My name is Srong Savean. I am 22 years old. My mother died when I was 7 years old. After my
mother passed away, my life was like food that misses an ingredient. My four siblings and I had
to live with my grandparents who are old. My father had to work at a farm alone all day and
earned money to support us. Have you ever thought about a life without warmth from a mother?
I don’t have mummy to take care of me, look after me or even make me have warm feelings.
When I was hungry, I didn’t have mummy to ask for food like other children in my village did. I
could only ask for food from my old grandmother or older siblings. My childhood was not
complete. From day to day, I had to hide my sadness and my bad feelings. I could not get what I
wanted. Do you know? Life without a mother is like a kite without a destination. I always felt
lonely whenever I saw my friends who have a mother to pick them up from school. Every new
school year, I needed new uniforms and school materials, but all I could do to get them was to
walk around the village from one house to houses to sell bananas or fish that my brothers
caught.  Sometimes, my older brothers climbed coconut trees and picked coconuts to sell. I had
to walk to school for almost nine years. After I graduated from secondary school, I had to
continue my studies at high school which was far from my house. 

In 2015 I studied at TASSEL in my village. I was very happy because TASSEL taught students
English for free. Unfortunately, when I graduated from high school I had to quit TASSEL
because I had to attend college. I really wanted to become a teacher in TASSEL since I was a
student there and I always hoped that one day I would work with TASSEL. During my first year
at the university, I worked as a dish-washer at a restaurant. Then, I worked as an English teacher
for a private school for one year. 

In 2017, I applied to TASSEL and I passed. I have been working with Tassel for 2 years and I
love working with TASSEL so much. TASSEL not only teaches poor children English but also
teaches them to become good people. When they have problems in their families, they come and
talk with the Khmer teachers who always encourage and give them a warm feeling. Moreover,
TASSEL takes old people to the hospital when they are sick, gives them rice, medicine, and
clothes every year. Especially, the foreigners that come are kind and share true love to us. I hope
Cambodia will be changed in the near future by TASSEL. I want to see people in my country
love and help each other and not be selfish anymore. This is why I joined TASSEL.