Mon and Khim’s Story

Mon and his wife Khim live in Takeo province and they have been Hagar foster parents since 2007. Mon is a church Deacon, who also works in construction and Khim is a housewife. Together they had seven biological children, but sadly five died. After hearing about fostering through Hagar, they opened their home to thirteen foster children over nine years. They currently care for five Hagar clients, including two young adults with disabilities.     

Two of Mon and Khim’s foster children are now married and they have children of their own and Mon and Khim are their grandparents. Five foster children entered into employment and they have successfully reintegrated back into their families. Khim says ‘they often come back to hang out with us. We have met all the new husbands and wives of our foster children, and just recently had a huge party celebrating the Khmer New Year…They are grateful and consider us as their family’. Mon and Khim were raised in large families and both experienced poverty as children. Mon explains, ‘for my parents, food was the most important thing for a child’s development. They didn’t think of the intellectual or social development, nor did they show us any love as most parents do towards their children today.’ Khim adds ‘when we grew up, our parents were under the impression that at school, boys wrote love letters to girls, so they forbid any of us to go. So I had to stay with them and help around the house.’ Mon and Khim were both children under the Khmer Rouge regime and experienced displacement and separation from their parents. After the conflict, Mon started school for the first time at the age of fourteen, but Khim had little time to return to school and as a result she has limited literacy skills.    

Mon and Khim understand the importance of educational and social development. Their eldest biological son is twenty-five and he is studying further in Phnom Penh, with the hopes to become an electrician. Three of their current foster children attend school and are doing well. ‘It’s good to see them get good scores. One of our youngest foster children who has been with us almost two years is number one in her class. She is only eight years old but wants to be a doctor. She tells me that she wants to look after people but specifically wants to take care of me and my wife when we grow older. It’s just so wonderful to see the love that they give to us. Such a privilege to see them grow day by day.’  

Mon and Khim also care for two young adults with disabilities, the youngest is nineteen and has autism with a mental age of seven and the eldest is twenty-five and has severe cerebral palsy. Khim cares for them during the day and they help her with tasks around the house. She said ‘they enjoy washing their clothes with me and are always smiling and happy’. Mon has built additional rooms, which now accommodate the new foster children. Furthermore, since partnering with Hagar, Mon has managed to renovate the floors from mud to cement and he has painted the walls with financial contributions from Hagar.  

Having foster children is both rewarding and occasionally challenging, Khim explains ‘sometimes, the foster children listen to our advice, but other times they disobey. This is where our role comes in to encourage them, build them up with good morals and ethics to become wise’.  

Mon and Khim provide foster children with a stable and loving family environment, where thirteen foster children have thrived. Mon and Khim say they will always consider their foster children as family.