The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Damrei Phong Nippon
Foundation School
(November, 2001)
Then Phea is a 13-year-old fourth grade student at the Damrei Phong Nippon Foundation School. She was ranked fourth among the 18 students in her third grade class. Her mother is a farmer and her father passed away from a heart attack four years ago. Her younger brother, 7, is in second grade at the school.
In Their Own Words. . .
| On the new building: | “I like the new building because it is very close to my house and it is easier to sit in than the old building because the rooms are bigger and have tables.”
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| On her hobbies: | “I like to visit our fields with my mother. I like to play lot anteak, run races, and throw balls around with my friends.” [Lot anteakis a popular game in Cambodia. It involves jumping over a rope made from elaborately tied rubber bands. Children devote lots of their spare time to making the ropes from rubber bands.]
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| On her future: | “I plan to graduate from primary school, and after that I will go to help my mother with her work. When she was young, my mother only studied as far as third grade. When I grow up I will be a farmer like my mother. If I could go anywhere, I would look for a job in Kratie town so that I could save money to support my family.” |
