“I was very sick when I was with my mother and she never looked after me. I had a high fever until I had seizures, and it almost caused my eye damage,”
said Pratna**, a 10-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother and his elder sister of 12 years old. Pratna is an active boy studying grade 3, and his sister is in grade 4.
Pratna’s father was arrested and detained in Siem Reap prison in April 2019 on a drug offence. In early 2020, his mom decided to work in Phnom Penh as she couldn’t find work in Siem Reap during COVID-19. His mom later had a new partner, and unfortunately, she lost contact with her children. So Pratna and his sister were entirely dependent on their 57 years old grandmother. Since then, Pratna’s family experienced significant difficulties due to loss of income, lack of food, lack of education support, and were at risk of family separation.
Fortunately, a prison officer referred the family to TLC in October 2020. After the assessment, the family was selected to receive monthly cash transfers from the FCF | REACT’s Child Sensitive Cash Assistance during COVID-19, funded by USAID. This support assisted Pratna and his family with daily food, health care, hygiene kits, and study materials. Moreover, the grandmother can save some cash to run the Khmer noodles business.
“Covid 19 made my family living even worse. I spent all my business capital on feeding my grandchildren. I was so happy to receive the 50$ cash transfer, which I spent on my grandchildren’s food and studies. I also saved some cash to invest in my business.” said Pratna’s grandmother.
After completing cash assistance in mid-July, Pratna’s family has been engaging with the Child-Sensitive Livelihoods Assistance. The project aims to improve the families’ livelihood activities, including training on financial management, business development, child protection, and promoting family-based care and positive parenting. In addition, the project provided a cash injection to support business development (USD190) and some equipment to improve profits.
“Now I can earn around KHR40,000 (approximately USD10 – previously it was KHR10000-15000 approximately USD2.50-3.75) a day from selling noodles to feed my grandchildren enough healthy food, and they can go to school regularly. Furthermore, I am continually saving to expand my business to provide a better life for my grandchildren. I am so grateful for this kind support,” said the grandmother with a smile.
(Photo by FCF)
Pratna and his family are very happy about the positive changes in their lives. Pratna enjoys learning, spending time with his friends, and caring for his grandmother.
“I never get hungry again, and I can have my favorite fried chicken thighs. Now I am so happy to go to school, and when I grow up, I want to be a policeman to protect my grandmother and my sister,” said Pratna, laughing.
(Photo by FCF)
** Name of the child has been changed to protect the confidentiality