90 years old mother cares for 60 years old disable daughter

A 90 years old lady from Kampot is struggling to care for her 60 years old disabled daughter due to old age and poverty. 90 year-old Ma Krem, who is from Chress village, Kampong Trach district in Kampot province, said that she and her crippled daughter survived only on the generosity of their neighbours. The 90 year-old lady said that her husband died in 1983 and all her children, except one, died during the Pol Pot time. She added that her surviving daughter, who is very poor, is struggling to raise her children, let alone helping to feed her and her crippled daughter. She said that her daughter, Soum Phan, who is also blind and deaf, was crippled since birth. After giving birth to Soum Phan, neighbours told her to abandon the baby but she refused by vowing that she will care for Soum Phan until the end of her life.

She said that in 1979, when the Khmer Rouge forced them to walk through minefields up the Dangrek Mountains, she carried Soum Phan in a basket at one end of the pole while she carried her belongings at another end of the pole. But she refused to abandon her, whereas many parents at that time have abandoned their babies because they can’t take the babies with them. Neighbours said that the 90 year-old lady and her 60 year-old crippled daughter are living in real hardship. She is surviving on the generosity of neighbours who took pity on her and her daughter. Through Koh Santepheap, she is appealing to generous people, local and overseas, foreigners as well as Cambodians, to help her and her daughter through to the new year. Koh Santepheap can be contacted at: kohsantepheap@citylink.com.kh, or at: kohdaily@gmail.com