A Life Depends on the Sky! Sok Seoung: “Drought makes me extremely poor.”

Sok Seoung, 37, a resident at Toul Khhpous Village, Svay Chrum district, Svay Rieng, looks thin and pale but she tries to smile and tells she has been working in Vietnam for five years because there is nothing to do besides growing rich with a low production.

“The drought happens again and again in my village that makes my rice crop damaged so I have to across the border to find a job in Vietnam,” Sok Seuoung complains.

 Working in Vietnam, Sok Seoung starts working from 7 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. She says that her boss always blames her when she gets tired and wants to take a rest. She continues that, “My boss always blames and stare at me. Moreover, he always delays the date to give us our salaries.”

According to the National Census 2008, 80.5% of Cambodian populations are farmers who mostly depend on agricultural products to survive.  Although, Sok Seoung, a farmer in Svay Rieng province, claims she cannot make a living by farming.

Regarding the problem above, this 37 years old woman says “I can not do even a little farming now because of the drought. The drought has happened in my village every year since 2000 and this year is the serous one compares to the previous year.”

As a habit of Cambodians, farmers, in every year, need the rain in May to grow their rainy-rice. However, so far the rains have not fallen enough yet in Svay Chrum district which this makes rice damaged.

“My living becomes worse and worse since then and nowadays I am working just to survive for one day and another only,” Sok Seoung sadly says. “I have no any more land to do farming because I mortgaged my field-rice to ACLEDA bank after I met the drought problem for several years.”

However, she claims that she becomes poorer and poorer is not because she and her husband are lazy but she says it is the fact that in her area has met the drought repeatedly. So she has to go to work in Vietnam, where she and her husband usually work for 7 or 8 hours with 5.000 riel per day.

To enter and come back in Vietnam, Cambodian people in Svay Rieng procince just have to spend 300 riel to Vietnamese checkpoint authority and spend more 700 riel for passing the canal. Vietnamese border opens at 7am and closes at 6 in the evening. If Cambodians come back home late, they will be punished to stand in front of the pole in order to respect Vietnamese flag.

Sok Seoung continues that she has nine children in burden and she cannot send all of them to go to study because she have no money even 100 riel in her pocket now. Suddenly her eyes are nearly tearful and she asks, “I want to send my children to go to school but I have no enough money. My stomach is stirring so what I need first now is money to survive my life.”

Photo credits: Kim Oan Ung