Back home anytime I’d hear a story of a child being killed or severely abused, my first reaction would always be to ask ‘Why couldn’t that kid have come to me?’. As a fostermom I would have taken care of them and given them the best life that I could. When I went to Moldova a couple years ago and heard how some of the orphanages were so corrupt that the directors were trafficking some of the older girls in order to buy food for the rest of the kids, I automatically thought of home… someone would have to kill me first before they did anything like that to my kids. Since that moment, the overprotective mom in me wanted to protect any and all kids from around the world.
And coming onto the World Race hasn’t been any different…
Because of the large quantity of mangos we had and it being the Khmer New Year, my team and our contacts decided to host a mango party to celebrate. At one point during the party, I noticed that my teammate Angie seemed upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she had just found out that Comsean, the younger sister of one of our new Khmer friends, had basically been sold to relatives a few years ago and that they were coming for her as this upcoming weekend. Our contacts’ friend was extremely suspicous about this situation and fearful that Comsean would in the best case secnario end up as a servant for this family or worse yet, sent to some brothel. It seriously made me sick. Thankfully though, Comsean’s sister and brother-in-law are doing whatever it takes to protect her, so she’s safe… at least for now.
But what about all these other children?!
During these past four months spent in SE Asia, I’ve heard (or read about) several other stories that cut me to the core. Families are so poor that they are tricked into sending their kids off for better care only to have the relative or family friend actually traffick the kids and they are never heard from again. Even worse, some of the families are so desperate that greed overtakes them and they willingly allow it to happen. Then, there are the orphans who become prostitutes (or are tricked into trafficking as well) after leaving care because there’s no one watching out for them and this is the only way they feel like they can survive.
I just don’t understand… How can this happen?!
How can these children be subjected to a life so full of evil and darkness, many by thier own mother and father’s expense?! Aren’t these children’s innocence worth more than just $10 a night?! And haven’t they already been through enough, by having to endure some of the poorest conditions and life experiences before being entered into all this?!
“But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'”
Luke 18:16
