Cambodia and I will be celebrating our one month anniversary this weekend!!! Being here as a student and not just as a tourist makes me feel as though I need to critically analyze my daily surroundings. I have compiled a very short list of social issues that I feel are the most significant and evident in the Cambodian society I have gotten to know and love.
Poverty:
Cambodia’s poor people predominantly include subsistence farmers, members of poor fishing communities, rural youth, as well as internally displaced persons and landmine victims. Tribal peoples and women are generally the most disadvantaged. Women in particular do not have equal access to education, paid employment and land ownership and other property rights. For many women, reproductive health services are inadequate or non-existent and domestic violence is very commoan.
Cambodia's poorest people are isolated, living in remote villages far from basic social services and facilities. Many have to travel more than 5km to reach a health clinic, and many live more than 5km from the nearest road. Because of a lack of education and skills training, people have inadequate employment opportunities and low capabilities. Poor health, lack of education, poor infrastructure and low productivity lead to deeper poverty. Economic growth has been limited primarily to urban areas such as Phnom Penh, creating a large income gap. Income disparity within the city is very apparent as well. Well-off individuals always work for the government and can be easily spotted driving around in their Lexus SUV's and honking at the motor bikes to get out of the way.
Corruption:
Corruption is everywhere and takes a variety of forms: bribery, nepotism, patronage, theft of state assets, evasion of taxes, diversion of revenue and electoral fraud (what I’m working on to prevent!).Citizens routinely have to make informal payments to access public services such as medical care, school grades, court verdicts, alleged traffic violations and birth and marriage certificates.
After the judiciary, the police forces are one of the most corrupt sectors in Cambodia. I’m surprised it took this long (to be honest I was never really looking for it) but this morning on my way to work I saw traffic police demanding bribes from motorcyclists. As we sat at the red light for the first time instead of trotting through, a group of traffic cops were engaged in deep conversation with a distinctly unhappy-looking motorcyclist. Trying not to draw attention to my whiteness (because white skin means money), I pulled down the tinted screen on my helmet. This also meant I could stare without them actually knowing. After we passed the intersection, Kay told me about a time he had been pulled over and was asked to pay a bribe of 5,000 riels ($1.25US).
Policemen have to pay a percentage of their unofficial income to higher ranking police officers in cash or in goods. It is also apparently routine practice for police officers to pay bribes to secure a promotion. People are underpaid, with salaries typically less than 20 % of the living wage. Bribes and corruption have become a vital survival strategy and part of everyday life.
Street Children:
In Phnom Penh alone, there are over 20,000 children living and/or working on the streets according to ChildSafe International. Tourism is constantly increasing with about 1 million people visiting each year right now. Every day I see westerners unknowingly increase the vulnerability of street children. Giving money and food to begging and poor children only encourages parents to send their children out to beg. Contributions and gifts from foreigners add to existing problems and can create an environment where children are kept in vulnerable and dangerous situations.
Tourist attractions such as orphanages or slum tours make my blood boil! Not only do they exploit children's vulnerabilities for financial gain but an orphanage is a child's home, a place that should be safe and where his/her right to privacy and dignity should be respected.
Orphanages should be a last resort for children in need! Jenny and Cathy who currently work in orphanages say most of the children have families in the village, they just can’t afford to provide for them. NGO’s that promote the reintegration of children in their homes and NGO’s who provide social services to vulnerable children and their families is where foreign money should be invested. NGO’s supporting families, youth and organizations who work with marginalized people can provide vocational training and integrate community initiatives such as income generating activities, to create financial stability for families and to generate social resources and support.
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene):
Washrooms in general are absolutely disgusting and very unsanitary. It is also not uncommon for them to be flooded. Toilet paper doesn`t exists in bathrooms. Instead, there is a hose (or a bucket of water) beside every toilet to clean yourself after going to the bathroom. Therefore, it is also not uncommon to walk into a bathroom that is soaking wet from top to bottom. Proper hand soap and hand washing is also not commonly practised. Most bathrooms do not even have a hand washing station. Hand sanitizer and kleenex has become my best friend.
One thing Cambodia is not lacking is access to water. What Cambodia is definitely lacking is access to clean, drinkable water. The water source is very unreliable and quite dangerous to drink. Because of the heat, it is common practise to shower 2-3 times a day: once in the morning, once at lunch during your two hour lunch break, and once before bed. For a country that is so unsanitary when it comes to washrooms, they sure are concerned with not smelling!
There is some sort of garbage disposal system in Cambodia because I have seen garbage trucks, but I have never seen a garbage can in public. Even at the places I live and work, the garbage bins are hardly used. Where do people put their garbage? Depending on which area of the city you are in, I would probably say the street or in the fire.
With all the motorcyclists, inadequate garbage disposal and the added heat factor, Phnom Penh can sometimes stink. For this reason, scarves come in handy for so many different reasons :)
Back seat bandits protecting our nostrils and lungs from the dirt, exhaust, and stink*
Flooding:
As I am sure you have heard on the news, Bangkok and other parts of Thailand are completely flooded right now. Unfortunately, Cambodia is in the same position. Cambodia is currently experiencing the worst flooding in more than a decade. 247 people have died mainly from drowning and more than 100,000 families have been displaced. Thankfully, Phnom Penh has been okay and the worst I have experienced the flooding was my time in Siem Reap.
A major concern is food security. Now and in the longer-term there’s the risk of severe food shortages due to rice fields being submerged, grain stores swept away and the December harvest being lost. Provincial authorities estimate that up to 60 per cent of the rice crops may have been destroyed.
Already thousands of homes and usually safe places such as open patches of high ground, schools and pagodas have been flooded. Nearly three-quarters of the country is thought to have been affected, and it’s the poorest who have been hit the hardest. Most of the communities affected by the floods are in rural areas which are still difficult to access, where people are largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, mainly rice farming and fishing, for survival. Another major concern is sanitation, many people do not have access to safe drinking water and many wells are contaminated with flood water.
Aid is currently being provided from the France, US, China and Singapore governments, and Oxfam and Plan in terms of NGOs but I'm sure there are many more.
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