Orphans into loving families in Cambodia

At Care for Children, we believe that strong communities are key to successful family placements. Since launching our project in Cambodia in 2022, we have focused on building solid foundations by working closely with the government on policy, training, and systems to ensure family placements are safe, sustainable, and child-centred. In the past six months, placements have really ramped up, with more children moving from institutions into loving local families than ever before.

A powerful example of what makes these placements last is happening right now in a small village in Siem Reap province. Three foster families in the same village are caring for four children, all living close to one another. The close proximity creates something special: a natural support network where the families can help each other every day. They share advice on health concerns, organise outings together, look after each other’s children when needed, and celebrate birthdays and everyday moments as one extended family.

One foster carer shared: “I love my foster child as much as my own children and care and love for him the same. It is not different from raising my own children.” Another said: “Meeting with other families; it’s a benefit, I don’t feel isolated when we communicate with the other foster families.”

This kind of mutual support is vital for the sustainability of placements. When families live close together, they reduce isolation and burnout, they can consult each other on challenges, offer practical help, and provide emotional encouragement. Children benefit enormously too: they build friendships with peers in similar situations, which strengthens their emotional resilience, social skills, and sense of belonging. They attend the same school, play together, and experience the kind of everyday warmth and one-on-one attention that institutions simply cannot provide. Local authorities have observed faster progress in the children’s physical growth, health, learning, and emotional development compared to life in residential care.

The model also helps overcome stigma which can be a huge barrier in many cultural settings. In communities where there is still hesitation about caring for children who are not blood relatives, seeing foster families thriving right next door, where children are happy, healthy, and growing up with love changes perceptions. Being able to stand together, not alone, makes a huge difference. Their bigger presence quietly challenges the norm and shows that foster care is real, possible, and good for the whole village. After the first family in the village took in a child from the local Residential Care Institution, two other families followed soon after.

When families support each other, placements are more stable, stigma is reduced, and more people become willing to open their homes. That’s how we grow the movement, one village and one family at a time. Strong communities make family-based care possible, and that is the heart of everything we do at Care for Children.

Your support, whether through donations, advocacy, or sharing our work helps turn more stories like these into reality around the world. Together, we can ensure every child grows up in a safe, loving family.

Dear friend,

Across our three project sites in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Battambang, families are opening their doors and their hearts. So far, 19 children have been placed in safe, nurturing families, each one a story of restoration and belonging. In Phnom Penh, seven children are now thriving with families trained and supported through our programme. In Siem Reap, eight more have found loving homes, and in Battambang, a milestone moment was celebrated this quarter: the first child has just been placed with a local family.

These moments represent more than numbers. They are lives transformed; children learning to trust again, to play freely, and to feel the unconditional love of a parent for the first time. Families describe the experience as life-changing, both for them and for the children they care for. Their courage and compassion are the foundation of a growing movement that is reshaping Cambodia’s approach to care.

Behind these stories are hundreds of people being trained and mobilised to make family care possible. Over fifty training sessions have equipped 270 government staff, social workers, and local partners to identify, assess, and support family carers. Through one-to-one coaching and mentoring, government teams are gaining confidence to lead this work independently. At the same time, more than 860 people have attended community events spreading the message that children belong in families, not institutions. Each conversation helps shift mindsets, replacing fear and stigma with hope and understanding.

While progress has been steady, it has not been without challenge. The shortage of social workers and the persistence of outdated beliefs about institutional care sometimes slow the pace of change. Yet the direction is clear. Families are stepping forward. Children are being placed. Government staff are growing in skill and commitment. And new local champions are emerging to lead the next phase of transformation.

We aren't stopping here. Our focus is on scaling placements and ensuring every child placed continues to receive the support they need to thrive. We will keep training and coaching social workers, helping families prepare for long-term care, and encouraging new families to come forward. This is only the beginning of a national shift that will see every child in Cambodia growing up in a loving family.

With every placement, Cambodia takes one step closer to a future where no child grows up in an institution, only in the love and security of a family. Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we are helping to change a nation, one family at a time.