Kimpouv is 21 and comes from Puok District in Siem Reap Province. She lives in a small village with her mother, who grows vegetables and sells them at the local market. Her father died 10 years ago of illness. She has 3 brothers and 5 sisters who have already left home. They never had much money. Especially after the death of her father, it became very difficult for her mother to support the entire family with her single - and very small – income. Some of her brothers and sisters stopped going to school to find jobs, while the others worked hard to help their mother as much as possible. His is what Kimpouv did: after school, she used to give water to the plants and join her mother at the market whenever she could.  Now, her brothers and sisters all live in different places and she only sees them twice a year. Most of them are married and have children, but one is single and without job. She is very happy when they get together and hopes that one day they will all be well-of.
 
Kimpouv is a brilliant student. Two years ago, she graduated from Puok District High School where she studied English and Khmer. She came out first of her class. As she wanted to acquire more knowledge, she decided to go to university. She borrowed money from one of her brothers and started a three-year course in English at the Build Bright University. She is now at the beginning of her third and last year. During her free time she teaches English to pay for her studies and help her mother. She decided two apply for the scholarship, because her salary is too low to pay for her tuition. Also, she really wanted to get involved in JWOC’s community work and help people in the villages. She does not think to be any different from the other scholarship students. To her, they are all pretty much the same and will work well all together in a team.

Kimpouv decided to participate in the clean water project. The idea of going out to the villages and meet the poor people of the community really appeals to her.

According to her, the best thing in Siem Reap is tourism, because it helps develop the country. The biggest problems of Cambodia are the poverty in the countryside and corruption. Corruption is for instance particularly high in education. Many students who fail their exam will pay the teachers in order to get a good grade. If she had to change something about Cambodia, she would fight corruption and try to reduce the gap between rich and poor. She would also focus on education, because knowledge is important to develop. One of her ideas is to make education free, even at university in order to make it accessible to everyone.

After her course at Build Bright, Kimpouv has two options. Her mother wants her to become a teacher at the Puok District High School. So she might go to Phnom Penh for one more year of study in order to get a teacher’s certificate. The problem is that teachers’ wages are very low. So Kimpouv is interested doing something else: maybe working for an organization, such as JWOC. She does not exactly know what she will decide and if her mother will let her do what she wants. But she is ready to work hard in order to have a better life.