Catch-Up Series: Chaat
Our Catch-Up Series of interviews are a way for us to check-in with our Residential Scholarship students and share their progress with you. In our second interview as part of our Catch-Up series, we sat down with Chaat and chatted about how his life has changed over the past 18 months since starting his scholarship.
From village life to the student house…
When you were 16, you decided to leave school and move to Thailand and become a fisherman. Why?
“I felt like there was no point to stay at school for life in the village. The idea of earning money in Thailand sounded much better. My father told me not to go, but I did anyway.”
How did you organise the fishing job in Thailand? Did you know it was illegal?
“My neighbour knew a trafficker and organised a meeting. It was all very easy. All I knew about the job was that it was a fishing job, on a boat off the coast of Thailand. I had no idea it was illegal – I didn’t understand any of that then – I didn’t know what human trafficking even was.”
How long did you stay in Thailand? Can you tell us about your experience?
“I worked as a fisherman for about 9 months. I got sea sick everyday – and we spent every day on the boat. We would bring the fish back to port every so often, but we never slept on land, always on the boat. I was treated well, but the work was very hard and I was sick all the time.”
When you started your scholarship, you told us about a murder that happened while you were working on the fishing boat. Do you feel comfortable talking about that?
“Yes, it’s OK, I can tell you. We were in port and woke up to find a body floating in the water next to the boat – it was a fisherman from another boat and he had been stabbed. They said there had been a fight during the night and he was killed. It was really bad. The police came and most of the crew from my boat were arrested and deported back to Cambodia, but no one ever found out who killed the fisherman. I was left on the boat with the Captain and another young Khmer guy, about the same age as me.”
Did you feel unsafe when you were working on the fishing boat?
“I never felt safe. I always stayed on the boat when we were in port. The other men would always go ashore and visit prostitutes, drink, and take drugs. I was offered drugs and alcohol all the time, but I didn’t take any. I just tried to keep to myself.”
How did you leave Thailand?
“The other young Khmer boy on my boat knew another trafficker and we organised to come back to Cambodia together. Originally I was only going to come back to visit my family in Chi Kreng and then go back, but once I was home I didn’t want to go back to Thailand.”
Do you regret leaving school and going to Thailand?
“Yes. Looking back, now I see it was a bad choice. At the time it felt like the right thing to do – it was never going to be long-term and I just wanted to earn money and help my family. All of the fisherman that I knew, who have come back to my home town, are drug addicts or alcoholics, or both. It’s hard to say if I would have been the same – I don’t think I would have – but I am just happy to be away from them.”
If you were still in Chi Kreng, do you think you would have gone back to school? What would you be doing now?
“No, I couldn’t go back to school because my family couldn’t afford the school fees for high school. My only choice would be rice farming or fishing and I never wanted to do that for my life. I always wanted to get away – my dream was to live and work in Siem Reap. When I came back from Thailand, I was offered motorbike mechanic training by an NGO that visited my village, but I never heard anything from them again. I didn’t have any other options.”
How did that make you feel?
“I was sad. I didn’t know what I was going to do for work or study. It’s a bad feeling.”
Did you ever think you would be studying at a private school in Siem Reap?
“[laughs] No! I didn’t even know what a private school was, or what one looked like! [laughs] I really can’t believe it is real and that it’s really happening! I am really excited about my future now.”
What would you like to study at university?
“To be honest, I don’t know yet. Now I am going to Grade 10 and I want to focus on my studies and I want to learn English. I am interested about the law – maybe the Police – because we need good Police in Cambodia and I would like to help people. But I know the Police force is very corrupt and I don’t want to be a part of that. So, I don’t know yet.”
What are the biggest changes in your life since moving to the student house and starting your residential scholarship?
“I’m back in school and now I have things like clean water, a toilet, electricity, lots of food – and the internet! [laughs]… It’s nice to be able to take a shower and have clean clothes. I was really nervous about starting the scholarship because everything was so different and I was scared I wouldn’t be good enough for school, but now I am feeling more comfortable. I still get nervous a lot though.”
Do you enjoy living with the other residential students, and your brother, Chet?
“I’m really happy that my brother has a scholarship too, and it’s really nice to live with him again. The other students are like my best friends now.”
How do you feel about everything now, 18 months after starting your scholarship?”
“[laughs] It still doesn’t feel real! I’m really happy. I have a younger brother who is only just starting school and I am proud that he can look up to me and Chet and see that we are studying and setting a good example. My parents are really happy and proud too. We’re all really happy!”
Stay tuned for another catch-up interview next week!
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The original article was published by Life Project Cambodia Organisation.
Life Project Cambodia is a non-government organisation (NGO) designed to empower Cambodian children and youth to create their own solutions to poverty. We provide education scholarships, family assistance and community outreach so they can build a stronger, brighter future for themselves and their community.
Life Project Cambodia was created by Vin Kebblewhite in 2014, following a life-changing volunteer placement in Cambodia in late 2012. Vin witnessed poverty and corruption on scale that he couldn’t believe; and that was not something he could walk away from. Determined to help the children and youth of Cambodia build a brighter future for themselves, he returned to Australia and created a plan of action. After 12 months of research and planning, Life Project Cambodia was born.
Life Project Cambodia focuses on Education with auxiliary Family Assistance and Community Outreach programs. As of September 2015 we have 19 scholarship students from Primary School to University; we have 17 families receiving monthly family assistance; we have delivered more than 200 bicycles to disadvantaged families living without transport; We have provided clean water and solar lights to more than 30 families; and we are providing sustainable income by building chicken coops and pig pens for our scholarship students families.
Life Project Cambodia (Organisation) is a registered local non-government organisation in Cambodia and is supported by Life Project Cambodia Ltd which is an Australian charity, registered with the Australian Charities and Non-for-profits Commission.
Registered Australian Charity with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission | Life Project Cambodia Ltd | ABN 76168636011Registered Cambodian Non-Government Organisation #1597 | Life Project Cambodia (Organisation) | Mondul 3, Svaydongkom, Siem Reap, Cambodia
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