A newbie to Phnom Penh

Today was my first day in Cambodia. Dale and I arrived early in the morning, quickly claimed our luggage and headed out of the airport to meet Sok Lee. We exited the airport into the normal sea of people clutching their name signs. As we searched the crowd for Sok Lee, who of course I had never met and therefore was no help in the search, she popped her smiling face out from inside the crowd and guided us through the crowd to our awaiting tuk tuk. We packed the tuk tuk (an example above) full of our luggage and stuff we brought from Singapore for the Riverkids sites and somehow made space for ourselves as well. Then it was straight to Riverkids’ Alexandra site in one of Phnom Penh’s slums. I had heard of the bright smiles of the Cambodian people and it’s all true. All it took was a slight smile from me and in return I received many mouth-wide-open welcoming smiles.

After we unloaded the tuk tuk and dumped our stuff in the visitors’ room, I was given a tour of the facilities by one of the Riverkids social workers, Mr. Chin Chea. With yet another bright smile, he showed me and a few other visitors the Get Ready room with sewing machines where the girls learn life skills as well as the facility for weekly boarding where children whose families are in crisis are welcomed to a safe place to sleep and spend the week. It was so nice to finally see what I have heard so much about for the last few months.

Dale, Heli, and Sok Lee then took me across the main road to another part of the slum where the kindergarten classroom is located. Crossing the main road was an experience in itself; trying to judge how much time you had to get across between the slow moving tuk tuks and the fast moving trucks is a skill I do not possess. I felt a bit like the frog in the old Atari game, Frogger, trying not to get squashed as I crossed. But I followed my expert navigators and we safely crossed the busy street.

The part of the slum where the kindergarten is located is mostly built on stilts so that when the river in Phnom Penh reverses its flow, as it does twice a year, the houses do not flood with the intruding water. There is a nice walkway made of boards elevated above the water line that as built by an NGO. Looking underneath the boards was not as pleasant however as it is dry now and all the trash brought in by the water is visible under the boards.

Back in the main house, the kids were being entertained by a group of volunteers from Singapore. I later joined them as they took the children from the grade school programs on a tour of the Royal Palace. I was a bit taken aback by the blatant wealth displayed on the grounds of the Palace, especially after just having witnessed extreme poverty in the slums. I wondered if any of children also noticed the contrast between their homes and community and the emerald Buddha or silver tiled flooring. Not that I expect children of such a young age to think in such terms, but it was hard for me to stomach such a contrast even though I know it is manifested all over the world including my own country where urban slums can be found within a mile of the nation’s capitol building. Despite my uncomfortable thoughts, the children seemed to really enjoy the tour, especially the fish swimming around a replica of Angkor Wat. Not sure they even noticed the replica at all. :)

Whether they be small things like crossing a busy street or large health risks like living on top of a trash dump, seeing the reality of the slums in person gives me a better grasp at the challenges faced on a daily basis by the families living in these areas. It was eye-opening to me to see the things that I studied about over the last few years in graduate school. I had learned about the vulnerability of children living in urban slums, how they are trafficked, and the risk factors associated with the practice. But hearing personal stories of children in Riverkids programs during a conversation with Mr. Sophon in the late afternoon and seeing his obvious devotion to all these children as if they were his own makes it all seem more urgent. All in all, I finished the day with a feeling of hope. Maybe it’s just my naivety especially since I know how tough it is to fight and reverse many of the intrinsic risk factors to child trafficking that exist in these communities, but I feel that Riverkids has a real influence in the lives of these children.

So everyone donate now! :)

And here's where you can do that. http://www.riverkidsproject.org

Signing off now from the internet cafe,

Posted by Ellie Klerlein (temp employee of Riverkids)