Jrul Naloeun

University: Battambang Pedagogy School
Major: Pedagogy (Physics & Chemistry)

In Her Own Words

My name is Jrul Naloeun and I am 19 years old.  I was born in Somroung Village, Somroung Commune, South Nikum District, Siem Reap Province. My father Jrul (46) works as a fisherman. My mother (43) is Nhi Leab. There are 8 members in the family (6 children—5 girls and I’m the 3rd).

When I was in lower secondary school, my parents were very worried because they couldn’t find enough money to keep my siblings and me in school. Fortunately, I saw an announcement at school selecting poor students to be scholarship recipients, so I went to ask for an application form from the school principal. Later I was selected into scholarship program—it was in 2008 and I was in 8th grade at Dom Dek Lower Secondary School in South Nikum District.  I considered myself one of the lucky poor students!

When receiving scholarship packages from Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center with funding support from Lotus Outreach, my family and I were very excited and delighted to the point of tears. The scholarship package consisted of so many things which were much beyond my imagination and it enabled me to stay in school longer.

One day my grandmother got seriously sick and my parents sold our housing land to help pay fo her medical treatments; however, we couldn’t save her.  After that we had to move from South Nikum District to Jikreng District (Ou Village, Russey Lok Commune). My family life was very difficult then because we didn’t own land any more. We were very poor. Regardless of all the hardships and challenges, I didn’t lose hope on education because I still received support from Lotus Outreach through CWCC. This motivated me to study hard until finishing high school (12th grade).

After finishing high school, I applied for secondary level teacher training at Battambang Province, following the advice of program staff and a local education working group. They organized a study visit to various universities through the scholarship program. After sitting for the entrance exam, I successfully passed, and was able to do two years of teacher training at Battambang’s Regional Pedagogy School, specializing in Chemistry and Physics. The school provides a dorm for us to stay in, but there are still other expenses my family has to cover such as school documents, text books, study materials, and food. My family managed to send very little money to support me, so the support from Lotus Outreach played a vital role in shaping my future.

I am very much grateful to Lotus Outreach and CWCC for supporting me from lower secondary school up until university. I would like to wish Lotus Outreach and its donors prosperity, health, and success in everything.