Baby Peter

One of the aims of our organisation is to work to prevent children from being trafficked.  We are learning a lot every day about how to do this well but a combination of God, social work skills and national staff who go above and beyond are a great start!

Here's a little bit about baby Peter........

Baby Peter is gorgeous and he’s now about 4 months old. We became aware of baby Peter when he was just a few days old.  Peter has four older brothers and sisters.  Three of his older siblings live with other relatives and one was 'given away' (highly likely to have been trafficked). 

Baby Peter’s Mum is Mary and she was doing her best but she had issues with drugs and had experienced a lot of violence from her husband.  Mary was not in a good place when we met her and needed help herself.

Other relatives were supportive and worked well with us to help keep little Peter safe but it became increasingly clear that more longer term help was needed.  Both Dad and other relatives approached us and asked if we could find a safe place for both Peter and his Mum.  We really wanted to see Mary’s life transformed, baby Peter thrive in her care and an end to trafficking in this family. 

After many telephone calls and visits with other NGOs we were able to find a fantastic Christian NGO who run a rehab where both Mum and baby could go together.  So at the beginning of May we were able to move Mary and baby Peter to the rehab with extended family and the slum chief's consent.  It was quite a miracle really especially as for a long time Mum was not willing to go!  

In the rehab, Mary and baby Peter can stay for up to a year which will give Mum time to come off the drugs and learn a new skill so that she can work. It will also give her time as a woman to learn about her identity in God and how valuable she is to Him..as well as learn about keeping little Peter safe.

Dad is missing his wife and baby but we pray that we will now have the opportunity to work with him to see his life changed so that the family can be reunited in months to come.

Joanna and Jackie

Another one of the families we have been able to help are Joanna and Jackie.  Here's a little bit about them.......

Joanna and Jackie are sisters who love to play and have their hair braided.  The girls have been coming to our kids club for a while.  Joanna and Jackie’s Mum and Dad love them but are really struggling with money and trying to find a job.

Last month the family were forced to leave their old room due to not having the money to pay the rent and became homeless.  The family have been sleeping outside under a truck in the slum.  Two weeks ago we told the family that we wanted to help them find a new home.  Ten minutes later, Mum came back and said she had found a room and had already started to clean it!  Joanna and Jackie were very excited and started jumping around!  Mum is still smiling two weeks later:)

Dad said that the family would pay for their water bill but asked for help with the rent and electricity.  We agreed to pay this and work with parents to help them get back on their feet and get jobs so that they can start to pay the rent themselves over the coming months.  We are very grateful to a church in the UK who have given a gift to cover these costs.

Joshua and Isaac

It has been a while since I last updated my blog...way too long in fact:)

The last few months I have been team leading our team in Phnom Penh as well as overseeing our local staff and work with children and families.  As we have been building relationships with families in the slum, it has given us greater insight into what the issues are and how we can help best.  

Helping families to help themselves is a key part of our work as we do not want to create dependency on us but also to help keep children safe sometimes practical support is needed and quickly. With every situation we are faced for we think and pray through what the best answer is to help make children safe and families feel valued and cared for and we help out of relationship.  As our organisation's founder, Heidi, says 'love looks like something'.  

One of the families we have helped is Joshua and Isaac......

Joshua and Isaac

Joshua and Isaac are boys aged 7 and 2 years old.  Joshua and Isaac look like two peas in a pod and enjoy playing football.  Sadly, Joshua and Isaac’s Mum died last year and their Dad is no longer around.  Joshua has been a part of our childrens programme since we have been working in the slum. Their Grandma Sarah, a widow herself, is now caring for Joshua and Isaac and does a great job. 

Grandma Sarah is part of the local church in the slum and is a real pillar of the community.  Sarah’s eldest son has now also come to live in the slum as he is very sick and needs his Mum to care for him.

The family were living in a very small room which was not big enough for them to all sleep properly in.  So obviously we wanted to help but wanted to do it in the best way possible.

One of our Khmer staff spent time talking with Grandma.  Grandma Sarah explained her budget and what her family collectively were able to afford and we explained the part we could help with.  Grandma Sarah then went and spoke to landlords and found a new place which matched her budget and our help.  Grandma Sarah and the children and others were able to move in to the new room within 24 hours.  They all now have space to sleep and the family do not have to share a communal bathroom.  Grandma and the children seem much more settled and happy.

Little Lilian

Our Khmer staff team came into contact with a little girl called Lilian (not her real name). Lilian does not come to our centre but we heard that her elderly and sick Grandma felt she could not care for Lilian any longer and so was asking for help. Lilian is beautiful, is disabled, unable to meet any of her own needs and has not walked for a long time.

Our staff went to visit Lilian and her Grandma regularly to build up trust and relationship.  We quickly realised that there was nobody safe in the family to care for Lilian for the long term.  Grandma was doing the best job she could but she was struggling and knew she could not sustain her care for Lilian for very long. 

We took food, clothes and toiletries to help Grandma in her care of Lilian while we looked for help.  Grandma told us that she had been offered about $50 for Lilian by somebody wanting to 'help' (highly likely to be a trafficker) ..thankfully Grandma said 'no' and waited for true help to come. 

Another Christian organisation offered to help as they have a safe home for children.  After much prayer and continued visits, the government social worker came to assess the situation and agreed that Lilian could be moved and signed the necessary documentation.

