Age: 20
From: Kampong Speu Orphanage Center
Major: Tourism
School: Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia
I come from Battambang Province. However, my family moved to Kompong Speu province when my parents separated; I was four at the time, and my youngest sibling was just 4 months old. We stayed with my grandmother and aunt. When I was 10 years old, my mom decided to send my sister and me to live in an orphanage. My sister’s name is Phum Sophanith. We both had to live in the orphanage, even though we did not want to be separated from my mother. We couldn’t argue otherwise, because my mom told us that she could not afford to both raise us and send us to a good school. She hoped that we’d receive a good education and a bright future. So, our only choice was to live in an orphanage, sponsored by the government and other organizations. My sister and I were sent to different orphanages. I went to a public orphanage while my sister was sent to a government-sponsored orphanage.
Sometimes, during the night, I would cry because I missed my family so much, especially my mother and sister. I lived in the orphanage for 5 years before my mother transferred me to the orphanage that my sister was living in, in Kompong Speu province. When I was approaching 12th grade, I began to worry about my future. The orphanage did not have enough funding to send us to the university. However, at that time, I learned Global Children Cambodia organization wanted to sponsor me and my friends in the orphanage. My friends and I were so happy to hear of this amazing opportunity. Now, my sister and I are able to attend university, too.
We are all so happy and so grateful to the organization for sending us to university. I chose to study tourism at Paññāsāstra University. I love learning new languages, especially, Korean and English. Since I am learning Korean right now, my dream is to become a Korean translator. In addition, I want to receive a scholarship for Korean Language from Cambodian university. In the future, I want to work in a hotel, or, if I had enough money in the future, my dream would be to open a hotel of my own.
