CMA - Ministry to the Vietnamese in Cambodia

I just wanted to give you some information about the Christian Missionary Alliance which is the ministry that I work with and the place where I teach English.

The CMA have different ministries worldwide but this one is based in Canada, located here in Cambodia, reaching out to the marginalized Vietnamese population.

There are two Vietnamese staff, Kim and Than Nguyen: Kim manages the projects and Than Nguyen is both pastor and teacher. There are projects here in the Siemreap area, a school which is here in town and a church (below) which is actually on a floating barge on the Tonle Sap lake which is about an hour's drive and boat trip away.

The Vietnamese have been in Cambodia for many centuries and are truly exiled and on the edge of society. They are amongst the poorest of the poor here and their lives are a daily struggle for survival. I think this is one of the reasons why I enjoy my work with them because they don't have any rights to education or land-ownership and seem truly grateful for that which you aim to do for them.

The people cannot return to Vietnam because they are not recognized by the Vietnamese government as they have no such identification. They originally came to Cambodia to fish the Tonle Sap lake and they actually live on the lake itself in floating villages. Many tourists here go on excursions to visit the floating villages as they are seen as an attraction but when I went there with Kim, there was nothing attractive about it. OK, the surroundings of the lake are beautiful but the lives of the people are truly pitiful and I felt sad that people make money out of selling boat trips to visit this impoverished people group.

They struggle to make a living; the unique tide patterns of the lake mean that its depth changes quite radically and the fishermen often have to move their families to where the most abundant source of fish is found. Many don't have the money to buy drinking water and so drink the water from the lake which is, as you can imagine, used for a whole manner of things. Even after boiling, its muddy content merely conceals a whole range of water-borne diseases.

However, their daily battle to survive has brought many to Christ although many find trusting in Him for their daily needs difficult. You can teach the people about hygiene and healthy eating but the problem is that they are too poor to invest in these lifestyles - bottled water and vegetables are costly staples and Than Nguyen struggles to meet the needs of the church, even as she loads her motorbike up with as much water and vegetables as she can carry.

One of the other problems faced by Kim and Than Nguyen is of families willing to sell their children to gangs promising them work in the 'coffee shops' of Phnom Penh - from the outside these establishments look innocent enough but they are merely a front for brothels. Once tipped off that there is a real possibility of a family being lead this way, they do all they can to educate them in order to keep the child at home. However, the lure of employment in this manner is often too strong to keep them in the family.

An example of this was one of the girls that attends the church on the lake who was actually told by her parents that she would be sold in order to pay off a gambling debt. Apparently the figure they would receive would be around $500 - I can't imagine what it must be like to have to consider selling one's own child into imminent abuse.

As a reward for good behaviour and diligent learning, the students are given tokens in class that they can save up and then, at the end of the week, they are allowed into the school storeroom (photo above) where they can redeem the tokens they've earned for bags of rice, shampoo, drinks, toothpaste, clothing, shoes and school books.

The kids who come to the school often lead difficult lives as they combine studying with their 'ep chai' duties of scouring the streets looking for rubbish to sell on (photos below). They are used as a source of income by their parents who often run up large debts gambling, which is rife in these poor communities. Sadly, I've heard stories of the children being beaten at home and one child whose prostitute mother actually tried to drown her before a neighbour stepped in to save her life. Many of the Vietnamese can't get good jobs and scrape a living doing what they can to make ends meet.

Than Nguyen (pictured here) works hard for these people; her love for them shines through even when she has to deal with difficult situations at the lake or when the kids at the school misbehave. I also tutor her in English as she has expressed a wish to be able to share the ministry's needs with Western visitors out here; this is enjoyable and her confidence and fluency is improving. She has needed assistance for a while now and thankfully, Kim has found a Vietnamese lady who will be joining us in February but more help is still required.

Until next time..

With every blessing,
Dan