TRY SOCHEATA

My name is Try Socheata, I am 21 years old, and I am a fourth-year student majoring in Accounting at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh. I have five siblings, and I am the fifth child. My parents live in Kandal province and earned a living by catching fish. I always helped my parents fish and would sell the fish in the market to earn money for the family. There were times when we couldn’t catch any fish and would have no food.
At times, we would have food for breakfast but not dinner, or dinner but not breakfast. My mother had an injured leg from the wartime period, which made it hard for her to catch fish. One day, she became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized for over six months. I had to go fishing with my father to earn money for her hospital bills and school fees. I had to cycle over 24 kilometers back and forth every single day to the hospital and school. My mother’s illness worsened, and we ran out of money. I thought I would have to quit school and work.
But thankfully, in 2018, an organization in Prey Veng province selected me to help me study and provided three meals a day. I studied all the way up to Grade 12 and passed my national exam.
But I didn’t have money to continue at university. Then the organization selected poor students to continue their studies in Phnom Penh, providing accommodation, food, and tuition fees. I was accepted! In Phnom Penh, I have studied up to my fourth year, and currently, I also have a job that allows me to help my family and support myself. This organization is my second home.