Sex in Cambodia

Something that goes unnoticed in Cambodia is all the poor under aged girls who are working in brothels. Women in general have very little rights in Cambodia and with their bodies but young girls have it even worse. They get into this cycle where they are constantly being sold and owing money. There seems to be no end for these girls, no escape. Because they start at such age they miss out on the opportunity to earn an education. Their own family members will sell them to brothels because they are so desperate for money. This human trafficking is a problem in so many countries. When I was in Cambodia I would have mothers come up to me all the time asking me to buy their baby from them because they wanted them to have a better life. That is heart breaking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJzI1_jX5RI

The Dam

So the Prime Minster of Cambodia has delayed the building of the Dam till 2018. When I was there talk about a dam was happening and it seemed to be pretty divided on whether or not the dam should be built. It was basically if you had fallen victim to the brain washing of the PM you were all for the dam and if you were against him and his ruling over Cambodia you were against the building of the dam. I thought it was interesting because this article talks about how the PM deported a man from another country who was protesting against the dam. I thought this was interesting because it made me think that the PM was abusing his power (yet again) and was taking away from his people the right to know both sides of every story. He did not want his people to have a different opinion than him or any motivation to act upon it because that would threaten his security of power. It made me wonder if there are things like that that happen here in the US that we just never hear about.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cambodia-deports-outspoken-spanish-activist-29176590

The Floating Village

Now this is a travel page that talks about the floating villages in Siem Reap, Cambodia. And quite frankly it makes me very angry. I went to the floating village of Chong Kneas. Yes it is a scam and actually my family was given fake change back that we later found out at a restaurant. But the reason why this travel page upsets me so much is because it could deter anyone from going to see that village. I believe that people need to see that part of the village because it houses some of the poorest people in the world. The other villages which are beautiful and nice and plush will not show you culture, or show you the reality of the countries despair which news flash is a government that would rather scam its citizens out of money than help them. You need to see that the children their are suffering. You need to see that the government is making profits off of its citizens poverty. But sure go to the other villages and only see what you want to see because real life is too hard for you.

http://tripleacambodia.com/siem-reap-floating-villages-what-to-expect-and-why-choose-to-go-to-kompong-khleang/#.VO5LV_nF8uc

Help for Cambodia

Cambodia is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world and often referred to as a recovery land. I am thankful that the Heifer program has started in Cambodia. Because for some time the only support that the country was receiving from social media was from Angelina Jolie. After she visited the country she feel in love with its people (as I did) and started adopting children from their and providing them with charity. This program sheds light onto the struggles of poverty in Cambodia and gives them a way to start a life. When I was there I saw first hand just how hard these families and parents work to put their child's through school because they see how education can change ones life. Just like in many of the books/short stories we are reading (Nervous Conditions) education is something that is very important and a lot of the times taken for granted. Many people in the U.S today do not think "I want to go to school because at least while I am there the Khmer rouge will not kill me or my family".

Join the hashtags, join the movement

#JOINTHECONVERSATION 

http://www.heifer.org/ending-hunger/our-work/asia-south-pacific/cambodia.html

WIT#HEIFER

The Sentences

The two oldest remaining leaders of the Khmer rouge have finally been sentenced to life in prison for their crimes against humanity...30 years later. However their punishment will never be sufficient enough for the crimes they committed. The title of this article is so appropriate because the Khmer rouge, even though they have lost almost all of their power, still holds fear over the people in Cambodia. I especially liked that this article provided a bit of back ground information of what it was like to live in Cambodia at that time. Just like in many of the books we are reading in class, and the debate about language oppression by edited standard English, the Cambodians were forced to give up their traditional way of life and live how the Khmer rouge say fit. This ethnic cleansing almost led to the complete extinction of an entire culture. It reminded me a lot of Things Fall Apart when the "Albinos" came into the African villages about wanted to convert everyone to Christianity.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/07/why-the-world-should-not-forget-khmer-rouge-and-the-killing-fields-of-cambodia/

Dith Pran

This video is the last interview of a Cambodian named Dith Pran who was a journalist in Cambodia who was captured by the Khmer Rouge and held hostage in the killing fields. The Cambodian genocide is something that is not talked about. Before I went to Cambodia and saw for myself the evidence I would never have known that this was something that took place. I saw brick houses filled with bones of innocent people killed by the Khmer rouge. I saw the fear in peoples eyes and more importantly I saw the genuine compassion that those people had for all of human life. They worried for us American's being in Cambodia because they feared the Khmer rouge would harm us. Even though these people had been through so much they still had compassion for my family and I because we are all people. I commend Dith for his dedication to voicing what happened to him and his people.


http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/multimedia/20080320_DITH_PRAN_LAST_WORD_FEATURE/#section1

Cambodia and Domestic Violence

My senior year of high school my dad who is a Commanding Officer 05 in the U.S Navy was stationed in Singapore (South East Asia). While he was stationed there I went and spent the summer traveling south east Asia with him. We went to Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Cambodia. I am not sure why but out of all those places, culturally, Cambodia was the area that touched my heart the most. My eyes were opened to what real poverty is, and what real fear of your life is. Because the Khmer Rouge is still present in Cambodia. So when I stumbled upon this article about women I immediately wanted to write a blog about it.

DV against women is becoming a popular campaign in the United States so it was cool to see how the same topic translates into other countries and the similarities or differences within the same genre. I also liked the fact that in a country that is so poverty stricken with an abusive government (according to our tour guide Lee) that even though this system or law is flawed because it is only considered violence if they shed blood, but that SOMETHING was happening. it is a start at least in some sort of direction.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jinamoore/cambodia-domestic-violence#.qaOLKn5xWp