Dy Keo Kunthea and Pov Vathana, who both recently earned Fulbright scholarships to study in the US, told "Hello VOA" listeners Monday that even the country's rural poor can aspire to academic greatness.

Dy Keo Kunthea told callers that no matter what someone's economic background, education remained equal. Poor students may face more difficulties than the urban rich, she said, but scholarships did not discriminate.

Pov Vathana claimed that many of his friends, too, had come from the countryside, but they succeeded academically, earning scholarships to study in the US and Japan, among other countries.

Pov Vathana, who earned a bachelor's degree in engineering, will study at Virgnia Tech, and Dy Keo Kunthea, who earned a bachelor's of medicine, will study public health in Alabama.