Human Currency: Trading Freedom in Southeast Asia

I was recently reading an article in the Southeast Asia Globe titled the “Cambodian Maid Trade”.  In the past three years up to 25,000 Cambodian domestic workers  who are from impoverished rural communities have migrated to Malaysia following promises of a better future. But, the reality for these women and children is the risk of abuse at every step of the migration cycle. These Cambodian women and underage girls are paying for the chance of a better life.  Once they enter the country of Malaysia, the legal system provides them with little if no protection by the Malaysian government in the recruitment process and regulation of private agencies. According to Malaysia’s labor law, Cambodia’s domestic workers are defined as ‘domestic servant’s, and employment conditions are left to the discretion of the employer.  I realize at this point it gets quite graphic, and apologize if this becomes to blunt.  But as a result, Cambodia maids are routinely over-worked, physically abused, under-paid and burdened with inflated ’handling’ fees and debts.  The worst is that many of them are starved, exploited, and sexually assaulted by their employers according to Tenganita, an anti-human trafficking organization.

Up until recently, I had heard of these rumors and read of these cases. However, this past month at Mother’s Heart has been quite difficult for me.  We have recently taken into our program two young girls (one who is underage) who were sent back to Cambodia by their Malaysian employers. They are both pregnant as a result of sexual assault by their employer. One of them, who is 14 years old, has never been paid in the past two years since her employment as a maid.  My heart is so broken to actually see these women face to face and graphically hear their experiences. They are no longer stories I read on a piece of paper, but have become a reality in my everyday life as I see them come and go from our office as we help integrate them back into Cambodia.

These are the moments that I can say how truly humbled I am to work at Mother’s Heart. To be able to help these young girls is a great honor. Please pray that not only can we help them through their pregnancy, but we help walk with them to restore hope and love them as Christ loves each of us.  One of them began at one of our partner organization for vocational training this last week.

Tricia

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

 

What is BorBor?

Making minced carrots, spinach and chicken

You may not recognize this word, but for a young Cambodian woman trying to feed her baby it is a very important concept.  BorBor is a simple Cambodian term which means “rice soup” or “porridge”.  It’s a process which consists of adding more water to the white rice when cooking it so that it is a thin consistency making the texture in such a way that babies can eat it. Rice itself before its brown shell is removed is actually very healthy. However, in Cambodia, only the animals and prisoners are given the brown, unshelled rice.  The Cambodians eat only the white, polished rice. Unfortunately, the brown shell is what gives the rice its nutrients.

It is not uncommon for many babies and children in Cambodia to become stunted in their growth due to micronutrient deficiencies (which basically means very little vitamins and minerals are in their diet).  Stunting means their bodies are not able to grow in height to reach their full potential due to a lack of vitamins and minerals.  Rice is the main staple for all their meals.  Once the mother stops breast feeding, foods high in calcium and iron such as cheese and milk along with vegetables high in vitamins are commonly absent from the diet due to poverty, culture, and a lack of education.  Malnutrition remains a serious problem for Cambodian children specifically Vitamin A and iron deficiencies.   

Baby food must be made fresh daily because most
mothers don't have refrigeration.

When Micah Reece and Kyler were all babies, I decided to make my own baby food. I could easily buy jars of baby food at the store, but decided I would make baby food for them from fresh vegetables and fruits. I didn't realize how fortunate I was because when I was tired of making my own baby food I could just supplement it with store bought baby food. Little did I know, that God would use that experience in my life again some day.

This month, we held an afternoon workshop for all our mother’s in the program at Mother’s Heart on how to add more nutrients to the BorBor which makes it healthier for the baby than just rice alone.   Mother’s Heart staff taught the women how to chop up locally grown cooked vegetables like carrots or green leafy vegetables which adds vitamins like Vitamin A, B, and K.  We also taught them how to chop up cooked chicken or pork to add protein to the BorBor. Once the chopped and minced ingredients are added to the rice porridge, it then becomes a nutritionally dense baby food.   To many people, these concepts may seem very basic and common knowledge. However, in Cambodia, these concepts are foreign and access to information like nutritionally healthy baby foods remains a barrier to most women.  Don’t forget that few homes have any type of refrigeration, so most of these foods have to be made daily.