Imagine that you are a farmer in a rural area of Cambodia. You may have never been to Phnom Penh before, which is a city that has a reputation of being dangerous and especially so for young women from the provinces. Human trafficking does occur and there is a risk that young women from the provinces can end up in real trouble.
Along comes CLEW and asks to take your daughter to Phnom Penh for the next four years. It is remarkable that these parents trust us to care for their daughters while they are in our charge. It is likely because CLEW is identified by U.S. Peace Corp and USAID personnel, and organizations such as Plan Cambodia and KAPE. It is also important that current CLEW students and some of our graduates are involved in the interviews to explain the program and the fact that the dorm provides a safe haven for the students. Our eight year track record is also helpful in garnering trust.
One of the things that worries us is the safety of our students once they have been admitted into the program. Our new dorm is the greatest assurance of safety. The students have a safe place to live with effective security. It has plenty of space and even a roof top patio where the students can congregate with a nice steady breeze and a covered roof top patio to make it useable during the rainy season (May to October).
It is surprising what you learn as you gain experience. CLEW’s previous dorm had been in use for a period of seven years. We didn’t find out until recently that the students slept with a knife or a pair of scissors under the pillow in case the dorm was broken into. On one occasion, they heard a person on the roof (unlikely to occur on our current dorm) but he never got in (assuming that he was trying to).
Another concern we have is that our students (aged 17-23) are safe while travelling on the streets of Phnom Penh. The traffic in Phnom Penh is getting steadily worse and the traffic laws are better understood as general guidelines and not fixed rules. Accidents are sorted out on the side of the road with relatively minor payments exchanging hands being the practice. It is worrisome when you have 25 young women travelling back and forth between the dorm and the university by bicycle on streets that are crowded and poorly lit at night.
We have a partial solution to this problem, by having the students congregate at night at the university and travel back to the dorm as a group. They wait until Champa who is one of our graduates and works at RULE, is ready to follow them back home on her motorcycle.
We are always surprised at how many holidays the students have in Cambodia to travel back to their home villages. Many go by tuk tuk, which is a motorcycle with a cab on the back. Marnie stresses that the students must know the tuk tuk driver due to the risk that, instead of taking the students to their home village, they deliver them to traffickers in Phnom Penh. As a result, we are very careful with the travel of our students and thankfully, we have had no incidents thus far and we hope and pray that we never do.
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A Tuk Tuk in front of the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh
Another measure of protection is that the students do not travel alone as they travel in a group. The new students who are admitted into the program are quickly educated as to the ways of the city and the need to stay safe.
We have been very fortunate that we have not had any problem with the safety of our students. Nevertheless, It is a constant worry for us and any international microcharity must ensure the safety of those participating in any program that is created.
Chuck G.