31 Years Old
Village: Anlong Tham
Commune: Botrong
District: Mongkol Borei
Province: Banteay Meanchey
Training: Barber
Injury: Polio
Prior to beginning his course at the Lom Orng (then known as CWARS) vocational training facility, Hey was confined to his parents' home. Here he could do nothing but literally sit around the house in boredom. Now formally trained, he believes that his work will now give him the opportunity to look after himself independently, when his parents eventually become too frail to take care of him.
Hey is one of three barbers in his community of 400 families and, for reasons he is unaware of, he is clearly the most popular. His business is much more successful than the others, and he believes it is in some way due to the superior formal training he received with Lom Orng, and the equipment they provided him with.
Currently Hey sees around five customers per day, at around 1500 Riel per haircut. With the money he is saving, Hey is hoping pay for his wedding when he finally meets his future wife. He then hopes to teach his family and future children his skills, so they too can live as comfortably as him.
Hey is also interested in going back to the Lom Orng facility and receiving training in television repair. He believes this will make his business more successful, and further improve his standard of living.
Initially very worried about depending so heavily on his parents, Hey is obviously proud of his achievements and exudes confidence in the ability to be independent and take care of himself. He was a quiet and reserved man, maybe due to my presence, but he also made sure he was always standing straight with his head held high. On occasion he smiled broadly when talking about his achievements, even though he tried not to show much emotion.