Broken Girls

Broken Girls: In Cambodia any girl who has been associated with a job in a bar or nightclub is instantly labeled “broken girl” and considered an outcast, a girl that no “respectable” family would associate with.

The last few years have brought global awareness to the problem of trafficking and sex-slaves, conjuring up all kind of mental images of young women being sold into the prostitution ring where they are chained to a bedpost or drugged into compliance. A problem with a simple solution, which is to go in, guns blazing, and rescue the victims. But a deeper look at the underlying battle tells a different story.  In truth, it is not as much a fight against evil pimps and underground networks of traffickers as it is a fight against poverty.

Poverty is the driving force behind most cases of  “sex slavery” in Cambodia, and it is not an imprisonment to a pimp but to destitution.  The girls have made a conscious choice to pursue their current employment. This does not, however, make it a free choice.

The downward spiral: obviously young women don’t set out to be hookers. No little girl dreams about being a prostitute when she grows up.  In most cases a girl will come from a poor, broken family where her chance at education has come and gone. She is in her mid to late teens and has moved to Phnom Penh to work in a garment factory.  She has chosen to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of her family. By moving to the city she is laying down her reputation as an innocent child and replacing it with the image of a city girl, unaccountable to the eyes of her parent, elders and community leaders.  Most girls secure a job in a garment factory through a job broker. Their contract requires the first four months of their pay be transferred directly to the broker. After that, they are free to collect their salaries in full, which is a minimum wage of $60 per month, with the opportunity to work overtime and earn up to $85 per month. If a young woman is making $60 a month she will send $40 of it home to her family. In most cases $40 a month is enough to send younger siblings to school, giving them the opportunities that their older sister did not have. That leaves just $20 a month to survive on… $20 per month may be enough to live on in the countryside, but the cost of living in the city is much higher, a concept that is difficult for an uneducated, hungry family to grasp.  At this point in the downward spiral, the temptation of an additional $300+ per month as a prostitute becomes the only option in the mind of an unschooled young woman. Her physical assets are the only think that she has available to market. She is torn by this choice, but in most cases, it is the only choice that she sees. Her sacrifice will cover her daily needs as well as feed, clothe and educate her remaining siblings and free them from the crushing trap of poverty that is their current reality.  And so, the downward spiral claims yet another victim and she is given the title of “broken girl.” She will never again be viewed as a “respectable” citizen.  She cannot return to her home -that would only bring disgrace to her parents. She has given up her life for the ones she loves, in the only way that she knows how.

Guns Blazing: There are dozens of aid organizations working in Cambodia, but they are making little headway in their battle against trafficking. That’s because they are fighting the symptom and not the sickness.  They spend countless time and resources planning out raids on brothels so that they can “rescue” the girls.  Then they enroll them in a job skills course so that they can find employment, but in most cases the “job skill” taught to the girls  is sewing, so that they can get a job in a factory! And they wonder why so many of the girls run away from the program. The girls are thinking of their families. They HAVE to be making money to send home, and if they are enrolled in a job-skills course, who will cover the cost of their younger siblings school fees? Who will buy grandma’s medication? The family has come to depend on her. She MUST work, and so she runs.

FCOP approach: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or at least that’s what they say, and what FCOP has found to be true.  The most likely victims of sex slavery today are the youth from broken and impoverished homes. These are the children who have lost one or both parents, children whose father is an alcoholic and mother is sick, and children who are being raised by their grandparents or extended family. These are the victims of extreme poverty and illiteracy, and consequentially the ones that are at the highest risk of being “enslaved” in a life of sex work.  These are the children that FCOP opens their doors to. These are the youth that find refuge, love, acceptance, education, a home and a family through the local Foursquare Church.

There are 106 FCOP church orphan homes and over 4,000 FCOP church groups spread all around the Cambodia that act as advocates for the at-risk youth in their communities. These church members have eyes and ears in their communities and they are the best ones to help break the cycle of poverty that is devastating the lives of so many young women. Through local churches, FCOP is reaching out to the poor, the lonely, and the hungry; they are housing the orphaned and abandoned children and employing the single mothers and widows.

In the last few years FCOP has introduced micro-enterprises like incubators for hatching quail, boxes for growing crickets, mushroom huts, and fish farms as a means for additional income for the poor in the communities around the local churches.  When a family can feed, clothe and educate their children, the cycle of extreme poverty which is landing thousands of girls in the sex industry can be broken. The result of this approach is highly successful. This approach also creates a safe and loving “family” to anyone who wants to get out of prostitution.  So while the vast majority of these young women are not able to return to their biological families due to social stigma, each one of them now has a loving and caring church family.

Broken girls in Cambodian culture will always be “broken girls,” but the Church has a different message to send. It is the same message that Jesus had for the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery, and for all the men, women and children that society has labeled “broken.”  It’s the message of love, acceptance and relationship. It’s a place to be accepted, no matter where you have come from, what you have done, or what color or nationality you are.  It’s a meal when there isn’t any food on the table, and it’s the neighbor who says, “There is a better way, let me show you.”

It’s a pretty simple message, but it can change a life forever.

