One-month Catch-up (Part II)

Well, as I was saying...

Cambodia is quite a country of contrasts. There is a lot of beauty and the people are very friendly (and an amazing number speak English!) but there is also so much poverty and dirtiness and ugliness. It is quite confronting and sometimes very very difficult to be there. I have never seen so many beggars in one place before, most of them very young children. It is very hard to know what to do sometimes, because the poor flock to foreign faces, asking for money or food. Obviously, you want to give it to them but is that the right thing to do? Some people say that this just reinforces Cambodia's dependence on foreigners, and it sometimes seems like the country could never function on its own. Phnom Penh is packed with foreign aid-workers and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations). Should we perpetuate this cycle?

But maybe it is just one more example of my own foreign privlidge and entitlement that I have the luxury of asking, "should I give food/money to this child?" To the child it might be all s/he eats that day. It is so hard to know what the right thing to do is. Most people say the right thing is to donate money or things to organizations working to help the poor. That is fine, but how do you say no to a dirty, bare-foot 5 year old girl?

Needless to say, I have never felt such guilt for being who and what I am. To these people I am a millionaire. I feel guilty for being overweight, as no Cambodian has that luxury. I can't eat a whole meal in a restaurant, because I can either see the faces of hungry children or just know that they are waiting outside. I have started eating only half a meal and boxing up the other half to give away. This is easy to do - the poverty makes you lose your appetite.

(More to come soon)