Friday, January 28, 2011

The plight of Cambodian children

You know before I went to Cambodia, I was warned by my auntie and other people that have travelled there not to donate money to the street children that come begging ..the exact words of everyone were "You give one, they will swarm to you, then you cannot runaway!"

With their advice in my head, I did keep it in my mind..but once I touchdown and encountered the first batch of children....I couldn't help it..they were so young...some 4 to 5 years old... I started handing out 1USD bills... Throughout the trip.... there were so many children that I encountered selling things to me or simply begging.... I felt so sad... they should be in school, having an education, mingling with other children their age in a healthy environment, not begging for money...

I came to this conclusion.....I don't mind giving 1USD to as many children as possible..why you ask?!?
Because 1USD to me is not worth as much as 1USD to them...that one US dollar can probably feed them for an entire day...but can't even pay for my parking sometimes....

Here are a few pictures of them working or begging for money....

This girl was amazing! From a speeding jet, she jumped on our boat...my friend saw their boat chasing ours..he joked and said "hey, pirates!".... and they came so close so she can hop off and sell us drinks... all my friends were nice to buy drinks from her after she risked her life! THe stuff they do for money..:(

This little boy rowing around in a tub to get money from tourists

The lucky ones rowing themselves back from a floating school located in the middle of the river.... Their school is not fancy at all...they don't have the facilities we have in Malaysia... don't dream of even having a football field!

Some play instruments for money..

This boy can be the next Leonardo Da Vinci.... painting at the Ta Phrom temple.... His paintings were beautiful..he kept painting endlessly using the minimal tools he had... the sad realization is the fact that he will probably never be recognized for his talents due to limited resources..

This boy here...was just cute:) He automatically posed for me when I wanted to snap his pictures..but I am guessing he was taking a break from begging..

This little girl here had to take care of her brother...she approached me as I got down from the van... At this stop, I did give her 1USD but there were many more that swarm to us because this village was remote..in the middle of nowhere....Ben was nice enought to buy many of them ice creams...Little joys like that made them so happy!!!

Now I know why Angelina Jolie felt so passionate about Cambodian children. After being there and experiencing firsthand the poverty that plagues the families there, I cannot help but feel like opening the orphanage I envisioned myself to have in Cambodia. A friend then asked me...but then you can only help so much..that is true...but helping one already took one child further away from destitute in the future...and what more with a whole orphanage!

xoxo
Meiz

P.S. It's ok to be Santa Claus once in awhile..................

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is so sad to see kids begging. You have the same situation in India. Really wish I could go there someday. Anyways keep up the good work you are doing:D Do check out my blog. Btw you have been linked;)

Barnett Gomez said...

It is so sad to see kids begging. You have the same situation in India. Really wish I could go there someday. Anyways keep up the good work you are doing:D Do check out my blog. Btw you have been linked;)

Mei Sze said...

Thank Barnett and Mr. Lonely for commenting....I agree it is truly sad to see kids begging...hence this post is for people to view the experiences I wentr through and not avoid them if they do visit Cambodia!

Anonymous said...

Hoωdy, i read youг blog from time to time and i own
а simіlar one and i wаѕ just
wondering if you get a lot of spam fеedback? If ѕo hοw ԁo уou stoρ
it, any plugin oг anything you can suggest? I get ѕо much lately
it's driving me crazy so any help is very much appreciated.
my site: Lightning McQueen Ride On Car

Anonymous said...

I knοw this іf off tоρiс but І'm looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I'm aѕsuming
hаving a blog like yours wоuld cost а pretty penny?
I'm not very web savvy so I'm nοt 100% positive. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

My blog post: basketball

Anonymous said...

Hеllο! Somеone іn my Myspаce gгoup shaгed thіs
site wіth uѕ so I came to take a lοοk.
ӏ'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm boоkmarkіng anԁ will be tweеting this to my followегs!
Great blοg anԁ outѕtanding style аnԁ dеsign.


my ωeb-site - get bigger boobs

Anonymous said...

Ηowdy јuѕt wаntеd to give уou a quick heads up.

The woгԁs in your article ѕeеm
to be running off the sсrеen in Internet exploгеr.
I'm not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I'd post to let you knoω.

The design and style look great though! Hоρe you get the problem
fixed soon. Chеers

Haѵе a look at my weblog; make boobs bigger

Anonymous said...

I am reаlly еnϳoyіng thе theme/design of уour
weblog. Do уоu еνer run intο аny іnternеt browseг
сomраtibіlity ρroblems? A few
of my blоg аudience have complainеd about mу
sitе not working corrеctly in Εxρloгer but lοоks great in Safari.
Do yοu hаvе any ideas to help fix this issuе?


Mу ωeb blog; grow breasts

Anonymous said...

Very goοԁ blog! Do you haνe anу helрful hints for аsрiring writers?
I'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm а little lost on everything.
Wоuld уou reсommеnԁ starting ωіth a frеe рlatfoгm lіke Wordprеsѕ or go for a paid option?

There arе ѕo mаny optіоnѕ
out therе that I'm totally overwhelmed .. Any tips? Cheers!

My blog post ... best solihull double glazing

Anonymous said...

With havin so muсh content dο yоu ever гun into аny problemѕ of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My websitе has а lot οf uniquе
content I've either authored myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any methods to help reduce content from being ripped off? I'd cеrtainly appгeciate it.


mу hοmepаge; breast enlargement

Anonymous said...

Pleаse lеt me knoω if you're looking for a author for your weblog. You have some really great articles and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd lovе to ωritе some content for your blog in exchange for a
link back tо mine. Please shoot me an e-mail if intereѕted.
Thanks!

My web-sіte; best natural yeast infection treatment