Hi, I’m Chamrong. I came to Little Hearts when I was a young boy and grew up here. After high school I was accepted to Don Bosco technical school where I studied electrical engineering and mechanics.
The degree was really interesting and taught me lots of important skills that I need for work. We had a big range of vocational courses to cover electrical engineering. Even better, the school gave us plenty of opportunities for work experience with supervisors in real companies. This included things like fixing lighting systems in buildings which was very useful.
The good news is that I’ve recently found a job as an electrical engineer at Holo Elevator company and I’m really excited to start my new career. After working for a few weeks, I found a place to live and have just moved into my own studio apartment in Phnom Penh. That’s a big change but I’m excited about it.
English makes a difference
Little hearts made this possible. When I first came to Little Hearts, I hardly knew any English and I knew I had to catch up because all other kids were already speaking well. But after a few months I started improving, especially because we always had to use English inside Little Hearts. So actually, I think I’m pretty good now.
English classes at Little Hearts were better than high school because our teachers made sure we practiced speaking every day. The classes were also much smaller around 10 students per class, so Little Hearts teachers paid more attention to each student. It was funny because when I started technical college, we had a few extra English classes, but I was already way ahead of the other college students.
LHO was amazing
I think that during these few years, Little Hearts has been amazing. One of the best things were all the extra activities. A lot of these were during evenings and weekends – things like football, hockey and volleyball but also arts and craft. This meant we always had to teamwork, to play together or make things. It was a really a fun atmosphere to grow up in.
Little Hearts gave me all the important things I needed during my time there, like books for school or even a second-hand laptop that I borrowed for college. The mentors also gave me ideas to help with my job search. It’s true that all of this helped me get to where I am now.
Although I’ve already left, Little Hearts will always be a big family for me and I’ll keep coming back to visit my brothers and sisters.