The Little Nun
Meas Srey Pov was born in 1986 with Down’s syndrome in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Many of her relatives including her mother’s ex-husband, brothers and sisters died of starvation, overwork or disease during the Khmer Rouge regime. Only one sister Sophannaly and her mother survived. Several years later her mother remarried and the Srey Pov was born.
Her mother suffered from a variety of illnesses and the family was extremely poor, like most Cambodian families. At the time of her birth proper medical treatment was unavailable. In 1996, after prolonged and painful suffering, Srey Pov’s mother died from uterine cancer. At that time her sister got married and moved away from the family.
The father remarried and then contracted tuberculosis leaving him unable to provide good care. Srey Pov’s stepmother never liked her and one day when her husband was away, expelled the child from their home.
Homeless, Srey Pov was sleeping on the street for three nights till someone recognized her and let her sister know. Sophannaly took the child to her home. In 1998 Srey Pov’s father died. Sophannaly and her husband were also very poor but kind-hearted. They provided the love and care that Srey Pov had been denied for so long.
With death of Sophannaly’s husband, the tragedy continued. A little known distant relative wanted the remaining family to move to Siem Reap, the tourist town near Angkor Wat, 320km away from the Phnom Penh. The old relative was living at a Pagoda and owned a small house and needed someone take care of him. With nothing to lose the sisters moved to Siem Reap. Sophannaly took care of her “uncle” until his death when the two sisters inherited his property, which is all they have.
They became Buddhist nuns in November 2001. To support herself and her sister, Sophannaly makes textile bags for nuns and monks. Every day they eat and pray in the pagoda together with the other nuns.
Hopefully Sophannaly will be able to take care of Srey Pov in the future because there is no one else willing to provide for her.
In May I organized a charity photo exhibition for Srey Pov “The Little Nun” inside the Ketseraram Pagoda in Siem Reap. “Sacred… and the Nun’s life” a joint exhibition included my work about the Khmer Monks Sacred Yantra Tattoos and Geoff Croll’s Burmese Nun photography.
Psychiatric care in Cambodia is extremely limited and in most cases families have to take care of sick patients and pay for medication on their own.
