Imagine a Village with no boys or men. In Cambodia a special all-female community is providing a safe haven for girls and women. All thanks to a former top Australian film executive. The Girls to Grannies village lies in one of Phnom Penh’s most impoverished neighbourhoods and there is hope it could provide a model for other developing countries.
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00:00Making, playing and dancing. It's show-and-tell time at this kindergarten in Phnom Penh. But
00:11for so many children in Cambodia, what happens outside of school is much less fun.
00:17It's really bad because there's a lot of gangsters, a lot of people that are selling drugs and
00:23it's really scary.
00:24It's particularly risky for young girls, so they've now got their own village complete
00:29with 50 homes, a library, and not a boy or man in sight.
00:34When I live outside this village, my sister got harassed by other people, so we move here.
00:42It's a safe place for us to live.
00:45The Girls to Granny's community is home to girls, women and survivors of the Khmer Rouge,
00:50like Granny Rin.
00:53We are so grateful and very excited, and I feel my miserable life came to an end when
00:57I moved here.
00:59These houses cost about three and a half grand to build, and they can house about four or
01:04five women or girls. And given just how crucial safe and secure housing is to ending the cycle
01:10of poverty, that's pretty good value.
01:13Nearby residents have access to schools, free meals and health care, all thanks to a charity
01:19founded by former Hollywood executive Scott Neeson.
01:23The Girls to Granny's village is his latest venture, and it's already getting results,
01:27with the vast majority of girls going all the way to university.
01:32When you see their own potential, there's no stopping them.
01:35There's hope the village could provide a model for other countries, as the young women who
01:40live here inspire the next generation of Cambodian girls.