A Modest Proposal – 1

[Otis]

There is a French NGO known as APLE whose name means roughly “for the children”. There are others that similar w. the similar names. Many are very well known and well funded.

I’ve seen street kids in very bad shape around the bar girl area on St. 51 and elsewhere. Some were sniffing glue. Some are in such a mess that they are unconscious. On two occasions I bought a bowl of soup for one of them and they were too messed up to eat. Really too messed up to even understand that there is food in front of them.

Apart from that, there are whole families who are not professional gypsy-type baby beggars that sleep on the street. I’ve seen them every day on ST 144 below Norodom and very frequently on St 51 near St 130. Anyone who has been in PP for any length knows this and sees it.

One of the obvious things about all of these people is that they are always dirty. They lack bathing facilities of any kind. Why don’t the NGO’s, who are the de facto welfare agency here, provide a simple portable bathing booth with water. It could be moto’ed out in the evening to where they are. Why has no NGO done anything of this kind? Surely they have enough money and clout.

All manner of low tech solutions have been put out to help the poor get clean water and some basic health care in the countryside all over the world. You often see them written up in the press. Why not this?

I invite the NGO’s that are big operations and surely look in on this and other forums to respond.

[Digg3r]

A dirty begger can make more money than a clean one. The one that looks like they REALLY need your money will get the tourist dollar.

[Otis]

Let's not have this degenerate - at least no so quickly. The families that I'm speaking about are not mainly beggars and the kids are much to wiped out to effectively beg.

Also, many cyclo drivers have no home and live in their cyclos. Are they dirty beggars too?

[vladimir]

I think the idea is good, but the municipality would never allow it

Same category as pigs on sidewalks and fishing in front of the Royal Palace

In any case, soon they will be gone to tidy up the charming city.

[Joon]

If I'm not mistaken and if it is still there, there is an association for cyclos that provides them with bathing facilities, so they are taken care of.

For the poorer families and more messed up kids, you could call those NGOs directly and report to them where those people are and that they need assistance. NGOs should then send their social workers who will talk with the kids and families. But there is just so much they can do because in the end, it's the families and kids' parents who decide.
Also, you know what is said about bringing a horse to the water.... you can bring it there but can't force it to drink.
It's a simple proposal but maybe you should directly contact those NGOs and suggest this idea.

[Soi Dog]

I've only ever heard of APLE when they take credit for nabbing a Western pedophile. I hope there is more to that organization, but I don't know what else they claim to do for society.

If the government does not actively support the forcible taking of the dirty, glue sniffing kids and homeless people off the streets and into aid programs, then there really is not much any charity can do, except be available to help those who ask for it. I don't know, maybe going around in a truck fitted out with showers would be a huge hit with the needy locals. Although, offering to bath street children might get you investigated by APLE.

If you feel strongly about the cause, and your OP shows you do genuinely care, then starting a series of charitable centers would be a fine idea. The US has the Salvation Army, which collects used clothes and goods and sells them for next to nothing at outlet stores. Many US cities have soup kitchens and food banks to help feed the hungry. Larger cities have homeless shelters with showers and a free place to sleep at night. In other words, there is some type of safety net for the down and out, and almost all of those services I mentioned are funded by private donations, not government funds. I'm sure many European countries have even better programs for their needy.

There is no reason Cambodia can't have the same charitable setups. Those types of aid do exist in some forms, but get over-shadowed by the questionable orphanage/rubbish dump/sex trafficking prevention operations that don't really appear to help the people they claim to while sucking up most of the donated money and attention.

[vladimir]

There is no reason Cambodia can't have the same charitable setups.

There's one very important reason: the government view the poor/homeless as vermin.

[Soi Dog]

There is no reason Cambodia can't have the same charitable setups.

There's one very important reason: the government view the poor/homeless as vermin.

True, but I doubt they would stop you from giving out free meals and clothes, or renting a building and allowing the needy to sleep and shower there. Of course you would have to select the locations wisely and somehow try to not upset the neighborhood, but the US has problems like that as well. Nobody desires homeless people/street kids milling about outside their home or business.

[Joon]

Instead of starting something, enquire about what exists already. You don't know whether those families and kids have been reached out to already.

[phuketrichard]

aple does nothing but set people up and harass girls or worse, lie to get funds along the lines of somaly Mam)
theres plenty of good ngo's ( to bad they are in the minority) and there are more than a few soup kitchens in the city CHOICE runs one

but for the most part ( at least in Cambodia) the only people that benefit from the donations are the ones that least need them (the owners)

There is no reason Cambodia can't have the same charitable setups

If they did that ( the job the goverment should do) there would be many less NGO's and therefore MUCH LESS $$ to be taken from them,
not to mention the higher end car sales would drop.

Ever wonder why nearby countries Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, have so few NGO's devoted to taken care of the poor, homeless, kids, trafficked girls?