Nan's Story
My name is Nan. I'm from a small village in Kampot Province in Cambodia. The village of Snay Ang Chet is about 100 miles southwest of Phnom Penh. I live in America now but my Mom and Dad still live in the village I grew up in, along with some of the other members of my family. I would like to tell you the story of my life.
I was born in 1974. At that time, the Khmer Rouge were active in my country. When my Mom tells me about the “killing fields,” she refers to the people in charge of running things were killing a lot of babies, and a lot of people, in approximately a three year period they murdered almost a quarter of my country’s population. It makes me wonder how I survived.
I remember after the time of the “killing fields,” for every family that came back to the village, no one had anything to eat or drink, or clothes to wear. It was the most difficult time. There is really nothing I can compare it to, it was so very bad.
I remember my Dad working in the city, far away, trying to make some money to take care of his family. One time I went to visit my Dad in the city for one week. When I saw my Dad I was so happy. But my Dad and I were sleeping on the sidewalk the whole week I visited him. I asked him if that was how he slept every day. He said yes, and I was so sad. He sent me back home.
When I was in school I never had any school supplies, not even one pen or pencil. There were no books. We used chalk boards that we wrote on with charcoal and then erased. We had no furniture at the school. We all sat on mats that we made at home and brought to the school. I remember for a school uniform, I only had one shirt and one skirt to wear everyday for the whole school year. School was from 7am to noon everyday, and I never had any food to eat for breakfast. So every time when I got home my Mother would make me something to eat since I would be starving.
This school, looks just like the school that I used to study in when I was a little girl. One day as I was
sitting in my class room, my Mom came and told me that we had to go to my Aunt’s house, to go get some rice from her home in another village. I told my Mom that we would have to walk all day to get there. My mom said yes, but that we would have to go. So we walked all day in the heat of the day and then the rain came. I was so hungry on that day. Two days later, I was very sick, and I do not know how or why it happened. Two weeks later, I went back to school. I remember that around that time my hair started falling out every day, until I was almost bald.
In 1989 I was in fifth grade. One day, we all were in the classroom and we all heard booming and shouting only a few miles away. Our teachers told us that everyone had to go home quickly. So I ran to my village, and even though one of the soldiers tried to stop me he couldn't catch me. I kept running until I got to my home, but it turned out that no one else was at my village. A soldier grabbed me and put me on his shoulder and carried me for a mile. He put me down and told me to run this way, and go all the way to another village and you will see your parents there. I got to the village where the soldier had told me to go, and I saw my Mom and was so very happy that day.
That night everyone from my village had to sleep in the rice fields. Two or three days later I went back to school. My classmates and I had to walk a long way every day. I'm so very lucky that I was not walking in front -- the person who was walking in front was killed by stepping on a land mine. Some of us also were hurt by shrapnel, and I still have have marks on my body showing my own injury. It was very scary and very sad. There are many more sad stories like that. That is the reason that to this day I don't like fireworks -- they sound like war, and they remind me of the sound of that mine exploding.
In 1993, I moved to the city to live with my Aunt. I was very lucky that my first job was to work for an American newspaper reporter. His name was David and his wife was Sala. I worked for them for one year before they had to move back to the United States. Before they moved they introduced me to their friend, Mr. David Miller, who worked for the U.S. Embassy; I worked for him for one year before he too had to move back to the U.S.
My third job was working for Mr. Joshua Charap, who worked for the International Monetary Fund. I worked for him for two years in Cambodia, and then he and his wife sponsored me to come to work for him in America. I came to work for him in Washington D.C., from 1998 until 2000. After that, he had to move to another country. Fortunately, around that time I met my husband, so I decided to stay in the D.C. area. I worked for a time as a dental assistant.
Since I came to the USA my dream has been to help my family and the children of my village. They need clean water. And children need an education. So I saved my money and I was able to buy three water pumps for my village, and to give scholarships to four members of my family for them to get a good education.
But I always wanted to do more and to help more children.
In 2007 I took a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) class. When I finished the class, a classmate of mine who worked at a group home for the elderly in Potomac called me, and told me that they were looking to hire someone. My classmate asked if I could come in for an interview. The owners of what was called an Edenhome, Jonathan and Terry, hired me, and I started working for them. I very much enjoyed my job there, including getting to know the elder residents.
During that time, I took care of an woman named Selma Baron, who I called “Miss Chelly” (as that was her favorite first name for herself). Miss Chelly suffered from multiple sclerosis, but was always a cheery person, who loved reading a book and talking about her son, her daughter-in-law, and her grandchild.
One time, on Miss Chelly’s birthday, the family took her out to a chinese dinner in Rockville, and I was invited to accompany Miss Chelly to assist with whatever she needed. At her birthday party, I told Miss Chelly’s son my story about growing up in my village, and the hardships that my family and I had faced during my early years in Cambodia.
