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Children’s Issues in Cambodia
January 20th, 2009
Well it sure is going to be hard to write down everything we have done so far since January 5th. We have stayed at different places, two guesthouses and one school. We visited Wat Phnom, the Courts of Cambodia, the Killing Fields, the Grady Grossman School, Angkor Wat, many orphanages, and so many others. All of the tourism of the country was amazing, but I have to admit seeing the kids faces at the orphanage when we play with them is my all-time favorite. Lately we have been painting at a poorer orphanage in Siem Reap, it is very sad because there is another orphanage right in front that has everything that you can think of. The orphanage we are working at, now called The Happy Family, doesn’t even have a refrigerator or games and toys that are not broken. Despite all of the things The Happy Family is missing, you wouldn’t be able to tell from the kids. They are always happy and so nice to each other; I haven’t even seen any arguing yet! There is one boy, Veda, age 6, that I have totally fell in love with. Veda and I play with the volleyball, and flying feather object- which is the favorite and something that we donated. After the two of us were exhausted we sat on the swing together until I had to leave for lunch. When we arrived back to paint a second coat of paint, Veda shook my hand, put on his shoes, and said bye. He only speaks a little English because he is not sponsored to attend an English class. I couldn’t tell were he was going but I was sure was very sad when he left. Two other students and I went to the market to buy some little toy cars for the kids, when we arrived all of the younger kids were standing in a line, including Veda. They were told from Yen, our friend and tour guide, that we left to get them all toys. The smiles and laughter was amazing to me, that from only a toy car they were so happy. After all of the racing of the toy cars, Veda told Yen that he only loves me, in Khmer. I almost cried because it was absolutely adorable!!!! It was starting to get dark so I said bye to all of the children and Veda ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. The next day I was not feeling too well, along with about 5 other students, so I had to stay at the guesthouse, while the non-sick students painted the moral. Yen and Nancy said that Veda was running around looking for me, and he asked where I was. Yen told him I was sick back at the guesthouse, he wanted to come and see me. The caregiver said that the children are not allowed to leave the orphanage, so I didn’t get to see Veda that day. Today I am feeling so much better, and I will be able to go to the orphanage, finish up the moral, and see little Veda. I am loving every minute of this trip, and can’t wait to share all of my other stories!
-Jessica Wright
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January 20th, 2009
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January 17th, 2009
Hello readers,
Today was a amazing day in Siem Reap, we started the day after all sleeping in a little for the first time in a while and had bikes awaiting us outside our hotel. we all then headed to the temples which were about 3 miles from our hotel, and were finally able to visit the legendary Angkor Wat. The sights were absolutely amazing, Angkor Wat is so big, and so intricate, it was like nothing i had ever seen. Not only were the walls and structures massive in size, but the walls were covered in detailed scripts of ancient Cambodia. After we visited Angkor Wat, we rode around our bikes some more and saw some of the other temples we had been seeing the days before. it was nice to be outside all day, and get some exercise, while in such a cool place. We then went back to the hotel and all gathered for dinner at a local Khmer restaurant which was good and cheap, tomorrow we start our service at a orphanage near by, where we will be painting, building cabnits, and providing them with the bear essentials. Cambodia is an amazing country, the people are very generous and love to see us enjoying ourselves so much, i look forward to the rest our trip!
Eliot Jones
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January 16th, 2009
Hello! It is difficult for us to keep up on this blog because we stay so busy all the time and everyone is worn out at night. Not to mention that most of the keyboards we are finding in the internet cafes act as though they have had gallons of Coke spilled into them. You never know what key will press!
We have been in Siem Reap for 3 days now. We came here from working at a rural village school near to the Cardoman Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. At the school, the students were absolutely incredible in playing with and engaging the children. Hisa had brought 6 tennis racquets, 18 balls and a small tennis net to donate to the school and he gave them lessons while we were there. Some of the students played jumprope with the kids, teaching them American children’s jump rope verses. Everybody worked on the murals in the library. We had been asked to do that so that the children would have an engaging place to go to read. It looked wonderful. The library has about 10 books, so hopefully the school will get more donations. Otherwise, the murals had better not engage too many kids at once! You can learn about the school at www.gradygrossmanschool.org. Our friend and guide, Yoen Soek, is the Cambodian representative for this school which was built by an American adoptive family. There is a program in Cambodia which allows donors to pay half of the construction costs for a school while the World Bank picks up the other half. Unlike many donor schools, however, where the donor builds and then walks away, the Grady Grossman school receives continuing support and direction from the Grady-Grossman family. It was very interesting to see how Yoen engages community support for the school in an area where poverty makes it extremely compelling for families to keep their children at home to work in the fields.
We’ve done tourism in Siem Reap for the past couple of days, in the marvelous temples of Angkor. I’ll let the students write about them. Today we are renting bicycles to go out there on our own power!
Tomorrow we will begin our service efforts here in Siem Reap. We’ll keep you posted.
