Sopheap is very happy with her mushroom yield. Photo: CWS
Ms. Kem Sopheap, who is 31, lives in Tmat Paeuy village in northern Cambodia with her husband Khourn Chanthan, who is 35 and a farmer, and their three children, ages 9 to 16, who are all fortunate to be able to go to school. Recently, Sopheap joined a CWS-hosted educational session about vegetable and mushroom growing, after which she was very eager to begin using her knowledge to grow mushrooms because they can be grown in a small space and with only a little water. When we talked to her some months ago, Sopheap said, “Once I had the knowledge and skills and also the mushroom spores from CWS to start my garden, in a very short time, I could harvest between 1.5 and 3 pounds of mushrooms each day! Now I have mushrooms for my family and plenty extra to sell to my neighbors, so I can earn up to $35 each month. By educating myself,” Sopheap added, “I now have enough money to send my children to school and we have some savings in case of an emergency”.