Over the past two years, we have carried out comprehensive prevention work: in schools, in close cooperation with village chiefs and teachers, through awareness-raising in village groups, and through intensive family support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knowledge about the risks of exploitation is essential<\/a>, yet it has also become clear that even informed families remain vulnerable as long as they face severe economic hardship. Studien zeigen, dass Kinder, Jugendliche & Familien besonders gef\u00e4hrdet sind, This is where our new programs come in. We support particularly vulnerable families<\/strong> in improving their ability to provide for themselves<\/strong> or in building a small business of their own<\/strong>. This support ranges from advice, training, and seed provision to help with job searches and small business trainings that include start-up capital provided by us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, we connect young people <\/strong>from these villages\u2014who are unable to continue their formal schooling \u2014with vocational training centers <\/strong>in the city of Siem Reap, and support and accompany them <\/strong>throughout this process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of these programs: to empower families and young people to become more independent\u2014and in doing so, to reduce the risk of exploitation at an early stage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Through one family we have been working with for some time, we would like to share an example of a small business start-up.\n Bong Seyla\u2019s family (name changed) lives with their three children in one of the most disadvantaged villages where we work. Almost all villagers rely solely on agriculture, yet conditions are very poor. Long periods of drought, the village\u2019s remote location, and a lack of alternatives leave little room for development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bong Seyla herself is the village\u2019s informal kindergarten teacher, but she earns only USD 12.50 per month for this work. Her husband mainly works in agriculture, but during long periods\u2014especially in the dry season\u2014there is very little work available. Over time, this led him to drink heavily, which in turn resulted in domestic violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bong Seyla, however, showed great willingness to cooperate and to change her situation. We also saw potential in her husband\u2014that increased responsibility and meaningful work could help change his behavior. Together, they told us about their experience raising chickens. They have enough land and can produce some of the feed themselves, but they had never been able to invest in proper enclosures or enough chickens to get started due to a lack of funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together, we developed a concept to train them in key areas so they could earn income through poultry farming. The technical knowledge about raising chickens came from the family themselves. We worked alongside them to plan, step by step, how to build a small livelihood. During regular visits, we discussed topics such as planning, budgeting, consistent saving, investment, risk reduction, and family management.\nThey completed their tasks diligently and implemented many important steps quickly. As a result, we were able to support them with start-up capital of USD 500 to build the enclosure and purchase the first chickens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During our meetings, we also share about God, pray together, and use examples from the Bible to show how faithfulness and care can lead to positive outcomes.\nThis is a small beginning, and it is not yet enough for the family to live on entirely. But it is an important first step toward greater self-reliance\u2014and therefore toward reduced risk of financial hardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this reason, we are expanding our programs this year to include measures that promote vocational training and economic self-reliance<\/strong>. These act as key protective mechanisms and help reduce the risk of exploitation in the long term.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC00562-2-1-683x1024.webp\")
<\/figure>
when they lack access to education,
stable income, or vocational training opportunities.
Those who can learn early, complete training, or gain economic prospects are better able to make self-determined decisions and protect themselves from exploitation.
(Sources: ILO<\/a> & PMC<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
FIT2WORK <\/mark><\/strong>
Many families in the villages we work in live under precarious financial conditions and are especially vulnerable to economic fluctuations.\nSome survive on less than USD 3 per day\u2014barely enough to cover basic needs for the whole family, and far from sufficient to address essential areas such as healthcare, education, and long-term security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7611-2-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
FAMILY START-UP \u2013 BONG SEYLA\u2019S* STORY<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7626-2-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7628-2-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7629-2-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/serey.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7641-2-1-1024x492.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n