Cambodia’s Courageous Women Leaders

Kheng Sophal is an Executive Director of Cord‘s Cambodian partner the ‘Positive Women of Hope Organisation’. Kheng, 31, is a single mother living with HIV. Here she explains how Cord has helped PWHO to improve its operations and so give better support to hundreds of women who find themselves similarly affected.

“I am very self-motivated and committed to becoming a good leader and to sharing my experience with staff. I am keen to support other women like me living with HIV and those diagnosed with AIDS.”

“PWHO face a number of difficulties; things like mobilising members of local saving groups, creating educational campaigns and ways of improving community development. Many poor women can’t get involved because they don’t have transport; they’ve had hardly any schooling and are often illiterate, and are discriminated against by the community.”

“Another problem is that the government has taken over HIV and AIDS services, but now clients have to wait almost an entire day to get treatment because of a lack of resources and medical staff.”

“I also faced a lot of challenges at work. That’s when I turned to Cord for help with mentoring, coaching and training. I am very happy with their support; so far it’s been invaluable. The team helped us to improve our report writing, advised us on how to manage staff and to operate on a daily basis, as well as developing a three-year strategic plan.”

“I have become more confident in my role as a leader and manager. I’ve learnt to reflect on problems and to turn what I have learnt into practice. Cord’s support has really benefited all our staff so that we are all able to work more effectively.”

“Now we are better able to make a significant difference in helping those living with HIV and AIDS, particularly the women”.

Teng Kangrang is a 36 years old mother of two who faced extreme poverty when she discovered she was HIV positive, contracted from her husband who died five years ago. One of her daughters, aged 13, is also infected. At first Kangrang lost hope, thinking she would die. She felt extremely vulnerable with few possessions, little education or skills, no job or knowledge of how to cure her disease.

“It was a really challenging time,” says Kangrang. “Eventually I realised I had to move to Phnom Penh to find a way to treat my HIV infection and to look for work.”

“I learnt how to make a living making women’s clothing. Then I got help and support from the Positive Women of Hope Organisation, I learnt how to use antiretrovirals to stop me from getting sick. This inspired me to become a member of PWHO.”

“Living in my community in Kandal province I realised that many Cambodian women who have HIV and AIDS are marginalised and face huge difficulties; they have no information, people misunderstand their condition and they have unequal access to medicine. Many have no alternative but to sell everything they own, including their homes, to pay medical fees and to give them an adequate standard of living because they aren’t aware of their rights.”

“My self-motivation in overcoming my personal challenges and finding I could relate to other women in the same situation encouraged me to become a HIV and AIDS worker.”

“I‘ve been working for PWHO as an HIV and AIDS coordinator for five years, helping provide women with home-based care services, counselling, and education on sexual reproductive health. I’m challenging myself to become a development practitioner.”

“I have strong hopes that I will be able to keep healthy and earn enough money to see my two beloved daughters through higher education so they will have good jobs. My dearest wish is to live longer with them, to see them grow up,” says Kangrang.