Kunthea Maeu
Kunthea Maeu is the only daughter of a farming family in Pailin province. She wanted to move to Phnom Penh for better education and job opportunities; in the countryside, they always joked that one day they wanted to work in an office with air-conditioning. She finished high school in 2015 and got a fully-funded scholarship to study accounting at university. The first month away from home was hard, and she often cried, questioning her decision. What kept her going was knowing that if she studied and worked hard, she could lessen her family’s financial burden. One day in 2016, she saw Digital Divide Data's announcement on an information board recruiting college students for part-time work. She stopped to ask for details, applied, joined the training program in English and computer skills, and became a data entry associate.
Working at DDD helped her support her family and her own living costs and study expenses. DDD was flexible, allowing her to change work shifts to match her study schedule, unlike her cousin who had a hard time managing full-time work and study. "At DDD, we didn't feel like we were just employees," she says. “It felt like home.” She learned time management, teamwork, and communication skills. She left in 2017, but she still keeps in touch, joins alumni meet-ups, and rarely misses events. She now works as an accountant at a private company and helps her younger siblings. Without DDD, she doesn't think she'd be where she is today. She hopes more alumni will join outreach activities to share experiences with new students interested in joining.
