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Are you doing more harm than good?
With your generosity of giving money to begging children
I have been thinking about writing an article about the children of Cambodia that beg on the streets for a long time. Anyone that knows me, knows that the street children in Sihanoukville had a huge impact on me.
So, when I saw that my friend had made another video for M’Lop Tapang it spurred me into writing.
I no longer live in the once very beautiful Sihanoukville. This was due to the huge change that happened there about 7 years ago. I now live in a smaller town called Kampot.
Sadly, I am seeing the same situation that happened over 15 years ago in Sihanoukville happen here in Kampot. The street children beg and sometimes they are even glue-sniffing.
Sihanoukville
Over the last 15 years, I have watched many sad and beautiful things happen in this amazing and sometimes very different country.
When I was living in Sihanoukville I could end up sitting on the streets at 2 am with many of the street children. Only so that I could keep them safe.
I would be calling Child Safe at times like 2 am in the morning to come and help the children. As I knew the huge impact Childsafe can have on helping families.
Childsafe works with an amazing NGO called M’Lop Tapang.
M’Lop Tapang work with over 5,000 children, youth and families in the Sihanoukville area, providing disadvantaged children and families access to the learning tools, specialized services, resources, and opportunities they need to build a better future.
How did they start the NGO M’Lop Tapang
Well, one day some friends were walking down to the beach in Sihanoukville. They spotted six young children sleeping under a Tapang tree. on the beach every night, and they knew they were extremely vulnerable to exploitation.
This broke their hearts and needless to say from that moment on they knew they needed to help the street children of Cambodia.
So in 2003 M’Lop Tapang (MT) was created by a small group of foreigners and locals. It began as a simple initiative to feed and offer safety to six children who slept under a large Tapang tree but it quickly blossomed into a much wider program.
One of the original people that started the amazing NGO even got an MBE from the queen of England. As our beloved queen recognised the amazing work this organization does.
Please watch my friend's video
So why is it not good to give to begging children?
Many of the children are working unwillingly. Usually for a parent, aunt or grandma. These adults may have a drug, alcohol or gambling problem.
The adults will send their children to the streets to beg or sell goods to support the adult’s addictions. If the child comes home with not the correct amount of money the child could be abused.
Many years ago in Sihanoukville a young boy would come and sit with me outside my shop. He would sometimes just sit with me and not say a word. We would just sit and stare at the world. The reason he came and sat with me was because he felt safe.
I had to go and get some stock. So, I touched him lightly on his back and said I will be back. As I did that he winced.
I asked him what was wrong and he tried to lift his shirt to show me. But he struggled to lift it due to the pain.
I asked him if I could lift his shirt for him and he nodded.
I was shocked there were big red bloody welts all over his back. They were fresh as no bruising had started. I held back my tears and asked him what had happened.
He had come home from the beach at 3 am and given his mum the money he had earned begging. She was angry as it was only $30.00. So, she grabbed the electrical wire laying on the floor next to him. His dad held him down while his mum whipped him all over his back continuously for about 10 minutes.
The pain this child was suffering was unbearable. But you would never know until you looked deep into his sunken down eyes.
I called child safe ASAP. My stock could wait. They came straight away and sat and talked to the child. Then took him to get medical help.
Tourism
Many travellers who come to Cambodia are overwhelmed by the poverty. Most travellers want to travel to the islands or around Cambodia.
Many people have never seen children beg on the streets for money. Let alone see them wandering around at 1 or 3 a.m. in the morning selling flowers.
I understand how heartbreaking this can be to see and how it leaves you feeling. I felt the same when I first visited Cambodia in 1987
When you see skinny children covered in dirt and wearing what looks like rags it breaks your heart. Let alone the animals. Especially if you have a lot of empathy.
Your instant reaction is let’s help them. Let’s give them some food, let’s give them some money. So, then they can buy new clothes or go to school.
But sadly, that is usually not the case. The children do not get the money. The children do not go to school and the children are the ones that suffer.
Is tourism a blessing or damaging?
