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The Santikham Centre Meets Civil SocietyDecember 2010 Advocacy, media work, collaboration with Thai universities Summer and Fall 2010 have been busy at the Foundation for Child Development (FCD). During these few months, the agency has intensified its advocacy and awareness through the media. The team of Thai TV and radio stations 92.5 FM and 105 FM interviewed the staff, volunteers and young people with regards to the activities and projects of the Centre Santikham. These actions have helped to give visibility to the work of the CDF, to defend the cause of child workers (including undocumented children) and to advocate for improved living conditions for these young people. In July 2010, the CDF team again conducted surveys of working children 6-15 years, together with ten students from Thammasat University in Thailand. These investigations aim to determine the extent and nature of the problem of exploitative child labour, to identify the source areas and activities, to identify the factors underlying child labour, to reveal its impact and improve public awareness related to these issues. Speakers at the FCD also welcomed ten student volunteers from the Mater Dei Institute as part of an internship working with youth workers. Finally, 50 people in the community have lent a hand (for a donation of equipment, money or time) to clean, tidy and renovate the centre to provide children with safe, colourful and attractive play areas. In September, the CDF and one of the centre's youth leaders participated in the Thai Youth Forum 2010, a forum of 30 young people aged 14-24 from all over Thailand. They met to discuss issues related to migration and human trafficking prior to the Mekong Youth Forum, which took place in October. The forum was co-organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), World Vision, UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Thai Ministry of Social Development. The Mekong Youth Forum served to listen to the views of young people on issues of migration and human trafficking. Exchanges were held with policy makers. Discussions were held around the youth and their aspirations, their difficulties in daily life and the solutions they foresee in the fight against human trafficking. Reminder of the origins of the project Recall that in 2009, in partnership with the FCD (a Thai NGO founded in 1982), and thanks to the exceptional support of the Foundation Mathieu Lafond-Quebec, CCI opened the community centre Santikham in the Muang district of the province of Samutprakam. The centre's mission is to promote the social reintegration of children who work in exploitative labour conditions, mostly undocumented children with no official papers. The project covers a wide spectrum ranging from formal education and vocational training, health services and accompanying actions, to looking to remove these children from exploitation and homelessness. Young illegal immigrants are quickly identified by social workers and educators who travel the FCD communities and Praemruethai Saphanpra, meeting young workers and youths who drift into the street. During these trips, contact is made with both the children and with the community. Some young people can not rely heavily on their families - they are left to fend for themselves. Others live with their parents, but they lack the ability to pay tuition and other costs related to schooling. This is one reason why children spend a lot of time on the streets. They go looking for work or play – and can be easily exploited by adults who pay very little, often for very hard tasks. Moreover, they are sometimes bad encounters, leading to alcoholism, drug taking, begging, prostitution or to committing crimes .
Contact between young people and representatives of the CDF is consolidated through the community visits, as well as at the Centre Santikham when children participate in activities on site. To date, the centre serves over 300 young boys and girls, as well as very many parents. CDF staff conduct educational talks, animate play sessions and identify leaders and train them to be peer educators (positive leaders and role models). Observation and listening allows them to better understand the daily lives of these children, the reasons for their presence at work or in the street, their hopes and life plans. A whole community involved The Santikham Centre aims, above all else, to provide a safe place for these children and their families where they can relax, play, read, socialize with other children in the same situation and confide in adults if they feel the need. It aims to support young people in building a better future through education or professional training. The Centre's staff also seek to involve communities and families in developing activities for children such as music, theatre, art therapy and educational activities. Thus, the staff are linked to other adults who come into contact with street children, whether parents, volunteers or employees of other organizations dealing with vulnerable children. They guide the children into protective structures (e.g. local authorities, accommodation facilities, organisations working against sex trafficking) and work together to process investigations or studies by gathering information. The many accidents at work, as well as the precarious health conditions (absence of vaccination or medical treatment, low hygienic conditions, etc..) cause them to administer basic medical care and purchasing of medicine for children when they or their relatives are unable to do so.
To see the project images, click here See the previous news project in Thailand:
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