Cambodia

"That's their home", our tour guide said nonchalantly as we passed by a wooden boat about the length of only two fishing boats with a makeshift tent covering it. "The family lives in there."

My family of three was blessed with the most amazing opportunity to travel to Cambodia, which is filled with wonders of Angkor Wat and other 1,000 year old temples. This amazing place takes you back in time and boggles your mind of not only the monstracity of these structures, but also the era in which they were built.

However, there is something else that would make any Westerner stop and think: the people. War devistated this country in the 1970's and many are still struggling to recover even today. Our tour guide, Thy, called it a civil war, but I would call it more accurately a genocide. Without going into a big history lesson, the Khmer Rouge took power of Cambodia and set on a killing spree that left about 2 million people dead, many of them children. Our tour guide told us that "you don't really meet any Cambodians who were born between 1975-1979. The babies just didn't survive."
As part of our tour one day, we were able to go to the largest lake in southeast Asia, which truly was beautiful to see. In going there, we also were able to visit a local fishing village and witness how the people use this great lake for their livelihood. Suddenly, the lake was not so striking; the poverty of these people were what grabbed my attention. Before us was a whole village with no running water and the only electricity came from car batteries. Children didn't have shoes; houses didn't have doors. My son had new clothes on and tennis shoes to protect his feet. I know with almost certainty that NJ received more gifts last Christmas than these children will receive their entire childhood. My son lives like royalty in comparison. We passed by a fishing boat with only two boys under the age of ten in it. Our tour guide said "They are going to work (to help feed their family)". Work. Before the age of ten.

This sent my mind reeling:
Why was that not me? Why am I so blessed that I have everything I need? What did I do to deserve it? I realized that in the end, I truly have done nothing to get what I have. Oh, sure, I like to think that I have taken hold of every opportunity that has come my way. Yes, I have worked for the life I have. But, don't these people work too? Don't they struggle more than I do or probably ever will? Is it just because I won the 'birth lottery' that I am blessed with so much? The conclusion I kept coming to in my head was that I was able to have what I have because others before me made positive decisions that allowed me to make good decisions for myself. When you realize that you did not choose where you were born or under what circumstances, it makes your heart open up a little more to those who also didn't choose where they were born or under what circumstances.

While visiting some of the temples, we also were met with groups of children trying to sell us trinkets. Our tour guide explained that many impoverished families feel like they have no choice but to send their children out to sell goods because they know they will make more money than an adult. This means that these children have to sacrifice going to school in order to help make sure their siblings have food to eat tomorrow. Thy himself grew up in a village like the one mentioned above, he later told us. His mother sold noodle soup at the market and could not afford to hire the extra help she needed. The decision was made to pull Thy out of school to work for his mom. He said he felt so lucky that his teacher came to his house and convinced his parents to let him come to school for half of the day. Lucky. So lucky to be nine years old, wake up at 4:30 am to help his mom prep food so that he could go to school for half a day. He also was so proud that he was able to save up his lunch money when he got older to hire an English tutor, which is what helped him get the 'well paying' job he has today speaking English to tourists. If only the average American could realize that he truly thought of himself as being blessed because he knows how much worse it could be. It made me stop and wonder about all the things we find ourselves thinking about compared to someone who grows up in a country like Cambodia:
We might think, "Is this all-natural, gluten-free, organic food? I would never have my child eat anything that isn't", while an impoverished mom only thinks, "Will my child have food to eat tomorrow?". I have bawked at the injustice I experienced for waiting four hours at the doctor's office; my tour guide takes his ill father once a month on a 28 hour round trip bus ride to Vietnam because there are so few specialty doctors in their country. It puts things in a whole new perspective...I pray that I can even slightly adjust my thinking or reactions to "hardships".
I fully realize that this is a pretty heavy blog entry. I have hundreds of amazing photos and beautiful family moments I will treasure for a lifetime. I promise to post some of those soon! But, this impression is what has stuck with me and one that I had to share. I think when one is impacted so much by another, there can be two reactions: sweep it under the rug and forget about it or take action. I pray I do the later.
Two reputable organizations that I have begun to look into are Angkor Children's Hospital https://angkorhospital.org/  and Homes of Love http://homesoflove.org/
To help one another, to care for the poor--isn't that what we as Christians are commanded to do? Isn't that what someone has done for me...a soldier sacrificing for my freedom, a dad working long hours to pay for my education?

Galatians 6:10 "Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone."

Proverbs 28:27 "Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed."



Our Tour Guide, Thy, with NJ (no, we didn't tour on a motorbike...this was just for NJ to sit on one!)