This young man, Daravi (pronounced da-ra-vee’) comes from a very remote village called Until (pronounced on-dil’). He is 15 years old and the third child of 5. He rides to his middle school each day with a friend who has a moto as the school is quite far from his home. He has hopes of serving in the police force one day. He is an average student and is happy to have been accepted to the Plas Prai dorm as his parents are unable to rent a room for him to study high school.

This 15-year-old young lady, Lisouth (pronounced lee-sowt’) is the youngest of 4. She is the younger sister of one of our former students. Her parents work in a factory in Phnom Penh with one of her brothers while Lisouth stays with her aunt in a remote village called Kchang. She is a bright student. She made us all laugh during the interview when she confessed that she wants to join the armed services because she likes uniforms. She also shed a few tears when she explained her inability to study high school on her own. She was ecstatic to hear she was accepted to Plas Prai!

17-year-old Mav (pronounced mauw) lost his mother when he was young. He is the 7th of 8 children. His father has had health problems which has left he and his younger brother on their own in many ways. Mav is the younger brother of two of our previous students (Narin and Theara). He has done poorly in school recently and confesses he looks at his phone too much. He appreciates the rules at Plas Prai and believes he will perform better in school with additional support and accountability.

This 17-year-old young man, Samros (pronounced som-rah’, the “h” is just breathy at the end), is 4th of 7 children in his family. He comes from a very remote village in Chaep district. He had to stay at his teacher’s home to complete 7-9 th grade. He is a class leader and ranks #1 regularly. His parents are farmers. Samros wants to be an engineer one day and help develop his village (they just recently received access to electricity). Samros is open to learning about God; he told us he heard a bit about Jesus from a local taxi driver.

This 15-year-old young man regularly ranks between #3 and #5 in his class of 45. Sophanno (pronounced Soe-pan-no’) is the middle child of 3 children in a Christian family. His father first came to faith through a visiting medical ministry to his village from Davisville church. Sophanno is currently staying at a middle school dorm to complete 9 th grade. He loves Chemistry and wants to be a Chemistry teacher in middle school one day.

Srey Pich is pronounced sray-bich’ but the ‘ch’ at the end is not aspirated. The translation of her name is Diamond Girl and she is 17 years old. Srey Pich’s mother passed away from a traffic accident several years ago and she lives with her uncle and two younger siblings. She is second of 4 children. She would love to get through high school and study further to be a pharmacist. She has a decent chance of this goal as she currently ranks #2 in her class of 32 students in Toul Rovieng

At 16 years old, Tola (pronounced doe-la’) was confident and courageous at her student interview. She is the third of four children and #1 in her class of 19 in Pola village. She is the only student who came to interview from that village which is another indication of her courageous spirit. Tola’s father became sick in 2017 with meningitis and has never been the same since that time. This has helped inspire Tola in her dream of studying medicine in the future. Completing high school will give her the chance to do this someday.

This student comes from a very remote village called Choam Srai. Veayor (pronounced vay-yo’) is 15 years old and the middle of three children. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he hasn’t had contact with his father since then. He lives with his mother, stepfather and his grandmother. He would like to be an elementary school teacher and currently enjoys helping the younger students with their studies.