better than Cambodia
20 May 2004 @ 22:11
Only the government would send a letter stating that they will be sending you a list of things that you need to mail in. That was seriously the last piece of correspondence Keith received regarding Sophon. Once he mails them back her interview will be set up and from there -- if it goes well, and it should -- she'll be packing up her life and catching the first flight to the States.
(We were expecting her to be here by now.)
It still amazes me how she's willing to give everything up to live with a strange man in a strange country with a language barrier that will be difficult to overcome. That, I'm fairly certain, is not something that I would be willing to do.
I am constantly reminding myself that Cambodia is not a good place to live, especially if you're female. Her family is poor. Her entire family sleeps in one room. Her younger sister has rotten front teeth that can't be fixed. If she were to lose her viriginity before marriage, she would be destinied to spend the rest of her life as a prostitute. Young girls are kidnapped or sold into the sex trade. Females are nothing in that society. Without a husband, they are less than nothing.
Meanwhile, here I am, about a year and a half younger than her doing what could be considered men's work in a factory, knowing that I could live on my own, and planning a future for myself that does not nessicarily include a man to be dependent on. Although my Polish-American culture practically demands having children later on, that isn't a requirement. No one is going to kidnap me as I walk through town and force me to be a prostitute.
I'm not saying that things are perfect here -- they're not. But it beats living in Cambodia.
--Annie