On Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake, children from floating villages embark on daily boat journeys to school. Yet, climate change is making these trips perilous, threatening both their education and way of life.
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00:00Rin Narin is 10 years old.
00:07She wakes up before the sun rises in a house that floats on the lake.
00:12Her mother helps her get ready for school.
00:17Then, like every day, Narin waits for her school bus.
00:22Well, a school boat to float through the village waters.
00:27Her older sister Rin Nari stands on the veranda, watching as Narin departs for school.
00:39School children here take these perilous journeys every day.
00:43Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and altering water levels.
00:48It makes the journey to school increasingly challenging and threatens their traditional way of life.
00:57Narin sits attentively in her Grade 1 classroom, focusing on a grammar lesson in the Khmer language.
01:11Though older than her classmates, she only began school recently.
01:16In the floating villages, children often start school a bit later because parents wait until they can swim.
01:24They live here during their retirement homes.
01:30And they directly employees?
01:33The 19th century, Onward, thanks to our user's plan to take home toおい when from the international planet to start school at 988.
01:41Now, she has a life back to break.
01:44Theządات to come along with the wannabe being.
01:46Back from school, Nareen's sister Nari helps her with revision of some lessons.
02:15Nareen dropped out of school due to health complications caused by meningitis.
02:31Nareen's sister Nari, Nareen's sister Nari.
02:38Nareen's sister Nari.
02:39Nareen's sister Nari.
02:40Nareen's sister Nari.
02:41Nareen's sister Nari.
02:42Nareen's sister Nari.
02:43Nareen's sister Nari.
02:44Nareen's sister Nari.
02:45Nareen's sister Nari.
02:46Nareen's sister Nari.
02:47Nareen's sister Nari.
02:48Nareen's sister Nari.
02:49Nareen's sister Nari.
02:50Nareen's sister Nari.
02:51Nareen's sister Nari.
02:52Nareen's sister Nari.
02:53Nareen's sister Nari.
02:54Nareen's sister Nari.
02:55Nareen's sister Nari.
02:56Studies have shown that meningitis outbreaks follow seasonal patterns,
03:09often peaking during the hot and dry months.
03:13Climate change exacerbates these outbreaks,
03:16making them more frequent and intense.
03:26If you don't, it's just that there are different kinds of outbreaks.
03:36You can also do different types of outbreaks.
03:37You only reach out to each single.
03:40I think I want to have a good chance here.
03:43When you get out then, you still need to make out your back.
03:50You can feel less protective.
03:53Tolle Saab is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
03:58The fishing communities living on this lake are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
04:03During the dry season, they face increasing droughts leading to a decline in fish catch.
04:07In the wet season, however, incessant rains have caused severe flooding in recent years,
04:12destroying their homes.
04:13But there is one more casualty to it all, children's education.
04:18While her father prepares to go fishing, Nari helps her mother with the cooking.
04:22At this point, they have to be focused by food, to eat rice, to eat rice, to eat rice.
04:43Some initiatives are helping to bring change.
04:47Some initiatives are helping to bring children back to school.
04:54Sampors Vaughan, an educator who grew up in this community,
04:57has been instrumental in these efforts.
05:00His dedication and tireless work have helped schools
05:03adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
05:07But he says there is a need for an integrated approach.
05:10They face worries, money challenges, such as health, illness,
05:19with pollution, with unsafe water, with money hygiene problems.
05:26Of course, poverty among the community and parents,
05:31also the key factor that face pressure to the children's cell.
05:37And the quality and access of education, which is the service,
05:42the teacher, the infrastructure of education, is still limiting.
05:46So this is really a big challenge that the children are facing,
05:51which is they could not overcome by themselves.
05:54It needs various collaboration and engagement and support
05:58to make sure that both health care, education, and livelihood
06:03are interconnected and addressed and helping the children.
06:08Cambodian authorities struggle to reach remote communities in Tonle Sap.
06:13NGOs are stepping in with practical solutions,
06:16such as providing motor and rowing boats
06:18to help the students adapt to environmental changes.
06:22education, education above all foundation,
06:25education above all foundation, and Aide Aksion
06:27are working together in Cambodia
06:31to provide in-kind support, scholarship support,
06:36and that comes in a variety of forms.
06:39Sometimes that's in the form of the provision of food,
06:41that is school uniforms, book bags, study materials,
06:49remedial classes, catch-up classes, water filters, you name it.
06:55And the reason why we do this work together
07:00is because if you are able to ease the financial burdens
07:06associated with schooling,
07:08you have created an enormous opportunity
07:11for the most vulnerable children
07:13in the most vulnerable households,
07:15a chance to realize their right to education.
07:19And to date,
07:20we have enrolled more than 144,000
07:24out-of-school children across Cambodia.
07:27At sunset, Rin Nari helps her father fish.
07:30While she's not attending school for the time being,
07:33her father is committed to ensuring her education.
07:37She has taught me in school,
07:39and she has taught me that she's not attending school.
07:42We were taught me in school.
07:43We didn't have to give up a chance.
07:45She gave birth at a school,
07:47and she'll lead me to the future,
07:48and she's not attending school,
07:51so the mother will come to school
07:53and she's not attending school.
07:57Determined to provide better opportunities for his children,
08:01Nari's father is diligently saving
08:03to purchase a boat dedicated solely to their school commute.
08:09Nari, too, harbors hope of returning to school soon.