From the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) to Trinity College

By I’mACE Team

Interviewee: Ron Sophy, Trinity College, University of Melbourne Student

The I’mACE Team recently had the opportunity to talk with Ron Sophy, a Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) Alumni and student at Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Her story is one of grit and perseverance.

Sophy was born in Svay Rieng, but when she was growing up it was called Kampong Cham. At that time, she sold tamarind leaves for money every day, and didn’t go to school. Her parents were very poor. A series of events forced them to move, which is how they ended up in Phnom Penh. Her dad was hoping to find a better job, but when they first came to the city, they started working in a garbage dump. Everyone picked up garbage, including Sophy. As well as garbage collecting, she also helped her mum cook, but she didn’t go to school.

Her whole family worked as garbage collectors, and her dad was also a construction worker. She woke up at about 4.00 am every morning to collect garbage, for which she earned 2,000 Khmer riel per day, which was enough money to feed her family with rice. She did that for four or five years, until one day she met Scott Neeson and a translator at the garbage dump. Sophy speaks about this memory, saying, “Scott came up to me and asked me whether I wanted to study English. I replied, ‘What is English?’ I didn’t know what English was. I took his card and ran home to tell my mum about him. Two weeks later, Scott came to a neighbour’s house to pick up a boy who was a CCF member and take him to school. I saw him and told my mum that this guy was the one who had given me his card and promised to offer me a place at school. The same day, he took me to CCF”.

When Sophy first arrived at CCF, she saw things she hadn’t seen before. She reflects back on this time, saying, “I saw kids playing and laughing, and I felt really happy. That feeling was new for me: I only had one or two friends at the time, and I was too shy to make friends with other people because I was smelly and dirty. I’d never had a shower or brushed my teeth. I was very happy at CCF, which was like the home that my parents couldn’t give me. My perspective and mind started to grow; my world gradually became larger. Gaining access to an education and feeling like a normal kid were all that I’d ever wanted”.

Sophy’s story doesn’t end there. She invested her energy studying hard and it paid off. She recently graduated from Trinity College in Australia, which offers scholarships to young people at CCF. When asked why she thinks she was awarded the scholarship, she said, “My enthusiasm to help the community and my strong values helped me to receive the scholarship”. Sophy became the first person to be awarded this scholarship.

Sophy has had two main transitions in her life. One was when she first arrived in Phnom Penh. When asked to reflect on that time, she says, “I’d never seen such large buildings before I moved to Phnom Penh. The city was very clean compared to where I’d lived, which was smelly and full of flies. Phnom Penh felt fresh, and I wanted to live there”. The second transition was when she moved to Melbourne. “I felt like a small fish in a big pond, because everything was so modern. Catching the tram that takes me to school was complicated for me, as I’d never used public transport before. I felt scared and happy. I now love living in Australia. The people around me, including my teachers and friends, are great”.

Sophy was afforded this opportunity because for the past three years, Trinity College has partnered with CCF to give back to Cambodia, and especially, to disadvantaged young people living at CCF. When Ben Waymire, Trinity College Representative, was asked about the program, he said, “It involves identifying outstanding students at CCF who show academic potential and may benefit from a scholarship to Trinity College and the University of Melbourne”.

Sophy was the first CCF student to attend Trinity College. She has now been accepted into the University of Melbourne, where she plans to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. She aspires to own her own business in the long-term.

From now on, two CCF students will be awarded scholarships to Trinity College every year. In addition, Trinity will also accept six younger CCF students (aged 14-17) each year into its Young Leader Program. The Young Leader Program is a two-week summer school program. In essence, it is a trial of what it is like to undertake formal academic study at Trinity College and the University of Melbourne.