We had the pleasure of speaking with Rachana Sam At, an Indigenous (Bunong) student from Cambodia. She has just completed her internship at the RWI office in Cambodia, and we are pleased to share her story of overcoming obstacles through education.
Rachana is 23 years old and grew up in a rural area of the Mondulkiri province in Cambodia. She lived a fairly typical life for an Indigenous community in Cambodia, relying on the forest and natural resources for livelihood. There was no high school in her hometown, so she attended a boarding school away from her family and could therefore only visit them around two times a year. After graduating high school, Rachana received a scholarship to study law in Khmer. Additionally, she was awarded a scholarship from RWI to study law in English. Through this program, she had the opportunity to delve into international law, human rights, and environmental law.
The dream of studying law began when Rachana was around 5 or 6 years old. She shares that she has always had a dream to study another language and to study abroad. However, this was something she kept to herself for a long time, as pursuing those goals was quite norm-breaking. Growing up, Rachana witnessed numerous unfair things and injustices, which further fueled her future dreams and goals.
Many Indigenous peoples in Cambodia face barriers when it comes to education, one of them being financial. This leads to many people not getting the chance to finish high school and therefore missing out on education opportunities. Discrimination is also common, taking a multifaceted form for women. For Rachana, all of these challenges serve as motivation, and she tries to use them to inspire both herself and others to pursue education and continue working towards their dreams. As Rachana sees it, it is important for more Indigenous peoples to get access to education, especially in the field of law.
She continues to share her hope that one day more Indigenous peoples in Cambodia will have access to understanding the law and comprehending their rights. Rachana also brings up the language barrier. There is a lot of interest in getting an education and studying abroad, but many lack the money needed to study English. Another issue Indigenous peoples in Cambodia are struggling with right now is a loss of identity. Because of discrimination, some Indigenous peoples choose not to disclose that they are Indigenous. Rachana expressed some sadness about this but stated that she always tries to claim her Indigenous identity, due to the threat of losing it.
“Why do I need to hide my identity? Everywhere I go, I just tell people that I am Indigenous and I am proud of it!”
Rachana shares that she is where she is today thanks to education. It has changed her perspective and inspired her. In the future, she hopes to give back to her community by aiming to hold a consultative role and possibly providing scholarships to other Indigenous students. She states that when she achieves things, more Indigenous students will see her as their role model and strive to attain what she has accomplished.
Another dream for Rachana is to work as an international lawyer in Geneva for the UN. She wishes to focus on environmental issues, climate change, human rights, and Indigenous peoples’ rights. After completing her law education supported by RWI, Rachana participated in an international conference in Geneva, as well as training sessions in Thailand and Nepal. She will soon travel to the U.S. for another training. During her visit to Geneva, Rachana noticed that many countries had lawyers to represent them, but Cambodia did not. This inspired Rachana to strive towards becoming the first representative from Cambodia, as well as to motivate other girls from Indigenous communities to follow in her footsteps. As Rachana finishes her internship at RWI’s office in Cambodia, she shares
“It has been a great opportunity for me because I get to connect with more international people and understand more about topics like human rights in education and Business and Human Rights.”
Read more about RWI’s work in Cambodia here.
Featured image: Sincerely Media on Unsplash.