Miss Chelly passed away in December 2012, at age 83. Afterward, Jason said that he had become inspired by the organization “Room to Read,” which build libraries and schools in villages around the world, to help do something for my village. After learning that Room to Read did not presently operate in Kampot Province, Jason decided that we should proceed with a similar project on our own. We would start with seeing what school supplies were needed, and maybe one day build a library for the children of my village.
In January 2015, with Jason’s encouragement, I travelled back to my village with enough money from an initial donation of $1000 to supply approximately 500 children at the Prey Kha Jey Primary School in my village in levels one through six (equivalent to grades one through six in elementary school in the U.S.) with school supplies, including a class book, a pen, and a pencil for each student, along with 100 story books, rulers, dictionaries, and assorted other items (including a football, a couple of volleyballs and a net). As the pictures show, the students were very happy to receive these materials.
Jason and I then made the committment to building a small free-standing library at the Hun Sen Chum Kiri High School, and to ensure that the library is staffed by at least one part-time librarian who might also teach English at the school. We also believed that to truly make a difference in the lives of children, some type of scholarship might be offered to select students who wish to continue their education at a college or university in Phnom Penh. It costs approximately $500 a year to go to university.
My brother Ess, who lives in Phnom Penh, has pledged his assistance with building the library, and he organized a construction crew to start to build the library in the Fall of 2015.
In January 2016, I accompanied Jason to Cambodia for the dedication of The Chelly Library. About 1000 students were at the school to welcome Jason, my brother Ess, and myself. It was so overwhelming. When we looked at the childrens’ faces they were so happy -- they knew that with the library at their school they might have a chance for a better education and a better chance of success in finding a good job and having a better life. We told everyone gathered that if they wished to learn English in a special class that the Chelly Foundation would be offering the class for free. But we didn't realize how many students would sign up for learning English! . After I got back from the trip, my brother Ess told me that 700 hundred students had signed up for English class. Since we had only signed up one English teacher, we had to tell them only 400 hundreds students in the upper grades can study at this time. We need more English teachers so all the children can learn. I know that many, many students have a dream to go to study at a university in Phnom Penh in Cambodia, but very few from my village can afford to do so without a scholarship from The Chelly Foundation.
Now my dream is to continue to help more children both in my village and in the area around my village, to build more libraries, to increase the teaching of English to the children, and to provide clean water and sanitary facilities for them.
I am so enormously grateful for any donation that you can possibly afford to make to improve the lives of students in my home village and in surrounding villages in Kampot Province.
I was born in 1974. At that time, the Khmer Rouge were active in my country. When my Mom tells me about the “killing fields,” she refers to the people in charge of running things were killing a lot of babies, and a lot of people, in approximately a three year period they murdered almost a quarter of my country’s population. It makes me wonder how I survived.
I remember after the time of the “killing fields,” for every family that came back to the village, no one had anything to eat or drink, or clothes to wear. It was the most difficult time. There is really nothing I can compare it to, it was so very bad.
I remember my Dad working in the city, far away, trying to make some money to take care of his family. One time I went to visit my Dad in the city for one week. When I saw my Dad I was so happy. But my Dad and I were sleeping on the sidewalk the whole week I visited him. I asked him if that was how he slept every day. He said yes, and I was so sad. He sent me back home.
When I was in school I never had any school supplies, not even one pen or pencil. There were no books. We used chalk boards that we wrote on with charcoal and then erased. We had no furniture at the school. We all sat on mats that we made at home and brought to the school. I remember for a school uniform, I only had one shirt and one skirt to wear everyday for the whole school year. School was from 7am to noon everyday, and I never had any food to eat for breakfast. So every time when I got home my Mother would make me something to eat since I would be starving.
This school, looks just like the school that I used to study in when I was a little girl. One day as I was
sitting in my class room, my Mom came and told me that we had to go to my Aunt’s house, to go get some rice from her home in another village. I told my Mom that we would have to walk all day to get there. My mom said yes, but that we would have to go. So we walked all day in the heat of the day and then the rain came. I was so hungry on that day. Two days later, I was very sick, and I do not know how or why it happened. Two weeks later, I went back to school. I remember that around that time my hair started falling out every day, until I was almost bald.
In 1989 I was in fifth grade. One day, we all were in the classroom and we all heard booming and shouting only a few miles away. Our teachers told us that everyone had to go home quickly. So I ran to my village, and even though one of the soldiers tried to stop me he couldn't catch me. I kept running until I got to my home, but it turned out that no one else was at my village. A soldier grabbed me and put me on his shoulder and carried me for a mile. He put me down and told me to run this way, and go all the way to another village and you will see your parents there. I got to the village where the soldier had told me to go, and I saw my Mom and was so very happy that day.
