Journey To Success

Phymean is a Buddhist, born in Cambodia in Kampong Cham province. As a young girl growing up during the Khmer Rouge era, she survived one of the worst genocides in the world's history only to lose her mother to cancer at the age of 15. Phymean tried her hardest to survive, even though a lot of people had lost their hope, she still had a dream, a bleak hope. At the age of 15, as an orphan living alone, she not only had to care for herself but also her 2 year old niece as the rest of her family had died during Khmer Rouge and her sister had fled to refugee camps in Thailand. Phymean’s mother had always taught her the importance of education and this lesson has resonated with her. For 12 years she worked for the United Nations and its agencies like ILO UNDP. In 2002 she decided to resign from her last job to start the People Improvement Organization (PIO). She is now living her dream to help the poorest children in Cambodia. Now, she has 3 schools and serves over 1300 children a day. She provides free educati