The special education program responds to the needs of children and youth with moderate and severe disabilities, presently there are 46 children in the program (both daycare and home base care)

• There are 25 children,(girls 9 and 16 boys), regularly attending daycare program activities. The children are divided into 4 groups led by a special needs teacher caring for 6-7 children. Regular activities including: life-skill training, art & drawing, recreational activities, and sports which all children greatly enjoy. Some young adults have become increasingly independent and are confident in going about the community.
• An additional 18 children (9-girls, 9 boys) benefitting from the home based care program also attend daycare 1-2 times per month. However, because of the long distance and travel costs they are unable to participate more regularly unless in the case of special events HHC supports them to attend.
• 46 children were provided weekly nutritional food supplements (Soya milk, corn), daily food (lunch) and snack (breakfast and afternoon). Some children with physical disabilities required rehabilitation from Cambodia Trust (CT) and Veteran International of Cambodia (VIC), others have required monthly medical care.
• 5 children at the daycare received special therapy sessions enabling them to improve their mobility and posture. Practice in walking and use of specialist aids and materials have effectively increased their capacity.
• 8 children with intellectual disabilities received monthly football training from the Star-Fish Foundation, in addition to scheduled events against other teams 3-4 times per year. This activity is part of a national event related to sports for the disabled.
• All 25 children at the daycare center were showed development progress checked against their Individual Education Plans. Plans are monitored and completed by the special needs teachers with input from parents.
• 5 children (2 girls, 3 boys) received medication from The Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH) and the Russian Hospital (1 child); these medications helping to control fitting and reduce aggressiveness.
• 44 children have a personal set of hygiene supplies (towel, tooth paste and brush, soap, shampoo, mouthwash cup) kept in a small labeled box, which is used daily.
• Celebrations were held for Khmer New Year attended by all daycare and home base care children including at least 25 children from the local community. All children and parents greatly enjoyed this time of social fellowship together with the staff.
• 12 children from daycare received dental consultation (girls 5 and boys 7) to check their teeth. For many it was the first time ever for them to be treated. All parents were very happy to see their children had a chance for dental check up.

Home Base Care program responds to the needs of children and youth with moderate and severe disabilities, presently there are 21 children

• 21 children, (9 girls and 12 boys) are presently registered for home-based care, staff visiting families 4- times per week in order to support children’s participation in activities and prevent isolation in the community. Through good collaboration with local communes council and community leaders, home based care services focused more on improving Activities for Daily Living (ADL) for children with moderate and severe disabilities through developing Individual Education Plans (IEP).
• 19 families were trained on how to improve care for their children at home. Extra sessions were also provided about child protection for children at risk and how to keep children safe in the community.
• 11 children at HBC were provided home physical-therapy once a week by field staff and professional staff from different organizations. A few children were referred by the therapy staff for specialist rehabilitation services at Variance International Cambodia (VIC) or The Cambodia Trust (CT).
• 10 children currently receive monthly check-ups and medical care services through CCAMH. This is a specialist unit supported by Caritas that provides medical and intellectual assessment for children with various disabilities including control of fitting.
• 19 children were provided learning/school material supplies, nutritional food, snacks, and hygiene packs.. 10 particularly poor families were provided some additional rice, instant-noodles and fresh milk.

• In February the Secretary of State, Ministry of Education H.E Kim Sethany visited the HHC program. Her key-note speech was entitled “Education changes the World’ – this to encourage both parents and children to attend school. She noted that Cambodia had not yet achieved the Millennium Development Goal, with reportedly 60,000 children being out of school. HHC was commended in helping to address this issue in relation to children with disabilities, in particular children with intellectual disabilities in Kandal province. In acknowledgement of HHC’s efforts Her Excellency encouraged HHC to apply for government-staff status, which would qualify them for a state funded salary and pension. Thanks were also extended to UNICEF/CDIDF fund and Balima Foundation in support of their increasing inclusion of local organisations working directly with children
• In March the Under Secretary of State Ministry of Women Affairs H.E Morokat Nhem visited the Home Based Care program with an agenda of promoting gender equality, and to encourage provincial authorities to pay increased attention to children with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this visit being to: i) to encourage the parents and community to take more care of disabled children ii) encourage parents that girls with disability are part of WA agenda; iii) to personally encourage girls with disability that they are not alone; iv) to encourage the provincial WA and DoSVY to regularly follow up children with disabilities; vi) reduce discrimination of disabled children in the community; vii) and to support HHC staff to achieve their vision/mission. HE visited 8 families in the HBC program and in particular took time to meet a family that has issues with domestic violence – the behaviour of the head of household has improved significantly as a result!
• April 15 – H.E Khieu Kanharith Minister of Information and wife visited HHC Day Care. H.E has made a commitment to: 1) Arrange a solidarity lunch for all kids 2-times per year 2) Increase promotion of disability issues on national TV. 3) Permit donation boxes to be placed in 5-departments of the ministry of information 4) Assist HHC to find land for a new building. His Excellency suggests to send him a letter that he will pass on to the Prime Minister (land 25x40M); he also donated $600 (promised to donate same annually) and $200 was donated by the Vice Governor of Kandal province.
• Staff attended a one-day workshop hosted by Provincial Education department. This meeting aimed to strengthen the education network sector. HHC also presented its annual work plan.
• In February HHC conducted training for members of the commune council of Svay Rolum commune (32 people attending), followed by an awareness training in Kampong Samnah village (29 people attending).
• Staff met with police and local authorities at Sangkat Preysor and Svay Rolum concerning issues of domestic violence with two families of girls living with disability.

