Rachana’s Story

“We cannot believe our lives and living conditions have changed. Without Hagar’s support, our lives would be in jeopardy. When my husband and I used to work in Thailand and leave our children with their grandmother, they could not go to school as they do today. We are now with our children, have a steady income and have hope.”

36-year-old Rachana lived with her husband and two young children in the Phnom Proek district of Battambang province, near the Cambodia-Thai border. Rachana’s family was in debt due to a lack of job opportunities in their community and unstable income. She and her husband decided to work in Thailand as illegal migrant workers through brokers. Their two children were sent to stay with their grandparents while they worked.

In Thailand, Rachana performed the same work as men, including her husband, but was paid much less. In addition, the construction manager did not fully pay their wages as promised. They paid only a small amount of money for daily meals and informed Rachana and her husband that they also owed the broker for the cost of transporting them from Cambodia to Thailand. Sometimes Rachana was forced to work long unpaid overtime.

In 2021, Rachana and her husband escaped and returned home. Their lives were more difficult than before as they had more debt and struggled to provide food. They got jobs in their community but they were not stable and did not provide enough income to support their family.

In early 2022, Rachana’s family was referred to Hagar Cambodia for support. Hagar staff assisted the family to assess a business opportunity and found that they had the potential of growing agricultural products in their community. The business plan was developed to plant corn, chili, and sweet potatoes. The family received financial support for the start-up of this agri-business to ensure they could buy a water pumping machine, fuel, water pipe, seeds, and other equipment for working on the farm. The family was very committed to their new business and hopeful it would help them get out of poverty. They also believed it would prevent them being exploited again and having to migrate far from their children and home for work.

“We are so delighted Hagar has motivated us and given us the opportunity to do our best to address our situation and provide a better future for our children through growing these crops. I will do my best to plant these seeds with my husband and hope we produce good products and income to support our family.”

As a result of their commitment, Rachana sold their first harvest to the market and earned about $500. With this income, she persuaded her husband to expand the business and grow more sweet potato. Based on their experience and market demand, the family plans to triple their crop, rent more land from neighbors and hopefully triple their income.

“Our sweet potato crop has yielded good results for us. We sold it all and earned about $900, making a profit of about $650 in just over 2 months. Now we have enough to eat, send our children to school and pay off our debts slowly. We will expand our business.”

“My wife suggested we expand our business by renting other lands to grow crops and I agreed with her. We now lease 3 hectares of land to plant sweet potato and we can harvest in April 2023. I hope we will triple our income.”

With the business development skills they learned from the project, the couple became good entrepreneurs. They do not just depend on farm income. Rachana grows vegetables around the house for daily consumption and sells surplus to the market and her husband works as a day laborer in the community to earn extra income to support his family while waiting for the harvest.

They used to think they could change their lives but did not know what to do. They feared their lives would always involve risky conditions, especially after their bad experience working in Thailand. They lived in poor conditions, and as the situation worsened, they were separated from their children who really needed them.

“It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I missed our children so much and was afraid we would die there if we did not find our way home. I will do my best not to leave our children behind again and we will save our money for their education in the hope that they will have a better future. We cannot thank Hagar enough for the support you gave us. We live with hope for a better future.”

Local authorities appreciate Hagar’s support and are happy to see the lives of their community members have changed. They also reported to upper government officials on improved knowledge and understanding of the impact of unsafe migration and human trafficking, and the economic situation of their community members, after engaging with community preventive measures to address human trafficking.