Our national country manager Kimsreang Kun was born in Phav, Kampong Cham province. At age nine, she moved to Battambang, where her parents could earn a better living selling rice. Although her family was never rich, they always had enough food and so Kimsreang and her brothers could go to school. In Battambang Kimsreang successfully finished University in Management, while working full-time as a teacher. She started working as a social worker for Carpets for Communities as she was looking for a job in which she could work directly with Cambodia’s poor people.
Kimsreang is now our National Program Manager. She is in charge of all Cambodian operations for Carpets for Communities and is training and evaluating staff, developing and executing new directions for development and keeping track of logistics. Her motivation for working has however still stayed the same; “To help the poor people of Cambodia.” Although Kimsreangs family was never rich, for Kimsreang there was always enough food and the opportunities to get an education. When she started working with Carpets for Communities in Poipet she experienced what extreme poverty looks like. “When someone in Battambang said to me they were poor, they meant that they cannot buy a motor, or a car. But when someone from the countryside talks about being poor, it means that they really don’t have a 1000 riel ($0,25) in their pockets. Working on improving these people’s situation and to be able to sent their children to school makes this job very rewarding.”
While Kimsreang is running all Cambodian operations, she would love to see and experience the Australian side of Carpets for Communities. “All of the Poipet staff including me are always wondering what happens to the Carpets after they are shipped from Cambodia. I know that they are sold by volunteers on markets, but I want to know how Australia compares to Cambodia and who the volunteers are that sell them for us. We are very thankful to our volunteers and I would love to get to know them.” Going to Australia would be the first time for Kimsreang to leave Cambodia. While thinking about this she says: “I am very excited to travel to Cambodia and learn and share new things.” And is she going to miss anything from Cambodia? “I hope they serve some good Khmer Noodle Soup in Melbourne!!”
We are now fundraising to bring Kimsreang over for the CfC Conference in February.
Make a donation now at http://pledgie.com/campaigns/16602.
