Siem Reap's Pub Street at Night
The girl standing in front of me couldn't have been more than ten years old. She balanced a baby on her hip, the child's bottle dangling from her fingers. She grabbed my dress, pulling at the green material on my waist.
"I want milk," she said. "Just milk. Please, milk."
I tried to walk by. I knew that she was probably part of a group of street kids who worked trying to scam tourists into giving them cash. In my sundress, Raybans and leather purse, I certainly fit the part. "I can't," I said. "I have to go."
She blocked my way, grabbing my hand. Pointing to my chest she said, "I need milk. Not for me, for her." She showed me the little girl, the baby's face was streaked with sweat and dirt. "No money. Milk. Please."
I stood, frozen in front of the grocery store. "Please," she said again. "You American. You have money. I don't want it. I just want milk."
I felt sick, but let her take my hand and lead me into the grocery store. She handed me a huge container of powdered milk. "Only twenty dollars," she said.
I shook my head. "I don't have twenty dollars."
"This one only fifteen."
I didn't have fifteen either.
Finally, she handed me a small container. "Only enough for three days," she said. "eight dollars."
I had eight dollars.
When we got to the counter, the cashier rang up the milk. It was twelve dollars, but I bought it anyway. I handed the can to her and asked her name. "Soukta," she said. The baby's name was Chadrey.
She smiled and posed for a picture that my camera refused to take. Then she was gone. My heart was heavy as I watched her dart across the street. As soon as she was gone, another girl appeared with a baby on her hip, empty baby bottle dangling from her fingers. She walked up to a Western couple and showed them the baby. I couldn't believe it.
When I got home, I told some of the Wellspring girls about it. "Oh Heather," they said. "She hangs out there all the time. She gets tourists to buy her the milk and then returns it to that store to get the money."
Was this a sucker moment on my part? It's possible. But I have to believe that it was better for me to err on the side of caution than to refuse her and wonder later if the baby was starving. Surely that's true.
Surely.
