I want to tell you a story, a story that I wish I never had to experience, a story I wish I could say was a simple story and not a reality… Even trying to relive the experience enough to write it down bothers me to the core unbelievably, yet its a reality I feel everyone should understand and notice. For its being ignorant to the sad, hard realities that allow them to continue in the dark where the power of the people cannot reach them.
We had finally arrived in Cambodia after spending what seemed like countless hours packed into busses, and airplanes with little to no sleep on multiple airport floors and uncomfortable seats. We landed in the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia where we would be spending 1 night at a hostel in town before we hopped on yet another bus for 4hrs to our final destination of Battambang. We had maybe 8 hours in Siem Reap counting the time we were given to sleep and you would think we would jump right in bed and catch up on some of that wouldn’t you? Well we didn’t, We are World Racers and let’s be honest on the list sleep is something that just isn’t as important as exploring new areas, meeting new people, and experiencing new cultures. So after these long travels we got showered, changed out of our 4 day clothes and hit the town. We were told about this area called “Pub Street” where you could see everything Siem Reap had to offer. We got there and within seconds found ourselves trying new things like street snacks that were actually Snakes, Scorpions, Tarantulas, Worms, and Frogs on a stick. (I know, how could you pass up on that, right?) We were basking in what we like to call “Living like Locals” and they could have probably convinced us to lick the sidewalk if they told us it’s what the locals do. But we soon found out that Cambodia is not all just glamor, having fun, and eating the exotic bugs they caught that morning. We soon saw something that would take our night from fun and adventurous to a sick feeling in our stomach and a heart pain I’m still working through. Something that brings a tear to my eyes just trying to put it into a blog.
As with most major areas, especially in countries like this, we were approached by the people of the street, the people who spend more time in places like “Pub Street” yet don’t have the means to buy new clothing or even a consistent meal, let alone enjoy all the fun things that it has to offer. I’m talking to you about the homeless. And I think we have all been around them at some point in our lives, and I’m sure we all have different opinions on how we treat them, how we approach them, how we respond when they approach us. But something I have never witnessed very much myself was the children of the streets, I have seen them before but they are not usually the ones who ask for money or food, nor is the percentage of homeless basically 90% children under the age of 12.. So you can probably assume it was a lot easier to say yes to them, buy them some food or toss them a couple dollars to provide for themselves. We brought them into a store and a girl on my squad bought them some cans of food so they could have a good meal that night. Then we saw them run off, hide the food and hit the streets again. We thought that’s strange but hey a few cans will go quick so maybe they are just planning ahead.. Then I found myself approached by a little girl no older than 9, I couldn’t say no, she reminded me of my niece and how i would never want to see her in this position. So I pulled out a couple of dollars and told her “this is for you, buy some food, or whatever you need and take care okay? And remember God Loves you” which I thought she would smile, and run off happy as can be. I was wrong, she quickly put it in her pocket turned to the girl next to me and reached out her hand for more. But she’s 9 so I ignored it and moved on because lets be honest I have no idea what its like to be 9 and have nothing not even a family to call mine. I then looked over and saw a teammate of ours sitting on the ground next to an elderly women who had an infant in her arms no older than 3. They were clearly homeless as well, and my teammate with the big loving heart she has sat down with them and just held the baby as she gave the women money and played with this child who was so happy just to be held by her. Little did we know as we were in the middle of all of this we were being approached by at least 10 other children all expecting the same thing. We realized we didn’t have clearly enough means to support all of these children so we decided to just enjoy their company and show them that they are noticed and valued.
This whole time I saw a man, wandering, lurking, and paying very close attention to not only us but the children. For the first hour or so I didn’t pay much mind to it, I assumed he was also homeless and was probably hoping we would give him money too. I have never been so wrong. As the crowd gathered around us he began to get closer, and closer. To the point where as we were caught in the midst of this he was literally circling us watching closely, like a vulture waiting for food in the desert. I took a second to watch him, at the moment a child was given money they would walk over to him, hand him the money and he would point back at a crowd and send them back over.. If he saw a child wandering, or not constantly asking for something he would go over to them, aggressively push or grab them and say something in their ear that brought fear to their face and they would run over to a new crowd and keep asking.. At that moment reality hit me like a punch in the face. These weren’t just simple street kids who were fending for themselves, this man was running a ring of child beggars to provide for himself because he knows its harder for someone to say no to a homeless child, an elderly women, and an infant… He was using them for his gain and they probably never saw anything of what they earned. I don’t know what he said to them, or what he did to them to get them under his control in the first place, and to be honest what I can assume makes me sick to my stomach, brings tears to my eyes and angers me beyond belief… The infant couldn’t even speak yet, let alone understand, yet when our teammate tried to give him back to the women it held on with a grip and a look of fear that provided enough explanation to say 1000 words… And it was at this moment we realized we were only simply feeding the fire. To be honest my first reaction was to approach the man and let anger take over to respond to the way he was treating these innocent children. Luckily a teammate grabbed me, and reminded me that any reaction would probably be passed on 10 fold to the children later that night. We were stuck, and the only thing we could do was hug the children, walk away and pray to God that his hands will intercede in the situation. We couldn’t pay them, we couldn’t feed them, we couldn’t personally stop this man, we felt helpless and we had an incredibly horrible feeling that we were abandoning these kids in their time of need.. There wasn’t a single dry eye as our taxis brought us back to our hostel. And for a moment I wondered how I was going to I make it through this year being surrounded by these things on a day to day basis. But I didn’t come out here to try new foods, to see new countries or to just simply visit local attractions and get really cool photos. I came out here to impact the people, to show love to those who feel unloved, to be a beacon of light to those around us who are lonely and lost, and to simply share the love of God I was graciously given and have faith that in doing so people will live better lives.
It’s now been 3 days since I had to experience this. I’m still sad, heart broken, sick to my stomach, and figuring out how to not absolutely hate the people like this man. I was not sent to hate though, I was sent to love. I’ve been praying and asking God to allow me to love this man, not because of his actions but because he is lost. It’s not our responsibility to judge or attack the men like this, we are to be an example of the right way to live. And in doing so we must have faith that our actions will plant a seed in someone’s heart to live the same way. I don’t know what brought this man to live this way, maybe he was raised the same way he is raising these kids and doesn’t understand the seriously wrong actions he’s living in. So at the end of the day I will never forget those children, I still remember each of their faces when I close my eyes, and I will be praying for the ones in their situations constantly while I figure out how I can take actions to solving the issues like this. But I will also be praying for the men like this, the ones who create the structure for something like this to happen. That one day his heart will change and the barriers of his mind will release him to end this. That he will understand the wrong he is doing and put an end to it and be an inspiration to those around him to do the same. And I write this to you to paint a picture of what’s going on around us. To take off our blinders to the sad, hard reality of what others go through on a day to day basis. If you were blessed to have never had to go through something like this then appreciate that. Because unfortunately not everyone can say the same. I hope this story stirred something inside of you as it did me. It’s important to share these stories and spread the word so the ones doing this can no longer live in the shadows of reality. Let’s be a world that brings them to the light, and create a beacon for them to run towards when they come out of the darkness.
