Living a dignified life

Eat and her husband were among nine Cambodian families who constructed safe, decent homes alongside international volunteers at the 2019 Cambodia Big Build. Find out how having a safe and secure home unlocks opportunities for their family.

Space would have been a luxury for Eat and her family in their old 12-square-meter home. Not any more. Their current home in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province is spacious enough for the children to study and the family to relax. 

Their home is also special for another reason. Eat, 36, and her husband Phlonh, 37, built their home together with international volunteers during the 2019 Cambodia Big Build in Siem Reap province. Phlonh put in hours of his own labor by working alongside the volunteers in laying bricks and passing wooden slats to the volunteers.

They no longer worry about the constant repairs needed for their old leaky hut during the rainy season. Furthermore, they have peace of mind, particularly when they have to leave for work. With a secure home and a lockable door, they know that their children can stay safe until they return. Eat, who weaves baskets at home, goes to the forest every few days to harvest wild rattan. Phlonh works in construction or fishing depending on the work that is available.

Phlonh recalled that in their old hut, there was hardly any room for daily activities such as household chores and school work. Now, the balcony is a precious space. “We never had a balcony before,” he says. There, he and his family would gather to relax in the evening and the children could do their school work.

Currently, Eat and Phlonh live with their four children aged between six and 18, son-in-law and granddaughter in their home built in 2019. “This home marked a significant milestone in our lives. It gave us the opportunity to save money and live a dignified life,” Eat says.

Since 2003, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia has been working with families like Eat and Phlonh to build or improve a place they call home. Through multisector partnerships, Habitat builds resilient homes with communities, act as a voice for policy changes and implements programs to make housing markets more inclusive. Learn more at https://habitatcambodia.org/en/