Play of imagination - part III (real story)

His family comes from a poor province; his siblings still live there and work on the fields. His father works for the government but still has to take on several jobs next to his official one. They just have rice he tells me, not so many things more.

Many children just go to elementary school, the other schools, like high-schools are often too far away for them. And universities are way too expensive anyways. For some the advantages of receiving an education are not clear. Some do not seem to be convinced that education is leading to somewhere, thus they do not send their children to school. Many of them have to work on farms.

He thinks that Siem Reap is an expensive place to live in compared to his home province. To pay $2 per meal is nothing for us Europeans but for him it is much more. He works for our hostel as tuktuk driver in order to pay for his studies. He usually has no time to go back and see his family. He sees them once a year. To study costs a lot here, only 40% of the young people have the opportunity to study, many more have to work.

What does he think of the neighboring countries? Thai people are very unfriendly towards Cambodians. Many Cambodians who go to Thailand have problems; they are victims of violence, robbery and discrimination. Thai people consider themselves as a superior race and treat Cambodians as slaves. He is happy that his government has opposed the Thai army and reacted to the border conflicts in a tough way. The relationship towards the Vietnamese is better. But here problems start to arise as well. Maybe the wealthiness has turned the Vietnamese into arrogant neighbors. Only the relationship towards Laos is good. The Cambodians consider the Laos people as their brothers and sisters. Is poverty creating links?

He would like to be able to travel. He wants to share his trips with others; he regards it as a way to show off. When I try to explain him that travel is much more than just to show off, he does not seem to understand. Maybe one day he will discover what travelling means. Each trip shows me that France is my home. But that is impossible to him…Cambodia better than other countries? Impossible!