Is she the first Khmer girl to study at Oxford University?

Hean Polyne is working as an intern for the Stara Rescue Center and School in Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums.

Student Puts Studies to Work in Kenya

Monday, 01 August 2011
Huy Sampors, VOA Khmer | Washington, D.C
Photo: Courtesy of Hean Polyne

“I’ve learned a lot from my work that can put my knowledge from the UK into practice. I’ve also learned how to communicate with different nations and cultures.”

Hean Polyne, who completed her master’s in development studies in the UK and was recently accepted to Oxford, has spent her summer in Nairobi, Kenya.

She is working as an intern for the Stara Rescue Center and School in Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums. As one of the few Cambodians working in Africa, she told VOA Khmer recently she has many ideas to help her organization.

She said she hopes her work will improve awareness for the organization, to help people internationally understand the work of Stara, providing information that could help it find funding. She has been busy collecting data to post on the website, writing funding proposals and participating in student home visits.

“I’ve learned a lot from my work that can put my knowledge from the UK into practice,” she said. “I’ve also learned how to communicate with different nations and cultures. These experiences can be implemented in other areas in Cambodia as well.”

“Countries have borders,” she said. “But humanitarianism has no borders.”