How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

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Anchor Moy
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How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by Anchor Moy »

This follows on from the thread about the kids hawking in bars and restaurants in Cambodia. When I first arrived in Cambodia, I thought I was doing a good deed by buying stuff from kids. My views have changed, so I'm just putting this out there for people who are planning to come to Cambodia or who just got here, and who might be a bit like I was - full of good intentions, but basically clueless.
AFAIK the ChildSafe Movement is a respectable NGO who does their best to protect kids. I have no personal ties with them, but their message here is basic common sense and might be useful for some. Not really for expats, but it can be a bit overwhelming when you first arrive in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap and all these cute snotty-nose kids ask you to buy things you don't want, or beg for money for food, or school, or whatever.
A lot of the time, you are just making yourself feel better about what you're seeing, but you're not really helping them.

ChildSafe 7 Tips for Travelers http://thinkchildsafe.org/when-i-travel/
ChildSafe created 7 Tips to help you understand what can hurt children. The 7 Tips provide just that. Tips on what can be harmful alongside proactive ways you can help.
Tip 1 - THINK! Children are not tourist attractions – let’s not treat them like they are.

Children living or studying in schools, orphanages or slums shouldn’t be exposed to tourist visits. These places are not zoos. Imagine a bus full of foreigners visiting schools in your home country. Would you find this acceptable?

Travel ChildSafe – Put child protection first and do not visit these places.

Learn more.
Tip 2 - THINK! Volunteering with children feels good but could be harmful – look for better ways to help them.
Tip 3 - THINK! Children pay a price for your generosity – don’t give to begging children.
Tip 4 - THINK! Professionals know best – call them if a child needs help.
Tip 5 - THINK! Sex with children is a crime – report child sex tourism.
Tip 6 - THINK! Children should not be at work instead of school – report child labor.
Tip 7 - THINK! Protect children – be a ChildSafe traveler.
ot mien kampf
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by ot mien kampf »

That's an interesting range of tips.

#5 is like saying "don't murder people"... DUH!

I'd also like to know what defines a professional. A worker at an orphanage currently being slated for poverty porn or orphanage tourism who may take the child away from their parents to fill a for-profit orphanage? Or one of the many "aid workers" who have been busted for child sex themselves? There's a very murky difference between a foreign voluntourist at one of these orphanages, a random local tuk-tuk driver with a ChildSafe sticker on his vehicle, and what could be considered an "aid worker" in the Kingdom. The way they're cannibalizing each other over orphanage tourism, who knows what can be considered a professional.
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by Luigi »

Tip 6 - THINK! Children should not be at work instead of school – report child labor.
That one is ridiculous.
Between the idea & reality falls the shadow. T.S. Eliot
Anchor Moy
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by Anchor Moy »

Luigi wrote:Tip 6 - THINK! Children should not be at work instead of school – report child labor.
That one is ridiculous.
Between the idea & reality falls the shadow. T.S. Eliot
Ah yes, those good intentions. But you probably get with reality after a first night in PP:
5pm on riverside: "Hello, childsafe? Yes there are some children here selling books."
7pm near FCC: "hello Childsafe ? Some very small kids are trying to sell me postcards"
9pm on 172; Hello Childsafe ? There's a little girl here selling bracelets...
11pm St 130 "Hello...hello... :dm:
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juansweetpotato
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by juansweetpotato »

When I first went to Kenya, the locals were advising me not to give money to the street kids because they will spend it on drugs. Just buy them food.
When I went back 8 years later, the locals were telling me to give them money even if they spend it on drugs. Because most of them have had such nasty lives they need something to kill the memories. Plus I think just to get a brief bit of relief from this harsh life they have to live.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
ot mien kampf
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by ot mien kampf »

juansweetpotato wrote:When I first went to Kenya, the locals were advising me not to give money to the street kids because they will spend it on drugs. Just buy them food.
When I went back 8 years later, the locals were telling me to give them money even if they spend it on drugs. Because most of them have had such nasty lives they need something to kill the memories. Plus I think just to get a brief bit of relief from this harsh life they have to live.

The glue sniffing kills hunger pains.
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by phuketrichard »

ot mien kampf wrote:
juansweetpotato wrote:When I first went to Kenya, the locals were advising me not to give money to the street kids because they will spend it on drugs. Just buy them food.
When I went back 8 years later, the locals were telling me to give them money even if they spend it on drugs. Because most of them have had such nasty lives they need something to kill the memories. Plus I think just to get a brief bit of relief from this harsh life they have to live.

The glue sniffing kills hunger pains.
also kills brain cells faster than anything else, so fast when ur huffing , you can hear them cells popping.
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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juansweetpotato
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by juansweetpotato »

phuketrichard wrote:
ot mien kampf wrote:
juansweetpotato wrote:When I first went to Kenya, the locals were advising me not to give money to the street kids because they will spend it on drugs. Just buy them food.
When I went back 8 years later, the locals were telling me to give them money even if they spend it on drugs. Because most of them have had such nasty lives they need something to kill the memories. Plus I think just to get a brief bit of relief from this harsh life they have to live.

The glue sniffing kills hunger pains.
also kills brain cells faster than anything else, so fast when ur huffing , you can hear them cells popping.
One hopes it quells their nightmares. This is seriously depressing shit.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
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Re: How to be a ChildSafe Traveller in Cambodia: 7 Tips

Post by Luigi »

It was a very depressing time in Managua. Seemed like every red light kids of 5/6 to ? All with an alum. can or a glass botle -o- glu. Maybe 5/10 kids each major corner all hi on shoe glue. Pity.
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