Sarem Ram
I am Sarem and my father is Ram. I was born in a small village called Kampong Chamlorng, Banan District, Battambang Province. I got married in 2018. I now have two playful sons; the older son, Ted, three years and seven months old, and Monivann, three months and ten days old.
My mother gave birth to seven children; one daughter and six sons, including me. I am fourth among my siblings. My parents are farmers. They worked under the hot sun to support our lives. My family moved to Jeepan when I was ten years old. We moved because of family situations. When we were in Kampong Chamlorng, my parents could not earn a living by growing crops on a very small farm behind the house. Many problems occurred. There were too many insects destroying the crops and as we were unable to afford pesticides and fertilizer, the soil was not rich, crops did not grow well, there was a lack of jobs, and there were many children in the family. Those were clear reasons as to why my family moved to Jeepan, the village where my family and I used to live in a dense forest, the place where I used to be a bushman, the place without a toilet, with no clean water, no clean food, no electricity, no music at night except frogs, toads, and insects’ crying every night. Despite this, it was a memorable place where I grew up when I started to see the new world in my life.
Life before TASSEL was like a dark world in my mind. My life was full of problems. I did not have enough food and the food that I had was not nutritious for my health. I just ate to satisfy my empty stomach. Although I knew the food was not clean or safe, I had no choice. As a result of that diet, my brain and health were affected. I was sick very often. My brain did not work well and I kept losing my memory. It took so long for me to memorize a short lesson. I could not get good grades and as a result, I failed the national exam. The family situations were bad, but my 12th-grade exam result was even worse. I did not know what to do next and wanted to give up everything. I was a very hopeless man and I was so ashamed to go to school again. I had seen so many selfish people. Teachers charged students a lot of money through giving some extra classes. Students cheated on exams. Those who joined the extra classes got good grades, they got answers from the teachers beforehand. I was ignored, hated by other teachers because I did not have any money for them. I became a very lonely person at the time. Instead of attending the extra classes that I could not afford, I spent a lot of time reading books and asking other students questions that I did not understand or know the answers to. I liked asking questions to the students who went to the extra classes because they had learned a lot more from the teachers. I knew it took time, and other students thought I bothering them. I used to say “sorry” and go away when they were unhappy to answer my questions. Fortunately, with my best efforts, I passed the national exam. I cried because I could not believe that I had achieved my dream.
Life at TASSEL. In 2015, I went to a university in Battambang and I met Teacher Noeng there. One day, he announced to all of my classmates that he was looking for teachers to teach the children and care for the poor families in remote areas. At first, I was not interested at all because I had no idea what TASSEL was. Little by little, I got to hear more from Teacher Noeng about serving the poor through food aid and education. After I had listened to him many times, I realized that I grew up in a very poor village where many were suffering from war and hunger. I was born in a poor family and understood how much help was needed. Furthermore, I noticed that so many children did not have a chance to get free English education with high quality. I told myself that it was a great time to seize the opportunity to help my village. Afterwards, I applied for a job offered at TASSEL. It was not easy to get a job at this organization. I was on a shortlist and had many interviews with Teacher Noeng and Teacher Samath. Luckily, I got a job offered and started working with TASSEL in 2014.
A few years later, I talked to Teacher Joji (my first hero), Teacher Noeng, and Teacher Samath. I explained the situations of the villagers to them. I told them about how the children, villagers, and the elderly did to survive. Teacher Joji visited Jeepan and he met a group of elderly and they gave him more information of how much love was needed. Thankfully, he brought TASSEL into my village after hearing the situation. Since then, I have seen with my own eyes how much love, hope, and care that TASSEL has gave to change Cambodia. TASSEL is not only for an English education but also for transforming people’s hearts. I have learned so much from TASSEL volunteers (high school students and adults). I am a teacher for my students, but also a student for my personal teachers. In the summer, the TASSEL volunteers come to teach Cambodian teachers and students in local villages. They do family visits. They try to learn, understand, and provide the best help for those who need. TASSEL is all about the heart. TASSEL transforms from one life to millions of lives. TASSEL serves the poor who desperately need help. TASSEL gives love to people that are suffering. TASSEL is a very good family for the poor. I have received a lot of love since I started working with TASSEL. I became more responsible, helpful, patient, generous, thankful, grateful, sensitive, and positive because of TASSEL. I can bring a lot of help to the children and villagers through TASSEL. The villagers’ hearts have been transformed through the love, care, hope, and education that TASSEL has been giving from the very beginning. As an example, my father, Ram, gave a piece of land to TASSEL. He helped build classrooms for TASSEL for free. His heart was obviously transformed because he has seen how great TASSEL is. The children in my village have the opportunity to study English for free. The people who are starving can eat better now. Sick people can get help with medical treatments. TASSEL changes people in a very special way that other organizations cannot do. Through TASSEL, I got the answer to my question “How can the poor help the poor?” It does not matter how small or big the help and love you give to the poor is. Every success and change come from your pure heart!
I hope this quote means something to you, “ If you want to create a peaceful world, you should first start caring for everyone and treat them equally”.
