Tom Dy Center is a medium-term Rehabilitation and Vocational Skills Training Center. It was built in 2004 with the capacity to shelter at least 60 women and offers a rehabilitation program to residents that consists of psychological counseling, medical care, and other available therapies. Additionally, the center provides basic literacy, math, and life skills courses as well as vocational skills training so the women may find employment and gain financial independence after completing their education and training.

This center now includes a Childcare House for young children of residents who are under the age of 5 years old. The child caretaker provides full time care to the children of the residents who are busy with their daily vocational training. When the children reach school age, they are sent to Kompong Cham center for enrollment in school. If the residents are offered a job at the private garment factories or even want to open a business in their home village, AFESIP will continue to provide care if they want to leave their children at the center in order to facilitate their transition to a new life.

               Non Formal Class                                  Children at Play

It is public knowledge that most of the girls residing in AFESIP's shelters are from the poorest families around the country, and 37% of the total population of Cambodia is living under poverty line. Before the girls receive skills training, they must pass non formal education. In these basic literacy classes, residents learn to read, write and calculate up to a fourth-grade level. The girls are divided into groups according to their education levels and are then taught within these groups. Ms. Touch Samol, our non-formal trainer who previously worked as a primary school teacher, is committed, patient, and hard working. She uses a variety of methodologies to teach the residents as much as she can in preparation for their vocational skills training.

Two types of vocational skills training are offered at Tom Dy Center: sewing skills training and hairdressing training. Sewing skills training is more complicated than hairdressing training and takes from 12 to 18 months, compared to 4 to 8 months for hairdressing. There are two kinds of sewing training: short- and long-term training. Short-term training is for girls who want to get a job at the private factories, and long-term training is for those who plan to open their own businesses in their home communities.

AFESIP Cambodia manages hairdressing salons in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap which, in addition to providing hairdressing training to the residents, are open to the public, giving residents an opportunity to practice their new skills. The residents also provide free haircuts to cyclo-drivers, orphans and poor people in the villages around the centers.

Attractive Khmer traditional wedding costumes designed by our residents

   Provision of free haircuts                                       Evening physical exercise

           Teaching life skills                                      Residents’ hand-made products

A group of 5-6 residents attends cooking lessons every day.	The center invites the top monk to pray for the residents so that they may receive luck and happiness.