
Dalin Vong
My name is Dalin Vong, and I am one of the teachers at the TASSEL organization. I am currently teaching in Roka. I graduated from university in 2019. I have five sisters including me and no brothers. Nowadays, I live only with my parents, my youngest sister, and my husband whom I just got married to. The other sisters moved after they got married.Â
Being a teacher was my dream job. Fortunately, soon after I graduated high school, I found TASSEL. Sadly, my English education was not good at that time because I could not go to good English schools, plus I did not have much time to study. I grew up in a big family and we were poor. My parents could not support my studies and my sisters’ because back then we all were students who could not help earn money. My youngest sister was a ninth grader, my older sister was a university student, and I was a twelfth grader. My parents absolutely could not support us and we were in a very difficult situation. I actually did not want to quit school so I decided to work. Every weekend, I went to work as a waitress at people’s wedding parties so that I could earn some money. Sometimes, I worked at night time to earn more. I was often exhausted and that somehow affected my studies. However, what I was worried about the most was my future life after high school. I did not know whether I could continue my studies at university or not due to my family situation, but I always dreamed of becoming a teacher as mentioned earlier. Luckily, TASSEL helped me out after I finished high school. The story was that I heard news from my older sister that TASSEL came to her university and was looking for English teachers. She added that TASSEL was an organization so there were many other works besides teaching. I did not think much because what I wanted was a job. I hurried to apply for the teacher position. Finally, I passed the interview.Â
My life completely changed after I joined TASSEL. I got chances to learn English with the Khmer teachers and also the foreigners. My English was improved day by day. More importantly, when I worked closely with TASSEL, it changed my heart, thoughts, and mind. I realized that sharing with love was the best gift of all and I noticed that the more I do, the more people will get. I felt so happy that I could do my best to help the poor people and students because I understood the feeling of needing help and poverty. Furthermore, receiving love and support from our foreigners was also the best encouragement to me. Ultimately, I was lucky that I knew TASSEL.Â
Until now, I have been working with TASSEL for more than eight years. I really love all the things that TASSEL has been doing for Cambodians, especially the help from foreigners plays an important role in changing people’s lives here. It is such an inspiration that encourages me to work even harder as well. I promise that I will continue to do my best to serve the poor. TASSEL definitely changed my life and many people’s lives.
