Siem Reap province is situated in the northwestern part of the Cambodia. It is the Land of Angkor, one of the world’s most famous temples, and is therefore one of the most tourist-attractive provinces of the country.

This medium-term Rehabilitation and Vocational Skills Training Center opened in Siem Reap in 2001 with great financial support from ECPAT Italy and AECID from Spain. Like Tom Dy in Phnom Penh, this center was also built to provide a rehabilitation program with vocational courses for residents

from northern Cambodia. AFESIP works closely with Thailand to provide training and repatriation through a transit center managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs Labor and Youth Rehabilitation. It also works in close collaboration with the provincial department of labour on provisions for training women who are at high risk situations for trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Residents’ houses

Siem Reap Center is located on the second biggest area of land after the Kompong Cham Center. The main building consists of an office, dining room, and kitchen on the ground floor and sewing training and non-formal education rooms on the first floor. In front of the main building there are four residents’ houses and a beautiful kiosk in the middle of a pond in which several kinds of fish are raised.

A short distance from the kiosk, one can see another building that houses the work of the medical doctor, reintegration staff, and art therapist. Next to it, there is a bigger house for childcare and another for weaving.
The center, indirectly supervised by the Phnom Penh Headquarters is headed by a director and employs qualified staff such as a caretaker, sewing and hairdressing trainers, a cook, a reintegrator, and guards.

The Siem Reap Center provides sewing and hairdressing training, non formal education, and other life skills training. The girls, identified as vulnerable by provincial Social Affairs Department, have been sent to our center for the sake of preventing trafficking and  reducing sexual exploitation risks. They are from the poorest families who mostly work at the local brick making factories.

Hairdressing class

AFESIP opened a hairdressing shop in the vicinity of the center where the residents can practice their hairdressing skills in the open market. It is a non-profit business; however, the practice is the most valuable component of the residents' training following their completion of the assigned curriculum. There are different groups of trainees: some take non-formal classes, while others are very busy with vocational skills training and work around the clock. The hairdressing trainer will update her curriculum to keep up with current styles so that the shop may remain competitive in the free market.

Sewing class

The sewing training classes are held in the center itself on the first floor. The full sewing course lasts from 12 to 18 months, depending on the residents’ schedules and their ability to pick up the skills. It is a more complicated profession to learn than hairdressing or weaving. The residents will leave the centers with an education as well as a sound knowledge of practical sewing skills and will be prepared to be professional, financially independent businesswomen.

        Evening Costumes designed by the residents in Siem Reap Center

As the residents live together in a common house, the center tries hard to foster positive relations among the girls and young women. AFESIP Cambodia employs a psychologist, counselor, art therapists, caretakers, and other supporting staff at the Siem Reap Center.

A psychologist with residents	Non formal classes