Daughters - Day 10

Daughters of Cambodia.

Ponder these words.

Because these three words are literally changing people’s lives.

It’s been a while since my last blog so i feel the need to back track a little and share what has been happening over the past few days.

On Tuesday was my first day with the Daughters of Cambodia and it has literally been the most amazing experience of my life so far.
Basically this Ministry offers another source of income and a way of escape for prostitutes (17 +). Often in Cambodia daughters are sold to brothels in order to provide extra income for struggling families. Like sugar, orange juice or coffee, 'sex with a young virgin' is a valuable commodity in this country, so daughters are sold to brothels and their prostitution wages used to stop their family from starving or living on the streets. This responsibility alone is usually enough to stop girls leaving the brothels, because if they do it means their family have no other source of income.

Daughters of Cambodia is seeking to change that. Through word of mouth prostitutes come looking for the centre in order to find a way of escape from their current lifestyle. In exchange Daughters teaches them practical tailoring skill; how to use a sowing machine, embroidery, button making, design, fabric cutting as well as council the girls. The outcome; hundreds of beautiful bags, purses, pillows, key rings, clothes.... and restored girls. They are paid for their work, and offered accommodation and so can leave their protection behind them.

Its actually quite amazing to witness this, and very inspiring. So for the past few days i have been splitting my time to help the organisation. In the mornings i go to the admin office and spend 3 hours designing leaflets for the new shop/cafe that they are opening. And in the afternoon i go the centre to teach music which i absolutely love.

On Tuesday i, though the use of a wonderful interpreter, taught the boys 'As the Deer' on an instrument called the Bellplates, and it was so lovely to hear them playing the melody to this beautiful song and they enjoyed it so much. Then today after much prayer for God's help I managed to teach some of the girls (who also do not speak English) 'I Exalt thee'. This was a lot more difficult! It seems that boys are in fact better than girls in some things! But they tried really hard and i really loved teaching them. In the end they got most of the notes right and it sounded really good, which was such a relief because they are supposed to be performing this song at the grand shop opening in 2 weeks time!

It was so great to be there to see these girls laughing and having fun with each other and knowing they are safe.
It just really made me think about obeying God, and it is so true that when we do obey we really reap the fruits of that benefit.
Here in Cambodia, everything that i know has been or is being stripped away including the unneeded desires of the West for fame and fortune and all that jazz. Everything here is operating on 'basic core needs', as the lifestyle is so minimalistic so its easy to start to think and see life the same way. Its a really hard concept to explain (even harder to grasp!) but that’s how it feels. For example in the West a car is made up of so many things including colour, make, even model. But now, the way im starting to see things, a car is nothing more than an engine, steering wheel, gear box and brakes. Everything aesthetic addition is not so important.

I think because I'm seeing and experiencing first hand the things I have read about it is making me different. Now i have a face to go with all the terrible prostitute statistics i was quoting back in England. Now there are names and faces and personalities. Not just numbers from a Government report, but real people in a real situations that need real answers.
Seeing that kind of thing first hand is definitely life changing, don’t you think?
I do.
L xx