Del Ray yachts took the form of CCF runs a Day Care program for Steung Meanchey’s children under six, with an early-education based curriculum that includes Khmer and English lessons. PHOTOS: ALEXANDER CROOK a visit to Cambodia’s temples and Scott Neeson, founder of CCF, scoops up one of the children. Neeson soon found himself knee The tip was shifted even further “This area is one of the poorest urine and blood tests and doctor outside a major hospital with no deep in Phnom Penh’s waste, with “There’s still such a long way to AusAid has directly targeted child outside the city’s edges in 2009, in Cambodia,” he muses, “nearly all check-ups. If there are any problems, money to get in, and his wife was “Maybe they had a bad hundreds of languid, scrawny kids close to the Killing Fields, but the of these people are carrying huge, go for Cambodia’s health system – and maternal health and healthcare experience, or had no experience we scale up the care and give them bleeding profusely. it lacks everything from the bricks fishing about for anything of value. community it served remains, the huge debts, with the majority from priority treatment, and the women for the very poor. However Megan with western medicine, maybe “It cost me $15 once I arrived to and mortar to build hospitals to Anderson, AusAid counsellor for Less than five years ago, Steung area is still laced with poverty, debt medical costs – most of them have deliver their babies at nearby get her in, however it was a breech they are in very remote areas - they Meanchey was home to the the training of doctors and nurses. development and cooperation, said and desperation. migrated here from the provinces hospitals without having to pay a birth so we paid a further $40 for may not know about these kind of capital’s municipal rubbish dump, There are some great facilities that although maternal and child An alarmed Neeson pulled two to try and find some kind of work,” thing,” says Son Thoen, a maternal the operation to get Sokly out. schemes. But we are trying to get a gargantuan, six-hectare spread of for children but adults have very health had made great strides in children from the dump and for he says. care supervisor and nurse at CCF. If I hadn’t answered my phone the system national,” she says. rotting plastic. limited options.” Cambodia, often the poorest 10 $40 had them enrolled in school – CCF’s latest project, the Neeson is no stranger to the that night, both mother and baby “We’ve made huge, huge gains Cambodia’s maternal and child per cent of the population are the Hundreds of the country’s a year later he had sold his home, Maternal Care Program, has now media, but his pride in the project wouldn’t have survived.” though. Nine hundred women and poorest would try to eke out an resigned from his job, leased a assisted 408 women through their health has seen vast improvements hardest to reach. their babies now live every year. existence at the site, scooping up building and hired his first Khmer pregnancies, delivering 354 healthy over the last decade, and it’s come Anderson says a hurdle that Few other countries have been anything of worth. 11at the ideal time – 80 per cent of remains is convincing people to able to bring numbers down so staff member. babies. Of the 408, 54 are still yet to give birth, meaning that so far, “Some of these women the country’s population is under access public health services. substantially.” every single child born and their 33, acccording to AusAid research, mothers have survived. with most women in this age The program targets Steung were giving birth on the group currently in their child- Meanchey’s most vulnerable – to bearing years. join, pregnant women must be rubbish dump or on Maternal mortality has fallen either living in poverty, have a form 472 deaths per 100,000 live history of poor health or come births in 2005 to 206 deaths in from a domestic violence situation. grimy floors” 2010, exceeding the country’s There are three nurses at the millennium development goal of reducing that number to 250 clinic who check ultrasounds, is palpable, gesturing wildly and Earlier in our visit, Neeson leads deaths by 2015. Meanwhile, infant conduct regular health speaking in elongated bursts. us about two kilometres south assessments, make home visits, and mortality has decreased from 66 He scoops up four-year-old, from the CCF site to a tatty, deaths per 1000 live births in 2005 supply drinking water, rice and grinning Sokly, whose perilous makeshift hut flanking the former to 45 in 2010. vitamins to the women’s families birth sparked the Maternal Care tip’s periphery. Between 2006 and 2010, the for the entire nine months. Program. “There was a complete lack of “We also provide an ID card, number of supervised births “I remember I had a call from hygiene and some of these women increased from 44 per cent to 71 registering all their details and her father in the wee hours of the were literally giving birth on the per cent. expected delivery dates, and we morning – I have no idea how he rubbish dump or on grimy floors Sou Thoen, a maternal nurse, checks pregnancy ultrasounds. send them to hospitals for regular Since 2007, most of the $65 got my number – but he was stuck like these,” he says. Children use the project as a place to play and make friends. Financials 12million of funding injected by Dinner. Children from the commune come in for three meals a day. 15 US Donor Lists 3 Founder’s Letter - Living the Dream I first set foot on the Steung Meanchey garbage than most developed countries; no mother has dump nearly 10 years ago and that’s when life as died through childbirth in over three years; the I knew it began to unravel. older youth are now running the community programmes and the younger youth have real It was an apocalyptic sight. Around 1,500 and relatable mentors. children, from toddlers to teens, working and living upon 11 hectares of churning garbage. We don’t believe that “scaling up” is the answer. The heat, the haze and a smell that was almost Implementing any of our programs in isolation tactile. I remember first seeing the children. leads to dependency and removes self- They were beyond sad. I saw fear, hopelessness governance. We also don’t believe in scattering and children without light in their eyes. I was these programmes; simply feeding the hungry unable to walk away; I moved here and set up or building schools, without providing the the Cambodian Children’s Fund, and the rest is required social and community structure, leaves now history. a trail of unsustainable entities. We do believe that replication, community by community, is Back then, the dream was to get these kids off the only long-term answer. the dumpsite, into a safe environment and - most of all - into a desperately-needed education. That I urge you to take a closer look at CCF: our seemed an insurmountable mission and it nearly practices, values, financial records, the “reviews” was. I started the only way I knew how – one of those who have spent time here and of course child at a time: one by one, every day and almost the success of our programmes. every night. Our needs are still significant and we continue At present, we provide a quality education each to receive the most impoverished and abused day to over 1,517 children, ages 6 years through children. We still bring in the most in-need and 20 years. Their families receive essential support, at-risk children the same way: one by one. We from medical treatment to subsidized food to teach, we care, we lead, love and we turn the emergency housing.