Support Cambodian solar champion do her masters

My name is OL. I am passionate about renewable energy and finding sustainable energy solutions for my country, Cambodia. Our village did not have access to electricity grid when I was growing up. I am the first woman in my village to go to university in Phnom Penh. I am the first person from my village to feature in the Phnom Penh Post newspaper about renewable energy. Could it be true that I am the first lady in my village to study in Scotland?? To make it come true, I need your support.

I received the admission offered from Edinburg Napier University for my master degree in Renewable Energy, my heart is beating loud because my dream is going to be true.

It is my honor to take this opportunity to seek your support from anyone who wants to see women like me get my higher education in Scotland.

How will I use your money and support?

I would like to ask for the contribution of your money to support my tuition fee, housing cost, and living expenses such as school material, travel cost and day-to-day expenses. My tuition fee is $30,300 and living expenses $20,000. I have been lucky to have received a partial scholarship of $7,200 and I will work part time when I am in Scotland, so I still need help to cover $30,000 of my costs.

I have been working almost five years, but I couldn’t save enough money for the master degree in Europe. It is costly more than I could afford. Based on the salary rank in Cambodia, within 10 years I might have enough saving to pursue my study in Scotland. Besides that, I tried many times for a scholarship program such as The British Council for Women in STEM scholarship, and Chevening Scholarships, but I wasn’t successful.

Your generosity will help a girl who was born in the countryside pursuit the study in Europe and she will use her skill in adapting to current and future of the climate changes, especially helping low-income people in her own country. Your donation will impact not only her study but it also vulnerable people around Cambodia.

A little about myself...

I was born in the North West of Cambodia. My parents are farmers raising 7 children including me. I have 1 brother and 5 sisters. We lived in difficulties for many years especially while we were younger. My first and second sisters decided to drop out school because my parents couldn’t afford them to go to school otherwise younger sisters and brother could not continue the studies. I was lucky among my sibling, I was selected to win the scholarship from Enfants Du Mékong, French NGO who support children in the poor family around Cambodia to get educated. I left my hometown when I was 13 years old, and I stayed in the dormitory with the French NGO. After I finish my high school, I won another scholarship to study Electrical Engineering in Phnom Penh for 5 years. Without the scholarship support, I might not have ability to work in the renewable energy right now. I appreciated the support from people around the world who allow me to find a good job and I can contribute my support to farmers in Cambodia.

I volunteer often to promote science and engineering to high school students. I also work hard to promote clean energy in Cambodia. During Clean Energy Week I visit universities and speak to hundreds of students about the opportunity clean energy can bring Cambodia and for future students as a career. I was awarded the inaugural Clean Energy Award in 2019 for this work. Last month I was featured in the newspaper.

Overview of my work experience

I have been working for 5 years at private solar companies and I keep loving my work. My professional plan is to use all the skill after graduating from Edinburg Napier University to develop climate-proof agriculture system for adapting to change in water variability to enhance crop yields by using Renewable Energy.

I work for Solar Green Energy Cambodia (SOGE) starting as a sales engineer, now I am promoted to be Project Manager. The company has in-house manufacture and warehouse to assemble some main solar system components with a good quality. With these products we are able to design long lasting solar systems. My role and responsibilities are to coordinate and bring the innovations to reach market in Cambodia and South East Asia. I also do research and development with other engineers who have the same passion to produce local high-quality products with advance technologies. SOGE wants to be number one renewable leading company in Cambodia. After few years working here, we created new business model to work directly with low-income people in Cambodia. As a result, there are more than 1000 smallholder rice farmers who have access to renewable energy and get enough water supply for their crops. In addition, we just won the grants to work on digital platform for automation irrigation process of doing agriculture in Cambodia.

Previously I worked at EcoSun Cambodia, and together we designed a mobile solar water pumps. By 2020, we had sold 630 units of our portable solar pump to rural farmer Cambodia at the end of December 2020. I was responsible for this research in the field, and making the necessary adjustments to the product to meet their needs. I have found this process to be highly rewarding – not only for my technical skills but also in understanding how to make successful products to meet the needs of our users. Some of my family ask if I am safe out in the villages, but I am tough and enjoy the challenge.