children of all ages come here to study. [ singing ] >> 54-year-old neang phalla is the school's teacher. phalla is known as the mother of education for disabled children in cambodia. in 2015, she was selected for the teaching profession's equivalent of the nobel prize. the pol pot regime ruled cambodia from 1975 to 1979. as a result of its forced labor policy and horrific massacres the country was ripped apart and lost everything. >> the school was founldsed by a french ngo in 1993. it was the first educational program in cambodia for visually impaired students. four years later, the school began accepting hearing impaired students as well. the ngo now has five schools in cambodia, dh are run mostly on donations, with tuition provided for free. >> all the children in this elementary school class have profound or total visual impairment. >> phalla always wanted to become a teacher, since she was a very young girl. during the days of pol pot's dictatorship, schools were used as jails. teachers, doctors, and other educated people were sent to labor camps. and towns people were forced to mo