One of the non-profit educational organisation Passerelles Numeriques’ success stories is Oun Vong, 23, who graduated in 2010 after a challenging two-year program in 2010 and since then has been working as a systems administration assistant at The Phnom Penh Post.

A well-loved personality around The Post, Oun Vong is called into action whenever a work station needs to be relocated, a new computer is purchased, software needs to be installed or anybody is having trouble making their computer or printer work. She obviously loves what she does.

Born in Phnom Penh in 1989, youngest in a family with one sister and one brother, she studied at Phnom Penh Tmey High School, graduating in 2008 and was lucky enough to be admitted to PN, then called CIST, that same year.

“Many people applied, but they only chose about a hundred,” she said.

“First we had to pass the test and pass the interview.  Then they came to my home to interview my family to make sure that I’m poor.  If I’m not really poor, they won’t choose me.  They interviewed my family also.”

Oun’s father used to be a farmer, but now he works together with her mother selling vegetables at a market on the road to Phnom Penh’s airport.

Oun’s two years at PN were hard but rewarding work.

“It was very hard.  We studied eight hours per day, in English.  We had a computer lab and a classroom. We studied Windows and Linux, the open source operating system.

Soon after her graduation from PN she joined The Phnom Penh Post.

“I support the people in the office who  needcomputer help. I’m very happy to work at the Phnom Penh Post because I think the environment here is good for me” she’s also very grateful for her training at PN.

“I’m happy with what I learned at PN.  It was hard, but it gave me the knowledge I needed.  Now my life is better than before, because I can get money to study for university.

Oun Vong is now in her final year at Puthisastra University, from which she will graduate next year in Information Technology, majoring in networking.