ISF Mobile Librarian’s Story – Rida

Now 18 years old, Rida started going to ISF in 2013. It led to, among other good things, his first important work experience — as a mobile librarian, reaching out to his community and helping others to learn the fundamental skill of reading. Like so many Cambodian families, Rida’s parents moved to Phnom Penh to try to improve their lives, find jobs and education possibilities for their children. That was in 1995. And like so many Cambodians, life was difficult at first in the big city. “We struggled to make a living here. My parents’ income could hardly cover house rental fee, electricity and water bills, so we often didn’t have enough to eat.” ISF helped provide a lifeline for the family. “Now that ISF is supporting me to go to school and providing food parcels to my family every month, our daily life is getting better.”

Rida enjoys doing homework, reading books and “teaching children to read and write” — which led to ISF “giving me the opportunity to work and gain the experience for my future career.” ISF needed a mobile librarian who knew the community for outreach campaigns and, says Rida, “seeing it as a great opportunity for me to gain work experience while being in school, I applied without hesitation.”

Rida really enjoys “working with the children, especially the children who come from the difficult background like me. My least favorite part is sometimes I struggled with keeping the books and space orderly when there were too many children (who) came all at once.” He’s “explained the value of reading and the benefits of reading to them. Also, I showed all the good books to attract them, to come to read the books in our library, or join our mobile library.” In doing so, “I have become more confident and patient working with children. Also, reading to elder people and children who couldn’t read helps me improve my reading skills and understand them better.”