Nancy Janus
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January 16th, 2009
My trip to Cambodia has been very eye opening. I have learned how sheltered I am living in America. We started the trip in Phnom Penh. That is the capital. The city is very hectic, but it was nice staying in the hotel. Our tour guides name is Yen. He is very friendly, and a very sweet man. He has been taking us around. We visited the prison camp where the Khemer Rouge tortured many Cambodians during the genocide. After we went to the Killing Fields where they killed 300 people a day. It was very sad. We stayed in Phnom Penh for a week. We visited many NGO’s. One day we went to an orphanage and we were able to play with the children. They were so cute and friendly. I wanted to take this little boy home with me. After we went to the a place that takes care of children rescued from the red light district. They were all girls, but the only boy wasn’t there because his father had died. It was so sad. They were all shockingly happy, and very friendly to us. After our stay in Phnom Penh we went to Grady Grossman. It’s a school in a village. We got to play with the children and we painted them a mural. Now we are in Siem Reap, visiting the ruins and temples at Angkor Wat. It has been a great trip and I have been having a really good time. I’m thankful I had the oppertunity to visit Cambodia. It definitely makes me appreciate my lifestyle more. There are just so many people that need help.
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January 13th, 2009
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January 11th, 2009
Tonight is our last night in the city before heading west toward Siem Reap. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed the trip. This city is very comfortable and approachable to the average tourist. All of the residents are curious about our travel plans and greet us with welcoming smiles everyday. Traveling by tuk-tuk, we have begun to understand some of the social issues that occurred since the liberation. I found it strange to hear kids begging in the streets for the opportunity to recieve an education. The lack of fair living wages has caused a domino effect that makes life in Cambodia more arduous. Some families are unable to take care of all their children and resort to sending them into the streets to beg or selling them into the sex trade. We visited The Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights which houses young girls who have been rescued from a life of sexual abuse. Even though the girls have suffered greatly, they were delighted to see us and seemed content. I was confused at the girls’ disposition because I have never experienced anything that could compare. The most astounding part of the trip so far was when we witnessed the devastating living circumstances for families living in the dump. All of the trash from the city was brought to this place so that the people could live among the decaying waste and sort the recyclable material. The heap was partially on fire everyday, releasing horrific chemicals into the surrounding air. Hordes of people dodged around the trucks that hastily dumped trash. They had to be close to the newest garbage so that they could grab the cans, metal, and food before all the others. Our friend, Yen, told us that some people live on the piles of garbage so that they could guard their spoils from theft overnight. I saw some children and babies sifting throught the filth with their parents. Thankfully, NGOs are developing programs to give the children and their families some hope. A french organization called The Smile of a Child has taken over 6,000 children from babies to adolescents from the dump everyday to educate them and train them in a skill (like weaving or tourist services). Without these programs, these children would not have a chance to live up to their potential. I hope that people realize how fortunate we are to live in a country that is relatively free from conflict that can guarentee a safe life and an education. I hope that the next generation of Cambodians will be able to repair some of the social damage done by the Khmer Rouge. - Andrea Wilkins
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January 10th, 2009
It has been a whirlwind of activity for me and the students and they have virtually not had time to post to the blog yet! Again, I will just try to update what we have done, and let them write their impressions of it all. On day 3 we began at the Cambodian Children’s Fund for a short presentation. This is an organization begun 4 years ago by an American man to provide shelter, and education and a future for the very poor children living in the Steng Mancheay dump site in Phnom Penh. As in many poor countries throughout the world, whole families spend their days and nights picking the dump in hopes of finding material which may be recyclable or otherwise saleable. A successful family may earn $1 per day doing this here in Cambodia.
The same day, we visited a second, enormous program for children from the dump called Smile of the Child. This organization was begun 12 years ago by a French NGO, and now provides schooling and vocational training for nearly 6000 children! They have a hospitality program which includes an elegant restaurant where the cooking and serving are done by students. We had lunch there and then had a long tour of the large facility. As always, the young Cambodians were delighted to see the Eckerd students and to try their English out.
We also visited the Transpersonal Psychological Organization and heard a presentation by the chief psychiatrist. There are now 26 psychiatrists in all Cambodia, most poorly trained, and the estimates of the population suffering from post traumatic stress disorder are around 60%. We learned about efforts to provide help to those in need. Unfortunately there are few psychological services offered for children in Cambodia.
Yesterday, our fourth day here, we focused solely on children and spent the morning at the Asia Orphans Association orphanage outside of Phnom Penh. By now we have spent hours riding around in our 4 tuk tuks and absorbed a lot of road dust and dirt! This orphanage was a shock to me because I have not been back there for 5 years and it has deteriorated a great deal. The U.S. government shut off adoptions with Cambodia in December of 2001 and it has never reopened. AOA used to place a lot of children with U.S. families and consequently had a strong donor pool. Since my last visit the population has dropped from 140 children to merely 18, and several buildings have been closed. The remaining children had a wonderful time playing with the Eckerd students, making the visit well worthwhile.
