Student Sin Takes Us to School

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what life is like in other parts of the world and what day to day experiences are like, especially children in poverty stricken areas.  For PeopleStories scholarship student, Sin, he was very candid about what he likes to do, what he thinks about, how he solves problems, and so much more.  

Sin started his journey with PeopleStories in 2020 when he was a Grade 7 student at Roluos Secondary School.  Now at 16, Sin studies at Hun Sen Prasat Bakong High School in Siem Reap province, Grade 10.  ​

Sharing a school project he is working on right now, Sin explained how he is growing mushrooms, excitedly saying, “I have tried to grow the mushrooms at home first but that was not successful. I learned that I didn’t put the yeast in at the right time and didn’t use the right amount.” 

​Sin says he learned from the experience and decided to grow them at school. He continues, “I realized the home growing environment wasn’t good for the mushrooms so that is why I chose to try and grow them at school.”

​It quickly becomes clear that Sin is a thinker and a problem solver. He was eager to share about his favourite subject in school, mathematics.

 “I enjoy mathematics the most. All of the math exercises have many different ways to solve them but there is always just one right answer. I like that!”  He continues, “Math is easy for me and I don’t need to think too much about it or give a lot of reasons for my answer, I just need to do the formulas.”

For all of us, we can recall lifelong memories from our school days. That is something universal. Sin is no different and he is grateful for the friendships and memories he is making during this time in his life. He shared a little about his good friendship, “My best friend and I understand each other so well. I am a very quiet person and don’t always make friends easily.”  Sin is glad to have someone he can confide in when family life or school life get difficult, “My friend doesn’t judge me and is always by my side when I feel down or am having a problem. It’s rare to find this kind of friendship so I am so lucky to have my friend in my life.”

While Sin has his friend that is always there for him, he also has some challenges that he is working on.  For one, Sin struggles with English and says, “I am not very good at English, so I often fall behind in lessons.”  He has solutions for that too, and continues, “To overcome this, I will ask my friends for help and can also check the dictionary in the library or use Google Translate.”

For many students in rural Cambodia, getting to school is a problem that many children have. Sin’s family has only one motorcycle and shared, “It’s difficult having one motorcycle at home because I need to share it with my sister. I will also sometimes ask my friend in the same grade as me to give me a ride to school.”

Feedback is always helpful and from a student’s perspective he shared this for his teachers, “My advice for my teachers is to please help review the old lessons before starting the new lessons. This is helpful because not every student in class has recall or review time before class.” Sin’s thoughtfulness for everyone is remarkable and he concluded by saying, “Reviewing lessons will also help students engage with teachers better.”

Sin is well on his way to a bright future, which he does think about. He shared what he’d like to do when he graduates Grade 12, “My goal is to graduate high school with a B grade average and I know it won’t be easy so I have plans.”  Sin’s problem solving is very inspiring and he continued about his plan, “I have started to review lessons in the morning, as my routine. I use the time to practice more exercises and I can also take extra classes.”  He summed up his hopes and goals by expressing gratitude, “By my family’s status, I couldn’t afford to pay for extra classes but I am so grateful to Peoplestories for helping me.”

Education is the key to success in all parts of life. PeopleStories is bringing education to the underserved children in the rural villages of Cambodia. After following a day in Sin’s life, and his vision for his own future, I think we can see that we are making a difference.  

There are many other children just like Sin that have big dreams!  Help up bring education to rural Cambodia today: https://bit.ly/Donate_PS2024



Story written by: Volunteer Kathy Aunkst