Lisa's Story

My love for Lisa 🧡

My tears rushed down as I looked straight into Lisa’s eyes and heard her words, “Teacher, I want to go back to school.”

This is Lisa’s story… 

Lisa (not her real name) came from a poor family in rural Cambodia. Since 2018, Lisa has been in #PeopleStories #SchoolForLife scholarship program. A family from Germany has been sponsoring her education.

I met Lisa when she was 12 years old and studying at grade 7 (the first year in secondary school). I also met her parents during a home visit in 2018. 

Lisa is a bright girl and full of courage. I always see her big smiles and she says, “Good morning Victoria. How are you?”

She performs well at school and is always active, out spoken. I remember she once told me, “My dream is to become a nurse one day!”

The pandemic parted us for 2.5 years. Similar to the many village children, Lisa fell into a “black hole” when schools in Cambodia were closed for most of the 2 years.

Let me remind everyone that most of the village children don’t have access to online learning. Lack of connectivity, devices and online education capabilities are just some of the common issues.

Early this year, Veasna told me, “I am sad to share that Lisa has dropped out of school. She has run away from home!” Lisa was only 15!!!! What is happening to her?

A couple months passed by, we finally heard from Lisa’s mum. Lisa was getting married! We were all so relieved to know that she is back with the families, settling down and now building her own family. However, we were also unsure how she was doing.

We heard that the boy (Lisa’s hubby) was 16 and had also dropped out of school. He started working at a construction site in order to provide for the family.

Lisa was pregnant and expecting her baby at the age of 16. Although underage marriage and parenting are acceptable in most of the villagers’ eyes, I wondered how a 16 year old girl could handle those heavy responsibilities in life.

Weather changed. Storm came…

Lisa’s hubby sadly passed away whilst working at a construction site. He fell off from higher ground and passed at the age of 16. He didn’t even get a chance to meet his own daughter.

As to Lisa, she decided to move back to be with mum. I caught up with her and mum at their home…

What did I expect? Not much actually. I asked myself to be ME and not PeopleStories, just keep my mind open, listen to Lisa and be there for her like a sister.

Lisa looks reasonably healthy considering she just gave birth a week ago to her beautiful daughter. She looks content…but her glances are a bit more deemed than usual. It could be the parenting duties, or the unclear future… I was not sure.

Our lovely chats just flowed… like two girl friends catching up. We exchanged parenting notes and complained about the lack of sleep.

Lisa looked down, went quiet… she said, “Sorry I made a mistake in life.” Please don’t forget, she is only 16! It is unfair for a child to bear all these responsibilities.

I was unexpectedly calm and collected, and said, “No Lisa. You didn’t make a mistake. You just made a decision in life and your path is now more challenging than planned.”

“We make decisions in life. Some get us to a better place and some make life just a bit harder.” I continued.

Our chat continued to flow and I got to an important question, “Lisa, what do you want to do?”

She thought about it, looked straight at my eyes… her sights were like x-ray, going straight to my soul. Lisa said, “Teacher, I want to go back to school!”

My tears rushed down.

🤔 What shall Lisa do?
👊 How can we support her?

Drop me a message or comments below to share.

With gratitude
Victoria Miloschewsky






#VicsDiary #OpenJournal #PurposeDrivenLife #PowerOfStories #GrowingUp #Motherhood #School #Education #Decisions #HelpingOthers #Cambodia