Third Grade Dropout Committed to Help Community
At 42 years old, Mean Moth has been working for the Archaeology Development Foundation for eleven years. Photo: Isa Rohany
- By Isa Rohany
- August 15, 2023 3:09 PM
PHNOM PENH – At 42 years old, Mean Moth has been working for the Archaeology Development Foundation for eleven years. After starting some work related to the nutrition program in 2012, she moved on to the community development program two years later. A position that she still holds today, focusing on teaching farmers new cultivation and breeding techniques.
But Moth’s life journey is nothing comparable to a walk in the park.
She had to quit school in grade 3 and never had the chance to graduate. But thanks to her commitment to learning, she successfully mastered reading and writing, studying on her own thanks to documents left at home by his father, who was the village chief of Tbaeng Kaeut village, the place where she grew up in Banteay Srei district.
With these basic, yet essential, skills in her pocket, she later became a kindergarten teacher and a village volunteer for six years. An experience that helped us join the ADF, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on archeological research, environment protection and socio-economic development in and around Phnom Kulen, in Siem Reap province.
This background gave her a good understanding of the needs of the people in the area and motivated her to keep on helping farmers, even though she sometimes faces hardships.
Communication and coordination with villagers can sometimes be delicate, Moth said, adding that patience is always key to teaching farmers new techniques and improving the hygiene of their farms.
Meas Moth with villagers. Photo: Agrisud International
“This work is difficult and easy at the same time, but I decided to continue to help them [the farmers] as this is what really motivates me,” she said.
She said that when she started, there weren’t many coconut or orange plantations in the area and that most of the crops were grown following traditional methods.
But after years of working alongside farmers, she now sees more fruits growing on the slopes of Kulen Mountain, which allows farmers to sell more in the market and improve their livelihood.
She now wants to see local farmers grow lots of fruit and black ginger finger root, which could be a good way for them to earn a better income and be able to support their families.
After more than ten years of helping the community, Moth feels blessed that she played a role in improving the farmers’ cultivation skills and says she is frequently praised as a brave woman by the villagers.
She wants to see more girls getting involved in social work and be brave enough to support local communities in their development.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Te Chhaysinh for Cambodianess.
