Soeuy is the general manager and surrogate family at Svay Chek Village School. He was born into a farming family of eight siblings, five brothers and three sisters. Born in 1980 and raised before the end of the war, living in the tropics, he went through many hardships, sometimes having to move to another village for safety. His childhood was to seek education in a monastery with a monk and never had any thoughts or intentions of what he wanted to become in the future. When the district was quiet, he asked the monks to stay at the pagoda to continue his studies at the secondary school, about 20 kilometers from his hometown. But not possessing much education, due to lack of education, he decided to drop out and return to the village. At that time, he helped to farm, cut firewood, sell firewood and grow lentils to help support his family.

 

In 2001, Soeuy went to see a monk at the pagoda where he had asked to stay at Calpikobarapheap. During that time he studied alphabet and learned a little English. After three years, Soeuy left the seminary and returned to marry his wife, Risarath. They moved near the provincial town of Siem Reap to work as a tourist. He has two children named Soeuy Randa and Soeuy Samneang.

 

Soeuy is also in the tourist transport business. He is a member of the  the Tour Association and continues to transport guests for a hotel called Shinta Mani.  In addition to working in tourism, he also transports and sells firewood.

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The most beloved skill is in IT. But due to living conditions and  being unable to finish school, he was not able to obtain a job in this profession that he loves.

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Soeuy is a person who loves to clean the environment. No matter where he goes, he can be found removing garbage to keep the areas he frequents clean. In addition, Soeuy is a lover of helping others and this hobby led him to join hands with Mr. Koeung to build a English language school in their village in 2017,  with the aim to provide free english training, requiring no money from the children who were willing to come the school. One reason he is so committed to imparting knowledge to the younger generation is because he has seen the dropout rate of the youth in Kat village increase and he believes that his efforts will be able to create opportunities for them to find better jobs.

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Although he did not do much in school, Soeuy continued to learn a lot about his culture and the world around him. He knows that education has significantly changed his life and improved his life in many ways.  And knowledge gives him communication, social participation and a good way of life.

 

Soeuy is very pleased to be part of Cultivating Cambodia. This activity further motivates him and he feels that all his hard work in the past has been invaluable in expanding and strengthening the human resources in his community.