Thoughts on Cambodia

I've been struggling with writing about Cambodia, as I have such mixed feelings about the country. So much to love - but also so much sadness.  Brian and I decided that we think Cambodia is still a generation away from getting back on its feet in a meaningful way.  The people in Cambodia have been through so much so recently (Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were in power when we were children!), and pretty much everyone we talked to had family members brutally killed during this horrific period.  The poverty is stunning, and definitely deeper than any country we have visited thus far. Child labor is omnipresent, and barefoot children begging for money, selling trinkets, and just sitting with their parents while they try to eke out a living is many kids' reality.

However, the Cambodians are clearly a resilient people, determined to improve their lot in life, even while living under an admittedly corrupt government, and in a country where the average wage isn't much more than $1/day (less so in the bigger cities, but still…).   From the hotel employees to the tuk-tuk drivers to the guides at the sites, we consistently found ourselves impressed with both the integrity and the industriousness of the Cambodian people we met.  There is still a huge gap in "meaningful" employment - just because someone is willing to buy a tuk-tuk and work 12-15 hours a day, they are not guaranteed to make any money as it seems to be a very "everyone-for-himself" economy.

We were constantly balancing our desire to do our (very small) part for the economy with the fear of falling for scams that weren't actually as helpful as they appear.  A perfect example of this is the milk scam, which we read about prior to being approached.  Since tourists have become weary of just handing out money to children (who really shouldn't be out there begging!), the parents have become much more cunning. Rather than ask for money, a small child or parent with an infant will ask for milk instead, because it seems like a much more concrete, helpful way of providing for the children.  However, as soon as you buy the milk and leave, the parent then returns the money to the store for a portion of the proceeds, and the scam repeats itself.  This way, the store owner and the parent make money off the deal - but the kids aren't actually being given the milk.  Ugh.  I was approached by a little boy asking for milk as we walked home one night. When I refused politely, he kicked me in the shins.  I still felt sad for him, though.

We had a lot of discussions with the kids about why child labor was bad - but also with the caveat that their isn't an easy answer to the problem - these families don't have the same options that most families in America have.   Similar to most tourists, we usually wouldn't buy from children, with the hope that if they weren't making any money, their parents might send them to school instead of keeping them home to work. Maggie especially was fascinated with the idea that these children should be in school, not selling trinkets or begging for change, and was clearly concerned that I would be upset. Each time we saw a child working, she'd whisper to me, "maybe they just don't have school today, so they are just helping out."  The reality is, sadly, that many of these children will never be sent to school because the costs of actually getting to school (and paying corrupt teachers - a whole separate problem!) are prohibitive, and if a parent has to choose between feeding her family or sending a kid to school, she will choose the former.  Without significant governmental change and NGO assistance, I can't really foresee how the cycle of poverty will end soon here.

There were, however, NGOs everywhere we looked - most set up as businesses that are running to train the next generation of workers to make a reasonable wage. Our two favorite that we came across ran an amazing circus and art school for underprivileged kids, and one that ran a very well-backed restaurant in Battambang that could rival most restaurants in San Francisco.

Another eye-opening experience - the Land Mine Museum, started by an ex-child soldier who was forced into the Khmer Rouge and later escaped to the Vietnamese Army, named Akira.  An American ex-military man who moved to Siem Reap a few years ago to run the museum guided us along, explaining the movement to find and detonate the remaining land mines that were planted all over the countryside, while inspiring the kids repeatedly to "not just sit back, but use all the privileges you have to do something in this world."  Somber morning spent there, but incredibly informational. They had one section of the museum devoted to other examples of genocide (Holocaust, Rwanda) and highlighted those who stepped forward to help the victims.

We are looking forward to returning to Cambodia someday, and hope that we find a place with a little less sadness, and a little more infrastructure to help the Cambodian people.