A Visually-Impaired Student Becomes the First Cambodian Woman with Disability to Get an Australia Awards Scholarship

Now 33 years old, Chinda is pursuing a master’s degree in disability practice and developmental education at Flinders University in Australia. Photo screescrab from Australia Award

PHNOM PENH—Growing up in a poor farmer family in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district, Min Chinda had one dream since high school. “When I was asked what I wanted to do, I always told people that I wanted to study abroad, even though I did not know how to go about it,” she said.

The eldest of four children, she is visually impaired as is her youngest brother. A decade ago, few people with physical disabilities had the opportunity to go to school, she said. “I think I’m very lucky that my parents did not stop me from going to school and always encouraged me to study.”

Now 33 years old, Chinda is pursuing a master’s degree in disability practice and developmental education at Flinders University in Australia.

In 2012, Chinda left her hometown to live in Phnom Penh and pursue a bachelor's degree in psychology at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

This turned out to be a difficult time for her.

“In my generation, there were not many people with disabilities who were highly educated,” she said. “Some teachers were not yet open minded. Some even said to me that I should sing on the street to earn money rather than coming to study, because I was different from the others.” Chinda suffered from discrimination but, since she had been subjected to derogatory comments all her life, this did not stop her.

Being blind made it more difficult than for other students to live on her own. She had to stay at a pagoda because she could not afford to rent a room as she could hardly pay for food. She also had to deal with discrimination and humiliation inflicted by some people around her.

But this did not stop her and, in 2016, Chinda graduated from university. Then in 2020, she became the first visually-impaired woman to receive an Australia Awards Scholarship.

Living a dream on foreign soil

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not until 2022 that Chinda was able to go to Australia. And in meantime, having married, she had given birth to a child.  So, she has had to bring along her daughter—now 1 year old—and a babysitter to Australia as her husband is also virtually impaired.

“The challenges I first encountered were the weather and lifestyle,” Chinda said. “In Cambodia, we can buy snacks near our houses while in Australia, we need to take a bus to the market.” And doing this with a toddler is not always easy, she said.

Renting a home also proved difficult, Chinda said. All this left her little time to study at first but, used to dealing with whatever comes up, she managed and settled into her student routine in Australia.

Aiming to empower people with disabilities

Chinda is currently the only woman in her class to study disability policy and development as the other six people with disabilities are men and from several countries.

The education system in Australia makes it easy for her to study, she said, the curriculum being the same for people with or without disability.

Chinda chose to specialize in Disability and Developmental Education. “The reason I chose this is that, first of all, I have worked in the past with a lot of [people with] disabilities, and I have a disability myself,” she said. “I know the hardships that people with disabilities face. The goal is for people with disabilities to live better and more independently,” Chinda said, by enabling them to study and acquire skills so they can earn a living. “I want to study this field to bring this knowledge and experience to Cambodia to help improve the situation of people with disabilities,” she said.

Chinda said the biggest barrier that prevents people with disabilities from getting an education is the lack of encouragement and support, which makes them feel lonely and hopeless. And since access to education for students with disabilities is not readily available in Cambodia, many of them just give up, she said.

“Knowledge can change our situation, so only knowledge can help brighten our lives,” said Chinda.

All young people with disabilities should not hesitate to hope and think positively, she said. They also should try to be patient when they meet with difficulties and people dismissing them because of their disabilities, she said. In such situations, they should look into other ways to keep moving forward, she added.

 “Everyone faces obstacles,” Chinda said. “So don’t use this as a barrier to success.”


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