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Sameath's story
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Sameath remembers the day when his father abandoned his family and left with another woman. His father, who is a cyclo-driver, and his family were living in a poor area in the centre of Phnom Penh. His mother, who is then unemployed, is compelled to look for a job to keep on feeding both of her children. At that time, Sameath is a 5-year-old healthy boy and his little sister only is 3-year-old and already suffers from malnutrition. Sameath's mother hears about employment opportunities in a textile manufacturer located 2 km in the south of Phnom Penh. She applies and is hired to work on an assembly-line. The working conditions are quite hard as she has to work continuously from 7 am to 11 am and from 11:30 am to 5 pm in a very noisy open-space. Her wage hardly reaches 35 USD per month and a part of it is likely to be withdrawn if she wastes too much material. Yet, she soon acquires a good experience and is quite well considered by her foreman. One the whole Sameath, who is 7, manages to go to school nearly every day. As school only takes half of the day and he needs to pay for it, he goes every day scavenging in the city to collect empty cans that he sells to a Chinese man, who then recycles them. Three cans bring him 100 riels back and with 45 cans, he can afford to have a "kewteow" (a Chinese noddle soup). With a bag on his shoulder, he usually seeks for cans with three other children. Smiling, he tells us that during the latest Water Festival, which took place in Phnom Penh on November 11th and 12th, he managed to collect nearly 200 cans, which brought him back much more money than expected! Let's mobilize and share our wealth to help those courageous children. |
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