We often don’t pay much attention to the everyday items that our children need for school until it comes down to letting them choose their preferences. For example, all school-aged children need a backpack to carry all of their books, school supplies, lunches, and other items they will use throughout a typical school day. As parents, we tend to take these things for granted.

We worry more about whether a story will have a particular style of backpack that our child wants (the right pattern, name brand, etc.). It’s hard to even imagine living a life where you were put into a position that you could not afford to even purchase a backpack for your child.

According to McGill Media, Ny Keng lives in a tiny village in Cambodia where there are many people who live in poverty. Ny is five years old and during a recent class trip to Thailand, he lost his one-and-only backpack. He had no other backpack and he desperately needed one in order to carry all of his school books and school supplies each day to the primary school he attended in his village.

Ny Keng’s parents work as laborers who often take trips to Thailand in order to take temporary jobs as migrant workers. The family does not have much money and Ny’s father was heartbroken when he realized that he could not afford to replace Ny’s backpack. However, his father refused to give up and would not send his son to school without a backpack. He decided to get creative!

Ny’s father stayed up the entire night and weaved a complete rucksack out of blue raffia string that he had at his house. Ny went to school proudly the next morning, wearing his brand new bag and never mentioning that he had lost his original backpack.

The other students and his teachers were blown away by the new bag. In fact, Ny’s teacher was so moved by his father’s dedication to his son and the incredible creativity that he took photos of Ny proudly sporting his new bag. His teacher said that although Ny’s father is not rich, it is amazing to see that he does absolutely everything for his children.