Walking through the market yesterday, I was approached by some street children asking me for money. There were four of them, one girl and three boys. The two older boys were both shirtless, the youngest boy was dressed up as a girl, and none of the kids had shoes. Their clothes were dirty and had holes in them. Their hair was matted and there was dirt smudged on their faces. They pulled at my purse, then at my pants. We’ve been told in every country we go to that we shouldn’t give money to beggars, so I shook my head no and watched them run away.
I passed them again as I left the market and saw them digging through some trash. One boy found something that looked like a walnut and started eating it.
My heart just broke.
A few hours later, Courtney and I walked by them to buy sodas. We had just popped open the lid and started drinking our sodas when the four street kids ran towards us. They tugged at my pants leg and pointed at my soda. As I handed my half-empty can to the little girl, she started chugging it. The boys ran up to her and tried to take it away. The little boy that was dressed up as a girl came and wrapped his body around my leg and looked up at me with big, sad eyes. They high fived us and we threw them in the air and spun them around.
These beautiful children just want to be loved and held.
After church today, Courtney and I were determined to find our precious street kids again. As we pulled up to the hotel on the back of a pickup truck, we saw them running. We quickly bought some bottles of water and followed them. We soon found their “home,” a mat under the shade of a tree. We gave some bottles to the ladies sitting on the mat, and then distributed the rest among the children. We prayed with them, and Courtney told them God bless you in Cambodian. We then were about to leave when I saw a baby in a hammock. We tried to ask the ladies about him and all we could gather was that he was abandoned.
It was amazing to me to see how these women who have absolutely nothing have more humanity than their rich neighbors who actually live in a house. They found this tiny baby two days ago and somehow have formula for it.
It is so hard to look into the face of poverty, and just see them begging for kindness. To put a face on hunger is heart wrenching. It makes me want to cry out to the world and question why these things are allowed to happen. Why do two women and five children have to live on the street? I pray that they are loved and taken care of. Life is just so difficult, and it’s screaming out. Do you hear them, begging for humanity?
