Cambodian School Educates New Generation of Social Workers

柬埔寨学校培训新一代社工

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。

Cambodia has about 3,000 recognized non-profit groups. Some work on issues such as violence against women and human trafficking. But few Cambodians are trained for such work. That is now changing with the country's first university-level degree program for social workers.

柬埔寨有大约3千家非营利性机构。其中一些机构从事反对针对妇女暴力和贩卖人口问题。但很少有柬埔寨人接受过这类工作的培训。这一状况现在通过该国首个大学级别的学位课程得到了改变。

Yoeung Kimheng grew up near the city of Phnom Penh, he saw troubling social problems, but few people were in a position to help.

Yoeung Kimheng在金边市附近长大，他看到了令人不安的社会问题，但很少有人能相应提供帮助。

Now, thanks to the university program, he himself may soon be equipped to help. He has finished a four-year program in the Department of Social Work at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. His class is set to graduate later this year, it would be the second graduating class for the department.

现在，因为这一大学课程，他自己可能很快就有能力提供帮助。他在金边皇家大学社工系完成了4年的课程，他的班级将于今年晚些时候毕业，这将是该系第2个毕业班。

23-year-old Heng Puthika was part of the first graduating class. Now, he has found a job at Transitions Global, a non-government organization that works with victims of human trafficking.

23岁的Heng Puthika是首个毕业班的一员。他现在在Transitions Global工作，这是一家帮助人口贩卖受害者的非政府组织。

Social workers often work with people who have suffered emotional damage. Yet, until the University started the department in 2008, there was no degree-level program in Cambodia for training social workers.

社工们通常帮助的是遭受了情感伤害的人群。然而在该校于2008年开设该系前，柬埔寨一直没有针对社工的学位级课程。

Outreach groups have traditionally depended on foreign experts or largely untrained local staff who learned on the job.

外展服务组织通常依靠外国专家或大部分未经培训的当地员工。

Ung Kimkanika is a faculty member in the department.

Ung Kimkanika是该系的一名教师。

"So I think to have the situation is Cambodian, and only Cambodian or Khmer people would understand well about the situation," said Kimkanika.

她说，“我认为柬埔寨的情况只有柬埔寨或高棉人民才更了解。”

The Department of Social Work at the Royal University of Phnom Penh has a partnership with the School of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle. Through that partnership, Ung Kimkanika and other Cambodian students went to the United States to study and earn Master's degrees. Now, they've come back and are teaching other students.

金边皇家大学社工系和位于西雅图的华盛顿大学社工学院有着伙伴关系。通过这种伙伴关系，Ung Kimkanika以及其他柬埔寨学生前往美国留学并获得硕士学位。

Kim Chanravey was part of the first graduating class last year, now she works with Hagar International, a group that helps abused women and girls. Her supervisor at Hagar, Wei Wang, praised the graduates working for her group.

Kim Chanravey是去年首个毕业班的一员，她现在在Hagar International工作，这是一家帮助受虐待妇女和儿童的机构。她的上司王薇赞扬了这些就职于该机构的毕业生。

"I think that with a four-year degree behind you, you have more of the theoretical foundation. You have a better understanding of how to look at things holistically and assess things from a community strength-based approach. Whereas if you have to train on the job, a lot of time it's fairly haphazard because you're trying to get somebody to do something fairly difficult but you only have two trainings, rather than four years of solid foundation," said Wei Wang.

王薇说，“我认为，通过四年的学习，你有了更多的理论基础。你对如何全面看待事务以及从社区层面评估事务有了更深的理解。但是如果你要在该工作上得到锻炼，需要经过多少时间是说不准的。因为你是在尝试让某些人做一些相当困难的事情，但你只经过两次培训，而没有4年的坚实基础。”

The social work program at the Royal University of Phnom Penh will likely become even more important in the coming months. A war crimes court is nearing the end of one part of a case against former Khmer Rouge leaders. Faculty member Ung Kimkanika says the decision of the court could bring back bad memories among survivors of the Khmer's rules.

金边皇家大学的社工课程在未来几个月可能会变得更加重要。一家战争罪法庭针对前高棉领导人的一部分案件已经接近尾声。该系教师Ung Kimkanika表示，法院的判决可能会给高棉统治下的幸存者带来痛苦的回忆。

And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Avi Arditti.