Behind The Scenes

Female empowerment takes many forms, and maybe we don’t talk enough about the gritty realities that make it central to our mission. So we want to tell you about “Virya.”

Tucked along the border of Thailand, in the western province of Banteay Meanchey, lies Poipet, a city with the dubious moniker of “Cambodia’s Vegas.” The streets are lined with casinos, and the casinos are filled with people flush with cash or frantic to win some.

Poipet's back rooms and streets are filled with people desperate to feed and house themselves and their families. Some are lured to Poipet by the false promise of easy money around the casinos. Others optimistically accept “too-good-to-be-true” jobs but are forced to labor day and night in locked rooms to scam money through online schemes. Small children scavenge in piles of fetid garbage for something to eat or sell. And there are girls. Lots of young girls. Every one of them has a story. Not enough of them end well.

We know we cannot help every at-risk person in Cambodia or even in our small Siem Reap community. But, when a family in our community asked us to help a 16-year-old girl in Poipet, we listened, learned - and joined with this family to help Virya.

Let us tell you about her.

This is a complicated family story, as many are, but we will try to give you only the essentials.

When she was six months old, Virya’s parents divorced. Her mother left her to be raised by her grandmother in a village on the far edge of Siem Reap province. Unfortunately, the grandmother died when Virya was eight, and her mother - we’ll call her Savytha - returned for her.

By now, Savytha was re-married and had a new family. Virya moved in with them. They lived close to where Virya’s grandmother had lived, so Virya continued to attend the same village school.

But something happened when Virya was halfway through Year 6. It’s unclear what caused the change, but the family’s financial situation shifted for the worse, and Savytha went to Poipet to find work. She also pulled Virya out of school and told her it was time to support herself.

Virya was 16.

She sought work in the areas around her village, but Virya looked younger than her age, and with no experience and a limited education, there were no jobs for her.

Savytha was not sympathetic and insisted Virya must support herself.

“Then you will return to Poipet with me,” she told Virya. “There will be no more schools for you, but there is work for pretty girls.”

Fortunately, our outreach coordinator learned of this from a friend whose mother was very concerned, especially as she knew she wouldn’t want her own daughters anywhere near the streets of Poipet.

This mother - we will call her Heng - asked if we could help find a job for Virya if they brought her from Poipet to live with their family. She said Virya was welcome in her family home, but they could not afford to buy food and clothing for another person, so there would need to be extra income.

“She is too young for us to help her find a job,” we told Heng. “She should be in school.”

We told Heng that we would pay Virya’s school fees, clothing, books, and other essentials and provide Heng’s family with rice and other foodstuffs each month to help feed an extra person.

Heng agreed this arrangement was the best option and went to Poipet to bring home her “new daughter.”
We arranged and paid for the transfer of Virya’s records from her old village school to her new one in Siem Reap City. Because she had been out of school for quite some time, Virya was required to take the Year 6 exam, which she passed with flying colors. Now, she is in Year 7.
She goes to school half day (like most children here) and comes to the Heartprint Community Center the other half. Some girls from our programs go to her new home daily to ride with her to Heartprint (we gave her a bike to get to and from school and Heartprint). They knew instinctively how important it was to make her feel welcome and loved.

The other day, some of the girls took her to the market to buy her first backpack for school. Something we take for granted - a simple backpack - brought her such joy. As we left the market, Virya walked ahead with our intern Mya, and reached out to hold her hand.

Virya has found her place.

When she first arrived, the burdens on her young shoulders had caused them to bend forward physically, and she didn’t have the confidence to look anyone in the eye. She was on the road to broken.

But thanks to Heng, our team, and many others, she now walks with her head held high. Her shoulders bend forward only when she is hunched over schoolwork, in which she excels. She rides her bike and laughs with the other girls. She has a vision for her future, which is nowhere near Poipet.

This is all part of empowerment. A safe place to live, food to eat, a support system of friends and community, and, critically, education.

You are also part of this - and we wanted to do better at explaining more about the circumstances faced by too many here. Thanks for all that you do to allow us to help people like Virya.