The Everyday Struggle
The challenges associated with accessing an education in the flooded areas of Tonlé Sap Lake in northeastern Cambodia’s Battambang Province are many. One need only ask 13-year-old Sreyneat, a girl who lives here with her widowed grandmother, while going to school and staring down the prospect of dropping out altogether.
The oldest of five children, Sreyneat’s arduous path to schooling seems filled with burdens undue a child her age. Out of necessity, every morning Sreyneat can be found before school, rowing her boat from house to house, selling her wares – Cambodian-style donuts known as “noum korng” and other treats – prepared by her grandmother, which go for roughly 500 riels in local currency apiece. Once finished, she returns home to do her homework, before making the 10-minute boat ride to the other side of the river to get to school. With teary eyes, she says, “I spend around two hours selling my cakes. I am sometimes late for class, but still, attend...”
At the best of times, when accompanied by one of her younger brothers, the pair can earn about 40,000 riels, the equivalent of US$10. However, most mornings do not yield such returns; normally, Sreyneat, by herself, makes approximately half of that sum. Either way, to keep food on the table and the other necessities of life within the family’s reach, this daily effort on the part of the teenage girl is required. Indeed, most of the money goes to buying food, medicine and materials for making more noum korng for sale the next day.
Such has been Sreyneat’s lot since the age of 10 when she came to live with and care for her grandmother, Hang Rin. This move occurred at the behest of Sreyneat’s father, Seng, a construction worker living in a neighbouring province with a growing concern for his aging mother’s bouts with high blood pressure.
“In general, especially in Tonlé Sap and remote areas, girls face many difficulties because they are the first ones whose parents decide to stop [their education], with the reason to help with housework, earn money and take care of other family members,” explains Mr. Vorn Samphors, Country Director, Action Education.
Speaking of the fragility inherent to the margins of subsistence, Sreyneat says, “… we spend most of our money on [rice, food and ingredients], my grandmother doesn’t have money to buy books and pens.” Typically, the girl’s household could only afford 2-3 schoolbooks per semester for her. Sreyneat adds, “My grandmother gave me 500 riels daily to buy something to eat when I get to school. But I didn’t spend it all. I kept 100 to 200 riels everyday as savings to buy more books.”
Fortunately, for Sreyneat, her daily struggles to help support her family and get an education had not gone unnoticed. Through a partnership project, “Cambodian Consortium for Out of School Children (CCOOSC) – Phase II” between Education Above All’s Educate A Child programme and Action Education designed to increase access to quality primary education to vulnerable children, Sreyneat was identified and enrolled in 2020. As a result of her situation, she qualified for a scholarship that provided her with a school bag, notebooks, pencils and other necessary learning materials! Already, more than a hundred other disadvantaged children facing similar challenges accessing education have also received CCOOSC scholarship support!
“The reason why Sreyneat received a scholarship was that she’s poor and she’s hardworking, so we prioritise those students,” quips Mr. Sor Piseth, the principal at her school.
Today, the young girl no longer worries about her financial troubles with respect to education. Currently, she is a class 4 student who comes to school every day and enjoys studying Mathematics and the Khmer language most of all.
Her grandmother, Hang Rin, always encouraging, states, “I want to see Sreyneat get a high education and study hard. Her father dropped out of school in class 1, so he cannot read. I have no heritage to share with my children, so I can only help them to learn as much as possible.”
When considering the future and the needs of her school, which has a history of flooding during Tonlé Sap’s rainy seasons, Sreyneat asserts, “I want to become a teacher... I want to teach here because I think not [enough] teachers come to teach in my school.”
"I want to become a teacher... I want to teach here because I think not [enough] teachers come to teach in my school."
