A young orphan boy whose parents died of AIDS and without parental guidance he soon became a delinquent. Meang is a wild, rowdy child and refused to assimilate. Even worse, he stole hard saved money from the other kids in the shelter. And he wouldn't admit it.
For his whole life, he has been rejected, scolded and put down. The teachers, relatives, neighbours were all the same. They never really wanted to listen to what he has to say. Learning through rejection and pain, Meang learnt never to admit to any wrongs and grew hardened along the way.
He is just 10.
Its was all dark after dinner but we wanted to speak to the child privately. We sat the child down and spoke to him for hours just to reassure him that we're not here to put him down, but here to give him a chance and hope in a new life. We knew that if Meang goes on like this, he will just continue to lose respect amongst his peers and the vicious cycle continues.
Picture of Nam Juang Village that took the team almost 3 hours to get there.
I sat there, not wanting to give up, though it took a lot out of us. We've just returned from almost 9 hours of being offroad and facing a rebellious child wasn't really what we're looking forward to. But because we know how important it is for the child, we dragged our reluctant bodies to invest more time in Meang; he has no one else to turn to, except us.
Sitting under a open-aired shed with just a florescent tube lighting the area, we shared how we believed in the best in him and how an act like that is a step backwards from getting a new lease of life without stigma; without people looking down on him. He just bowed his head and teared, knowing that he messed up yet again, now with people that loved him.
I told the little boy "Try again. We all make mistakes, but we just have to know we've done wrong and make things right" Tears started rolling down his cheeks and he nodded silently.
Meang knew he had to make right and agreed to apologise to the child he stole from.
We managed to get the Herh-the boy whom Meang stole from and got him to be sitting next to Meang, There was a long moment of awkward silence and finally Meang mustered his courage to speak.
Meang was already breaking and sobbing between words......He just said a small soft tone...."I'm sorry Herh, i stole money from you and I'll save up to pay you back...." and before you know it, more tears was flowing down his cheeks and onto his little dusty T-shirt.
Another moment of awkward silence.
Herh sitting by Meang, hearing his words beamed a smile. He looked at Meang and said..."Its alight, I forgive you".
At that very moment, the feeling was incredible. Almost as though everything litted up, even my physical tireness just faded away hearing the children learning and forgiving each other. I guess that's what the STREETKIDS! rehabilitation shelter is all about !
The little Meang taking a while to compose himself after tearing so much.
This incident benefited me as well I guess, seeing with my own eyes that lives are changed, gives me strength to continue despite incredible and heartbreaking odds working with street children.
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