What do you do when you’re working in Cambodia and your company gives you a daily cash allowance of $20 for transportation?

This was the case years ago when I was doing some journalism work in Phnom Penh. The project lasted more than two months in total and we had a great time exploring the city during the week and rest of the country on weekends.

As for that $20/day we could have pocketed it as extra cash ourselves, since nobody from the office cared. After all, for just $1 we could hop on the back of a kids moped and they’d take us anywhere in the city. But we weren’t ready to pocket the extra cash. Instead we ran into a college graduate working at the Ministry of Tourism.

His salary as a university graduate? $35/month. Someone else we knew who was a teacher made $40/month.

Our tourism contact wanted to go back to university to become a lawyer, so he could then make $50/month. Those numbers may seem small, but he was living a decent life with his parents in Phnom Penh. Saving up money, he hoped that within a few years he would have enough money to get a place to live for him and his girlfriend. He had goals, he knew what he wanted out of life and worked hard to achieve those goals.

Our new friend, Da, happened to have an older brother who had a car and he didn’t have to be in the office for his job at the Ministry every day, so it was settled – he became our personal driver.

The convenience of having an air-conditioned car waiting for us at the hotel and businesses we visited was a life-saver considering we were wearing suits every day in 40C heat. It didn’t take long to develop a great rapport with Da, who was always eager to practice and improve his already impressive English speaking skills. He took us to hidden Khmer restaurants that remained undiscovered by foreign travellers and he knew all the best places for our business needs – from where to get business cards printed, to which business were brand new and might be worth visiting.

Da quickly became part of our team even after hours, playing billiards along Sisowath Quay, joining us on weekend trips to Sihanoukville and Siem Reap as well as trips to the Royal Palace, National Museum and every other popular attractions we wanted to see. Most of these places he’d never visited before as his family couldn’t afford the meagre entrance fees or transportation costs.

We worked hard during the days, but had plenty of free time to enjoy the nights and weekends.

Eventually our time in Cambodia came to an end. But in the short months we had been there, Da had saved up enough money to sell his moped and put a down payment on his own new car. He could now be a taxi driver for tourists or other visitors and continue to make extra income on the side after we were gone. He still planned to go back to school, marry his girlfriend and get his own home.

It was only $20/day for us, but to him it was equivalent to 5 years worth of salary. A life-changing chance encounter!