MEET THE TEAM

I’m 21 years old and went to school till 9th grade. My best memories from when I was a child were when I used to go with my mother to Sihanoukville to sell a Khmer snack made out of sticky rice and leaves. I was happy that everyone liked it and I had a wonderful time with my mom. When she passed away 8 years ago, it was one of the most difficult times in my life because I used to have a great relationship with my mother, I felt I could tell her everything and when she died, I felt I couldn’t talk to anyone the same way.

I have 5 siblings, four brothers and one sister, but I am the youngest child. When I was younger and my mom was still alive, all of us would help to prepare the snack that my mother would sell in the different markets.

I have been married to my husband for 1,5 years and we see each other every other weekend because he works at the factory.

Now, I live with my father and one brother and the rest live with their families. My father doesn’t work, so all of my siblings and I help bring money into the family.

My sister has a restaurant in Phnom Penh and I went to stay with her for 5 months and learn how to cook which was a lot of fun! Phnom Pen is the farthest I’ve ever been.

When I first joined at Banteay Srey, I wanted to work at the café but there was no place for me so I started learning how to give massage. Now, I like it so much that I don’t want to work at the café anymore. I like how I can provide relaxation to the customers and the fact that they are happier after my massage.

I’m 16 years old and I just finished school, I liked very much to go to school but I had to drop out because my mom doesn’t have a job and she can’t pay my school fee.

I have 2 siblings but I live with my grandma and my aunt and uncle because my parents both remarried and they couldn’t take me to live with them. I don’t like to live with my aunt and uncle but I’m happy that my mom lives close to me.

I haven’t seen my father since I was 6 years old but I talk with him on the phone every month and he says that he is going to come visit me soon.

I’m happy to work in Banteay Srey because I’m able to earn money for my mom and my grandma. I give everything to them and I am able to save a bit for myself. I would like to buy a necklace for myself.

Freya first visited Cambodia in 2007 with her sisters. The twins returned home to Canada but Freya changed her ticket and stayed on to develop a social enterprise for New Futures Orphanage in Takeo and began learning the Khmer language.

Freya moved full time to Kampot in 2010 and immediately began developing the Banteay Srey Project. Her vision at first was a project that would serve trafficked victims but after two years of fieldwork and outreach, she began to understand the problems facing Khmer women were so broad that her efforts would be more effective if the focus was on prevention. Many Khmer women are at imminent risk: exploitation and abuse are common in marriage and in the workplace. Young Cambodian women today were raised by survivors of the Khmer Rouge in homes fraught with the effects of severe post-traumatic stress. In 2012, the Banteay Srey Project began working with ordinary impoverished village women who were struggling and seeking better employment opportunities.