Sweet and Sour Cambodia

Welcome to Cambodia.  We've been here almost a week.  It is the most devastating and uplifting place we have been.  The people are wonderful, their situation has been horrible (wars, killing fields, unstable political systems, minimal economic opportunity, you name it).  Land mine amputees, their spirits seemingly unbreakable, roam the streets selling books, playing music, anything to get tourist dollars.  Most are smiling.  Children relentlessly offer trinkets (bracelets, postcards, etc.) all through Siem Riep and Angkor Wat for unreasonably low prices, just so their families can get by.  They all have the same script, as if there is a souvenir hawking training school, and they can be incredibly annoying.  But at the same time, it is possible to cut through the saleman to find the kid who just wants to play soccer.  He wants a Coca-Cola, but appreciates a pineapple juice.

We've been hardened by the tricks.  On our first night a young boy carrying a baby with a bottle came to us asking for milk.  We couldn't say no, they looked destitute.  After buying the expensive formula, we didn't feel quite right.  In fact, our gut was right, they return the milk as soon as the tourist leaves to get money.  We've had two natural reactions: a bad one, for being duped; and a compassionate one, those kids should not be in the position to need to run these schemes.  They say not to support begging kids, as it feeds the cycle of poverty, and we are now believers.  Instead, there are some great organizations who are working to educate these kids, and give them opportunities beyond begging (which we have heard can be quite profitable).

One we've found is the Cambodian Orphan Fund, where you can sponsor orphans to go to school and give them an opportunity to safefly get off the street into a warm and caring environment.  The other is the Cambodian Land Mine Museum, whose founder has removed thousands of land mines from the country, with between 3 and 6 million more to go.  His organization facilitates land mine removal, has set up countless schools for amputees and disadvantaged youth. Without organizations like these, we can expect to continue to see children and amputees roaming the streets peddling trinkets.  Amazingly, we can also expect to see warm Cambodian smiles, as the resiliency of these people is truly unbreakable.

P.S.  Ankgor Wat is stunning and overwhelming.