PHNOM PENH , Cambodia ( CNN ) -- Walking down a street in Cambodia 's capital city , Phymean Noun finished her lunch and tossed her chicken bones into the trash . Seconds later , she watched in horror as several children fought to reclaim her discarded food . Phymean Noun is helping give Cambodian children a chance at a better life . Noun stopped to talk with them . After hearing their stories of hardship , she knew she could n't ignore their plight . `` I must do something to help these children get an education , '' she recalls thinking . `` Even though they do n't have money and live on the sidewalk , they deserve to go to school . '' Six years after that incident , Noun is helping many of Phnom Penh 's poorest children do just that . Within weeks , she quit her job and started an organization to give underprivileged children an education . Noun spent $ 30,000 of her own money to get her first school off the ground . In 2004 , her organization -- the People Improvement Organization ( PIO ) -- opened a school at Phnom Penh 's largest municipal trash dump , where children are a large source of labor . Today , Noun provides 240 kids from the trash dump a free education , food , health services and an opportunity to be a child in a safe environment . Watch Noun and some of the children who attend her school » . It is no easy task . Hundreds of them risk their lives every day working to support themselves and their families . `` I have seen a lot of kids killed by the garbage trucks , '' she recalls . Children as young as 7 scavenge hours at a time for recyclable materials . They make cents a day selling cans , metals and plastic bags . Noun recruits the children at the dump to attend her organization because , she says , `` I do n't want them to continue picking trash and living in the dump . I want them to have an opportunity to learn . '' Watch Noun describe what life is like for children at the trash dump » . Growing up during the Pol Pot regime , Noun faced unimaginable challenges . `` There were no schools during Pol Pot 's regime , '' she recalls . `` Everyone had to work in the fields . My mother was very smart . She told them that she did n't have an education . That was how she survived . If they knew she was educated , they would have killed her . '' Noun 's mother died of cancer when Phymean was 15 . Phymean 's sister fled to a refugee camp , leaving her young daughter in Phymean 's care . `` When my mom passed away , my life was horrible , `` says Noun . `` It was very sad because there was only my niece who was 3 years old at that time . '' Yet Noun was determined to finish high school . Watch Noun describe the hardships of life during the Pol Pot regime » . That dedication paid off , and after graduating she spent the next decade working with various aid organizations . `` I tell the children my story and about the importance of education , '' she said . `` I 'm their role model . '' Some of the children who attend her school continue to work in the dump to support themselves and their families . Without an education , she said , these children would be vulnerable to traffickers or continue to be caught in the cycle of poverty . `` We are trying to provide them skills that they can use in the future , '' Noun said . `` Even though we are poor and struggling and do n't have money , we can go to school . I tell them not to give up hope . '' Noun has even bigger plans for them . `` These children are our next generation and our country depends on them . They are our future leaders . ''
Children are large sources of income at Cambodian capital 's largest trash dump . Phymean has quit her job to give them an education -- and a way out . Today she provides 240 children a free education , food and health care .