Cambodian shoe maker has little time for politics

Cambodian shoe maker has little time for politics

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Whoever wins Cambodia's general election next week, 27-year-old Khen Srey Touch (pictured below) knows only that she will have to keep working hard for years to come.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Khen Srey Touch and her son.

Already the mother of a four-year-old boy, she is due to give birth to a girl within two weeks, but maintains a punishing schedule in a shoe factory, working 10 hours a day, six days a week.

"I am the main breadwinner of the house," Khen Srey Touch told a Reuters photographer who spent a few days with her family in their village southwest of the capital Phnom Penh.

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Slideshow:

Footwear factory Complete Honour Footwear Industrial.

Workers arrive early morning for their shift.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Workers arrive early morning for their shift.

Workers donate to monks before their shift.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Workers donate to monks before their shift.

Workers eat breakfast at a market outside the factory before their shift.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Workers eat breakfast at a market outside the factory before their shift.

Workers arrive to work.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Workers arrive to work.

A supervisor of a sewing team gives workers instructions before they start their shift.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

A supervisor of a sewing team gives workers instructions before they start their shift.

Khen Srey Touch sits down while her supervisor gives team instructions before workers start their shift.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Khen Srey Touch sits down while her supervisor gives team instructions before workers start their shift.

A worker climbs through the window to go back to work after an hour lunch break.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

A worker climbs through the window to go back to work after an hour lunch break.

Khen Srey Touch sews shoes.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Khen Srey Touch sews shoes.

Shoes are being made.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Shoes are being made.

A worker has a nap.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

A worker has a nap.

A worker has a nap on a shelf during a lunch break.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

A worker has a nap on a shelf during a lunch break.

Workers wait for a pickup truck to take them home after work.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Workers wait for a pickup truck to take them home after work.

Khen Srey Touch waits for a pickup truck to go home after work.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Khen Srey Touch waits for a pickup truck to go home after work.

Cows are seen in Prey Ngeat commune where Khen Srey Touch lives.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang

Cows are seen in Prey Ngeat commune where Khen Srey Touch lives.

A kid sleeps in a hammock at a traditional Cambodian medicine shop.
. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters

A kid sleeps in a hammock at a traditional Cambodian medicine shop.

Each morning she catches a ride in an open pickup truck to a footwear factory owned by a Taiwan company. She earns $240 a month making shoes for American, British and Japanese brands.

But it is dark when she returns home to cook the evening meal and wait for her husband, a temporary construction worker.

Khen Srey Touch is among thousands of workers in the garment industry who are being courted by Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of the July 29 election.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Women work on the production line at Complete Honour Footwear Industrial.

Like many Cambodians, she has known no other leader but Hun Sen. "He is the only person who has ruled the country and I don't know why," she added.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 30 years, is trying to ensure victory after two close elections in 2013 and 2017, by handing out cash inducements and a series of punishing measures against the opposition.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Khen Srey Touch buys food at a market outside Complete Honour Footwear Industrial where she works.

His government has targeted opposition politicians, civil society groups and independent media ahead of the poll, which he appears set to win easily.

Hun Sen has also been a fixture at campaign rallies with garment workers - promising them more benefits and handing cash envelopes to pregnant employees.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Khen Srey Touch at her house.

Khen Srey Touch said she knew it was important to cast her vote, but she understood little about political parties.

And whatever the election outcome, she was determined her children will have a better life.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Khen Srey Touch visits a traditional Cambodian medicine shop to purchase medicine to help her with breast milk when she gives birth to her second child.

"I want my children to have a good education...not to be like me and my husband," she said.

. Kampong Speu, Cambodia. Reuters/Ann Wang
Seng Tharith, 4, the son of Khen Srey Touch.