Leuk Deak—1 March 2006 children from WVC’s Children Peace Club of Thmey Village cooperated with students from Hun Sen Prek Touch and BunRany HunSen Peam Raing to campaign against drug use and anti-domestic violence. The children made the longest and the biggest march ever in Leuk Deak District. Over 150 children marched for more than 12 kilometers distance to announce their advocacy message.

According to Srey Mom, a 16-year old participant, “The purpose of conducting this long march campaign is to provide awareness to the community people in the village and to carry the message that drug use and domestic violence are harmful to families and children.”

Though the Peace Club started as a WVC’s Peace Building Initiative, the campaign and all the logistics surrounding the march, including fundraising and partnership with students from neighboring villages, were all initiated by club members. Sales Kale, a 15-year old participant explained, “We started to make a plan for this match since January 2006. We’ve met some difficulties with fund raising. People did not believe us because we are young, but we kept trying our best because we want to help people stay away from drug abuse and domestic violence. At last, we can achieve everything as planned. We are happy and proud of our success today.”

The marching started at 8:00 AM and was finished by 12:00 o’clock crossing many villagers along the way. Community members showed their appreciation for the campaign by participating as observers and encouraging the children on their journey.