His parents were divorced when he was 6 years old and he lived with father, a poor farmer who wasn’t able to send Kimhong to school.
After being abandoned by his father at the age of 9, he ended up at our partner BFT (Build your Future Today) doorstep. BFT founder Sedtha Long could see that Kimhong was in desperate need of somewhere to call home and responsible adults to be take care of him.
Since completing high school, Kimhong is studying tourism at a university in Siem Reap. When he graduates, he wants to be able to use his English and tourism skills to open his own business.
But the Kimhong story has another twist. He was a keen football player from the age of 12, and played in competitions between the BFT Center and teams from the BFT villages.
Since 2014 Kimhong started to attend the HFCA program in Phnom Penh once a month with support from the Reagan Milstein Foundation. Kimhong was selected for the Cambodian team to compete at the 13th Homeless World Cup in Amsterdam in September 2015.
All the HFCA staff were so impressed with Kimhong that since Amsterdam he has taken on the role of managing the relationship between HFCA and BFT. Once a month, Kimhong looks after all the logistics for four young men from BFT to travel from Siem Riep to Phnom Penh to attend the HFCA training program.
HFCA are working towards opening a weekly training program in Siem Reap and looking for funders at present. Once we secure funding we plan to make Kimhong the program manager. Up to eighty disadvantaged youth will benefit from the program. Kimhong may only be 21 years old, but he is a smart, hard working remarkable young man and we believe in him.
