This is a real life story about a family I have become exceptionally attached to in Cambodia.
I have recorded their lives through the pictures and stories as their lives developed.
Please take time to read it by clicking on the various links below. I believe it will give you a great insight as to how some peoples lives are.
I've added a page about the city they live in. See images of the lovely Cambodian place it was compared to how it looks now the Chinese have almost taken over.
COVID IMPACT
PRE-COVID
The family were starting to progress in many ways.
Som was working as a waiter which was his usual job.
Mao was doing his taxi driver job with the family motorbike.
Ngeang was help with deliveries.
Crab (Gdam) was struggling to find work due to his lack of basic education.
Mouy was working in the kitchen of a small local restaurant.
Snar and Pich attended school everyday.
I was beginning to feel some optimism towards their future as a family - that they would soon have the ability to be independent from any assistance from me - although I would always be there for them should difficulties occur.
DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC
When covid was first detected, I was already planning my next travels to see the family in mid March 2020.
Sadly, as the situation began to rapidly deteriorate I was reluctantly beginning to accept that it could be an enormous risk to make the journey - with the possible scenario that I could be stranded either in Cambodia or one of the countries I could be transitting through.
As many countries began closing their borders, the number of victims began to increase rapidly across the world too.
However, if official figures were to be believed, Cambodia appeared to be coping better than most - but my knowledge of the country led me to treat those figures with considerable caution.
On a personal level, the whole situation around the family became extremely worrying. One by one, the workers of the family lost their jobs as places began to close. Eventually - like many countries - almost everything was closed.
I was extremely concerned if the family would be able to cope. They had no income - with virtually no help for anyone from their government. I ensured they had money to buy a large stock of rice. They told me that whilst the market was closed, basics could still be purchased on the perimeter of it. I advised them as best I could - as I probably had more knowledge of the situation than they did.
I knew it would be very difficult for them. There would be eight of them cooped up at home. Thankfully I had previously purchased a TV for them and had wi-fi installed in the home - these things being a luxury for many Cambodians.
Obviously, we kept in close contact and I continually advised them how to proceed.
Vaccinations were donated to Cambodia from a number of countries and so I was relieved when they told me they were allowed to get the vaccination (apart from the younger two) although I was concerned when they sent me a picture of the queue and they were shoulder to shoulder and compacted like fans queueing for cup final tickets!
Thankfully, somehow they coped and survived and whilst I could not visit them, we could talk via video calls.
It was an extremely worrying time.
POST COVID
Following covid, the recovery process was very difficult and very slow.
It appeared in many cases that businesses didn't just re-open and continued - but more of a fresh start with new businesses slowly starting up.
There weren't the tourists to help the economy and it appeared to be a large scale struggle.
At least the family had survived and whilst I had been rather optimistic about their progress prior to the pandemic, I was just relieved that they had all survived it.
All I could do now was to encourage them to look for work and thankfully they (over some time) managed to find jobs.