We first came across twins Vuthy and Veata when they were three years old.
In ragged dirty dresses, they were standing barefoot on the litter-strewn ground where they played every day.
They were often left alone while their parents were out working as scavengers to earn a few dollars a day and there was little chance the youngsters would ever go to school.
10 years on and the twins can be found sitting together in a classroom at one of our schools in the same community where they used to run around on the streets.
Looking smart in their clean CCF uniforms, their potential is now being realized.
When I look at the photo, I can see we have come far, a long way
The opportunity to have an education for children like Vuthy and Veata, 13, is more than just about going to school; it has the power to change the whole course of their life.
Born into a poor family, their parents moved to Phnom Penh in search of a better life but ended up in Steung Meanchey, one of the most impoverished areas of Cambodia.
The twins were too young when they joined CCF to remember much about their life back then. But the photo of them as barefoot three-year-olds reminds them every day - a copy of it hangs in the family home.
“When I look at the photo, I can see we have come far, a long way,” says Veata.
Her twin (the eldest by an hour) adds: “I am very happy that we could go to school and have a better life.”
The opportunity has not just improved their lives but the whole family’s.
Their parents no longer have to work as trash scavengers, instead employed by a waste collection company with a regular income.
The family live in CCF house with assorted relatives and the family dog, Amab, who appeared in an early photo of the girls with their mother after they joined CCF.
The twins are close, together most days, but like any siblings have their squabbles.
Vuthy likes football and wants to be a doctor, while her twin enjoys watching movies in her spare time and currently wants to be - like adolescent girls around the world - a famous singer.
The girls’ youngest sister, Veasna, is three years old - the same age the twins were when they joined CCF.
Thankfully, she’s growing up with the security of CCF around her.
We hope, that with our support, little Veasna will embrace the same opportunities as her big sisters when she’s older and start her own journey to a bright future.
