My mother is awesome. If you ever met my mother, you will be amazed at her energy and her positive outlook in life. She is one of the strongest women I know and I am so blessed to have been birthed by her.

My mother and I were not very close but as I grew up to become a woman and a mother, I realized that the values I uphold today were the very values my mother lived and upheld throughout her life.

One of her biggest values that she has lived by is faith. Faith that there is something much bigger than any of us and like a mother that provides warmth and security to a newborn, faith would provide guidance and assurance during our greatest time of need. 

Her faith is anchored in the principles of Theravada Buddhism, a religion of the Khmer Krom people. As a young woman growing up in Kampuchea-Krom, she didn’t have an opportunity to go to school like I did. She worked hard though, doing whatever it took to help bring food and money to her family.

During her spare time, she would learn the Khmer language at the local temple in Preah Trapeang and it was through the Khmer classes that she met my father, a Khmer teacher at the time. 

She was part of នារីសីលធម៌, a group of Khmer Krom women who were present at Khmer ceremonies leading the chanting of prayers during religious and cultural ceremonies. 

Because of her faith, she believed that everything happened for a reason and if one does good, then one would receive good. 

It was her faith that kept the fear away as she trekked twenty one days across the forests of Thailand and Cambodia with three young children in search of her husband and better opportunities. 

Following faith was the value of family. She did whatever it took to keep her family together, across Kampuchea-Krom to Australia. Regardless of what her children did or say, she was always there to pick up the pieces and put us together. 

“There is no one more important than your family. Take care of each other,” she would always remind me. My dad and her have been married and together for over 40 years. 

Because of her life experiences, my mother appreciates and values each day. She doesn’t let the world change her optimistic view on life and sets out to do what she loves every day. 

This includes giving back to the community she was forced to leave behind decades ago. She is one of very few Khmer Krom women who has taken a lead in the community and often tells me, if we didn’t do it, then who? 

In celebrating International Women’s Day, I am celebrating women like my mom, a simple countryside girl who made the most of her life. Through faith and family, she found an inner courage and strength to dream for bigger and better things for her family. And yet still makes time to give back to her community. 

Does your mom inspire you? Who is the woman that inspires you in your life?