Sreykhim’s story: From Dropout Risk to Reaching for Her Dreams
In Pursat province, Cambodia, there’s a 10-year-old girl, named Sreykhim. Living altogether under one roof, 6 children including Sreykhim and her little cousins and siblings, rely entirely on their 75-year-old grandmother. Despite her age, the grandmother always keeps looking for food and provides necessities for all the children. On days when she has something to sell, she had to borrow a bicycle from neighbors to bring goods to the market.
To help her grandmother make a living, she often searches for snails and crabs or gathers leftover rice during harvesting seasons. She does all this to help her grandmother earn a small income to buy daily food, while her parents work in Phnom Penh at a garment factory and can only send a very small amount to support all the children.
Currently in Grade 5 at Putream Primary School, she lives about 30 minutes away from school. The long distance, along with the family’s demanding daily survival needs, makes regular school attendance difficult.
“I often skipped school to follow my grandmother to the field or around the village to find crabs, snails, and potatoes,” shared Sreykhim.
Despite the challenges, she dreams of one day becoming a credit officer in the finance sector, inspired by seeing loan officers visit her home to collect repayments.
“I want to work as a loan officer”, she said firmly.
Her grandmother hopes all her grandchildren can achieve higher education. When times get especially tough, she seeks support from the commune chief for rice or borrows money to buy school supplies. She genuinely believes education can help her family overcome hardship.
With emotion in her voice, Sreykhim recalled asking for a bicycle many times. The long walks to school were exhausting, especially since she attends afternoon classes. She often arrived tired, and on rainy days, the journey became harder, forcing her to miss school even more.
Seeing Sreykhim as one of children who are at risk of dropping out, RFCD and the school provided bicycles to Sreykhim and 73 other students at Putream Primary School.
Today, with her new bicycle, Sreykhim travels to school more comfortably and safely. She has reduced her absences from three days a week to only an occasionally missed day. The bicycle also helps her grandmother transport goods to the market, reducing dependence on neighbors for lending the transportation.
With bright eyes and a big smile, Sreykhim shared her excitement, knowing she is now one of her wishes has come true and reaching toward her future dream job, and her family’s daily struggles have eased a little more.
