My name is Riny Chea and I am 26 years old. I come from Kampong Thom province. I have a big family made up of two older sisters and myself. I have a Bachelor of Law from 2014 from Build Bright University (BBU) in Siem Reap.
I attended a Women’s Resource Center (WRC) parenting workshop and learned about parenting and parents as good role models for children. I attended the workshop because WRC was committed to enrolling trainees and my previous organization was a partner. I took the chance to attend. The participants included 1 father, 4 mothers and 2 non-mothers (including me).
I realized the workshop was very useful for me, even though I am not yet a mother. I feel happy to have learned how to be a positive mother, how to educate my children and how to enjoy having a family.
I was particularly interested in the four paths to having a great family:
- The establishment of family fun time
- Educating children without violence
- Understanding the role a parent
- Knowing about anger management
Parents should not only provide their children with their physical needs, but also with emotional support. When I returned to my community, I spread what I learned to all parents living there. They did not understand properly about the role of the parents and I was happy to help them bring happiness to their children.
I saw the lack of education and their struggles with illiteracy. These are enormous concerns for the elimination of violence. I told them that WRC provides workshops containing pictures, videos, etc. which reflect the consequences of enacting violence – so that the participants can understand properly.
My country experienced war for so many years, so most Cambodians, especially children, have a black shadow in their minds. During this time, families were seeing and doing cruel activities towards each other, even to their own relatives. Everyone was uneducated because there was no school during the rough Khmer Rouge regime.
WRC presented a different vision to other organizations. They had a strong focus on the role of the parents because we can’t rely on schools, and we want Cambodian children to grow up without the black shadow in their minds. I saw that children are the future of Cambodia.
I decided I wanted to work at WRC. I wanted to help women and mothers who do not know how to care for her children and family. WRC has well-organized workshops free of charge for women who are illiterate or have another problems. They offer counseling to women who have experienced domestic violence. I wanted to work with an organization that worked with women and had a direct social impact on the community. I wanted to become a good facilitator.
I was lucky they advertised a position and I applied.
Today, I am the Legal Aid Facilitator at WRC. I hope that I give courage to women to talk about their problems. I am proud to promote legal knowledge to women in my country.