Small Price To Pay

Watching the news from home, it’s easy to feel helpless in the face of global crises. But, as we discovered when we sat down with scott neeson recently, one person can make a big difference – you just have to know where to start.

- Tara Jenkins

Two years ago, 24 year-old Ang Srey Mom stood up at the BBC 100 Women’s Conference – an annual event in London to showcase inspirational, global women – to speak about gender inequality and domestic violence. It’s a daunting gig for any 24-year-old, but Ang isn’t your usual young woman. She currently heads up the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) Youth Leadership programme, but she spent her childhood scavenging on Steung Meanchey, a stinking, molten, perilous garbage dump in the south of Cambodia.

CCF founder Scott Neeson, who’s made it his life’s work to scoop up children working at Steung Meanchey and transform their lives, literally beams with pleasure when her name comes up. “Ang’s big dream was to work in a garment factory, and eventually we persuaded her to come in and study garment work,” he explains. “She turned out to be remarkably talented. After the conference, the VF Foundation offered her a two-year fashion design apprenticeship! She was over the moon, but she won’t leave the CCF until she’s found someone to replace her: she’s training girls to take over.” Ang never went past Grade 7 at school; so, are her drive and ambition a result of nature or nurture? Scott shakes his head in wonderment: “I just give them the opportunity. They do the rest.”