That night everyone from my village had to sleep in the rice fields. Two or three days later I went back to school. My classmates and I had to walk a long way every day. I'm so very lucky that I was not walking in front -- the person who was walking in front was killed by stepping on a land mine. Some of us also were hurt by shrapnel, and I still have have marks on my body showing my own injury. It was very scary and very sad. There are many more sad stories like that. That is the reason that to this day I don't like fireworks -- they sound like war, and they remind me of the sound of that mine exploding.
In 1993, I moved to the city to live with my Aunt. I was very lucky that my first job was to work for an American newspaper reporter. His name was David and his wife was Sala. I worked for them for one year before they had to move back to the United States. Before they moved they introduced me to their friend, Mr. David Miller, who worked for the U.S. Embassy; I worked for him for one year before he too had to move back to the U.S.
My third job was working for Mr. Joshua Charap, who worked for the International Monetary Fund. I worked for him for two years in Cambodia, and then he and his wife sponsored me to come to work for him in America. I came to work for him in Washington D.C., from 1998 until 2000. After that, he had to move to another country. Fortunately, around that time I met my husband, so I decided to stay in the D.C. area. I worked for a time as a dental assistant.
Since I came to the USA my dream has been to help my family and the children of my village. They need clean water. And children need an education. So I saved my money and I was able to buy three water pumps for my village, and to give scholarships to four members of my family for them to get a good education.
But I always wanted to do more and to help more children.
In 2007 I took a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) class. When I finished the class, a classmate of mine who worked at a group home for the elderly in Potomac called me, and told me that they were looking to hire someone. My classmate asked if I could come in for an interview. The owners of what was called an Edenhome, Jonathan and Terry, hired me, and I started working for them. I very much enjoyed my job there, including getting to know the elder residents.
During that time, I took care of an woman named Selma Baron, who I called “Miss Chelly” (as that was her favorite first name for herself). Miss Chelly suffered from multiple sclerosis, but was always a cheery person, who loved reading a book and talking about her son, her daughter-in-law, and her grandchild.
One time, on Miss Chelly’s birthday, the family took her out to a chinese dinner in Rockville, and I was invited to accompany Miss Chelly to assist with whatever she needed. At her birthday party, I told Miss Chelly’s son my story about growing up in my village, and the hardships that my family and I had faced during my early years in Cambodia.
Miss Chelly passed away in December 2012, at age 83. Afterward, Jason said that he had become inspired by the organization “Room to Read,” which build libraries and schools in villages around the world, to help do something for my village. After learning that Room to Read did not presently operate in Kampot Province, Jason decided that we should proceed with a similar project on our own. We would start with seeing what school supplies were needed, and maybe one day build a library for the children of my village.
In January 2015, with Jason’s encouragement, I travelled back to my village with enough money from an initial donation of $1000 to supply approximately 500 children at the Prey Kha Jey Primary School in my village in levels one through six (equivalent to grades one through six in elementary school in the U.S.) with school supplies, including a class book, a pen, and a pencil for each student, along with 100 story books, rulers, dictionaries, and assorted other items (including a football, a couple of volleyballs and a net). As the pictures show, the students were very happy to receive these materials.
Jason and I then made the committment to building a small free-standing library at the Hun Sen Chum Kiri High School, and to ensure that the library is staffed by at least one part-time librarian who might also teach English at the school. We also believed that to truly make a difference in the lives of children, some type of scholarship might be offered to select students who wish to continue their education at a college or university in Phnom Penh. It costs approximately $500 a year to go to university.
My brother Ess, who lives in Phnom Penh, has pledged his assistance with building the library, and he organized a construction crew to start to build the library in the Fall of 2015.
In January 2016, I accompanied Jason to Cambodia for the dedication of The Chelly Library. About 1000 students were at the school to welcome Jason, my brother Ess, and myself. It was so overwhelming. When we looked at the childrens’ faces they were so happy -- they knew that with the library at their school they might have a chance for a better education and a better chance of success in finding a good job and having a better life. We told everyone gathered that if they wished to learn English in a special class that the Chelly Foundation would be offering the class for free. But we didn't realize how many students would sign up for learning English! . After I got back from the trip, my brother Ess told me that 700 hundred students had signed up for English class. Since we had only signed up one English teacher, we had to tell them only 400 hundreds students in the upper grades can study at this time. We need more English teachers so all the children can learn. I know that many, many students have a dream to go to study at a university in Phnom Penh in Cambodia, but very few from my village can afford to do so without a scholarship from The Chelly Foundation.
Now my dream is to continue to help more children both in my village and in the area around my village, to build more libraries, to increase the teaching of English to the children, and to provide clean water and sanitary facilities for them.
I am so enormously grateful for any donation that you can possibly afford to make to improve the lives of students in my home village and in surrounding villages in Kampot Province.