In rural Mesang district, Prey Veng province long time MCC partner Organization to Develop Our Villages (ODOV) coordinates an apprenticeship vocational program. This proven model connects young adults hoping to learn vocational and small business skills with a Master Crafts Person. In the process, they escape chronic poverty that drives many people to dangerous migrant labor and help strengthen their local communities.

In the photo above, Master mechanic Sary Sopheap instructs apprentice mechanic Kheang Vanna on how to assemble an engine. In addition to engine repair, ODOV supports apprenticeships in sewing and tailoring, appliance repair, phone and computer repair, vehicle repair, moto-cycle repair, cosmetics and hairdressing.

Keang’s story as shared by ODOV (and with some edits/additional details from me)

Kheang Vanna, 19-years old, lives in Chiphoch village, Mesang district, Prey Veng province. He has three siblings and is the second child.

Vanna’s family situation is poor, relying on subsistence rice farming as their primary livelihood. Vanna’s father also builds ladders for supplemental income to support the family, while his mother is a housewife and farmer. The income that his father earns is just enough to support the family’s daily living. Like many farmers in Prey Veng, they are one poor harvest or medical emergency away from crippling debt. In order to pay such debts, many farmers in rural Cambodia engage in dangerous migrant labor to Thailand or Malaysia where they risk being the victims of human trafficking.

Although the family’s living condition is poor they do not want their children to migrate from their home village. They want their children to learn skills to earn a local living for the future.

“I want my son to learn a skills and having a specific career to earn a living for his future, because I am not able to afford sending my son for a university degree” Vanna’s mother explained.

Vanna has graduated from high school but Vanna was not able to continue his education since his parents could not afford to send him to University.

Vanna was selected to participate in a vehicle repair apprenticeship through the vocational training program. ODOV staff often visit Vanna at his training site to follow up and encouraging him to concentrate in his study. ODOV also provided him with career-readiness knowledge and skills such as how to calculate business expenses, and start-up costs, setting up selling price/profit margins, marketing, creating business plans, communication, etc.

Vanna has been working hard to learn the trade from the Master Craftsperson who admires that Vanna is a smart, hard-working, fast-learning student. After eight months of training, Vanna feels confident in his vocational skill and was hired to work in the vehicle repair shop where he apprenticed. Vanna now earns the equivalent of $125 USD per month. In 2019, the median household income in Cambodia the equivalent of $127.99 USD per month so this has given Vanna a career where he can stay in his homeland, save for the future, and even start a family.

“I am happy that I have a career to earn money to support myself and my family.” Vanna said, “I will try to save enough money to start my own business in the coming years.”

MCC funded ODOV’s Vocational Training Program and provided technical capacity building to local staff. The goal is not just about enhancing Vanna’s personal income and livelihood, but also to strengthen the community where he lives by helping young people who dropped out of High School or who couldn’t move on to University find meaningful careers locally. This helps the local community become stronger and more healthy by reducing dangerous migrant labor to Thailand, strengthening the local economy, and laying the groundwork for future local businesses.

Submitted by ODOV

In the 1990s, what would become ODOV began as MCC’s Mesang Integrated Community Development Program. In 2004, the project was transferred to local management and registered as a Cambodian NGO with the Ministry of Interior. MCC has continued to have a close partnership with ODOV since then, providing technical capacity building, project funding, SALT/YAMEN secondments, and other supports.