The mothers, children and communities that we’ve met inspire our ideas and, often times, solutions. Every one of them has a story worth sharing.
From the village Rajpur, India, Kamini is the daughter of farmer, Lal. Lal has a small plot of land and earns a meager living. Neither Lal nor his five brothers were able to study beyond eighth grade. There was no high school in his village and no means of transportation available. Given his past and current challenges, one would think the idea of educating his daughter would be a far off dream. But not for Lal.
Phach Meas – Even though Phach grew up in abject poverty, she always wanted to get an education. From the age of 5 Phach harassed her father to send her to school until he finally relented when she was 8. They couldn’t afford books or stationary. Her father fashioned home made chalk from river clay and a chalk board from a piece of off-cut timber. Phach was supported by LO at high school and assisted her entry into a course for Pastry Chefs. Phach recently graduated and is now working and earning a good living.
Coming from the poorest of poor families, Noryrath Hong qualified for a Lotus Outreach high school scholarship from year 10. She completed year 12 and was then awarded a further 4 year scholarship after which she graduated a Bachelor of English literature. She now works for an organisation that works to protect children from all sorts of exploitation.
Mai Por Kim and her mother. Kim is 16 years of age in grade 10 at Chbaa Ampov, High School in Phnom Penh. Por Kim tells us with tears welling in her eyes, “For all that we have received, I want to thank Lotus Outreach Australia from the bottom of my heart!!” We interview her as part of the GATE Phnom Penh – Rice Support and scholarship program.
Lokesh travelled to school and College for six years on Blossom Bus from Bichpuri village along with around 30 other riders from the same village. Two years back Lokesh was one of six local youths hired by us for an after school teaching program called Equality Education Addition (EQ+). She was paid for that work and earned herself a lot of respect from her village for being a young, educated woman getting a good salary while working from her home village.