HHC works with 46 children with special needs, however only 32 parents are actively engaged in Self-Help Groups (SHG). The structure of the SHG and constitution was recognized by the commune council (Kampong Samnanh commune) since June 2014; the structure of which details the responsibilities of parents, chairperson, vice chair and treasurer. All are elected postions.

• Thirty-two families in SHGs attended meetings (6 times) to discuss various income generation projects, including one of developing pure water for sustainable income to support HHC and families.
• The fund saving for SHG from the beginning until now up to $1,669.18$, which this fund will be used for parents group
• One SHG visited another group to learn from their experience of small income generation projects, such as selling vegetables, selling snacks, quail-raising and motodop-taxi driving.
• Fourteen families loaned funds from the SHG for starting small business.
• Three parents attended training in communication and small business management skills in order to improve SHG management.
• Two parents and one volunteer attended a 3-day training at CCAMH about therapy and working with children with multiple disabilities.
• Monthly Parent Support Group (PSG) meetings were conducted, the aim being to share about the children’s progress, challenges, sharing information and making recommendations to the program. Most parents gained new experiences related to advocacy in the community, and many were brave to raise issues of discrimination in their locality.

The toy library was established as a place where parents or guardians can borrow a variety of good quality toys, puzzles or games, designed to support children’s development and promote learning through play and supporting a child’s skill development and imagination. These toys, puzzles and games can be enjoyed at home or in a group, especially in families of children with and without disabilities. The Toy Library has encouraged togetherness of families through quality time spent playing, learning and growing together.

• HHC and local partners conducted an International World Play Day event on 28th May at HHC day care with 43 CWDs and 25 local children. HBC conducted World Play Day in the community with more than 50 children from poor villages joined together: this emphasizing the importance of play in the lives of everyone but especially children. Although the International Toy Library Association has run for 25 years, in Cambodia this was the first celebration of its kind and an important contribution towards the right of all children including those with special needs to enjoy the benefits of play. The event was presided over by Her Excellency Nhem Morokat, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and was broadcast live by National Television of Cambodia.
• 44 children with disabilities and approximately 200 local school students had opportunities to access the toy library and were happy to learn and play together. This in part to reduce discrimination amongst children with disability in the community.
• 21 children in home based care accessed the mobile toy library, children in the neighborhood also benefited from this play.
• At least 4 times a week 25 children in daycare were able to access the toy library with facilitation support of activities from volunteers and staff. Each child is allowed 45 minutes playtime, 2-3 children per session.

Inclusive education supports all students, regardless of (dis)ability to attend their neighborhood school within age-appropriate classes. All children are supported to learn, contribute and participate in every aspect of school-life. Inclusive education is about developing and designing schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students learn and participate together. HHC has worked with 5 primary schools in order to implement inclusive education.

• 6 children (2-girls, 4-boys) with physical disability were supported with school materials including a set of uniforms. They were visited monthly to monitor progress and connect with the teachers/principal concerning any issues relating to the children’s education.
• 6 Families are also visited to encourage school attendance and support in cases of discrimination or other social issues affecting their child.
• 5 banners and 500 posters related to disability awareness topics were printed off and disseminated to 7 cluster schools and in 5 target communities.
• 7 ramps were installed to provide wheelchair access for children at Toul Ampel primary school.

• The HHC board met twice during the reporting period. Aside from progress updates discussions have included; improvement of financial management/capacity; registration with the Cambodian Coordination Committee (NGO umbrella group); further refinement of internal rules; drafting of volunteer policy.
• Discussions were held with Hagar NGO concerning the possibility of HHC taking over the operation of two program areas (and the government will take two) as the Hagar House of Smiles program will close in December.
• HHC staff (and 11 from other disability focused NGOs) attended a capacity development/exposure trip to CCD in Thailand. The team learnt about various care and management aspects of the program, they also attended Thai government social affairs meeting and a special forum with disabled persons. The visiting team learnt many things from CCD and as a result staff felt more confident about their work, especially CBR home-based care. In some instances it was observed that HHC offered better quality services. The team conducted daily reflections on their observations/learning.
• Policy development – The Child Protection policy was updated. Following translation to Khmer this will be rolled out as part of the regular annual staff training in protection issues.
• A proposal was developed requesting a piece of land to build a day-care center. This was submitted to the Prime Minister’s office through the Minister of Information.

We have expended the budget through budget line where is only code the 13th month salary staff will be allocated in Dec,

One main challenge concerns the condition and rental status of the daycare property. Not only is this prone to flooding and is in a generally poor condition, but also the landlord is currently looking to sell the property. This puts severe pressure on HHC to find an alternative premise in the locality. However, the long term aim is for HHC to construct a purpose built facility.