As we trudged and sluffed through the dust, sometimes alone, sometimes with hundreds of tourists/ruin seekers we were often followed by children selling a variety of trinkets and souvenirs. Often barefoot, the youngest would run through their litany… "Lady, Mister…sell you postcard, 1 dollar, 2, 3, 4…”and then repeat the numbers in French and Spanish. The older adolescents and their parents could approach with scarves or cold water. It is often a family business with sometimes one or several families at the entrance of a particular ruin. But it is a business that can also come with great risk.
In a country (like many countries around the world) where so many live in physical poverty, that even five year olds have to work to support their family instead of going to school, surely the temptation exists to make quick money by selling your child for a few hours to make more than you might in weeks or months. I’m not saying it happens around Angkor but it does happen in many places in Cambodia and around the world. Perhaps these kids are safe at a World Heritage site, under their parent’s watch, surrounded by many tourists and officials but even the fact that they aren’t in school sets them up to be at risk in the future. Surely there is a high risk anywhere you find small, beautiful children, exposed in a predator’s playground.
Duncan
As we trudged and sluffed through the dust, sometimes alone, sometimes with hundreds of tourists/ruin seekers we were often followed by children selling a variety of trinkets and souvenirs. Often barefoot, the youngest would run through their litany… "Lady, Mister…sell you postcard, 1 dollar, 2, 3, 4…”and then repeat the numbers in French and Spanish. The older adolescents and their parents could approach with scarves or cold water. It is often a family business with sometimes one or several families at the entrance of a particular ruin. But it is a business that can also come with great risk.
In a country (like many countries around the world) where so many live in physical poverty, that even five year olds have to work to support their family instead of going to school, surely the temptation exists to make quick money by selling your child for a few hours to make more than you might in weeks or months. I’m not saying it happens around Angkor but it does happen in many places in Cambodia and around the world. Perhaps these kids are safe at a World Heritage site, under their parent’s watch, surrounded by many tourists and officials but even the fact that they aren’t in school sets them up to be at risk in the future. Surely there is a high risk anywhere you find small, beautiful children, exposed in a predator’s playground.
Duncan
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