There
is a traditional Cambodian saying that women are like cloth so they can be
easily ‘soiled’ and discarded while men are like gold, untarnished (no matter what they do) and worth a
lot more.
I
have been reflecting on this as I have now been living in Cambodia for 5
months. For many women here it is seen
to be their duty to help provide for their parents and so many girls who work in
Phnom Penh regularly send money home to their families in the province. Some younger guys are also expected to do
this.
Sadly
for many of these girls they see the only way to get enough money to send home
is to sell themselves, on every level.
There are streets here in Phnom Penh where it is so very blatant that
women are selling themselves for sex, often to older Western men. Some of these men actually believe that they
are helping these girls to then help their families by paying for sex. And there is a T-shirt which some guys wear
saying ‘Sleep with me, free breakfast’.
And
for many of these girls it is very difficult to break out of the cycle once
they have begun work in the bars and ‘massage parlours’ especially as they are
no longer seen as being ‘pure’ and like cloth, can easily be discarded.
The
good news is that there are some really good organisations which are bringing
out the actual gold in these girls.
Organisations like Daughters of Cambodia (daughtersofcambodia.org) help
bring women out of sex working and give them holistic care to help them move
forward. The care given involves
training and employment, counselling and day care for their children. Daughters also runs two fabulous cafes which
are some of my favourite to visit!
And my team are doing our part, often in partnership with organisations like Daughters. My teammate Amy has got to know some of the girls in the bars through regular
visiting. Amy met ‘Sarah’ one night
after praying about where to go to meet girls who needed to hear that Father God
has a much better plan for their lives.
Sarah was working behind the bar as she has good English but she was
under pressure to start selling herself.
Sarah was looking for a way out of her situation before it got worse.
Amy
started to build up a friendship with Sarah and over a period of time Sarah
talked about wanting to leave her job. And so with support from some sponsors
from Amy’s connections, Sarah is now studying at university and her future is
looking completely different. God used
Amy’s willingness to sacrifice her time and her obedience to following His
voice that night to bring about a new hopeful future for Sarah.
We recognise that God's hand was very much on Sarah's life as she was able to leave when she did. We pray that Sarah is one of many girls that God would use us to help get freedom and be restored in Jesus name. And as a friend/family of mine thank you for helping me be here to be a part of this.
