PAINFUL REALITIES IN CAMBODIA

Alex Tarrant writes, “I wasn't sure what to expect from my trip to Cambodia. A new OM ministry - Mercy Teams International (MTI) - has just begun there. People in Cambodia often earn just enough to survive. If they are injured or become sick they have to borrow money to live on. The last resort for many families is selling their children to pay their debts. The children are put to work as child prostitutes.

“MTI Cambodia is part of a group of organisations that go (with government support) and raid brothels to steal the children back from their ‘owners’. The children are then taken for physical and psychological evaluation and treatment and then temporarily cared for in 'safe houses' until a permanent place can be found for them out of the reach of the brothel owners.

“MTI works to rehabilitate the children and give them skills that will enable them to work and support themselves - however sometimes children return to prostitution because it is all they have known and because it pays well.

“It's a terrible situation and a challenging and potentially dangerous ministry. This is real life for families and children in Cambodia, impoverished, abused and exploited. My trip to Cambodia has left me shaken and determined to do all I can to support the work of MTI in
Cambodia.

“It’s hard to communicate the urgency – this ministry needs immediate prayer, immediate funding (via your local OM office) and volunteers with backgrounds in medicine, psychology and social work who are ready to give some time, energy and compassion and bring hope into this desperate situation.”

Source: Alex Tarrant, OM East Asia Pacific Communications

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