Rural communities across Cambodia are still affected by extreme poverty to this day. With reliable employment opportunities being scarce, and entire generations of families never having had access to education, the poverty cycle sadly continues.
This often leads to children facing hunger and homelessness, which prevents them from attending school and receiving education. In the case of brothers Moy and Joy, whose parents struggle to provide for them daily, this would mean they cannot even enroll in Primary School. Without access to basic education, children would remain illiterate, which would immediately put any future opportunities for development in jeopardy.
Moy and Joy’s story is one that is very common in Cambodia. Their father Och desperately tries to find any work opportunity he can and often helps out on fishing boats or on construction sites. The little income that this garners, if any, is unreliable at best and never enough to adequately meet his wife’s and children’s needs. His wife Sompos is equally as eager to find work, but given that Moy and Joy are still very young, she has to stay at home to look after them. Apart from that, she earns little money washing dishes at nearby street vendors or weddings.
The family is considered “one of the poorest” in their village, because Och and Sompos also don’t have any property or possessions to their name. They find shelter under Sompos sister’s house, which is where they set up a small kitchen and bed.
Thomlang – Cambodian Youth Support has been supporting the small family for over a year with monthly food donations to provide food security and prevent malnourishment. On top of that, we have been providing 7-year-old Moy and 6-year-old Joy with school supplies and enrolled them in a nearby Primary school, where they currently attend second and first grade, respectively. We also donated bicycles to the boys and cover medical expenses for the family whenever necessary.
This way, we hope to ease some of the burden off of the small family’s shoulders, while ensuring that Moy and Joy can attend school and build a foundation for a brighter future.
Support impoverished families in rural Cambodia by donating to CYS today!
