Meet Roven

I am Roven. I come from a very big family living in the countryside. There are 10 brothers and sisters, and most of them move around a lot, stay with different people in the family each week. It’s difficult for me because I was born with legs which don’t work, so I can’t move around on my own. If I go to school, my dad or a brother has to carry me there and back. It can be painful for me so I have missed a lot of school.

I am glad I have some really good friends. They sometimes help to carry me to school or to go outside on breaks. I have a best friend. We like hip hop music, especially Vannda, and love to talk. We talk about what we study and what we read. I like books, especially Khmer legends. I love it when the Sipar mobile library comes into our community, because I can borrow books and read them in my home or the library at school.

My life can be hard. I wish I could do what I want, have the freedom to move around on my own. It’s hard to always rely on other people. But I am also lucky that people do help, like my friends and my family. I would like to repay them for all their support one day, that’s what family is about. I feel happy with them. Just at home, washing the dishes while my brother cooks. I feel happiest when my parents smile at me and we love each other, ordinary moments like that.

Even though I’ve missed lots of school I am not giving up on education. I hope I can get a wheelchair soon. The roads are rocky but I think if I had a wheelchair I could still get to school on my own, I wouldn’t need someone else. Most of my family are farmers and I can’t do that because that’s a lot of moving around.

I hope to do well in my studies and become a pre-school teacher, a job where you don’t need to move a lot. But more importantly I’d like to pass on my love of reading and my knowledge to help children. I would work hard to get that job and to give little children better chances in life. Not many kids here get education when they are little, I’d like to change that.