"Kidnapped" by Greta Jean Carusoson

I got kidnapped!
The white slave trade is alive and well it seems. A trap was laid, I was lured in, I was kidnapped and drugged by a large gang of Cambodians. I talked my way out of it.
Okay, you know me well enough to know that while my initial claim is not a lie, it is not the real picture.
A trap was laid: A brand new service station opened up next to my hotel AND it has a cappuccino machine.
I was lured in: There was no one at the cashier's desk, and no one to be seen, but a great deal of noise coming from out the back.
I was kidnapped: All the friends, family and associates of the owner of the petrol station were having a party. They were sitting on bamboo mats on the concrete floor of the car wash out the back. Food and drink was spread out, everyone was happy. As soon as they saw me with my Diet Coke and 70 cents in hand they surrounded me. A special place on the ground was made for me, a place was cleared and food was served. I was gently but firmly guided to my spot and told I was their special guest. They would be terribly offended if I did not eat and drink. Most spoke really good English. A whole bunch of them work at the ANZ bank. The were all bright, educated, funny, sophisticated and charming.
and drugged: They insisted that I drink a beer.
I talked my way out of it: We laughed and joked, the young women made fun of the young men, we played guessing games. They they told me all sorts of interesting things about their lives, Cambodia and what they think of current issues. They seemed much more switched on than the teachers I am working with. They probably earn four times as much as well. Teachers get such low wages that they just cannot attract many clever people into the profession. I was not allowed to go til the party was over. It was the best experience of kidnapping that I have ever had.
Now for the explanation. In Cambodia, it is really important to try to get a white foreigner to come to a party. You do not have to know them, you just want them to come. This is true of weddings and funerals especially, but also of all parties. So, I was the first white foreigner who staggered in and my presence raised the status of the event. (Usually it is the other way around.)

"Hope for Children Centre"
There is a wonderful orphanage in Battambang. It is called the "Hope for Children Centre". It is secure, neat, tidy, clean, well organised, and above board. They have great teachers and a brilliant 26 year old female Cambodian woman running the place. It has the best library in the city and a great variety of toys. They take kids with aids, disabilities, and TB. (Apparently other orphanages in Battambang do not and possibly cannot do this.) But there are a couple of problems. First, it is entirely funded by Australia through AusAid. Second, there are impoverished, desperate children everywhere, and the centre had a limited number of beds. The organisation is well known, so they get a great many donations (which they need) meanwhile other desperate children get very little or nothing. It is a model organisation, but unsustainable and not reproducible.

Here are the bits that you might not want to think about.
The centre is so well resourced and well run, that desperate people may be tempted to drop their children off at the centre. It may well be in the child's best interest to just leave it at the centre whether there are parents or not. The director said that she was trying to set up a program where children could stay in their village, with their community, perhaps cared for by a relative. The are trying to find a way to support extended families who are trying to take care of desperately poor, abandoned or orphaned children. In a terrible way, the center is so well, that you can understand people wanting their children to go there. There is some concern that the very success of the centre means that abandoning a child could turn into a good idea. The staff were certainly aware of the problem and were really thinking about how they proceed.

There is talk that there are organisations that "rescue" children when they would be much better to resource and support the families. There are terrible stories of abuse and neglect, so the impulse to run in and grab a child can be strong. Unfortunately, this leaves the perpetrator and the problem behind in the village. Possibly at times, there is no other way, but when you think about Australia's history of "rescuing/stealing" children and the arguments put forward you can imagine some of the complexities.

There is now such a thing as "orphanage tourism". Lots of people like me come to Cambodia and go on tours dropping off gifts. Unfortunately, they all go to the same orphanages; and there are organised groups of tourists doing the rounds, but always of the same orphanages.