In the shadow of a garbage tip lies a multi-generational haven for women and girls in Phnom Penh. Free from the world of men, they study, work and support each other.
Looming over one of the most impoverished communities in Phnom Penh is what looks like a large grass-covered hill.
In the late 1970s, the Cambodian government, led by the Khmer Rouge, systematically murdered up to 3 million people in an attempt to create a classless agricultural society.the income was barely enough for Granny Rin's family to survive and she lived on the brink of poverty for years — until she found a charity that offered to help.
Granny Rin is now the unofficial matriarch of the Girls to Grannies Village – a women's only community set up by the charity in the shadow of the garbage mountain.The simple houses at the Girls to Grannies village cost around US$3,500 each to build but they can change lives."We are grateful to be here. I always tell the children that we don't have anything to pay back for this kindness so just study hard and get higher education is what you should do.
"There's a lot of violence happening around in the community and we are really vulnerable as a girl, so we don't really have any power to defend ourselves, so it's really good to have a group of girls living together."Despite being tailored to women and girls, the all-female village was actually the brainchild of a man.
"I'd done very well for myself, and it wasn't that I hated Hollywood. I had a great time there. I was a local boy made good and had all the trappings and good salary but this was really striking," he told the ABC.The Girls to Grannies village is his latest venture and there's hope it could provide a model for other developing countries."A lot of the times there's no father at home. In fact, 90 per cent of the homes there's no father there.
"The girls are also very ambitious in their studies. They often don't have a safe place to study after hours. They don't have a safe home environment. They feel more at risk than the boys do, and many of them just wanted a safe place to study.""The thing that inspires me the most is the education results we have," he said.
Women Girls Cambodian Children's Fund
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