Today we arrived at PPS in the town of Battambang. PPS is a charity that does youth work in the semi-rural area of Battambang. Battambang is area where children and young people are at high risk of human trafficking, and where substance misuse and drug and alcohol problems are a big problem. Gambling is a particularly bad problem across much of South East Asia, with addicted gamblers making bets on almost anything, but doing it undercover since gambling is illegal. Some people gamble on whether it will rain tomorrow, the behaviour of chickens, or whether the whole of Cambodia will become engulfed in the curliness of Wendy’s hair. (OK, we might have made up the last one! But the other two are real examples we have been told about) Joking apart though, addictions to gambling are not only common, but have a devastating impact on families.
PPS work by providing education, but also making art, culture and the Cambodian cultural identity an integral part of what they do. So when we arrived at about 7pm today, instead of walking us around the complex, we were invited to come straight to a circus show! We were most impressed that such young people could perform so professionally.
While the cultural activities are open to everyone, PPS are really good at performing outreach activities to reach hard-to-reach groups. Apparently they go to the rubbish dumps and perform circus activities there. This, we hasten to add, is not meant as a comment on their circus performing skills! Instead it’s because there are a number of families who live there and other children who look for items which can be sold on. PPS do this to build their trust and allow them to get to know the organisation, and once they have done that they can get young people to participate in their programs, which in turn should build self-esteem as well as improving education and skills.
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