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The above document is something that I wrote up for FCOP to send to a church in the states. Before I wrote it I dialoged with Pastor Ted Olbrich and spent some time in prayer. One thought that I want to communicate, personally, is that I do recognize that sex trafficking is a problem that should NOT be ignored. I do believe that there is a time and a place for “guns blazing” kind of intervention, and I do support intervention, when it is truly needed and can save the life of a victim.

We had quite a time getting to our destination. We started out in a van which broke down and had to be towed by our supply truck. A 10 hour drive turned into 14 and we rode part of the way on top of boxes of rice and milk.

We finally arrived at our guest house which was situated on the edge of a beautiful lake and right on the boarder of “real jungle” land.

After a good nights sleep we headed into the jungle. Destination: two remote Foursquare Churches. Our purpose was to bring medical supplies, medical care, food, encouragement and (if needed and/or wanted) the Good News of Jesus.

The first church was relatively easy to reach. We only had to gas up with a funnel and jug one time, and we only stopped to check two bridges for stability before driving across them. The second day was more challenging. We traveled by SUV, ferry, motorbike and foot when the bridges were too risky to ride across. These are churches that FCOP has been working with for several years but they are so remote that they rarely get visited and there are no medical facilities nearby. While the orphans had priority to the medical care, it was also given free of charge to the communities surrounding the churches.

We traveled by ferry and motorbike, but the food and the majority of the supplies went in little rented boats, along with one staff who fell out 3 times and was was paranoid about crocodiles. He arrived wet but in one piece, much to his relief.

We had three doctors with us, and as many medical supplies as they could pack in the back of a SUV. Multivitamins, anti-parasite pills and Tylenol were the most distributed medications.

Repackaging vitamins and Tylenol.

Doctors treating the needy.

People waiting to see a doctor.

New reading glasses… well in Ratanakiri it might be beading glasses ;) While schooling is becoming available in more and more of the villages, nearly all of the adults are illiterate, and at this point the schooling is still very basic or requires the children to travel for long distances.

The ministry Faith Comes By Hearing has given us solar powered Bibles which were distributed to everyone who wanted to have one. Many of our pastors in the Ratanakiri area use the audio Bibles to prepare for their Sunday service and to study because they have never learned to read, or are just now learning.

I also have to give a big THANK YOU to Gleanings for the Hungry and Feed My Starving Children for the ongoing donations of food. What a blessing that all of our orphans are fed and we have extra to share with people in Ratanakiri.

The best part of this last month was the 8 days that I hosted a team from my home church, Eugene Faith Center. We went all over the Country, visited 8 church homes and our non-profit rice farm and rice mill. We bumped and bounced and squeezed that team into all kinds of place. After 8 days on the ground they left exhausted but with memories to last a lifetime and promises to be back soon.

Final thought: the glass is half empty or half full. You love it or you hate it. I love my life, stresses and all. When you have stress and pain, take a step back and think about all the amazing people you know, of your friends, family, neighbors (even the grumpy ones) and remember what a gift life really is! Have a great week everyone!

But we are careful. When you have a team come all the way from the USA to serve for two weeks, you have to take care of them!  East Valley Church came to us from Northern CA, and they gave us their all! Thanks to them the Kra Lang Church Orphan Home has a new cafeteria and a fresh coat of paint on nearly every wall (three coats in the boys room!). It’s always fun to watch peoples faces when you tell them, “Cambodia doesn’t have cement trucks, grab a shovel and start mixing” or “you are looking for a paint drop cloth? I think I saw some banana leaves out back, but please don’t pull them off of the trees.” Here’s my favorite one. “A hose for the water? It’s pretty hard to hook a hose up to the well, we usually just use a bucket.“

East Valley did such a good job! Many members on the team had professional experience in construction and remolding but they didn’t let their knowlage get in the way of their hearts to serve. They were amazing. When a retired engineer can carry rocks and mix cement while the Cambodian foreman puts up a structure that isn’t perfectly square, you know that you have a true servant on your team.  Gene, you are a better man than most. Thank you for your servants heart!

Gene took time to teach our guys some tricks for the future. The instruction was well-received and I think that we will see some even finer structures in the next few years.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6.

Thank you East Valley, you guys were AMAZING!

I arrived home in Cambodia and had 13 hours to do an unpack-repack stunt befor picking up the East Valley Team (who are AWESOME!) Goodbye fuzzy boots hello flipflop! This post comes to you from Kra Lang, which is another way of saying the middle of no where. This is also the first post that I’ve written on my phone as opposed to a computer, so please have a little grace on any mistakes you might see.
I have to say, I was pretty excited to get back over here once Christmas was over. This jungle of a country has grown on me in the last two years. It’s probably the people, honestly, because I don’t like the geckos or the humidity even an ounce more than I did when I arrived. People make the difference wherever you go in the world.
I had a wonderful Christmas in Molalla with my family, and a good time with dear friends in Eugene. I am blessed beyond measure by the friends and family in my life. Here are a few photos from the last month at home.

Seriously, such a blessing to have my mom over here with me for almost two weeks. And she didn’t just laze around on a tropical beach, she worked! We went out on a dental team for a week and a half and pulled some long hours fixing orphans teeth.

