Early most mornings, Pu Mean takes to the waters around his flooded village, delivering vegetables for his mother's small farming business. He wasn't always so productive. Until recently, Pu Mean spent most of his time hanging around the streets and getting into trouble before he managed to turn his life around. Pu Mean lives here with his mother and six brothers and sisters. His early life was traumatic. His mother was very ill after his birth and wasn't able to breastfeed him properly, resulting in him losing weight and he nearly died from malnutrition causing permanent brain damage, explains his mother Chan Ri. "When my child was one week old I thought he had died, I was also very sick at that time. I looked at my baby and I was worried because he was getting smaller and smaller. The neighbours came and asked me if Pu Mean was dying from lack of milk but I wasn't sure if I was making milk - I had a terrible fever." Despite his disability, Pu Mean is now the main breadwinner for the family. After making his early morning vegetable deliveries it's off to the fruit market. Pu Mean selects and buys fruit everyday and delivers it to the jam-making factory where he works. L'irresistible jam and syrup factory was set up two years ago by French NGO Action Cambodge Handicap to provide employment to the severely mentally disabled. Discrimination against the disabled is deep rooted in Cambodia and education and employment opportunities are almost nonexistent leading to widespread marginalisation and poverty. For Pu Mean, a job at L'irresistible offers him not only money but friends and social status. "I'm very happy to work here, it's nice to have money to spend, to have a salary, to have friends, I'm very happy." he says. The fruits are washed and peeled by Pu Mean and members of the team of thirteen disabled employees. Almost everyone is mentally disabled ranging from severe learning difficulties to chronic brain damage. After the fruits are chopped up into a paste, sugar is added. The mixture is cooked to make jam and poured into jars. Namin, who lost his legs following an accident, sticks on the labels, he is the only worker who has physical not mental disabilities. The key to the success of the factory is dividing up the tasks based on people's specific disability, says the Director of L'irresistible Pierre Chetcuti. "We had to divide up the tasks in the jam factory and adapt the work to people's particular handicaps. We organised the workers into sections based on their abilities. We made one section for chopping, one for labelling, and today when people with severe handicaps come to work at the jam factory they will know exactly what work they have to do" he explains. The jams and syrups made by L'irresistible are on sale in shops and supermarkets all over Phnom Penh. Sales have been strong and the company has build up a loyal customer base, which should allow the company to break even by the end of this year. Chan Ri says her son's job at L'irresistible is so important because it keeps him out of trouble while at the same time providing the family with a much-needed source of income. "I was scared he would follow the bad kids in the neighbourhood and start sniffing glue. He went off all the time and I never knew where he was. He'd come back very late for something to eat - at two or three in the afternoon - it was very hard to take care of him. I want to say thanks to the organisation for giving my child some training and helping him get a job that earns money for the family" she says. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/aae635e9de086139e5bd7bfebeb3aaa7 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 31 Jul 2015
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