Po and Yan

My left eye is painfully hot and swollen from an infection and just about completely closed. I feel sincerely grateful instead of annoyed. I can still see from my right eye.

There are so many people who get on with their lives despite permanently not having sight or sound or speech or mobility. I don't mean the heroes, the motivational speakers or the paralympians who are of course also super inspiring.

I mean regular folks who are unsung yet remain heroic and don't let the lack in their life hold them back from attempting to live fully even if they struggle through some of, what are for others, the simplest of daily rituals.

When I spend time with two of my Cambodian friends Po and Yan who are visually impaired, I feel immense respect but my heart also gets heavy seeing how much harder they work to do the most basic things that I take for granted. Po has had next to no sight since birth. She can make out shapes sometimes. Yan could see clearly until he was about 20 years old. He was forced to join the army during the brutal Pol Pot regime and while serving, lost his vision in a cruel set of circumstances. Yan now lives in complete blackness but has never been paid any compensation for his loss.

Cambodia doesn't have a social security system. Many people on the margins of society have no choice but to be on the streets sleeping rough and begging to scrape together some riel for food.

Vocational opportunities for Po and Yan are limited. They want to be independent. The two met at a massage school where they were both training to become masseurs to be able to earn an income.

Po told me that sometimes Yan cries because he has never been able to see her, his wife or their son Silim.