To celebrate May 15th - International Family Day - CCF is kicking off ‘Spotlight’, a new monthly series where we focus on the remarkable individuals who make our work possible, whether staff members, community leaders or volunteers. For our debut, we want to introduce you to someone very special. After spending years scavenging and struggling to survive, he has created a home not just for his own family, but for other vulnerable members of the community. He is a true family man, who has expanded the very idea of what a family can be. This is Sophal’s story.
“I roamed around Phnom Penh’s streets picking up recyclable rubbish. Life was really hard," says Sophal, 40. He is remembering seven years ago, when he eked out the barest living as a scavenger collecting recyclables in Phnom Penh’s busy streets - barely earning enough to feed his family. “I was a scavenger for around three years. The worst thing was my children couldn't get any education.”
Then his life took a different turn. After requesting a small loan from CCF, who were already supporting his children, Sophal bought a cheap motorbike so he could work as a mototaxi driver. Recognising that such an opportunity might not come along again, Sophal worked day and night, until he was later able to buy a tuk tuk and even became an official CCF driver. Sophal has since paid off his loans in his bid for financial independence.
Sophal has also repaid that little bit of help by becoming one of the most family-orientated, kindest people we know. As well as working hard to support his wife and three children, Sophal also cares for three other children from his extended family who have been abandoned by their parents. He also gives a home to his aunty and a 75-year-old granny from the community.
“Family is so important to me. I try my hardest to support them,” says Sophal, who encourages every one of the children under his care to study hard, whether at public school or in CCF classes. “It’s important because I want my children to be good people and get a high education. I don’t want my children to have lives like mine. I want my children to get good jobs.”
Sophal and his family now live in a safe and clean World Housing community where - when not driving his tuk tuk - Sophal enjoys spending time with his children and helping his wife clean the house and cook. Feeling that he was given a chance in life, he now gives that same chance to others: "Nowadays I look after an old lady. She has no children to help her so she lives with us."
Of course, life isn't just work. “I always have fun with my family and my children, and the people in my community. Everyone here comes to talk with me,” says Sophal. “I think that here I am a leader. I look after everything. If there is a problem, they come to me first.”
With such a big family, it can be difficult for Sophal to earn enough money to support them financially. “I do worry that if I’m sick, then no one can help my family because I’m the main breadwinner,” he says. “If I could have any wish for my family, I would want my family to have good luck and good education, and everyone in my house to have good health and happiness.”
If anyone deserves that wish to come true, Sophal does.
Sophal is an inspiration to us at CCF, not just the heart of his own extended family, but part of our own extended family. To help us celebrate International Family Day, please share Sophal’s inspiring story via Facebook. And watch this space for a video, coming soon.
“I roamed around Phnom Penh’s streets picking up recyclable rubbish. Life was really hard," says Sophal, 40. He is remembering seven years ago, when he eked out the barest living as a scavenger collecting recyclables in Phnom Penh’s busy streets - barely earning enough to feed his family. “I was a scavenger for around three years. The worst thing was my children couldn't get any education.”
Then his life took a different turn. After requesting a small loan from CCF, who were already supporting his children, Sophal bought a cheap motorbike so he could work as a mototaxi driver. Recognising that such an opportunity might not come along again, Sophal worked day and night, until he was later able to buy a tuk tuk and even became an official CCF driver. Sophal has since paid off his loans in his bid for financial independence.
Sophal has also repaid that little bit of help by becoming one of the most family-orientated, kindest people we know. As well as working hard to support his wife and three children, Sophal also cares for three other children from his extended family who have been abandoned by their parents. He also gives a home to his aunty and a 75-year-old granny from the community.
“Family is so important to me. I try my hardest to support them,” says Sophal, who encourages every one of the children under his care to study hard, whether at public school or in CCF classes. “It’s important because I want my children to be good people and get a high education. I don’t want my children to have lives like mine. I want my children to get good jobs.”
Sophal and his family now live in a safe and clean World Housing community where - when not driving his tuk tuk - Sophal enjoys spending time with his children and helping his wife clean the house and cook. Feeling that he was given a chance in life, he now gives that same chance to others: "Nowadays I look after an old lady. She has no children to help her so she lives with us."
Of course, life isn't just work. “I always have fun with my family and my children, and the people in my community. Everyone here comes to talk with me,” says Sophal. “I think that here I am a leader. I look after everything. If there is a problem, they come to me first.”
With such a big family, it can be difficult for Sophal to earn enough money to support them financially. “I do worry that if I’m sick, then no one can help my family because I’m the main breadwinner,” he says. “If I could have any wish for my family, I would want my family to have good luck and good education, and everyone in my house to have good health and happiness.”
If anyone deserves that wish to come true, Sophal does.
Sophal is an inspiration to us at CCF, not just the heart of his own extended family, but part of our own extended family. To help us celebrate International Family Day, please share Sophal’s inspiring story via Facebook. And watch this space for a video, coming soon.
