Hello!

 

My name Kosal Som and I am the Director of One Life One Future Cambodia.

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I was born in one of the many poverty families in Cambodia at the end of the war. In 1992, I saw the first of many people who had blue eyes and golden hair, the UN soldiers who came to oversee Cambodia’s first elections. Their gentleness and kindness made me know what I wanted to do when I grew up – to work with the UN. So, I decided to move to town and become monk, the only way I knew would give me an education.

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But life never goes as we plan and my goal to attain higher education has faced numerous challenges. I ended up doing all kinds of work from working in a hotel reception to starting my own souvenir store in Siem Reap. Until one day when I met a Singapore lady called Mavis who used to cook fried rice which she packed and gave out to people in need. She would always drop by at my souvenir store to pass me some any of the rice she had left.

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About two year later, I had closed my ailing business and was looking for a job. I called on Mavis asking if she had any ideas and she said that she was starting a permanent kitchen for her charity, Touch A Life. She told me that she already rented a place and needed someone help her set it up. Mavis inspired me with her passion for giving back to society. Her dedication to feeding my people made me realise what I wanted to do. This was the beginning of my life in charity.

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I worked at Touch A Life for 3 years but decided that there was more I needed to do. I went through a period of intense soul searching which led me to Vin Kebblewhite, an Australian living in Siem Reap. He mentioned that he was starting a charity but was not sure what it would look like. So, I went off back to my village to ask them what it was that they needed most.

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Almost 80% of the people I asked said, education. To them, education was the one thing that could draw the entire country out of poverty; to create an empowered younger generation, completely in charge of their futures. And reflecting on it, I believe that this is true. It was only through education that I am in the place that I am, able to even contemplate leading a charity like this.

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In 2013, Life Project Cambodia was formed, providing a scholarship for students in need so that they could attain a sound education. The charity would cover the students’ room and board as well as their school fees. Vin and I started with 8 students and this slowly grew to 23 students. Empowering the team to help themselves and others is at the heart of what Life Project Cambodia did.

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In 2018, Vin decided that he would return to Australia. It was with a heavy heart that we had to say goodbye to Vin. He has been indeed an inspiration to all of us. Today, with me as the sole director of the charity, I have decided to rebrand Life Project Cambodia to One Life One Future Cambodia. The mission and vision of this charity remains as it always was: Empowering children and youth to create their own solutions to poverty.

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At the end of 2018, our first 3 students graduated from their tertiary studies. Two have become nurses and one now working at the hotel in Siem Reap. A further four have just finished their high school and are continuing their higher education at university. All of them are the first children to finish high school in their families.  

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It because of achievements such as these that we at One Life One Future are continually motivated to keep fighting for the younger generations. We are committed to changing one life at a time!

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Thank you to all those who have supported us for all these years!

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Yours sincerely,

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Kosal Som 

 

Director,

One Life One Future Cambodia

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