Lifeboat

Riverkids Lifeboat program is a two year structured-intervention program for families in crises, living in Phnom Penh slum communities. Providing skills education, health support and innovative direct cash aids so that families can create a plan for self sustained stability. Slums, defined by the Cambodian government as informal settlements erected on state public land, house just over 25,100 families in Phnom Penh. In recent years Phnom Penh has experienced rapid urbanisation and growth, resulting in expansion of slum settlements. In 2014 the United Nations estimated that 55.1% of the Cambodian population lived in slum communities. Unicef states that such settlements often fall outside of the normal provision of public amenities including supply of water, sanitation, sewage, and power, all of which are complicated by issues of land tenure. The people I met are more than there circumstance. They are loving parents, hardworking grandparents, & playful children whose spirit prevails despite facing the struggles of living in poverty.