Sophialy: "...for a young girl of her age, the pressures of prostitution are ever present and difficult to ignore...."

Meet Mum Sophialy, a determined young woman traveling the road to womanhood in an environment where dreams are both small and elusive. Raised in the Toul Kork district of Phnom Penh, Sophialy’s environment is wrought with potential dangers. For a young woman of Sophialy’s age, the pressures of prostitution and drug use are ever present and difficult to ignore. A place of wretched poverty, many similar young women have been tricked or cohered into the sex industry by unscrupulous individuals and networks. Yet Sophialy’s resistance to this environment is nothing short of inspiring. Her smile remains vibrant and consuming. Her quiet determination makes her a role model for her fellow peers, a trait that is made even more remarkable by the situation of her home life.

Having lost her paternal father while still a young child, Sophialy currently resides with two other siblings, a mother and a step-father. She opening confides that life with her family can be rough at times. The money her step father earns from his job as a taxi driver is nearly entirely exhausted by alcohol and gambling addictions. The daily financial needs thus fall squarely on her mother’s shoulders, who in turn needs help from Sophialy and her siblings. To help make ends meet, they rise at 4am to harvest freshwater shellfish from the nearby river. They then process and sell their catch at the local market. On good days they earn enough to subside, but when the catch is poor, they will end in loss. Each day is unpredictable, with a daily meal hoped for, but sometimes not realized.

Sophialy currently attends the A.E.E. bridge program to bring her academic abilities up to standard. Our teachers and staff will work closely with her until she is able to attend school comfortably and with confidence alongside peers of her own age. Sophialy enjoys schooling and learning. Her favorite subjects in school are literacy and math, but she has an artistic flare as well. In fact, she says after a shy smile, her aspiration is to one day become a fashion designer. Yet regardless of her dreams, her practical wishes are simple. Sophily wants no more than to be able to help her mother with expenses and to have a life in which she has some say over her destiny.