From Surviving to Thriving with Han Kean
Imagine for a moment, heading to your local grocery store or farmers market to buy ingredients to cook breakfast. You start simply, picking up a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs. Your stomach sinks, however, once you check the store tag. With anxious hands you fish for your wallet and rush to count the stray coins at the bottom. Ten…fifteen…25 cents. That is not only meant to sustain your daily budget for food, but everything else you might need. Feeling defeated, the food goes back on the shelf as you rack your brain as to how to feed your family waiting at home.
That’s how much money a young Han Kean made on a slow day scavenging the municipal garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, because that hypothetical was once her reality. On a good day, Han could make 7,000 riels (KHR), which is the equivalent to $1.70 (USD), and is still not enough money to buy a gallon of milk in Cambodia. To put it even further into perspective, travel blogs recommend that tourists and backpackers budget a minimum of $40 per day when visiting the country.
Han was born in the Prey Veng province, and her family’s poverty bares no reflection on their work ethic. Both of her parents were farmers, and her father Then Somnang and mother Lang Kong spent their days working the rice fields from sunup to sundown. Struggling to make ends meet, they ended up in debt with the bank. Feeling pressure from the bank, Then left Cambodia to work in Thailand, and Lang, who didn’t have an education to lean on, began working as an employee in another rice field. Her salary wasn’t enough to support four children while making payments against their debt, so she fished to put food on the table. Their situation remained critical, and the sensation of hunger never quite left them. After a few weeks Han’s grandmother had a different idea, and brought them to the municipal garbage dump in Phnom Penh.
The garbage site is a commonplace for scavenging, and the family rented a small dwelling close by which they could afford. The room became their home, but with no electricity, bathroom or running water it was no haven to return to after a perilous day’s work at the dumpsite. Lang, Han and her siblings had to fight through swarms of flies and trudge through broken glass without boots or protection, always with the threat of Cintri trucks revving over the hill looming large. The trucks disregarded any scavengers in their paths, so it wasn’t uncommon for children to be injured or killed after being caught beneath them. The overwhelming stench of rotting garbage hung in their nostrils even when they gathered for dinner, where they waited for nearby homes to flick on their lamps so they might see their food.
One day, there was a sight at the dump which Han wasn’t expecting. A group of children were gathered around a woman, whom she would later come to know as Phymean Noun of the People Improvement Organization (PIO), JustWorld International’s partner project in Cambodia. They were listening intently as Phymean spoke, and what struck Han’s ears sounded like nothing short of dream. Phymean spoke of a school designed to lift children out of poverty, with free education, uniforms, shoes, school supplies and lunches.
She rushed to find her mom and share the good news, and it wasn’t before long that Han was seated in a classroom at Stueng Mean Chey school with clean clothes and a set of books. Yet the reality of sifting through garbage remained at the forefront of her mind, because she was only able to stay in school half of the day. Her family still needed help with money for food, and her desk was one of many which was frequently empty. The principal began questioning students on their lack of attendance, including Han, who told the truth. Education was a priority to her, but it wasn’t the only one. PIO came together with JWI to find a solution, and they created the Rice Program, which provided students with good attendance a 50kg bag of rice to take home each month, enough to feed a family of six. This incentivized their education by removing the need for them to work.
And so, Han was able to successfully continue her education. She graduated high school and became a primary school teacher for two years at PIO, moving on to teach at an international school in her home province of Prey Veng. In 2015, Han was able to celebrate both her accomplishments and that of PIO at Phymean’s side in Sweden as she accepted the World’s Children’s Prize. Han was also able to take an educational journey to Nepal, where she studied and developed her worldview. Han is now 24-years-old and studies Marketing at Preak Kossomak Polytechnic Institute (PPI). Through education, Han’s future is freed from the limits of poverty and she continues to grow and build a prosperous life for herself and her family.
“I am so thankful to JustWorld for supporting and inspiring PIO which has allowed me to achieve things that once seemed impossible.”
— Han Kean
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JustWorld International
Established in 2003, JustWorld was founded to provide equestrians with a way to support carefully vetted education programs for impoverished children around the world. Thousands of JustWorld Ambassadors from more than 40 countries have since committed to “ride for the cause” and assist JustWorld in accomplishing its mission to help build brighter futures for these children and their communities. Equestrian-based companies and events worldwide support JustWorld’s efforts, and the governing body of the global equestrian sport, the FEI, has endorsed JustWorld as its official charity partner. In 2022, JustWorld is helping improve the lives of nearly 10,000 impoverished children around the globe daily.
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