Miss goody two shoes

Today, I will not write about how great Cambodia is, or how much I like it here. Today is about money, your money that I’m asking you to give for a good cause.

Cambodia is one of the least developed countries. Corruption is a huge part of everyday life, and while all the CPP (Cambodian Peoples Party) officials get very rich, the poor are getting poorer everyday. The Temples of Angkor e.g. are visited by 2 Million people each year. The average tourist stays for 2 days and pays the daily entrance fee of US $20. We asked a guide yesterday what happens to the approximately US $80 million earned each year. He told us, that half of it goes to the state, while the other half disappears to an unknown place. Of the 40 million that go to the state, 1/8 is used for the preservation of the temples, the rest goes to government officials, some to infrastructural improvements, none goes directly to the people.
I can see the poverty everyday on the streets, victims of landmines with missing limbs begging for money and food, countless street children begging for money, food and milk for their baby brothers and sisters and old people mainly begging for food. 2000 of Siem Reap's 60.000 inhabitants are street kids under the age of 12. Many girls in the country side can't go to school because their parents cannot afford the books and school uniforms as well as tuition fees. So the female child labor rate is soaring at 50% while the male is only at 36%.
On the way to Siem Reap I sat next to this little girl and her mother. She was just 4 years old but really sick, a rash covered her whole body, her head was covered in open sores, she was constantly scratching herself and she was running a high fever, just hanging in her mothers arms on the hot bus. Through another Cambodian on the bus I was able to talk to the mother who explained to me, that they didn’t have enough money for treatment in Battambang, so they travelled all the way to Siem Reap, to Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital because every child admitted there is treated free of charge to stop corruption. So she spent 6 hours on the bus with me when she should have really been in bed getting treatment for her disease.

Yesterday at one of the temples we talked to this man, in his sixties who instead of begging, sells wooden elephants to tourists at a non touristy site. His income is approximately US$5 per week and he is basically blind, but still he’s trying to make an honest living.

So if you have some money to spare, whether it’s a small amount or a rather large amount, please think about doing one of the following:

- donate some money to the five Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals where 85% of all Cambodian children are treated according to western standards, mainly for Malaria, Tuberculosis, Dengue Fever, and Hepatitis.

- sponsor a Cambodian child through Plan International for just 25 Euros a month. Your money secures your sponsored child’s attendance in school and saves it from exploitation. You can also sponsor a child with your friends, your family or colleagues. Plan has offices in every country, so if you're Irish, English or American google your country's Plan office.

- donate money to the SOS-International Children's Villages who give abandoned children and orphans a new home.