User:Hoksan AN/Sandbox

An Hoksan’s story
My parents and their parents were born in the floating village. My father and my mother got married during the Polpot genocide.

There are 8 people in my family and I have five sisters. My two older sisters died during the Polpot genocide, so now I have only one older sister and two young sisters. My family is not rich and we have only fishing to support our life.

My village is a floating village. We have a dry season and a wet season for 6 months each. During dry season, the villagers fish around the side of the Tonle Sap lake. In the middle the water is low - some places is 1 m, 2m and 3m deep. Some of them grow vegetables for eating and for sale. In the wet season, the water is very high and the villagers go fishing inside the forests, rivers, lakes...not in the middle of the Tonle Sap lake.

When I was 6 years old, I helping my father to fish every day from 2pm till 6am the next morning then at 7am I went to school. After school, I and my father went fishing on the Tonle Sap lake. It was far way from the village and we used the pedal boat. We went to places to go fishing and we would stay there for two or three days and then go back home.

When I was 10 years old, I went fishing alone and with a group. We would stay only one night (we left in the evening and came back in the morning). We caught the fish with a net that we left in a line in the water and gather it in the morning. In the early morning I started to take our net from the water into our boat. I would bring the fish to our home. When we got the big rains and strong winds with big wave, we did not sleep and stayed on the boat without sleep till the rain and wind finished, because we worried about our net, and especially our small pedal boat. It could not stand the big waves so we needed to find a big tree for parking to protect the boat and us. My older sister went to a business man who bought the fish. Then other people cut the fish to make fish paste (cheese).

After I finished my school in my village, I went to study in the Battambang city to finished grade 12. During my study in the city I don't have money to rent the room for staying, so I stay in the Pagoda. I try to find a job in the city to earn money to support my study. For my work in a small restaurant I earned US$15/per month for an 8 hour day, no day off). My parents could not support me, so I must earn money by myself. When I finished my school in the city in 2002, I came back to my village to help my parents doing fishing again. I stopped study for 5 years because I didn't have money to continue my study in University. I lived my whole life on the water and I always think if I have another job I can help my parent to live in more happiness. You know in my village, the villagers’ only career is fishing.

This made me want to leave home to find a good job in Siem Reap to earn money to help my two young sisters who are still studying. I left my village in 2009 to go to Siem Reap to find a job. After 15 days that I was in the city, I got a job working as a waiter in a small restaurant near the old market. I earned US$40 per month. I pay rent of US$25 per month and give some money to my sisters to pay school fees. With tips of one or two dollars per day I paid for food (some days I did not get tips). I worked in the restaurant for one year and then I got my job in the Golden Banana Boutique Hotel and Resort where I work until now. I work as the Receptionist. I earn US$75 per month. I pay for my new room for US$40 per month and plus for shower water 3USD/month, Electricity 0.25USD/Kilo watt, dust 0.50USD/month... and some for my sister to finish her study for grade 12 (2012). Now she has just finished her grade 12 and she study in University with me for her first.

We are happy to study and happy to improve our knowledge to develop my village and the villagers who are not enough the money to support their life by provide them the extra skill as like: growing the vegetables(floating garden or on the land during the dry season), chickens, ducks etc..

I wish to see my villagers and my family are get away from the poor life and they can send their son or daughter to school and get the higher class that possible to get the better job or can develop our country and our life better and stay in freedom.