I am Happy to See Love
and Joy of my Family
In Cambodian society, if anybody has
dimples on their cheeks, they are usually called Khuoch (dimples in Khmer).
Srey Khuoch is the nickname of a fourteen-year-old girl who is the charming
oldest daughter of three siblings. She has dimples on both cheeks and she
easily to breaks into a smile upon meeting
with others. Srey Khuoch shared, “I experienced difficulties in life since I
was only 9 years old, when my family really needed food to eat and my father
got seriously sick. I had to work hard in the rice field of other
villagers in order to get a little money to buy food to feed the family.”
Khuoch’s father was an alcoholic and he used insulting words sometimes to her mother whenever he was drunk. Khuoch felt really sad to see her parents always arguing and the living condition was bad. It’s really shameful to Khouch and her family whenever the neighbors heard all the insulting words between her parents. Khuoch sadly shared, “Once my father had malaria, and he received an injection. This injection made him paralyzed. His legs were never the same again. He can walk, but not like before.”
Khuoch is considered to be a good girl because she helps her family with all her heart to earning income. She didn’t have time to play with other children in the village because she is occupied with the difficulties of the family. She really wanted to help the family to live in better conditions, with enough food to eat. Khuoch stands close to her mother and shared, “My family was extremely poor and I am the oldest daughter, so I must help my parents to work, and to earn money, or we don’t have food to eat. My parents didn’t want me to work as the adults, yet I am really happy to help in earning income to support the family.”
She added, “I always worked in the others’ rice fields and I could earn 5,000 riels (1.25 USD) per day. It’s such little money for the rich yet it is a lot of money for us the poor. ”
Khuoch’s family doesn’t have any rice field like other villagers because her mother sold all of the land when her father was sick with malaria because she needed money to pay for medical treatment. Once Khouch had respiratory sickness and her family was in debt too. Even Khuoch is a good girl who helped the family to earn income, she confessed, “I wanted to play like other children, but I did not have a choice. And I sometimes ignored my family and went for a walk and play at other villager’s house, like jumping robe and shooting billiard ball with other children and go to swim at the canal nearby the village. I was a lazy girl who never helped much to do house chore. I also never taught my younger sister and brother any lessons because I was a weak student too. I also did not have many friends.”
Khuoch became a sponsored child in World Vision’s programme in 2004. World Vision staffs always conduct home visits and advise her to study hard. Khuoch and her parents were invited to participate in much training; and Khuoch always got gifts for responding correctly to the questions asked by the trainers. This really encourages her and taught her to love learning. Her parents are very happy to see their daughter has become an outstanding student with a very good memory.
“My parents and I have learned many things from World Vision’s programme; we understand the benefit of drinking boiled-water or filter-water. We now stopped drinking unboiled-water from the pond because it always cause diarrhea. There is also a toilet at my house; before we went to the field for toilet. I no longer need to carry water with a yoke because World Vision provided a well located nearby my house and other villagers can use that well too, ” grinned Khuoch, looking at her parents.
Khuoch’s mother interrupted Khuoch, “It’s more than what we all have mentioned. It’s indescribable with a great help and made a big change for my family as my whole community. We would like to greatly thank World Vision for every support. My family was hopeless while Khuoch’s father’s legs started to wither. Yet it’s amazing that he can walk even not like before. My family is always encouraged by World Vision staff.”
Khuoch now is very happy to see many good things happening to her family; her father is a good husband and he is a real father to her now. Her family lives in good environment with better hygiene. She now has time to relax and play with other children in the village.
Khuoch usually spends her spare time to play with her siblings at home and do house chores; she always make sure there is water in the toilet to clean it. Surrounding her house is cleaned. Khuoch grinned, showing her dimples, “World Vision has not changed only my family, but also the entire village; we all live with better hygiene and use clean water from the well. The encouragement from World Vision staff is really powerful for me.”
Asking about her dream, Khuoch timidly looked at her parents “I have two dreams; I want to be a teacher because I thought I would educate all the children in the village and they all will respect and value me. I also want to be a doctor because I want to cure all people who get sick in the village, especially to take care of my parents and myself. I hope I will get one of these two dreams. I am studying hard and I always teach my siblings how to read and write every evening. I won’t give up studying because it would help me to avoid working in the rice field under the sunshine to earn very little money.” Khuoch’s father concluded, “I would like all children to learn from the story of my daughter; she is really amazing. She works hard to help the family and she has changed, especially her commitment to have a brighter future through education. She is also the one who influenced me to change and to stop drinking alcohol and to stop the violence in the family."
