Upstairs in their home at the Girls to Grannies Village, Monorum prepares to clean up with her sister, ready to settle down to do school assignments at her small, low-level desk. She tries to keep it tidy, cleaning every day after school.
Downstairs, she sometimes studies on the wooden bed frame that doubles as a makeshift table.
She is making the very most of the opportunity to learn.
With her sister, Monorum, 17, has already lived through more than most adults.
Monorum, 17, and her sister Malai, 19, were not always certain they could attend school. After losing both parents within months of each other, survival — not education — became their priority.
Their parents had once built a modest but stable life in Svay Rieng province, farming and making Chinese noodles to sell. But when their father’s business collapsed under heavy debt, everything fell apart. The family lost their home and land. Their father left to work construction in Phnom Penh. Years later, overwhelmed by financial pressure, he took his own life.
Their mother, struggling with depression and chronic illness, tried to rebuild. In 2020, she died due to complications from diabetes.
The sisters were suddenly alone.
I don’t have parents. It was really hard for me to continue my studies, to achieve my goals.
They moved in with their grandmother, but decided to leave school and find work in Phnom Penh. They worked wherever they could — in a bird’s nest factory, selling shoes in Steung Meanchey.
“We were forced to work,” Monorum says simply.
But neither sister had given up on their education.
“I don’t have parents,” Monorum explains. “It’s really hard for me to continue my studies, to achieve my goals. So I tried to find a school where I could learn.”
A friend introduced them to Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF). In 2023, Monorum joined. Soon after, Malai followed.
Today, both sisters are in Grade 12 at CCF's Tomorrow Academy.
They now live together at the Girls to Grannies Village — the first all-female community of its kind in Cambodia — sharing their home with a CCF university student.
My sister will always have me, and I will always have her
For the first time in years, they have stability. Safety. Space to study.
And each other.
“We are very close,” Malai says. “When I came to the school, I didn’t have friends. But I had my sister. She will always have me, and I will always have her.”
Though Malai is older, Monorum is the more vocal of the two — quietly leading, protecting, and encouraging. When they were younger, their father did not want Malai to continue school because she was needed at home to care for her sister. Now, Monorum is determined that they both move forward.
After classes, they return home to study and help in their community. Monorum loves Khmer and English and practices speaking whenever she can.
She was one of the CCF speakers at the 2025 Annual Youth Talks (AYT), which provides a platform for students and invited speakers to discuss personal and social issues and share their experiences and feelings.
Both have their eyes firmly set on the future.
They hope to attend university in 2027. Monorum dreams of studying International Relations or Accounting. Malai wants to pursue Human Resources.
Recently, the sisters stood confidently as hosts at the Apsara Grannies 2.0 exhibition at the National Museum of Cambodia — speaking with visitors, practicing English, sharing stories. It was a long way from the factory floor and streets where they once worked.
Their journey is not defined by loss — but by their determination to make the best life possible.
And thanks to the support of the CCF family, two sisters who once had only each other now have something more:
A future.
