Sreyleak Chinda

Hello! My name is Sreyleak, and I was born in 1998. I teach at Rattinak and have been a TASSEL teacher since 2019. I graduated from university in 2021. I have a younger sister who also graduated from university. Currently, both of us live with our parents. My mother works as a teacher at a primary school, while my father is unemployed.

When I was younger, my mother was the only person supporting and caring for our family. My father was a soldier but never provided any support to the family. He often drank alcohol, which caused my mother a great deal of sorrow. Though she was a woman, she stepped up as the head of the family. When I turned ten, I helped my mother sell mangoes and cakes to students at her school because her salary wasn’t enough to support us. Despite not having enough money to pay my school fees, my mother never asked me to drop out. Instead, she encouraged me to study hard, telling me that while we might not have property, she gave me the invaluable gift of education—something that no one could take away. Education became my guiding light in solving life’s challenges.

When I was in grade 10, my father stopped drinking alcohol, but he still couldn’t earn money. I wanted to study English, but my mother couldn’t afford it. One day, a friend informed me about the TASSEL Organization of Cambodia. I went to TASSEL and asked the teachers to accept me as a student. I was excited to have the opportunity to study at TASSEL for free. I learned a lot from skilled Cambodian and foreign teachers. However, in grade 12, I had to leave TASSEL to focus on studying Khmer for my high school examinations. After high school, I got a scholarship from my university for four years. During my first and second years, I studied on weekday mornings. I volunteered at the university, where all volunteers could learn English part-time for free. I worked at the university until my third year when the college changed my schedule to weekends. So, I stopped volunteering. I found a different job and worked at a tour company for a few months. Later, I became a seller for several months.

In 2019, the TASSEL Organization of Cambodia announced it was hiring teachers. This was a great opportunity to become a teacher and give back to the organization that helped me. So, I applied and left my selling job. I was excited to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a teacher. TASSEL has given me the opportunity to learn English and gain more knowledge, and I am incredibly thankful for that. Now, I can return to TASSEL as a teacher and help poor children in Cambodia. I want to support those in need, especially by transferring education to poor children and encouraging them to study hard. I was a TASSEL student and I understand their struggles and aspirations.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of TASSEL. Thanks for helping many children and the poor family. When students gain knowledge, they can have good jobs, support their families, and improve their futures. Ultimately, they will be able to share their knowledge with the next generation.