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Chenda's Story
Chenda, six,
and Socheat, ten, are brother and sister. They attend the
Sunshine Centre every day.
Chenda and
Socheat's mother brought them to the Phnom Penh from their village several years
ago to escape their violent, alcoholic father. Socheat
describes those times "Every day he would steal our rice
and exchange it with wine. Now we don't see him."
Although she was
very young at the time Chenda remember's her father too. She
recalls waking up one night to find he was holding a knife
to her throat. They feel safe now that they live in the city, far
away from him.
Their new home
is near the Sunshine Centre. It is a small wooden house with one
room, which they share with their mother and their new
father. Their new father works as a moto-taxi driver, and their mother is
a cook in one of Phnom Penh's many garment factories.
Before the children started coming to the Sunshine Centre they had
little to look forward to each day. They stayed at home and
helped their mother with the housework.
Once the
children started at the Sunshine Centre, things began to
change. Now they go to school every day and are excited
about the future. Chenda likes reading and writing and
wants to be a dancer when she grows up. Socheat enjoys
learning the Khmer language and plans to be a policeman.
*all names in
the story have been changed to fictitious names to project
the identities of the children
Sovanna's Story
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Chenda's Story
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Vibol's Story
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