Age: 21
From: Kampong Chhnang Province
Major: Finance & Banking
School: National University of Management
I came from a poor family and my parents are farmers. Both of my parents are still alive. I have three siblings, two sisters and one brother. Prior to becoming a part of Global Children Cambodia, I spent my time in school, while I also helping them farm during my spare time. Farming is their only source of income. Once my parents took out loans to pay for farming machinery, they could not make enough profit to fully pay the bank back. They were both very stressed out. They are still indebted to the bank today. When it was time for me to prepare for the high school completion exam, I moved into my aunt’s house in Kampong Chhnang province. My aunt took care of my food, and all I had to do was find a way to pay for my tutoring outside of school. I lived with my aunt until I received the results for my twelfth grade national exam. When I learned that I had passed the exam, I went to look for a job but no one accept a recent high school graduate. I called my mother to ask her if I could continue on to university. That conversation was awful. My parents told me that they did not have the ability to pay for further schooling and that I should just come home and help them farm. I remember sitting down and crying and refused to return home because I did not want to farm the rest of my life.
I found out about Global Children through a stroke of luck. One day, a man entered my aunt’s store to buy water, and started a conversation with me. He asked about my life, and whether or not I wanted to continue with school. I told him I that I did want to, but that I didn’t have the money. He then told me about Global Children Cambodia. Then, about 10 days later, another guy from the organization named Saly, the former Program Assistant, called me and requesting a house visit. After visiting our house, he gave me a university scholarship. When I arrived, I meet a lot of students my own age at the organization. I was really happy that
I was given this opportunity. In the future, my dream is to work for the National Bank of Cambodia. I want to own beautiful home so that my parents can be proud of my accomplishments.
