Veasna's family

So, little summary on my last two days.

I went swimming with Clayre at the VIP sport center. It was sweet. Really big pool, long chairs all around it, and cheap food brought to you as you lie there sun bathing. I really appreciated that. It's a bit expensive, but if I have money left over from my weekly budget, I'll try going there as much as possible on Sundays. Weekdays isn't possible as the sun sets at 6 and I finish work at 5. Then I went to Julie's aperitif and brought Clayre along. She has a really nice flat, I'm quite envious. She had to buy all the cookery stuff new which means everything is clean and neat. You should see the stuff we have to use to cook and eat in…

Today I went to the center in Psar Depot and asked the director to show me the file on a child who used to go to the center and who is now reintegrated. She chose the case of Veasna. She told me a bit about his story and then we went to see him. His mom took some time of work to welcome us. When her husband left her, she used to sell vegetables in the street, but worked long hours and didn't earn enough to feed her 4 children. As a result they were all working in the streets, and Veasna was selling incense in front of pagodas instead of going to school. When they took in her
children to the center, Krousar Thmey recommended to the mother to follow a training course in another NGO which taught women how to sow bags, wallets with traditional Khmer silk. A few months later, Krousar Thmey bought her a sowing machine and the kids were reintegrated into their home. Things are looking up for them, as the mom is making many (gorgeous looking) artifacts. But the father often comes back drunk, beats the mom and the children, steals money, sometimes grabs one of the kids and leaves again. This is very destabilizing for them and all she wants is to have a little capital to be able to set up a business somewhere out of Phnom Penh so that he can't find them anymore. Krousar Thmey can unfortunately not offer her the money she is asking for. It was very sad to see this woman who was working really hard and did her best to raise her children well, but just couldn't make it.
What made it worse is that her 10 year old daughter is HIV positive. The rest of the family went for tests and none of them have it, and looking at the young face of the little girl I didn't even want to ask how she got it. She quit school a month ago because her constant diarrhea and cramps all over her body were embarrassing and she was in too much pain to concentrate at school. The mother looked at me and asked me if I knew a NGO which could take care of her. Mrs Tannath, the center's director told her that I wouldn't know but that she will try to find out. Veasna is doing ok at school. He used to be ranked 5th in his class but last semester was below average as his dad took him with him during the exam period. The older brother Samnang isn't working well as school. He sometimes skips to go play video games and his results are mediocre. He got a good telling off from Mrs Tannath, for not trying to work better at school.

I was looking at all the stuff this women sowed and I was amazed at how well it was made. I asked her where she was selling and how much she sold them. She saw I liked them so she gave me a wallet and a little shoe bag. I was so touched, but felt so bad for accepting them, knowing how little she made from selling them and how long it took her to do one. If any of you in interested in buying these wallets, I could possibly go and ask her. They cost 3 dollars.

Anyway, so that was another interesting experience. I wanted to help them so much but felt powerless. I'm maybe gonna search for an NGO like the one she works for in another city, or for an NGO who could take care of her girl. Tonight I'm going to the new Lucky Market, the number one supermarket in Cambodia, and buy chocolate and cheese. That should add up to 10$, or a 28th of my salary, plus the cost and hassle of going all the way to town, but I've been craving it for so long now…