In the afternoon we went to the Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights. Cambodia has a serious problem with the human trafficking of children into prostitution, and this center serves children under 18 who have been rescued from the brothels. There were 17 girls in residence between 10 and 18, and one boy. These girls were so warm and inviting, and really loved the visit of the Eckerd students. Some students bought woven sarongs that the girls had made. CCPCR has some vocational training for the girls, including weaving, sewing and computers. The house mother told us that once a girl has some skill she can be returned to her village and not risk being sold again to human traffickers so that her family or kidnappers can make money.
Today we will be visiting the Royal Palace of Cambodia and the National Museum and then we are invited to our friend and guide, Yoen Soek’s home. Yoen has been indispensible for us, leading us to all the places we wanted to visit and more, and translating for us as necessary. He knows all the good and inexpensive restaurants and we have eaten lots of fresh and inexpensive food.
I will stop now and hope that the students will sign on with their own pictures and stories. Thanks for reading!
Nancy Janus
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January 8th, 2009
We made it to Cambodia right on time, after the bumpiest flight imaginable. The Pacific Ocean sure must pick up some unbelievable wind currents. It didn’t matter to most of us, though, as after the previous 15 hour flight we were all ready for sleep! We were met by Nancy’s friend Yoen Soek and a bus driver and went to our very pleasant French colonial style guesthouse right on the riverfront in Phnom Penh. We have only been here for 2 full days now, but those days have been so full that it feels like much longer. Since I, the professor, am writing, I will only state what we have done, and let the students fill in the blanks with their experiences of it all.
Day 1: We traveled by tuk tuk to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum to see all that we had read about in First They Killed My Father and The Gate. We saw a film about the genocide, explored a photo exhibit and then visited the cells in which the prisoners had been held before being cruelly executed and thrown into mass graves.
Next we went to the Russian Market (Russian only in name) for lunch at a food stand where the food is fresh, authentic, and costs about $1 for a full meal. After lunch we traveled a long way in our tuk tuks to the Choeng Ek Killing Fields to actually see those mass graves and the memorial to the nearly 2 million dead. The memorial is a tall tower with a glass enclosure filled with skulls of the victims. To lighten things up, we followed the visit with some coconut drinks right from the coconut…a first for many of the students.
Our course is about children, so we stopped at a facility for Cambodian children orphaned by AIDS. These children perform traditional dances with great talent, and ultimately gave the Eckerd students a chance to come up on stage and learn for themselves. It was great fun for everyone as you can see in the photo.
We were then invited to a home set up to support bright but impoverished village students so that they could attend school in Phnom Penh. The house and small farm is run by a generous Cambodian man and his wife and holds a total of 48 students. We were invited to have dinner with them and did…a huge one at that, with lots of rice, fresh fish, green mango salad and something sweet and slurpy for dessert that was too slimy for most of us to finish!
Between the jet lag, the huge dinner and the very full day, we all went back to the hotel and crashed early in anticipation of another busy day today.
Day 2: We were up and into our tuk tuks early this morning with a 9am appointment at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Cambodian Court. This is where the perpetrators of the genocide are to be tried. There is a lot to say about why it has taken 30 years to have this trial, but as of now there are 5 Khmer Rouge leaders in detention and the first actual trial is set to begin in March. The men are old, and everyone hopes that they will live long enough to be tried. It would be extremely cathartic for the Cambodian people to see these trials happen. It was an honor for us to be given the two hour tour and presentation by the Press Secretary, Reach Sambath. I have to say that for me the most extraordinary moment of the visit occurred when my friend, Yoen, began talking passionately about his own agony during the Pol Pot period. He had lost his older sister and spent years after Cambodia was liberated trying to find her. Mr. Sambath replied sympathetically to Yoen and shared that he had lost both parents and 4 brothers as well. This made it all so real for me and the students.
We had lunch at the Royal University of PhnomPenh in their outdoor restaurant and then visited the Central Market. This was an opportunity for shopping, and for some of the students, to try some Cambodian delicacies…fried insects!
We continued on our journey to Wat Phnom, the first temple built in Phnom Penh. It is built on a hill surrounded by a park peopled by relaxing Cambodians, lots of beggars, and to everyone’s delight, an elephant! The students bought bananas to feel to the elephant, but nobody rode him. They say they may ride in Siem Reap when we get there.
Lastly, we went by boat to an island in the Mekong River where we visited a village and the students played and photographed numerous children of fishermen and women living on the banks. I am so pleased by how well these students interact with children. They are spontaneous and obviously delighted to be with the Cambodian children, and the feeling is immediately reciprocated. I can imagine how great it will be when we get to the orphanages in Siem Reap where we will be doing service.
So, everything is going great so far and I hope to turn this blog over to the students to keep you up to date and fill in the blanks of my post here. We are so incredibly lucky to be here!
Nancy Janus
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