Portraits

Friends-International works with thousands of street schildren in one day Internationally. To learn more about who these children are, in their own words, plase click on the link below.

Portrait 1
Portrait 2
Portrait 3
Portrait 4

Portrait 1

My name is Chinary (not her real name). I am 18 years old. I came from a very poor family of Siem Reap province, Cambodia. My father is a teacher who gets very low salary. My mother stays at home. There are 9 children in my family. I am the oldest daughter. In the family I have big responsibility to help my parents to take care of my brother’s sisters. I have to work hard everyday, but we still cannot earn enough money for living. My parents decided to leave Siem Reap for Phnom Penh. Life was not better. One day my father left us and the living condition became very bad. I have to work day and night to feed the family. We moved to stay in Bassac squatter area where a lot of mothers sell their own daughters to brothels for money. Later on my mother did the same thing. I was sold for $150. I sold my body in the brothel for 2 years to release the loan that has been paid to my mother. I came to stay with my mother again. One day my mother left me and went back to Siem Reap. She left 6 children with me and I had to work day and night to feed them and support them in schooling. One night while I was selling fruits at Independence garden a group of bad men (there were 7) forced me to have sex with them. I was raped by those heartless men. Later on I found out that I am HIV+. Mith Samlanh social workers who work at the squatter area came to see me and we discussed my problems. They worked on the problems. I was encouraged to come to access Mith Samlanh programs. My sisters and my brothers were reintegrated back to Siem Reap to stay with my mother. Now I am staying with Mith Samlanh. I finished sewing training course and now I am working. I learned a lot of things in Mith Samlanh. Life is OK.

Within only 2 years, my life was completely changed. In 1998 my father died leaving 5 children in my family. My mother remarried a man and one year later she divorced him and remarried one more time. She died in 2000 just 2 years after the death of my father. I stayed with my stepfather, who was a cruel man. I was forced to work in the streets begging for money. All the money went to his pocket and was spent for his entertainment. He beat me up often. I made a plan to escape from him but failed and I was heavily punished. I did not give up the idea and my second plan was successful. I came to Phnom Penh late 2002. I stayed in the streets and had many friends. We lived together as a big family and helped each other. We also shared food, drink, sleeping place, and drugs. I started sniffing glue and went on to trying Yama (Amphetamine). On the streets I also met with Mith Samlanh social workers, with whom I had various interesting discussions. I came to visit Mith Samlanh Training Center and also participated in different activities in Club Friends. I decided to come to study a vocational skill at Mith Samlanh for my future in accordance with my future plan. I have strongly decided to stop using glue and Yama, and I will come for a vocational skill at Mith Samlanh.

It was already dark when I came back from the paddy field. I had worked hard the whole day in the field. I was hungry and tired. While sitting down on the ground I heard a loud noise of my stepfather "Sarom! I need some water from the river, go and bring some water for me, go now!" I was sitting near the house and through the bamboo wall of the house with pale light of kerosene lamp I saw the shadow of two people – a man and a lady. The lady was not my mother because she went to visit someone in the other village and would be back only the day after. The river was far away from my house and it was not reasonable enough to send me there for water. I refused to go there explaining him that I was tired and I wanted dinner and sleep. I entered the house and saw my stepfather with a lady in the bed. This made him very angry. He jumped from the bed toward me and started beating me with a long stick. It was not the first time he did this to me. I felt down and fainted. Next day when my mother came back home my stepfather told her something quietly. Her face turned red with anger. She blamed me and tried to hit me. I had no opportunity to explain her about what happened instead I ran away from this hell and decided to say goodbye to both of them forever. I decided to leave the family for Phnom Penh in hope that my life would be better. I came to Phnom Penh but the life here was not as good as I thought. I stayed in the streets with a group of street children and soon I adapted to this life. I earned survival by guarding cars at the Mekong riverside, working as a pimp… sometime stealing and hitting people for money.

At night I slept on the sidewalk. When it was raining I slept under the canvas of restaurants, but most of the time I slept only a little at night. The police never gave me a good sleep. Life was terrible. Last month I met with Mith Samlanh staff who had a nice talk with me and encouraged me to go stay at Mith Samlanh. I did not decide at once but took time to work on what he said. I went visit Mith Samlanh Centers and participated in some of the activities organized by the children over there. The activities in the center really attracted me: schooling, training, group discussions, sport, games… Two weeks later I decided to come and stay with Mith Samlanh.

Portrait 2

I’m a 6 years old boy, now I’m sleeping in Peuan mit (street children centre in Vientiane), I came here because nobody look after me, my father was arrested by police because of selling Yaba (Amphetamine), now he is in a prison. My mother takes opium, sometimes I was hit by other children. I miss her and I want her to take care me, but she take a lot of drugs so she can not look after me.

Portrait 3

I’m a 15 years old boy, I used to study in Primary school Level 5th, but I left from school, because I did not like a teacher, the rules were very strict. My father shouts at me while we have dinner together and he always hits me when he gets drunk, so I decided to go out to find food myself by begging and collecting garbage, Once I was hit and threatened for money by a motorbike gang. Now I do not want to go back home and school, I come to Peaun Mit with my friends and now, the center is going to organize Vocational Training with me, I want to learn mechanics.

Portrait 4

I’m a 12 years old girl, My father went away when I was 8 years old, my mother is a disabled person, she has no legs because of leprosy, so I live in a small hut with my mother and my younger brother. One day my mother came in to Vientiane Capital for begging with my small younger brother, sometime she drinks a lot of alcohol and hits my brother, I was very worried about my brother so I decided to come in to Vientiane capital to help my mother and my brother, at that time I begged and got enough money to buy food for three people, but that time my mother really needed to drink alcohol everyday.

One day we have met some people fromm Peuan Mit and we went everyday to the center for 1 or 2 hours. My brother and I we played and my mother slept a lot because she was very tired. In the beginning the staff of Peuan Mit went back with me to our village and then I stayed there with my uncle. 1 month later, my mother wanted to come back also with my little brother. My mother will sell clothes in front of the hut and my brother helps the mother to feed pigs, ducks and chickens, and everyday I will make a small garden and go to give water after school.