The first thing you notice about Kosal [Name has been changed to protect anonymity] is his quiet yet dignified demeanour which belies his sharp wit and incredible intelligence. At 15 years old, Kosal bears an innocence uncommon in young people who have experienced such hardship.
Kosal was born with dwarfism into a low-income family in central Cambodia. When he was young, his parents were tricked by a group of Thais who offered to take Kosal to live in Thailand, promising to take care of him as they would their child. However, the Thais traffickers want to exploit Kosal’s disability and use him as a beggar in the Thai markets. He suffered this abuse for years until the age of 13, when Thai police arrested him for begging, and he was sent to a detention centre to await deportation back to Cambodia.
Arriving in Cambodia, he was processed through the Poipet Transit Centre (PTC). Because of his age, he was transferred to the Child Migrant Office (CMO), which supports child deportees, especially those unaccompanied by an adult. Kosal knew he was from Kampong Cham province but could not remember the village, so social workers from the 3PC network began locating Kosal’s family in the hopes of reintegrating him with them.
When the social workers found his family, they were homeless, living in extreme poverty, and indebted. The final decision was; the best course of action for Kosal was a referral to Damnok Toek’s Transitional Care Facility (TCF), where he could live and study through the Non-Formal Education program.
He reflects on this decision fondly through a translator, saying, “Before coming here, my life was a bit difficult. I lived in Thailand, and also, when I was brought [back] to Cambodia, I had never studied and had no place to stay, nothing to eat. When I came to Damnok Toek, I had a safe space to stay and three meals a day. I could study, and I could play…” The translator pauses, and Kosal interjects in English, clearly following the conversation, “…with my friends.”
The TCF offers long-term accommodation, meals, education, counselling, and other provisions for children under 16 years old for whom family reintegration is not an option. Many children living at the TCF have experienced extreme trauma and little to no education or guidance. Therefore, Damnok Toek offers these children an education separate from the Non-Formal Education (NFE) program that focuses on accelerated learning and teaching life skills. The road to recovery is different for all children, and Damnok Toek staff take an individualised approach for children living in the TCF to address each child’s needs and potential.
Kosal excelled in his classes immediately, and after one year of education in the TCF, he transferred to the NFE program to complete Grade 6. Again, he was consistently top of his class, and his teacher suggested he apply for a secondary school run by another organisation. He was accepted and is now in Grade 7, studying full days Monday-Friday and taking extra classes on Saturday mornings for additional practice in Khmer language and mathematics.
“My favourite subjects are English and computers…I like English conversation classes, and I like to study computers, and I would like to learn more about how to use them.” His current school offers computer classes for two hours a week, but he laments that he does not get as much practice as he would like since he does not have access to a computer outside of school. One of the goals of the TCF is to have computers for children to study and learn IT skills; however, financial limitations still need to be made a reality.
Despite these limitations, Kosal possesses unwavering optimism and speaks of his dreams for the future. “I would like to continue to study at university… My first goal is to improve my English because the English language is necessary for all of the computers works I want to do.” When the translator is asked if he is interested in hardware or software design, she doesn’t quite understand the question. Still, Kosal does and replies, “I would like to design different models of computers and also do program developing. I know I am not a strong man, so I think if I have skills in designing computers, it will be quite good for me.”
Kosal agrees to use his picture taken at his favourite spot in the Centre. After walking around for a while, he stops before a blooming bush, plucks a yellow flower, holds it to his nose, and smiles at the camera.
