Interview with Chhai Sarith
His village is in a very remote area and the schooling options are very limited. Not many teachers want to work there because it is very far, and the roads are very bad. Therefore, not many children go to school. His father died when he was 7 years old. After that he grew up with his mother and his younger sister and the livelihood of the family was very bad.
“My mother worked on a small rice farm to support the family and she always pushed us to study. I could finish the secondary school in my village and then my sister and I just followed my friends to go to Senmonorom for high school where we did not know anybody. I had no money, but I was lucky when I arrived in Senmonorom to find the Student Catholic Centre and I ask them to help me. From then on I could stay in their Centre during Highschool. At the Centre I also learned to speak English.
After Highschool I wanted to study in Phnom Penh, but I was without hope because I had no connections or someone who could help me find a place to stay in Phnom Penh. Before I went back to my village, I discussed my situation with Marist Brother. Two weeks later they invited me to meet them again and told me, that they have found a place for me at the Student Dorm of BIPA and that they will finance the school fee and that BIPA supports the students who stay in the Dorm. I was very excited about this news and called my mother and she was very happy too and organised a Bunong blessing ceremony in the village for me before I left for Phnom Penh.
I studied Tourism at he Royal University of Law and Economic. During my study BIPA helped me to gain job experiences and supported me to find my first job after six months already. I started with a parttime job as a Service order in a Restaurant, earned my first salary and was very excited about that. Then I moved to the hotel sector because of my subject Tourism and got a job as a Receptionist and Supervisor in a hotel in Phnom Penh. During my 4 years of studies I worked at 7 places and gained a lot of experiences in the hotel industry. I saved my salary for 3 years and with that I could help my mother to build a proper house in the village and to pay workers to help her on the farm. “
“Now I work in the Ministry of Tourism in Phnom Penh and in the evening, I still work in a hotel. Through my experiences living in the Dorm and my study I could improve my knowledge and the family income which is a big success for me. If I didn’t get the chance to study, I would have stayed in the village and was only able to work on the small rice farm we have. Without the BIPA Student Dorm I would not have gotten a diploma, a good job and for my family it would not have been possible to build a house yet.”
