Rean Chary

Date of birth: July 15, 1992
Place of birth: Roluos Village, Roluos Commune, Svay Chek District, Banteay Meanchey Province
Current address: Chrab Veal Village, Sangkae Commune, Battambang Province
Father’s name: Rean Charong, 42 years old, Farmer
Mother’s name: Chan Bun Nin, 42 years old, Farmer
Siblings: 3 and the first child in the family
University: Khmer New Generation Institute (Physician Degree)

In Her Own Words

When I was in primary school, I had struggled to stay in school because I stayed with my aunt’s family and my old grandmother because my parents were all working as laborers in Thailand. Since my aunt’s family was poor and she also had to send her children to school, I didn’t have money to buy study materials. My parents hadn’t supported my education, so I was very hopeless about going to lower secondary school.  

Luckily however, in 2004 Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center announced a scholarship opportunity for poor girls. I applied for it and the program staff came to interview my family at home. Then, about one week later the result came out and I was one of the successful candidates!  I was very happy and cannot find words to describe the feeling...my hope was back!

The scholarship package that I received included study materials, a hat, raincoat, shoes, monthly stipend for food, accommodation, bicycle and tuition money. I studied very hard, was never absent from school, and always got good grades at the end of each academic year. In August 2010 I passed the high school national board exam successfully and it was the first and biggest achievement of my life. I was very happy and especially felt honored that the scholarship program organized a graduation ceremony to celebrate this achievement with the presence of Lotus Outreach’s representative, sister Raksmey. She encouraged all the graduates to try our best to continue to university and study hard while the donor was trying to raise funds to support us. When I heard that, I was very much motivated and decided to enroll in university.  

While doing degree at university, it is very expensive to cover other expenses besides the school fee such as study materials, school uniform, textbooks and other documents, accommodation, electricity, water, and food. Luckily LO agreed to continue to support me at university! I am extremely happy and I hope that the donor will continue to support me until finishing university because my family cannot afford to cover that as they already struggle to pay for my school fee.