Dysfunctional Family Trees

On Wednesday I’d arranged with Katie from the New Hope Outreach Program to visit Kim Heng, the mother of the family I sponsor.  I’d selected this family when I was here last year as it comprised two exceptionally beautiful teenage girls whose livelihood I feared for.  Without an education, it was strongly likely that they would be enticed or even stolen and trafficked to Phnom Penh, Thailand or even Malaysia to work in the “karaoke”  (sex) industry.  I’d made my sponsorship conditional on the fact that the girls regularly attend school.

Bon La (15) and Bon Lee (13) lived with their mother and their nephew whose parents were working on the Thai border, sending back as much money as they could to support their family at home.  They were however dependant on my New Hope sponsorship as the money from the border and the salary Kim Heng earned from washing dishes in a restaurant was not enough to feed the small family.

Just as we were leaving New Hope to visit Kim Heng, she entered the front gate.  She was completely surprised to see me – had no idea I was back in Siem Reap and was in fact there to see Kerry or Kemsour for help.  A classic “Crisis Care” moment, first hand. 

I didn’t recognize her at first, she was clearly distressed and had changed so much in the year.  Her clothes were torn and filthy clothes, her once stylish hair unruly.  As we found out minutes later, it was no wonder. 

In a nutshell, her son who’d been working on the Thai / Cambodian border had been shot and killed, his wife had fled and had hooked up with another man, leaving their two children in Kim Heng’s care.  Bon La, the beautiful 15 year-old had left for the border to dig potatoes, and 13 year-old Bon Lee now cuts grass around the village.  Neither goes to school.  Kim Heng is also caring for another two children whose family history no one can quite work out, though I think they’re also orphans – bringing the “family” count to eight.  And, on Tuesday night, the house was robbed and her dog stolen (probably for someone else’s food), the sum of which was the catalyst for the New Hope visit on Wednesday. 

It’s common for Cambodians to travel to Thailand hoping for work or better salaries.  The threat however is huge; being killed by the Thai army, trafficked into prostitution or kidnapped and murdered for your body parts. With one child already killed on the border, Kim Heng must have been beside herself.

Some things in Cambodia take forever to happen but tragedy here is swift and appears in every single direction you turn.  It seems that everyone you come into contact with has at least one tragic story and yet they continue to astound you with their beautiful smiles, really funny sense of humor, and their generosity. 

Katie, Carol, Seth (from New Hope) and I returned to visit Kim Heng yesterday with a mountain of supplies.  We’d visited the markets to stock up on mosquito nets, floor mats, rice, fruit, vegetables, treats for the kids, and all kinds of personal effects (soaps, shampoos, underpants, sarongs etc.).  Carol also gave an entire suitcase of baby and children’s clothes to Kim Heng which had been donated by a friend of hers in Queensland.

They were thrilled with the supplies and put the clothes on immediately.  But we were worried through the night that we’d gone overboard and that the truly evil looking neighbour who was hanging around making phone calls from her mobile would return in the night to steal it.  (Will check on that!). 

I also gave Kim Heng money to get Bon La back from Thailand.  The next job is to find her a job that will support this growing family.   So much for the education – for now …

New Hope is faced with situations like this every single day.  PLEASE if any of you, your friends or work colleagues can spare any cash, New Hope always needs support for its Crisis Care Program which provides emergency and disaster relief for families in tragic situations.