The first 10 years of young Chey’s* life were nothing but spiritual and emotional despair. Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia he grew up illiterate and was quickly moving toward the traditional curse of the uneducated poor: begging, stealing, or selling himself to simply survive one day to the next.

Chey’s family was forced to live on less than a dollar a day, leaving Chey hungry, undernourished and lonely. He spent the first ten years of his life virtually without being touched. His soul longed to be touched by love.