On a warm morning, a mother of three stood among hundreds of families to receive construction materials and farming supplies—items that mark the commencement of a new chapter in her life. The support package included rice, water containers, water purifiers, farming tools, household supplies and vegetable seeds—essentials for building both a home and a livelihood.

Living without land and a house of her own in Chamreh village, Koul commune, Prasat Sambou district of Kampong Thom province, Ms. Suk Pov and her family stayed with her parents, with no farmland to cultivate and no stable source of income. “I never imagined that I would one day own land like this,” she emotionally said. “This land is very important to my life.”

Like many other poor families, limited job opportunities in her home village forced her to migrate to Phnom Penh to look for a job. For nearly a decade, she and her husband worked in construction, bringing along their youngest child while the older children stayed behind with her parents. Life in the city was hard. They rented a small room and often stayed at temporary shelters at construction sites where they worked. She made about 35,000 riel a day, while her husband made 45,000 riel—just enough to get by.

“Construction work is very hard, and the income is low,” she emphasized. “We always dream of having our own land to live on and to farm.”

“Today, my dream came true,” she said, adding that with residential and agricultural land granted by the LASED III project, she has decided to quit construction work and return to farming. She plans to grow cassava and cashew trees on her agricultural land, build her own house on the residential land, and grow vegetables and fruit trees on the remaining.

“Working on our own farm is better and happier,” she said. “If I had continued working in construction, my life would not have improved. When we grow older, we will still have no land to live on.”

Ms. Pov, now, looks ahead with hope and motivation. “Over the next four to five years, our family’s living conditions will improve and become more stable.”

She is raising three children—two boys and one girl—aged 10, 7, and 3. For Ms. Pov, possessing land is not only about addressing her current need, but about securing a better future for her children.

Story and Photos by Mr. Leak Ratna

Communications Specialist, LASED III/MLMUPC | April 2026