Sreypov’s dream is to work as an ICT teacher
Cambodian Sreypov was only five years old when her parents passed away. Since then, her brother, who is 17 years older, has been taking care of the youngest sibling. Sreypov has little real memory of her parents, mostly just what her brother has told her.
23-year-old Noeun Sreypov was born in the village of Svaychantun, but she and her brother moved, which is an hour’s drive away to the tourist town of Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple, along with numerous other ancient temples.
Sreypov’s brother works in the city as a tour guide, so tourists are the family’s livelihood.
Sreypov attended primary and high school in the city of Siem Reap. Later, Sreypov applied to a vocational school to study information technology. She became interested in the field because there is a lot of work and the salary is good.
COVID-19, however, took the brother’s work away as tourists left the city, which affected the family’s finances. Receiving the Women’s Bank scholarship was Sreypov’s only chance to continue her studies.
Instead of giving up, study hard
Studying ICT was not easy for Sreypov at the beginning, and the fact that many programs are in English made it extra work. She has had high motivation and has worked hard for her studies.
Since Sreypov didn’t have her own computer at first, she had to stay after the school day in the computer class to practice. However, the challenge was also that most of the students do not have their own computer, so the competition for free machines in the class is fierce.
Now Sreypov has saved money and bought her own computer, but regrets that she couldn’t afford to buy a sufficiently powerful machine. The computer is too slow to run a heavy image editing program.
Towards dreams
Sreypov has completed a two-year basic degree in ICT and is qualified to work as an ICT support person, repairing computers and installing programs on them. However, she has found her own passion for image editing and she likes to “photoshop” and do graphic design even in her spare time.
Sreypov hopes to continue her bachelor’s degree in the field of information technology and hopes to be able to focus especially on graphic design in the future.
– I am happy with my life now because I have been given the opportunity to develop myself and with that many things have changed. I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience, says Sreypov.
Her longtime dream is to one day work as a teacher of ICT, especially image editing. She feels that the work of a teacher is important so that she can share her own knowledge with others.
– Don’t give up, but be brave and work to achieve your dreams, Sreypov says encouragingly.
Text: Paula Saastamoinen
Photos: Roun Sy