LO Society Canada visits Banteay Meanchey (part 3)

Visiting SMART

That afternoon, we travelled to two destinations. First, we went to Phrasekop with a Safe Migration and Reduction of Trafficking (SMART) team who provided information brochures and kits for those workers planning to cross the border into Thailand to work. They also operated a mobile library, administered first aid, made referrals to health centers, and showed a video - using the battery of their vehicle for electricity! The SMART team was responsible for rescuing two of the grade 12 girls we met from Thailand. Alison felt sure one of them would have been sold to a brothel, as she was really beautiful.

Our final destination was Kor Koh Junior Secondary School in Svay Chek district, where we met with a Local Education Working Group, normally consisting of seven teachers, students, parents and a deputy chair. The groups are responsible for distributing $3 per month to each scholarship student, $2.50 for extra school fees, following up on any sickness or absence, delivering rice support to families, holding orientation for parents at the beginning of the school year, receiving applications, and screening families for need, among other things. Again, I was very impressed with the management. As an aside, I was most impressed that the students study and teachers teach - unlike my travel experiences in Thailand and Laos.

This trip was an amazing experience for us, and I heartily welcome any of you who wish to visit Cambodia and see what is going on there to do so. I would like to thank Glenn Fawvcett, LO’s director of field operations, and Raksmey, LO’s country representative in Cambodia, for all the help they gave us. Again, I would like to thank you for all your assistance to young girls and women in this region. Their lives are infinitely better off as a result of your contributions.

For my part, I am again hitting the pavement in the upcoming Sun Run. We have an LO team, and all members are canvassing their friends and family for funds. You are my “family” - how about we start with a “toonie” per kilometer? There is no maximum. Donations can be made by check, payable to Lotus Outreach Society Canada and sent to PO Box 93650 (Nelson Park)Vancouver, BC V6E 4L7. Or you can now go to our website: www.lotusoutreach.org/canada and click on “donations” and “Canadian donations”. If you wouldn't mind, let me know if you are donating for the run - we team members are competing for how much money we raise.

In any event, thank you so much for your support in the past, and hopefully your ongoing support. I couldn't help these girls without your help.

Warmly yours,

Brian

A beautiful souvenir

LO Society Canada visits Banteay Meanchey (part 2)

by Brian Pollard, board member of Lotus Outreach Society Canada

In the afternoon, by travelling on a dusty, potholed road for 8km (it felt like 80, by far the worst road I have ever been on), we visited a grade 9 student, Sochea, at her home. Her parents are landless peasants (like so many others in this area) and live in a bamboo and palm leaf one room house with a curtain of sorts dividing it into two “rooms”.  Six children and two nephews sleep on one side and the parents sleep on the other. There is a kitchen of sorts attached to the house, but no plumbing, electricity, or toilet except for a field outside. The parents work as farm laborers. If there is work, they get $3 per day in Cambodia or $4 a day by crossing into Thailand. "If" is the operative word here.

Children of a family receiving rice support

The family gets a 50kg rice subsidy from LO for which they are grateful. (Note:for me personally, the trip in this region was most embarrassing. I was by far the fattest person - everyone else was lean, or downright skinny.) The father was most proud of the fact that all the children were attending school. Whether they go beyond primary school is another matter, but they will be able to read and write a bit.

We stayed overnight in Poipet and the next day went to Sisophon. After checking into our hotel (all costs of the trip were borne by Alison and I), we went to a a safe house for abused women where we met an LO-funded psychologist, Sokny. With Raksmey being an excellent translator, we learned about all the efforts Sokny puts in to help the highly traumatized clients that come to the center. Individual counseling focuses on building trust, discussing problems, and identifying strengths to develop positive thinking and self-esteem.  Group counseling, first small then large, makes them aware that they are not alone.

Clients also do beadwork, embroidery, and dressmaking to take their minds off their problems and give them a sense of accomplishment. Finally, they are reintegrated into the community when they are emotionally and physically fit, have finished one skills training module, and have made a business plan. They are given $25 as a life start grant, and some may get up to $200 to start a business. In the year after they leave the center, there receive three follow-up visits.

I was very impressed with the work that was being done for these women and with the shelter manager, who at one time ran the place alone - handling irate husbands and men thinking that the center was a brothel, as well as receiving numerous death threats.

Brian and Alison meet Ochea and her family