Bora is 19 years old. He has one younger brother and they both live with their grandmother in Doun Teav village.

In 2017, Bora failed his grade nine examination and, worried that he would fail again, decided to stop school. CFI’s Education Advocate worked hard to convince him to go back to school but he was determined not to.

Because of his family situation, Bora needed to earn an income to help his grandmother. CFI agreed to send him to complete a one-year vocational training course in agricultural mechanics.

Bora became extremely passionate about what he was learning; he always went to school regularly and tried hard with his study. During his training he also got the opportunity to practice his skills at Kubota, an agricultural machine company.

In September last year Bora successfully graduated from vocational training and was hired on a full-time basis by Kubota in Banteay Meanchey Province as a repair mechanic. The company was so impressed with Bora’s work they sent him on another skills course in January, and have since increased his salary.

Now Bora is able to support his grandmother and his younger brother, and he feels proud of what he’s been able to achieve.

“I really like my job,” Bora says. “Vocational training is very important for students who drop school like me, and if I didn’t choose to study vocational training maybe I can’t find a sustainable job like I have right now.

“It only took me one year of study to find a good job. So, to all my friends, if you decided to drop school please do a vocational training course.”