Meet Oudom

I have been involved with Anjali House for almost ten years since I was a fourth-grade student in 2014. To be honest, before I attended to study in this organization, I was a person who hated education. I tried to drop out of school many times because of a lot of reasons. Firstly, to help my family financially. I thought that if I drop out of school, I can find a lot of money to support my family situation. Secondly, I was really addicted to hanging out with bad guys/ wrong crowds. I hardly went to school. My parents were stressed about my problems. Even though they had less education, they never wanted me to stop studying.

Anjali’s Impact

A few months later, my father met one old man by accident. His name was Sok who worked as a security staff member at Anjali House Origination. Then he introduced my parents to let me attend Anjali House. Fortunately, they approved me and my two oldest brothers. Being one of the Anjali House children, I had the best chance to participate in many programs such as English class, computer class, Angkor Photo Festival Workshop, Writing Through Workshop, painting class, living value class, gardening class, and especially joining the community services. These classes were very important to my life during my childhood and teenager. These classes sharpen my knowledge to become a good person in my society.

On another hand, my parents did not need to stress much about finding more money to support my siblings’ school supplies and uniforms because Anjali was responding for everything. Furthermore, Anjali also provided me and other children healthy food every breakfast and lunch. This helped us so much. We were lucky to be  Anjali House children.

Anjali Memories

I had a lot of unforgettable memories from Anjali. Some were funny, some were sad. Yet, most of them were good memories. I remember the time I heard the announcement of my name when I got selected as the top and the outstanding student of the month in front of all the students, teachers, volunteers, and staff. I was really surprised and never expected that I could get that golden opportunity. That was life-changing. I kept working harder, kept sharing knowledge, and continued being a good student, friend, son, and person in my community. As a result, I got more accomplishments than I would never believe that I could achieve.

For instance, I have been abroad to two countries, the United States of America and Japan. As a poor child who was fascinated by flying a kite and really wanted to experience how it feels to be on the plane. It’s unbelievable that dreams come true. These achievements are because of Anjali. I thank Anjali House for creating this idea, which was powerful, and inspired me and others to become nice people and it’s good to be surrounded by people that often motivate me to take a bold step that will elevate me and help me become more successful in life.

Where I Am Now

Giving Back to Anjali Through Soft Skills Training