In an earlier post, I mentioned or hinted at my unease with one aspect of my photography trip to Siem Reap earlier this month, specifically with respect to the children.

I was in Siem Reap back in 2006, with my friends from Museum Volunteers. While we did meet some child beggars, they were very few in numbers. There were a lot of child salespeople - children trying to sell all kinds of trinkets and bags but even then, they backed off once you indicated that you are not interested.

In 2009, the number of child beggars astounded me. The number of children going "one dollar? do you have "tang-guo"?" chills me to the core. And it is not just child beggars who are asking for these gifts. We were at Bakeng for the sunrise, and while we were shooting the temple from the entrance in order to capture the golden glow, children were walking through the temple to get to school, and almost every other child who passed us went "do you have "tang-guo" lady? one dollar?" And the child salesgirl / boys - they were so very persistent that it has become irritating. I actually had to tell off two girls who trailed me up and down a road, and going non-stop "lady, you want to buy - 5 for one dollar, lady, give me a dollar, lady, give me "tang-guo""...  up and down the street. I kid you not.

I cannot help but curse the influx of Chinese tourists (whether from China or Taiwan I have no idea) who thoughtlessly gave sweets to these children ("tang-guo" is Mandarin for candy / sweets). Seriously, these children have very little, if any, access to dental care - what on earth are people thinking to be giving sweets to these children? And why why why are tourists giving money to them as if money is nothing? It just encourages begging.

Look, before you curse me for being a hard-hearted bitch with not a drop of sympathy in her blood, I feel sorry for the poverty-strucken circumstances of the Cambodians as much as anyone else. However, there are ways of helping that do not encourage dependency on hand-outs. Here is a link to one NGO that is doing good work for children in Cambodia. Just think - when you give that one dollar, who do you give it to? That old man, that middle-aged woman with a missing limb or that adorable child with the big eyes and tattered clothes? I bet that more often than not, you are giving money to the child. And guess what is going to happen? Do you really think that the child will use that money to go to school? Or rather, will the child (or his or her guardian or in the worst case scenario, owner) stay on the streets simply because it makes more financial sense for him or her to be accosting tourists for handouts rather than be in school studying?

OK fine, you say, what about notebook and pencils, these are good for the children right? My hard-hearted view - no, no and no. What do you think the children are going to do with the notebooks and pencils? If they are at the temple ruins posing for photographs (and then asking for money in return) or begging for money, do you think the notebooks and pencils will be used for school? Or is it more likely that the notebooks and pencils will be sold for money? And if children are trying to sell you trinkets, and instead of buying their wares, you give them notebooks, pencils, sweets or worse, money, what have you done to them? At the least, these children are trying to make an honest living by selling their wares - why treat them like beggars who are asking for handouts? Buy their postcards damnit, or just ignore them. They are not beggars, don't treat them like they are. Don't take away what self-respect they have. Sometimes that is all they have.

The fact of the matter is, I did not get involved with Riverkids because I had a prior interest in child-trafficking or even at that time, Cambodia . I got involved because karenjem5  called me up one day when I was at work and said that she had a classmate mad enough to adopt two children from Cambodia, and upon realising after the children are in Singapore that they had been trafficked, went back to Cambodia and adopted their two remaining siblings and now wants to set up a charity to prevent child-trafficking in Cambodia. This friend wants to establish a charitable trust under Singapore law and since I am probably the only trust lawyer karenjem5  knows who is likely to be interested, can I please help her review and amend the draft trust deed. karenjem5 and I spent an evening at her home hammering out the trust deed, while wolfing down fried rice and washing that down with root beer. That must have been some three or four years ago.

I guess I fell in love with Cambodia when I visited it on holiday in 2006, my last overseas trip before I started my post-graduate programme. As a history and culture buff, I enjoyed myself tremendously at Siem Reap - the Angkor Wat Archaeological Park is one place that I really wish to go back and spend weeks photographing. However, what touched my heart are the people - the gentle genuine people that I met, and the grinding poverty that so many of them live in. I was quietly horrified by the presence of sweet-faced children at the archeological park, experienced in posing for photos by trigger-happy tourists while asking for sweets or tips. I was uncomfortable when child hawkers called out to me - buy my scarves so that I have money to go to school! And I wondered how the tuk-tuk driver felt when he drops us off at restaurants where a dinner for three cost more than his entire earnings for the day. I remembered wandering around Phnom Penh and noting the preponderance of NGOs, realised that these NGOs are providing services that you would expect the government to provide - social welfare, education and training, healthcare, and I mused if this NGO network has become a crutch for this war-torn country, and if it will be able to wean itself off this crutch. I visited my sponsored child at World Vision, saw all the programmes that World Vision has carried out in the project, and while I am impressed, I quietly wondered just how much of my monthly contributions go towards donor management.

When I returned, I cast an more interested eye on Riverkids, and made monthly contributions. I did spread word of Riverkids to my friends and colleagues, and some of them also became contributors to the cause  but I wasn't really active. Despite my increased interest, my life was a swirl of activities that took up all my time - work, guiding at the museum, volunteering at Food From The Heart, pursuing my part-time post-graduate degree, travelling, having brief flings with roller-blading, tennis, gym, salsa, photography and getting dragged into and escaping out of various churches and Buddhist organisations, sorting out the messes, both financial and emotional, that I found myself in. It was a mad mad period and I often found myself physically, emotionally and intellectually exhausted. Riverkids and child trafficking was on my mind, but always always towards the back. There is always another more urgent commitment, a more pressing obligation to attend to.

It is perhaps fitting that this advocacy trip is my first overseas trip since I completed my post-graduate studies and my life has settled somewhat.

I am posting this just before I set off for Cambodia, so I am plugging for the charity here - Riverkids, which works to stop child trafficking in Cambodia. They are a grassroots movement, started up by a gutsy lady and her husband, and you can read their story here.  Riverkids rely on private donations and purchases from their online shop to finance their activities, and there are months when money runs tight, so if you can afford to, please give them a helping hand. You can buy from their online shop, or make either one-time or monthly donations. Every cent helps!

I have been participating in Kiva for more than four years now, and I have to say that it is one of the most worthwhile charitable initiatives that I have participated in - take a look at this video and see how a tiny loan can help change lives!