Our Family
We would like to introduce you briefly to our family and how we got started
Siphen & Mach Im
Founders
Siphen and Mach along with their other family members founded the homestay in 2001. They now live in the USA since 2014
Phon Meas
Host, Ret. Education Exec.
Phon is older brother of Siphen who retired from the Ministry of Education few years ago and now runs the homestay along with his wife and daughter.
Oun Meas
Host, Housewife
Oun is wife of Phon Meas a, and she is the key person behind farming projects. She is passionate about organic farming and community development.
Linda Meas
Host, Family daughter
Linda is nice of Siphen and she along with her parents Phon and Oun manages the homestay. She has been operating homestay since Siphen left in 2014
The Meas family homestay was established by Siphen and her brother Phon’s family back in 2001 when they started to welcome locals and foreigners to stay with them at their family farm in Takeo province in Cambodia. At that time, they lived in two wooden houses in the middle of the rice fields. Siphen was an English teacher in the local high school and worked as an interpreter for few foreign organisations who worked in Cambodia after the fall of Khmer Rouge. During that time, a couple from New Zealand became a close friend fo Siphen’s family and they introduced their daughter and son-in-law, who ran an adventure tour company in New Zealand, to the Meas family.
Soon, Scott and Rachel started to being the group of gap year student to Cambodia to provide theme the real cultural and learning experience. This was so admired by the participants, the word of mouth started to spread around the word and more people contacted them to visit the village.
Some of the visitors became very close friends of the family and started to discuss how they could contribute to the development of their community In a sustainable way. This developed into more activities in the communities around homestay and the family became a key contributor to the sustainable development of their village.
Their effort continues to grow the impact and now they have become a social business that has helped hindered of people through income generation, entrepreneurship, education and personal development.
The Meas Family Homestay has provided guest services for locals as well as tourists from around the world since 1999. In that time we have housed individuals and larger tour groups, through tour companies like Pacific Discovery, ranging in ages from high school to retired. The Meas Family Homestay has two families living within our compound consisting of two large Khmer wooden houses and other bungalows for guests, which faces the lily pond and has a wonderful view of the sunset in back.
Our family is educated and always keeps an open mind. Mrs. Siphen Meas is an English teacher at the local high school with 22 years of teaching experience. She is very outgoing and has worked with foreign organizations like Peace Corps, VSA, and Books for Cambodia. She continually works to improve the local community and manifest development within Cambodia where she can. Some guests especially interested in Cambodia and helping our country stay in contact with us and become part of our extended family. Mr. Im Mach is the Deputy Director for KhlaKrorhim Secondary School as well as a teacher of Geography, History, and English with 24 years of experience. He is very friendly and always shows a warm hospitality toward his guests. It is our great pleasure to meet new guests and catch up with our regularly returning visitors.