Mr. Chea Mao passed away on the 24th of May 2018 because of Bronchitis. At that point he was 43 years old.
He and his family lived in the Prek Toal Village in Phnom Penh City. He was working as a construction worker and earned about 3.75 USD a day – not enough to make a proper living for him, his wife and their two daughters. His wife Mrs Loem Tror is 53 and tried to help him to earn more of the needed money but had to give up her efforts when she became chronically ill. Their 20 year old daughter had to drop out of school in year 7 to support her family and earn money. She collected recyclable trash on a landfill in the outskirts of Phnom Penh and sold it. Her sister now is 11 years and studies in grade 4. The whole family lived underneath their relatives’ house where they could stay temporarily.
When Mr. Chea got sick they did not have enough money for medicine. When the SCC-staff arrived on the 30th of May, 6 days after his death, Mrs Chea Mao told us:
“When he was seriously ill, I did not have enough money for his medical treatment. I left him in this condition until he died. It was so painful to watch him and the whole family suffered. Even though I know that this is the human law – I really didn’t want him to leave us for good” She wiped her tears away and continued “When my husband passed away I had nothing, not even money to arrange his funeral. I couldn’t do anything but cry. When I got 30$ and other support from SCC I felt so happy and relieved because ,despite all the suffering we could arrange a dignified funeral for my husband.”
In the last ten years Salvation Centre Cambodia has already supported 3,422 funerals of people who lived and died under the poorest of conditions. Each family receives around 30$ to 40$ and mental counseling performed by our monks who work on a voluntary basis. They go to each family, regardless of their religion to support and look after them as to help the families through such a difficult time of suffering.
The money we used to finance this project was donated by the Firefly Mission and we are very thankful for their kind support.
When we brought the 30 USD to her, she was very happy. With tears in her eyes she put her hands on our heads and prayed for the Firefly Mission. Because they had helped her family and especially her dead husband to receive Buddha’s blessings for their lives.