A few days ago with Grandma's blessing and the government's approval, Lilian moved into her safe home smiling...and walking!!

The Locust Effect

I have many heroes...some known to many, many unknown to most. One of my heroes known to many in the work of justice is Gary A. Haugen who set up International Justice Mission (IJM) after witnessing the devastation caused by the Rwandan Genocide.  IJM partners with local law enforcement and authorities to get people out of slavery, bring criminals to justice and see people formerly victims now live free lives.

After working with and on behalf of the poor and oppressed for many years, Gary has come to the conclusion that the biggest problem in undermining efforts to end poverty is often hidden, everyday violence. He calls it the 'Locust Effect' and you can read more on http://www.thelocusteffect.com.

As I get to know more people in Cambodia, along with my experience in other nations previously (including the UK) and as our team 'digs deeper', my heart resonates with Gary's view.

Let me tell you about Betty (not her real name). We know Betty and her children and the family lived in a shack until parents missed rent payments.  The landlord came and used physical violence on both parents in front of the children, took their home away and most of their few belongings and much needed medication.  When we were asked for help we wanted to be wise and not make the situation worse (and as a leader not wanting to endanger my staff!) We also knew that doing nothing was not an option either and neither was it helpful to approach the police.

After some prayer we felt to speak to the landlord and negotiate on Betty's behalf.  It helped that he seemed surprised that we were speaking with him as I think we caught him off guard.  After we offered to pay off Betty's debts, the landlord agreed to give back the family's possessions and medication. Betty collected her things, stood tall, gave us a big smile and went on her way.

Did we change the system?  No.  

Did we make a difference in one family's life?  Yes.  

My prayer?  That next time the landlord faces the same situation he will think twice and find a peaceful solution.  And that he'll spread the word.  And that Betty will remember that God is on her side.

As Gary says let's take a stand against everyday violence and see it squashed....one person at a time.

An extraordinary day!

On the way to work one day last month I felt God say to me that today was going to be an 'extraordinary day'.  I hoped that it might mean I'd meet Mr Right or receive a life time supply of Dairy Milk chocolate....but no it was something else!

There has been a family known to some of our staff through their church who there were particular concerns about given their vulnerability.  We’re going to call them the Hong family.

In the week leading up to this ‘extraordinary’ day there were roadworks close to the area where some of our children from our centre live…so when taking them home in our centre tuk tuk we have had to drive a different way (I don’t drive it don’t worry!)  So on that particular day the staff member driving was somebody who knew the Hong family.   

This staff member shared with me when getting back to the centre that they thought that they had seen the Hong family on the street just sitting there.  So we got on the moto and off we went.

Sure enough when we arrived we saw the Hong children and mother.  The children were so happy to see somebody they knew and wanted to be hugged for a long time.

Mother Hong was sitting there looking very low, with 3 young children and with small bags with all her worldly possessions in them.  They were close to an area known for Western paedophiles having easy access to children.

We were able to take the family back to our centre where they could eat, shower, talk and play.  I think the children thought all of their Christmas’s had come at once with the amount of toys they had to play with!

A long story short but our staff were able to make sure that the Hong family were taken to a safe place and agreement was sought that longer term work would be undertaken by the church the family is linked to. 

What I love about this story is that our staff would not have seen the Hong family if the usual route had been available and if the usual staff member was driving.  And we got to the family before anybody wanting to harm the children had appeared.  Truly an extraordinary day and proof of the care that God gives His children…thank you God!

Persistence pays off

Its been a while (6 months) since I've blogged.  But God has been reminding me about the good news stories that I need to share.  Hopefully these stories will give you a bit of a flavour of the work I'm involved in.

This post isn't about mine or my team's persistence...its about a lady we met in the slum. We'll call her Florence.

Florence has a toddler who is too young to come to our centre so they are not a family we know well.  On a few occasions when we have been visiting families in the slum, Florence asked us for help.  She wanted to leave her violent drug using partner.  

Having been warned by the police when we have tried to help a previous family where domestic abuse was a big issue, we knew we could not take her to an organisation without her partner's permission.  We knew neither her partner nor the Village Chief would give their permission to allow her to leave. So we prayed.  And she persisted in asking for our help.

Eventually Florence and her child were kicked out of their home (shack in the slum) by her partner’s family.  Florence ended up living on the street and then taken in by a ‘charity’ whose advice was that she should give her baby up for adoption and go and sex work.  I cannot even begin to imagine what sort of set up this ‘charity’ is.

Thankfully Florence had given her telephone number to our Lead Outreach worker and so when we found out we were able to call her.  As she’d left the slum/been kicked out, we didn’t have to stick to the cultural ‘rules’ of needing consent from her partner and the Village Chief.

Instead our Outreach Worker made lots of telephone calls to various agencies to see who could help.  One came to visit her at our centre but there was some red tape involved and they couldn’t make a decision for a few days. We knew that we needed to act fast in order to prevent Florence from feeling like she had no option other than to follow the ‘charity’s advice.  We continued to pray.

Suddenly at 4.15pm an agency said they’d take Florence and her baby if we could get her there by 5pm.  Thankfully Phnom Penh is not a huge city and we got her there in time.  It turned out to be a refuge where Florence and her baby would be safe and she was offered accommodation, training and support in order to rebuild her life. As we left Florence gave us a smile…it was the first one I had ever seen her give.  Smiles are definitely my favourite ‘thank you’.  And prayer works.  And persistence pays off.