Tee Ing, 13-year girl, currently studying at Amphawang Primary School in Sonbouly District, Savannakhet province. Tee Ing comes from a poor family that consists of her father, mother in law, and 4 siblings. Her mother died when she was in grade 4 and her father remarried.

Tee Ing’s father is a poor farmer and grows rice only during rainy season. Some years if there is not much rain or flood they would get less than 500 kilograms of rince and this usually means that the whole family could survive only for 5-6 months. Due to this difficulty, her father has to find another extrat jobs elsewhere. 

Because her family is so poor and her father earn not much money from being labor, her eldest sibling was forced to drop out lower secondary school to help work and earn money for the family as well as taking care of the younger siblings.



Tee Ing had been requested many times by her mother in law to drop out school and work to help the family but she always refuses to do so. She wish to complete her primary education, continue to secondary school, high school and college. She hopes to be more educated and become a skilled professional worker such as nurse, doctor, or teacher in the future.

Tee Ing believes that education could help her escape from poverty cycle.  She is afraid to be forced to drop out school by her mother in la, as a result, she finally decided to move out from her father's home and live with her uncle who resided in the same village. The living condition is not different from that of her father's. Her uncle and his family are also poor but living with her uncle means an opportunity for furthering higher education. 



Tee Ing regularly attends school and after school helps with house chores—fetching water, cleaning the house, boiling rice, doing the dishes, watering the gardens, feeding the animals, cooking and pounding the paddy grain.

Tee Ing said that “My school is 10 km away but that does not bother me. I found a shortcut and walk 5 km through the jungle.” The distance won’t keep her from going to school.Tee Ing is a determined and optimistic young lady.