Here in Prek Toal, Cambodia or as we call it, the floating village, kids are expected to pull their own weight at a very young age. As my team became more aware of the work that is expected of them, our hearts broke a little. My initial thought was, “these poor kids are expected to grow up too fast.”
I thought back to my own childhood of playing with the neighbor kids, knowing that dinner would be on the table when I returned home. There was little to no expectation that I would be helping to prepare or provide the food. If something broke, I would not be the one to fix it. If my parents went out, I was too young to be home alone. The expectation of my childhood was that I would go to school and do my homework (which at that time, felt like way too much. School was not my favorite subject).
In the floating village, their childhood looks much different. The main source of income comes from fishing. During the dry season (December-April) , kids have a bit more freedom to go to school and play. I say a ‘bit’ because they (some as young as 6) are still helping to watch and care for their baby brothers and sisters and help with chores (laundry, meals, etc.).
During the wet season (May-November), the boys (as young as 7) help with the fishing. Often times, they are so busy helping with the catching, cleaning and preparing that they don’t go to school. The men take the nets out all day and leave them in the water overnight. Because of the high risk of theft overnight (robbers come and take the nets out, stealing that families source of income for up to a month) the young boys are expected to sleep near the boats overnight to keep watch over the nets. This is a risky job. They are charged with the responsibility of keeping the family income safe and warding off any dangers that might present themselves. They do not know any different life.
(I can picture a few heated conversations about protecting the children on Facebook if any parent made their child do this in America. Now just pause before casting opinions or judgement on these Cambodian parents.)
They are great parents. They care for their families as best they can. They work their butts off to provide basic needs and as much comfort as they can for their children. In their culture, it is expected that children pitch in with chores. So, some of those chores include risking their safety to ensure their family pulls in an income. Is it wrong if the children are okay with it? Is it wrong for children to grow up with little to no chores? How much expectation should be put on children to help keep the household in any culture?
These are not questions I am qualified to answer. They are not questions any of us is qualified to answer. They are simply questions that arise as I encounter new cultures and learn new ways to do things. Neither is right or wrong.
Different is something we learn to embrace out on the field. When it is a matter regarding children, it rattles you a little harder than experiencing something like, a new food. My final thought after processing what their lives look like is now, “Wow! These children have a resilience and understanding of responsibility that I will never have. They are some of the most incredible, intelligent, hardworking children that I have ever had the honor to know.”
