badboybubby wrote:talking to the missus about this she seemed to suggest that it was partly 'seasonal'....more rural families gravitating to the city when there's not much work there...particularly those landless employed as labourers...

i gather that this dry season has been especially harsh and may have prolonged some of the hardship...

Interesting. May be something to that.

i have never had one refuse the food off my plate at a restaurant.
I would never give money for the reasons samouth simply stated.

frank lee bent wrote:i have never had one refuse the food off my plate at a restaurant.
I would never give money for the reasons samouth simply stated.

Yep, it shocked me in 2002 and it is still shocking me today. So many of LTO favored NOG's, more than any other country it would seem

juansweetpotato wrote:...So many of LTO favored NOG's, more than any other country it would seem

Sorry, I don't understand. I do not favor the NGO system. And in fact I was probably one of the earliest voices in Cambodia to decry the damage being done by NGOs involved in the orphanage and pity industry game.

And just an FYI: Cambodia does not have more NGOs than any other country. That is an oft-quoted misnomer.

Small country, tiny population. I would have said Africa has many nowadays too, but in Tanzania, for example, they are a long long way apart from each other. Every large town nowadays seems to be flooded with them and certainly turned me off visiting these places. Overall, the aid industry has caused far far far more damage than it has helped.
Which is the country with with the most NGO's? answer is...

Anchor Moy wrote:Giving money to these kids is just feeding organized crime.

Exactly so - and in my view, if the families are renting their little kids and even babies to the begging gangs so that they (the adults) eat from the kids work, they are as guilty as the gangs.

TheGrinchSR wrote:now I only give to people who are clearly unable to work.

This is the rule that Mrs S and I set ourselves way back when we first started working in impoverished countries. We never give money to children (although we give food, water, and ocassionally sweets that can be consumed immediately, as we've seen adults beat children and take icecream that we've just given), but we do give to those who cannot earn, such as the severely disabled, and the elderly. We're also very aware that in a number of cultures children are deliberately maimed by adults (think Slum Dog Millionaire here) to become earners, and also that many of the yeays at the market are actually very wealthy women in their own culture. More often for an adult we will buy them a meal. When we do give money, it's only ever 'small money', and while people turn their nose up they are never shy about asking next time they see us. It's usually enough for a half kilo of rice, so if they're seriously hungry, that will set them up for a day or two. If they're not, it's no real hardship to us to have lost 25c. On rare occasions we'll give a month's worth of income if someone is obviously seriously in trouble and we're confident they won't be mugged for it.

Samouth wrote:People might think i am so mean for not giving them money when approaching.

One thing we learned early - and we constantly see here and OTOF - is that many people will always be keen to have an opinion on what you do or don't do, and it will almost always be criticism, even though they themselves don't ever get off their bar stools to do anything. F@#$ em.

juansweetpotato wrote:Yes , this is the interesting thing, why the apparent new surge? What are the core reasons?.

My comment about relocation camps wasn't a flippant one. When the city rounds up the undesirables (remember the discussions a year ago about round ups and cage trucks full of nationals, and even monks?) they dump them at a number of relocation points outside of the city and tell them to not return. One of the quiet members here does amazing work building homes, providing food, health, education and hope to one of those camps. Our company works alongside his by doing a weekly food run to a certain village. Many embrace the new life they're offered, but many also drift back to the city to beg at the intersections, although they quickly return to the camp when the government officials are due to check their location.

UKJ wrote:It's all very well saying don't give them any money, but will they get fed if they aren't making money? The begging is the families/ gangs income.

You truly think they get fed better if they do beg? Quaint.

Sadly it's a shady business as these little babies have a boss to report to. Not long ago I was reading an article about this if I'm not mistaken I think it was in the PhnomPenhPost. To play with these toddlers lives is unforgivable, these babies should be in school as they are the foundation of Cambodia.

I call Francis, btw.