Chea Ser is no stranger to hardship. As a child she was orphaned and started working in Phnom Penh when she was very young. She married and had three children, but now is a single mother.
When Chea Ser fell ill in 2007, her life changed again. She and her children were discriminated against by their relatives – the people who Chea Ser thought would support her. Chea Ser was at a loss as to how to improve her family’s lives and how to overcome the burden and stigma of her illness.
At a time when Chea Ser thought everyone had deserted her, a neighbour generously gave her a small piece of land. Through our Building Hope, Building Positive Lives project, which works with families with HIV/AIDS, Chea Ser was able to partner with us to build a new home.
Chea Ser tells us that life is much easier in their new home. The house no longer floods in the wet season and now they have access to clean water. With the support of Habitat Chea Ser has started a home business of folding small pieces of cloth to be made into rugs and is very prudent in saving for her children’s future.
“Every mother hopes, should something happen to her, someone will be there to both care for and love her children as she did or that her children will be well on their own. But as long as I am here, I will continue to plan for their future,” says Chea Ser.
With a safe and decent home and the support of Habitat for Humanity and her neighbour, Chea Ser believes she now has the means to ensure her children will have a better life, and a brighter future.
“Life has been getting easier”, says Chea Ser. “This is far from where my children and I were some years back.”
Chea Ser and her daughter in front of their new home
Chea Ser’s old home
