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Life on the streets has already taken her brother and sister. Now Chanta is terrified the same will happen to her.
I recently visited an EveryChild-supported project in Battambang, Cambodia’s second largest city, where I met Chanta. This little eight-year-old girl’s case really moved me and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I’d like to share her story with you so you can see just how desperately she needs our help...
Chanta, her parents and her five brothers and sisters live on the streets, sleeping under a mosquito net wherever they can. This may stop them being bitten by insects, but it’s no protection from the very real dangers of violence, abuse and child trafficking that are never far away. It was clear that this was no place for a child to grow up.
Tragically, Chanta has experienced things no child should ever have to. Her older sister Lieng and her older brother Proh both died recently. Lieng became very ill living on the streets where health and hygiene are major problems, whilst Proh was beaten so severely in a fight that he never regained consciousness. Now Chanta is understandably terrified something similar will happen to her.
Every day, the whole family have to beg to survive. It’s the only way they can get any money for food. But this often means Chanta is on her own, easy prey to gangs, drug dealers and traffickers who take children and sell them into exploitative labour, or worse still, the sex industry.
That’s why getting the family off the streets is our top priority. By donating now you can support this work.
We also want to help her parents set up a small business, like selling fruit. This will give them enough money to send Chanta to school – a lifeline to gaining the skills she’ll need to work.
At the moment, her only opportunity to learn is by attending non-formal education classes at an EveryChild-supported drop-in centre for street children in Battambang. Chanta and her 10-year-old brother Sey come here during the week to escape life on the streets. When I talked to Sey he told me, “My favourite activities at the drop-in centre are the classes. I like maths and literature. I also like learning about hygiene and health. When I grow up I want to be a doctor.”
It’s incredible, and inspirational, when children born into all-consuming poverty have such a strong will to succeed. They just need to be given the chance of a brighter future. With your generosity they’ll have a far greater chance.
Like Chanta and Sey, all the children who come to the drop-in centre urgently need our help and protection from abuse and exploitation.
> Donate now
Thank you and best wishes
Joanna Fell
EveryChild
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