As promised, I wanted to un-wrap Cambodia in a few installments. Cambodia is in several respects the collision of the first and third world… A collision that leaves the country flooded with NGOs while on the cusp of an economic boom… A world where you see Hummer H2s parked beside a poor family begging on the sidewalk… A world ripe for the picking, a world prepared to make any entrepreneur with a half decent idea a nice sum of money. But it is also a place where poverty is blatant and the family unit is a mere shadow of its former self. With the Khmer Rogue killing 1/3 of the overall population, and the vivid memories of neighbor turning on neighbor, the community and family units have in many ways been destroyed. These units have broken down substantially leaving the country searching for its soul.
This situation leaves Cambodian children to wrestle with emotionally absent and often drunk/high parents. The end result is a large group of children from the slum areas with a lack proper guidance. Many such children find themselves collecting garbage or begging instead of going to school. The school system, although state run, requires tuition to attend. Some unfortunate youngsters find themselves sold by parents for as little as $12. Why you may ask would a mother sell her child… well for some it seems to be viewed as a small sacrifice to maintain the rest of the family.
In my time here my teammates working in the community nursing field have ended the day in tears as they reflected on the day’s happenings… They’ve witnessed beatings, one such beating occurred because a 2yr old lost the equivalent of 3 cents another because the child did not want to go beg. They have dealt with the after affects of sexual abuse at the hands of brothers and fathers. I myself have watched parents send their children into the crowds of people eating to beg for money, only to witness them then scream and throw food at the child after they returned with food given to them and not money. Money? Most likely needed to finance the parents drug/gambling habit.
This is the one face of Cambodia, but another exists. One in which my daily Tuk Tuk driver, Pov, miraculously appears from nowhere the minute a teammate of mine injured them self, only too willingly to help. We think he had been secretly following us down the street to ensure we arrived at our destination safely. On another occasion, he let his Tuk Tuk sit… his one prized possession, to check on me when he thought me to be in danger.
I’ve seen strength in young men as I’ve taught them English. One boy, in particular, who, at his young age of 14, understood the gravity of his responsibility. I took the time to speak into this young man’s life. A handsome, athletic young man who could easily be distracted by the trappings of the simple path that would lead to temporary pleasures of popularity and women. This was evident by the way his classmates responded to him. However, his attention fixed on his calling to lead. He visibily understood what I try to get so many young men to understand in the American classroom. “To whom much is given, much is expected.” His response was not to blow it off as so many in my past experiences have done. He surrounded by the reality of his environment, understood the weight that was on his shoulders to lead. He simply needs someone to believe and invest in him… He is not handicapped by some sense of entitlement. Instead, he sees opportunity.
