Our Work
Lotus Outreach Australia works in partnership with respected local agencies in Cambodia to fund practical programs in education, vocational training, health care, counselling and advocacy of the rights of women and children.
Our Programs
Girls Access to Education
In partnership with the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), Lotus Outreach Australia is supporting 150 girls in the Phnom Penh province through the Girls' Access to Education GATE program.
Cambodian girls are disproportionately at-risk of being denied a primary education by virtue of some seemingly intractable reasons. In Cambodia, school is technically free but not compulsory. The unofficial costs of education such as supplies, transportation and teacher demands for additional payment frequently make it impossible for Cambodian families to afford to keep their children in school—with girls generally being the first withdrawn. Because of widespread poverty, many children are taken out of school by their families and put to work. Though the income generated by working children helps ease immediate economic hardship, the longer term consequences are often devastating: it is a recognized fact that low levels of education make these children much more likely to be trafficked or fall victim to the brutal commercial sex trade.
We provide scholarships to girls who are at-risk or survivors of violence in order to keep them enrolled in school and attending through the third year of high school, and further if possible. These scholarships not only cover the indirect costs of education such as materials, uniforms, and transportation, but ensure the poorest families have enough rice to eat so the girls will not be taken out of school and put back to work. In addition, some of the girls qualify for residential placement in protective housing. GATE also features a community-based participatory process of building Child Protection Networks. Through engaging community volunteers and building culturally-relevant prevention programs, GATE is able to further stem the tide of human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Wells Project
Lotus Outreach Australia is now funding the construction of six wells in rural Cambodia. According to UNICEF’s 2006 report “Progress For Children: A Report Card on Water and Sanitation,” only 35% of Cambodia’s rural population has access to improved drinking water sources, leaving the remaining 65% vulnerable to life-threatening infectious disease—with children under 5 at the greatest risk.
When poor Cambodians have no drinking water, they have to buy it or spend valuable work hours fetching it. The cost is up to $30 or comparable in-kind labor per month for a typical family, which equals the average monthly salary of one Cambodian adult. This expense has a severe impact on communities, where 80% of families cannot afford to pay for more than two days of rice at a time.
In addition to drastically reducing the financial burden on rural families and lowering the incidence of infectious disease, these wells allow villagers to grow vegetables during the dry, drought-prone season, which can last from eight to ten months per year. The availability of fresh vegetables will help reduce widespread malnutrition and hunger. Furthermore, the wells help villagers to weather more frequent and extreme drought and flooding due to climate change and deforestation.
(In partnership with CWCC)
Lotus Outreach Australia Board
- President: Julia Booth, has worked in both the Private and Government sectors for the past 15 years. Her experience is in developing and managing community and development projects.
- Vice President: Pheona Arndell
- Treasurer: Anna Harper, a synthesiser and facilitator, 'shaping' individuals, organisations and teams towards greater consciousness of what is possible.
- Secretary: Jane Lyttleton, author, teacher and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, working in a multidisciplinary clinic and specializing in women's health
- Fundraising: Shanti Steiner
- New Projects: Charlie Cristi
- Grants Advisor: Sylvia DeAngelis