Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Sou Sreynich dreams of becoming a teacher. But she knows she’s far behind.
The 13-year-old first entered a classroom at 10, when most Cambodian children had been in school for years.
Fearing the boat to school could sink, Sou’s mother waited until she was old enough to swim. The decision is familiar to many living on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake.
Now, the price of petrol has spiked because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, making it more expensive for children and teachers to get to school. It is also more difficult for governments to fund education.
The war’s effects are forcing struggling families to decide whether to pay for food, fuel, rent and electricity or keep their child in school.
When money is tight, Sou skips a day or two of school to work with her parents. She dreads every absence.