Tourism can be a huge blessing especially when I look back at the development of families over the last 15 years.
Many hotels, guesthouses and restaurants are owned by foreign investors. Over the years they have helped to support and change many Cambodian lives.
Sadly, not enough of these hotels, guesthouses and restaurants employ the local Khmer people to make a huge impact. Many only employ foreigners or work the places themselves. Which can have a detrimental effect on the Khmers.
As you are not allowing the local people to have jobs. Thus you are not teaching the Khmers the skills we have been lucky enough to learn.
If a foreigner does employ a local Khmer the salary in these hotels and guesthouses can be relatively low. A worker could earn $100.00 a month for a 6-week day.
This amount of money is not enough to sustain a family. Many families can not even afford to send their children to school.
So many families will send their children out to work or beg. Thus they become on a downward roller coaster, sometimes turning to drugs, alcohol or gambling.
Many of us have come from a developed country and were lucky enough to escape from the poverty that once existed.
As a tourist what can you do?
1 - Please be a responsible tourist
There are many ways you can help to be a responsible tourist.
- If you see a child in danger contact the confidential 24hr ChildSafe Hotline.
012 478 100/016 478 100
- When you are hungry, dine in the amazing training restaurants around Cambodia. TREE is a global alliance of training restaurants. They offer its partners in the NGO world access to established high-quality standards. They practice in the field of social enterprise and extensive support in implementing those.
- If you are in the Sihanoukville area, dine at Sandan, M’Lop Tapang’s training restaurant for vulnerable youth.
- If you are in Siem reap Dine at Marum. All their dishes are designed to be shared. So grab a friend and savour a little bit of everything!
Souvenirs
- Buy souvenirs from shops like Tapangs at Sandan. A Restaurant in Sihanoukville. Many of the products sold are made by parents/caregivers in M’Lop Tapang’s Home-Based Production Program. The sales of these products help their families develop a steady, safe source of income generation.
- When you visit the amazing Friends restaurant pop next door into Friends ‘n’ Stuff. Which sells a range of products made by families that Mith Samlanh work with. There is another branch at Romdeng Restaurant.
- If you know of a youth or parent that could benefit from skills training or assistance in finding employment, please email M’Lop Tapangs ‘Futures’ office or call 016 215 581. You may just be able to help get a child off the street.
Do not donate to or visit an orphanage
Orphanages are often not what you think they are.
Research by UNICEF says that up to 75% of children kept in orphanages in Cambodia and Nepal are not even orphans. Orphanage volunteers usually don’t speak the local language, have no formal training, and stay for a very short time. All of which can be disruptive for children.
Always donate to a reputable NGO. How would you know? Ask at one of the many NGO places I have mentioned. They are happy to share the donations. Good NGOs work together.
Make sure if you do want to buy something from the street. Buy products from an adult who is actually trying to earn a living for themselves or their family.
Takeaway
Here are some great books to read
About Cambodia
If you would like to know more about Cambodia and its history, please read these books.
The first book is by a Cambodian author. Chenda Keo. He discovered that human trafficking was a serious social problem that needed to be urgently and effectively addressed. He began his work by interviewing 17 trafficked children. Surprisingly he found that none of these children considered themselves trafficking victims.
The second book was written by my lovely friend Kate. Who sadly recently passed, due to an illness.
- A book about human trafficking: Human Trafficking in Cambodia by Chenda Keo
- A book about Cambodia: Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
- A book about the history of Cambodia: A History of Cambodia by David Chandler
- A book from a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist: Cambodia’s Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land by Joel Brinkley
- A book about a younger trained as a soldier for the Khmer Rouge: First They Killed My Father
- A book about being in S-21, the prison during the Khmer Rouge: A Cambodian Prison Portrait by Vann Nath
- A book about the leader of the Khmer Rouge: Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare by Philip Short
- A book about a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust: Survival in the Killing Fields Haing Ngor
- A book about two sisters reuniting after the Khmer Rouge: Lucky Child by Loung Ung
- A book about surviving under the Khmer Rouge: When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him
