Title – The Girl and The Elephant
Date – August 2000
Location – Siem Riep - Cambodia
Cambodia’s small army of hawkers will follow you from the moment you arrive till the moment you leave, to some they may be an irritation to others they add colour to the country. In Cambodia the kids will stare at you with their big brown eyes and all but the hardest will fall for it. But some believe that these kids have been taken out of school to do this work and in some cases this may very well be the case. If you take the time to speak to them (and they often speak perfect English) you can easily find out more about their lives and why they have to work for a living. Many go to school in the morning and work in the afternoons to supplement the family’s income.
Don’t jump to a conclusion just because you have heard a horror story once and think it applies to everyone. There are undoubtedly true stories of children being forced to work by press gangs, but thousands upon thousands of children work as a normal part of their lives, so they and their families can eat regular meals and some even work so that they can go to school. You might just be helping. Many a travellers’ house is full of souvenirs that they never meant to buy, but felt they ought to; is that a bad thing? You decide.
At Beyond The Blue as part of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we will give you the tools to deal with the permanent attention of hawkers and how to haggle with a positive conclusion to your negotiation. Simple rules and a little confidence will allow you not only to overcome the initial fears of this process, but can result in you enjoying the encounters.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Date – August 2000
Location – Siem Riep - Cambodia
Cambodia’s small army of hawkers will follow you from the moment you arrive till the moment you leave, to some they may be an irritation to others they add colour to the country. In Cambodia the kids will stare at you with their big brown eyes and all but the hardest will fall for it. But some believe that these kids have been taken out of school to do this work and in some cases this may very well be the case. If you take the time to speak to them (and they often speak perfect English) you can easily find out more about their lives and why they have to work for a living. Many go to school in the morning and work in the afternoons to supplement the family’s income.
Don’t jump to a conclusion just because you have heard a horror story once and think it applies to everyone. There are undoubtedly true stories of children being forced to work by press gangs, but thousands upon thousands of children work as a normal part of their lives, so they and their families can eat regular meals and some even work so that they can go to school. You might just be helping. Many a travellers’ house is full of souvenirs that they never meant to buy, but felt they ought to; is that a bad thing? You decide.
At Beyond The Blue as part of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we will give you the tools to deal with the permanent attention of hawkers and how to haggle with a positive conclusion to your negotiation. Simple rules and a little confidence will allow you not only to overcome the initial fears of this process, but can result in you enjoying the encounters.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
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