Khuoch’s father was an alcoholic and he used insulting words sometimes to her mother whenever he was drunk. Khuoch felt really sad to see her parents always arguing and the living condition was bad. It’s really shameful to Khouch and her family whenever the neighbors heard all the insulting words between her parents. Khuoch sadly shared, “Once my father had malaria, and he received an injection. This injection made him paralyzed. His legs were never the same again. He can walk, but not like before.”
Khuoch is considered to be a good girl because she helps her family with all her heart to earning income. She didn’t have time to play with other children in the village because she is occupied with the difficulties of the family. She really wanted to help the family to live in better conditions, with enough food to eat. Khuoch stands close to her mother and shared, “My family was extremely poor and I am the oldest daughter, so I must help my parents to work, and to earn money, or we don’t have food to eat. My parents didn’t want me to work as the adults, yet I am really happy to help in earning income to support the family.”
She added, “I always worked in the others’ rice fields and I could earn 5,000 riels (1.25 USD) per day. It’s such little money for the rich yet it is a lot of money for us the poor. ”
Khuoch’s family doesn’t have any rice field like other villagers because her mother sold all of the land when her father was sick with malaria because she needed money to pay for medical treatment. Once Khouch had respiratory sickness and her family was in debt too. Even Khuoch is a good girl who helped the family to earn income, she confessed, “I wanted to play like other children, but I did not have a choice. And I sometimes ignored my family and went for a walk and play at other villager’s house, like jumping robe and shooting billiard ball with other children and go to swim at the canal nearby the village. I was a lazy girl who never helped much to do house chore. I also never taught my younger sister and brother any lessons because I was a weak student too. I also did not have many friends.”
Khuoch became a sponsored child in World Vision’s programme in 2004. World Vision staffs always conduct home visits and advise her to study hard. Khuoch and her parents were invited to participate in much training; and Khuoch always got gifts for responding correctly to the questions asked by the trainers. This really encourages her and taught her to love learning. Her parents are very happy to see their daughter has become an outstanding student with a very good memory.
“My parents and I have learned many things from World Vision’s programme; we understand the benefit of drinking boiled-water or filter-water. We now stopped drinking unboiled-water from the pond because it always cause diarrhea. There is also a toilet at my house; before we went to the field for toilet. I no longer need to carry water with a yoke because World Vision provided a well located nearby my house and other villagers can use that well too, ” grinned Khuoch, looking at her parents.
Khuoch’s mother interrupted Khuoch, “It’s more than what we all have mentioned. It’s indescribable with a great help and made a big change for my family as my whole community. We would like to greatly thank World Vision for every support. My family was hopeless while Khuoch’s father’s legs started to wither. Yet it’s amazing that he can walk even not like before. My family is always encouraged by World Vision staff.”
Khuoch now is very happy to see many good things happening to her family; her father is a good husband and he is a real father to her now. Her family lives in good environment with better hygiene. She now has time to relax and play with other children in the village.
Khuoch usually spends her spare time to play with her siblings at home and do house chores; she always make sure there is water in the toilet to clean it. Surrounding her house is cleaned. Khuoch grinned, showing her dimples, “World Vision has not changed only my family, but also the entire village; we all live with better hygiene and use clean water from the well. The encouragement from World Vision staff is really powerful for me.”
Asking about her dream, Khuoch timidly looked at her parents “I have two dreams; I want to be a teacher because I thought I would educate all the children in the village and they all will respect and value me. I also want to be a doctor because I want to cure all people who get sick in the village, especially to take care of my parents and myself. I hope I will get one of these two dreams. I am studying hard and I always teach my siblings how to read and write every evening. I won’t give up studying because it would help me to avoid working in the rice field under the sunshine to earn very little money.” Khuoch’s father concluded, “I would like all children to learn from the story of my daughter; she is really amazing. She works hard to help the family and she has changed, especially her commitment to have a brighter future through education. She is also the one who influenced me to change and to stop drinking alcohol and to stop the violence in the family."
-Ends-
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