Life at “Stung Meanchey”

December 17, 2010

Op-Ed by Justin Sok

This year, the Cambodian Association of America celebrates its 35th Anniversary. There were representatives from national, state, and local organizations participating in the celebration and they offered their congratulations and best wishes to the CAA for many years to come. The Board of Directors and the Executive Director discussed some of the challenges the organization had overcome and future issues that the organization may have to anticipate in the years to come. It has always been a great pleasure to be part of their annual celebration.

Besides bonne cuisine, the program included an awards presentation, Khmer traditional dances, slide shows, raffles prizes, and dancing. But this year’s celebration included a program that was quintessential, which captivated the audiences, a special presentation by A New Day Cambodia.

A New Day Cambodia (ANDC) is a non-profit corporation established in 2006 by a philanthropic couple, Mr. Bill Smith and his wife Lauren. The Smith’s had flown in from Chicago, and not only they were excited to be part with the celebration, but were very enthusiastic about sharing with the audience and the community about the one place on the other side of the world that they had encountered during their vacation. They shared about their experiences and offered to a brief video. In 2002, the Smith’s took a trip to Cambodia; their plan was to have a brief and enjoyable vacation in Cambodia before they headed back to the states to their normal lives. The Smith’s had stumbled onto the dump site, Stung Meanchey, and what they had witnessed was a heartbreaking scene, instead. They saw young children, pale and scrawny, some were naked and half-dressed, meticulously scavenging through layers of garbage, hoping to find something of value to sell for money to help support their families. The Smith’s talked to the families of the three little girls and had promised to them that they would commit to provide support for the children by paying for their education, clothing and all necessary supplies and would offer to give the families a small amount financial assistance, and in return, the families would promise that the children would never go back to work in the garbage dump again. Since then, the Smith’s have helped save the three little girls, and that was the beginning of their incredible odyssey, which led to the inception of their non-profit corporation, A New Day Cambodia, in 2006. Presently, the Smith’s are continuing to provide 100 children with housing, food, medical attention, and all personal needs for them and for their families. In addition to attending Khmer school, these children are also being taught English for 4 hours a day.

The presentation of the video clips portrayed images of young Cambodian children whose hopes and dreams shattered by their poverty and desperate circumstances. At the crack of dawn, the sun casts the city in gold. A plume of clouds spread across the sky and an orange sunset in the evening night. Tomorrow will only be another day, but will always be the same routine, therefore, time is meaningless to them. The work has already started since the early morning light. There were people, including young children, scattered around the landscape of refuse, the size of 8 football fields. Under the shimmering light of day, in the breathless heat and foul odor, and in astonishing smoldering smoke and ash that obscured the sun, some children are, as young as 3 years old, wearing torn clothes, no shirts and have no shoes on, emaciated, with their ribs cage visible, with stomach that looked like they had missed too many meals, dragging nylon bags behind their backs, eyes like radar studying the layers of garbage intently for signs of scraps of metal and plastics.

There are days with gray clouds coursing the morning sky. A light rain began to fall, then stopped, and then comes again, sequentially and innumerably sounds of thunder and bolt of lightning strike, but it was of no concern to them. They used their hands to shade their eyes, looking along the horizon for signs of dump trucks pulling in. I used to hear people asking, “Do you ever wonder how it is when you drop a piece of food on the ground, and thousand ants suddenly appear out of nowhere?” But this is about the dump trucks and the lives of these innocent children. How could this possibly happening? Here in the states, we have seagulls circling and hovering from above, awaiting to swarm in once the dump trucks unloaded the garbage. At Stung Meanchey dump site, the dump trucks draw them like vultures to a carcass. These poor people could get seriously injured or lose their lives by charging at the dump trucks while these trucks are still rolling in. There were reports that some children who were buried alive while the trucks are dumping their garbage - causing seriously injury, and other children who were run over by these dump trucks. There are diseases and illnesses and lack of medical care at Stung Meanchey dump site. The families are living under the cardboard and torn tarps that they had used to build for their shelters on the garbage dump site.

The video clips paints the everyday real life experiences of the people at the “Stung Meanchey” dump site in graphic color that leaves nothing to the imagination. I watched the video with a feeling of lugubrious. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing these children suffering. My stomach was in a knot. Understanding the insufferable life experiences that these children have to wade through everyday, this had pulled a curtain back on a fragment of my life, which I had long padlocked and shelved away, began to pour forth, clamoring for attention, like nightmares of the shadows growing bolder and larger. I could not shake off my feelings thinking about those children, how these children could ever go to sleep with an empty stomach, and whether they were going to survive through the night. At that moment, my mind had drifted away, and felt tears swelling up in my eyes. I had mixed emotions, thoughts, and questions running through me. Their everyday’s hoped and dreams baking under the 100-degree temperature sun, scouring through layers of trash for survival. These poor and innocent people are in the darkness where the only illumination is from a fire behind them and the only things they see are the shadows cast on the ground in front of them. They see only the dim shadows of images and believe them to be their only reality. We have the responsibility and accountability to reach out to them and help them to escape poverty and show them the way out of the abyss, up towards the light of the sun. When they sees things as they really are, they will go back to tell the others that what they believe is true is only an illusion.

This is a real life story. It is by no mean my intentions to paint the scenario other than what it already is, or insert my bitter personal memories to galvanize for public support and win the public’s heart. But it is rather a matter that needs our immediate attention. While we understand that nothing worthwhile is without sacrifice, but sacrifice does not have to be the way that these children and families have to wade through trash everyday, especially, when we have the ability to help.

Having seen these video clips compelled me to write this article, in the hopes of getting maximum attention and instill maximum impact to the people of the world, so that we all come to understand that the grass on the other side of the field is, in fact, not green. Stung Meanchey dump site is a scarred landscape of abuse. These innocent children are vulnerable to all kind of abuse - physically, rape, kidnapping, and their parents may have decided to sell them off for small amount of financial to support the family.

Although their unfortunate circumstances have come into their lives and stealing from them a past, but we surely have the opportunity to instill in these children the hope and dreams that they will have for their future. So during this holiday season, my plea to you is to expand your view of the world and of justice, and with your financial support, please help these children. If you happen to be vacationing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, please stop by the center to say hello to the staff, and perhaps, get to meet these children, too. And again, don’t forget to donate some money. For those who would like to make a donation, please send your donation to the address or click on the link below, follow the directions at the link and/or contact the Smith’s and their staff directly. Please help give to these children of “Stung Meanchey” dump site to realize their dreams of life at the “River of Victory.”

www.anewdaycambodia.org

Thank you for your immediate attention. Please have a safe and a wonderful holiday.

Leges sine moribus vanae – laws without morals are useless.

Justin C. Sok

December 17, 2010