To Be Selected
Phoung Mala is 15 years old and in the 9th grade at the Hun Sen Rovieng secondary school in Tang Trork village, Robieb commune, Rovieng District, Preah Vihear Province.
There are five members in her family, two sisters, one brother, and her widow mother. Mala is the third child in her family. Her father passed away many years ago. Mala’s mother is a poor farmer, who owns a small plot of farming land where they plant paddy rice, and potatoes, producing 600 kg of rice per year. Additionally, they raise ducks and chickens to support the family. However, the yearly harvest from their farm is not enough to support the whole family’s needs.
Living under the poor conditions, Mala’s older sister and brother have dropped out the school, her older sister work in Pure Drinking Water Market in Rovieng district, earning 300,000 Riel per month. And her brother helps her mother with work at their farm.
Mala is a good student and daughter. Sometimes she sells vegetables in the village, earning about $1 to buy snack and supplies, and on Sunday she picks and sells tamarinds, or works at a neighbor’s farm earning 15,000 – 20,000 Riel per day. On holidays, she works the Pure Drinking Water Market with her older sister. She works hard in class, and when she is not studying, she is helping her mother with housework, and teaching her youngest sister.
In the future she wants to become a doctor because she wants to help all the people in the Rovieng district. Moreover, she wants to earn money to support her family.
Updated: January, 2018
