Musings from Cambodia 1

(19/01/14 On the flight)

Well now…. sitting here on the aircraft…. flying over Queensland…. 10km above the planet’s surface. My wife at my side…. friends with us…. what could be better? 

We have it extremely lucky in good ole UnZud… Fred Dagg used to sing about this… remember his song? “We don’t know how lucky we are…..” We have beautiful beaches just a stones throw from our elegant door steps… parks with lot’s of area to play sport, walk the dog, picnic or a myriad of other leisure activities.

We can hop in our steel cages, on our you beaut pedal bikes, scooters, motorcycles… walk with safety… free of pollution, free of fear, free to express things the way we deem fit. We travel to far flung destinations, to our holiday homes, to the mountains and best of all return home once again to paradise.

Is this REALLY what living in Aotearoa is like for us?

Is this the truth?

Is it everyone’s reality in our small country?

Or do we have some real problems in our own backyard? Do we have a dark side in our quarter acre pavlova paradise? Indeed, perhaps there is poverty in Pure NZ… what do you think?

(22/01/14 On the road to Takeo) 

Poverty… it’s a word that stirs emotions, a word that divides opinion and for a great number of people is a stark reality of what they face every day. Like you I have seen the comments that in NZ many children live in poverty, and many families can’t afford to feed themselves.

Let’s compare it to where we are now…. Cambodia, and indeed Thailand where we have travelled in the past.

Cambodia from all accounts is a country that rates as the poorest in all of Asia. Families survive on a meagre amount, as low as $US600 per year. Granted, food is cheaper, housing cheaper if you can find it.

BUT…. there is horrendous true poverty, and a violent oppressive past. Children are exploited, used as sexual gratification for twisted people and often live dirty lives on dusty streets. Older people have disabilities from land mines, disease, and lack of medical care. There is a whole generation almost missing as a result of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. 

So…  do we have poverty in NZ? Not if we compare the two countries. Cambodia is far more impoverished. We do have people in NZ who are living difficult lives and find it hard to provide for their basic needs. But unlike Cambodia we have safety nets in place. In Cambodia there is 25% of the population officially unemployed. There is no benefit, and pensions are virtually nonexistent outside of Government workers. 

We can’t ignore poverty anywhere it happens…, New Zealand included. However let’s thank God we live in a country where our basic needs and rights are set in stone. Let’s celebrate our freedoms whilst understanding the world’s problem areas. Let’s help where we can and try to be good citizens in the world community.

For me, this is THE most important thing we can learn from a trip like this… however learning is one thing, action is a quite different thing. 

Here therefore lies the challenge. 

From your blogger Peter Chatteris