On International Volunteer Day, volunteers in green t-shirts hit the cities to spread a simple message: ‘Let adults earn and children learn!’
According the latest findings, there are several thousand children and youth working the streets of Phnom Penh and Cambodia’s other major centres such as Siem Reap. Many of these children are forced to beg or sell books, flowers and handicrafts, especially to tourists.
Their earnings usually go to their parents, but many are preyed on by organized groups who send them back to the streets.
These vulnerable young people face many threats, from sexual exploitation to drug abuse. Their social norms are distorted, they miss school, and often they end up condemned to a never-ending cycle of poverty.
The aim of Cambodia’s UN Volunteers and the community volunteers who joined them was simply to inform people about the issue, and encourage them to ‘think twice’ before giving money directly to children.
Beyond that, the volunteers spread the message by providing information materials, posters and cards at the most popular bars, restaurants and hotels around the busiest tourist areas.
“I think initiatives like Think Twice are impactful due to the messages they advocate,” said UN Volunteer Anya Thomas, who helped organize the event in Phnom Penh, “but perhaps more significantly, for the ‘levelling’ that happens between individuals discussing the issue.”
“Rallying people from vastly different walks of life around a familiar issue of concern can really erase barriers,” she added
Most encouraging was talking to the Tuk-Tuk drivers, who offer the main means of transportation in the everyday hustle and bustle of Southeast Asia. Many decorated their motor coaches with labels and stickers.
“I was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm of the people we encountered,” continued Anya Thomas.
“The material went very fast, and there were great opportunities to enter dialogue on the challenges of responding to children in need.”
“It was a great experience to connect with businesses and drivers outside of the standard service provider-consumer relationship.”
So, if you meet someone in a green T-shirt with the ‘Think Twice’ logo, you will know there are still people who don’t ignore what happens around them.
And when you will meet small children trying to sell you the newest (but hardly original) edition of the Lonely Planet, you can stop for a moment and think one more time if it is better to spent childhood in the hot city streets or behind a school desk.
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http://www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/ivd-2012/your-stories-about-ivd-2012/item/2801-%E2%80%98let-adults-earn-and-children-learn%E2%80%99.html#sigProGalleriae6338f264b
