48 Years Old
Village: Pong Reang
Commune: Phnom Touch
District: Mongkol Borei
Province: Banteay Meanchey
Training: Motorbike Repair
Injury: Landmine - 1991 when he was a soldier fighting in the war against the Khmer Rouge.
Nga believes the training he undertook with Lom Orng (then known as CWARS) was vital in order for him to be able to properly support his family. Before undergoing his motorbike repair course, he was a farmer earning minimal money, and found himself often with nothing to do but wait for his rice to grow. He also found himself eating day to day, not knowing what tomorrow would bring for him and his family.
Thanks to the skills and equipment provided by Lom Orng, he has now greatly improved his standard of living, and is able to support his family comfortably. He can now feed his family every day, without concern for going hungry tomorrow. His children now have the chance to go to school, for which he thanks Lom Orng very much.
On average Nga earns between 10,000 and 20,000 Riel per day fixing motorbikes. There are only two or three such businesses in his community of 500 families, which will mean he is able to continually grow his business and live comfortably in the years to come.
Nga was a rather difficult man to talk to. He was obviously struggling emotionally, whether due to a lack of business at the time or some other part of his life. From looking at him I believe he is not in particularly good health, with many smoked cigarettes lying around (he smoked five in the time we were talking to him). So perhaps if his health improved, he would appear happier with his current situation.