We rand a pretty sweet clinic, with 5 chairs and 4 “units” hooked up to the air compressor and generator. Two Dentists, 3 hygienists, one licensed dental assistant and a whole bunch of posers (such as myself).

My mom left a little bit of her heart with this little girl. She was deaf, and she quickly became my mom’s shadow and personal tour guide to all things Cambodian.

My mom was quickly tagged the “crafts and games lady.” She helped work on a lot of teeth, but her natural gifts of working with children where shining brightly as well. She brought and entire suitcase of crafts and games. The children flocked around her, and cried when they said goodbye to her. With a new group of children every day, she had her work cut out for her.

Many of the children had never seen a dentist and we were putting in 10 to 12 hour work days, so we made sure to take time to have some fun!

In fact, one afternoon Dr. Mike got in the chair and we let the kids work on his teeth! Good times were had by all. On the last day we had a shared meal together, and closed the evening with a dance party. It was a wonderful week!

Apparently the pond is in the field behind these tanks, but we have had so much flooding this year, I couldn’t tell the pond from the flooded rice patties.  Just like most all Norwegians own snow skis, and the Dutch own bicycles, many Cambodians own a boat. Flooding is part of life here. Some homes are built on stilts, and when the waters recede, it’s time to plant!

I will say, though, that the flooding is especially bad this year.  I’ve visited this home three times before, and I’ve never seen a boat in the back yard!.  Here is another one of our home, which isn’t faring as well.

Which of these does not belong, besides the water? Um, how about the fish! Can you see them? They are swimming in the church.

Cambodians have been using rudimentary techniques  to catch and grow fish for centuries.  In the dry season a farmer will dig a large hole, then when the the property floods the fish from the rice patties become trapped in the “pond” and can be farmed and eaten later on in the year. Foursquare Children of Promise is helping pastors, caregivers and children perfect these old farming techniques through education and a little extra funding.  It is exciting to watch and to be a small part of! But I must say, the most rewarding part of it all is watching a child’s life change. When you can see the cycle of poverty, neglect and abuse broken in the life of a child, and you can watch them live free and healthy lives in relationship with God and with a loving community, then you know that you’ve found something worth investing yourself in.

Grants: the most irksome part of my life, and yet the most rewarding in a monetary kind of way -not that I personally get any of the money, but I do get to see it spent which is exciting and motivating. In August we submitted 10 grants to certain foundation, and last week we received the good news, “eight of your grants have made it into round two; diligence.” to translate this sentence into its true meaning it should read, “you have a week and a half to send us massive amounts of unnecessary paperwork and your grants will be eliminated if you don’t do your paperwork perfectly.” So that’s my current reality. Let’s move on before I lose you!

Crickets and mushrooms: One of the grants is for the development of cricket and mushroom micro enterprise sustainable development (what a mouthful).  I’ve blogged about this subject before, so I’ll keep it short.  The guys that I live with at the FCOP International Office are extremely motivated to experiment in sustainable development projects, and perhaps make some extra money on the side.  Last weekend they decided to dig a pond outside of their bedroom. Go figure! Today they stocked it with Tilapia, a type of fish that will be ready to eat in 4 months. Here are some photos from the last few weeks.

I was impressed with how many fish you can raise in a small pond. I had no idea that 3,000 Tilapia could survive in such a small pond… or can they?  Only time will tell :)

This is a lean-to that the guys build off of their room. It has a grass roof and tarp walls to keep it dark inside. They are building a mushroom wall with artificial mushroom logs. They first tried this micro enterprise project in April. The logs produced, but the guys didn’t get the quantity that they were looking for. So, here they go again, round two. Just like the crickets and the incubators, once this project is perfected it will be a good little business for our pastors and orphan homes all around the country.

Here is the cricket hut. The boxes are made from corrugated plastic, like signs. It takes about 3 months to raise a box of crickets, from larva to fully grown little hoppers.

Here’s a cricket box from the inside. A pretty sweet set-up, if you’re a cricket with a short life expectancy.

Let’s move on. This photo has nothing to do with sustainable development. We were having a party, and the BBQ was so hot that one of the guys came up with the brilliant idea to grill in his motor bike helmet.  I applaud him for his critical thinking and his cooking skills.  The BBQ was very good.

Last week I got to get out of the country for a few days. Thailand is our neighboring country, and about 20 years more advanced. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before this, but with the exception of KFC, Cambodia doesn’t have any western chains. Wait, I take that back, there is also a DQ at the airport, but does that really count?  Anyway, Bangkok Thailand has it all! Sizzlers, Subway, Duncan Donuts, Burger King, A&W, Outback, and my all-time favorite, Starbucks!

I was there for a Foursquare Missionary Connection, but I may have connected more with my special friend, the green mermaid. Mmmmmmm.

Well… this post seems a bit hodgepodge, but I guess it’s accurate of the last two weeks; it’s another slice of my life in Cambodia. Have a great day!

Hip Hip Hooray

Hip Hip Hooray

Hip Hip Hooray!

http://gleanings.org/ the photos of Gleanings for the Hungry used in this post are from their webpage