From Scavenging to High School Graduate

A photograph shows Nary as an eight-year-old girl at the Steung Meanchey garbage dump in 2015.

She should have been in school. Instead, she spent her days scavenging barefoot among the rubbish, searching for items which could be sold for recycling.

Her parents were also trash scavengers, and the family lived in a makeshift shelter of old wood and tarpaulin among the rotting piles of garbage. Money barely covered food, let alone school.

The only school books Nary knew were the discarded ones she found among the trash — torn, dirty and unwanted.

Today, Nary is 20, has recently passed her Cambodian Grade 12 National Exam and is preparing to begin university, where she plans to study hospitality and tourism management.

Nary recalls the photograph of her from 11 years ago.

“I remember the photo being taken. When Scott (Neeson, CCF’s founder) saw me, he wanted me to go to study. My Daddy said, ‘Yes, you can go [to school]. Then my life changed.”

With support from Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF), Nary started school in 2015. Her family also got help moving off the dumpsite and into a rental room. They received free healthcare through CCF’s Medical Clinic, subsidised rice and welfare support, while Nary’s mother was supported through the birth of the family’s youngest child, a baby boy named Munny.

Nary achieved a C Grade in the National Exam. Students take examinations in subjects ranging from Khmer and English to Chemistry and History, and must pass overall to gain entry to university.

This year marked another remarkable 100% pass rate for CCF students, compared to the national average of 85%.

“Nary is a great example that your first years do not need to dictate the rest of your life. As long as you have belief in yourself, you can do anything. Nary is a really strong character; she has got so much potential and is going to fulfil her dreams,” said Scott Neeson, CCF’s Founder and Executive Director, who took the photograph of Nary all those years ago.

Hospitality may be Nary’s chosen field of study, but her dream is to become an actor.

“I love to act. I want to study a skill at university for four years and practise acting in my spare time,” she says.

Eleven years ago, Nary’s world was the garbage dump. Today, her future is hers to choose. She is writing her own story — and starring as its leading lady.