Leigh
Ramsay
322
Wecker Road
Carindale
QLD
4152
27th
Feb 2013
Late last night Chanti gave birth to a
baby girl. I have just returned from the hospital, having paid the bill
associated with the birth. I have also spoken again with the doctor about
Chanti having her tubes tied in six or so weeks so that she has no more babies.
In close to five years why has Citipointe
done nothing to counsel Chanti and Chhork about birth control? Why has it been
left to me, a non Cambodian man, to talk to and advise Chanti and Chhork in
this way? The procedure will cost more money – which I am quite happy to pay.
Why has Citipointe not been prepared to pay any of Chanti’s medical expenses?
Will Citipointe come to the party and help out with baby clothes, milk or financial
help of any kind? Silly question. The answer is no. Rebecca Brewer was very
clear about this in her email to me of 24th Oct 2008:
“Regarding continued support to Chanti, we are unable to assist with
distributing this sort of aid. Our focus is to assist the children in our care
as needed and the work we do with the parents is limited. If we were to be seen
giving handouts to one individual parent it could prove very disruptive to the
rest of the community.”
How foolish of me not to have
appreciated the full import of Rebecca’s words back then! These words, in
addition to Rebecca’s declaration that Rosa and Chita would remain with
Citipointe till they were 18! As soon as it became apparent that Citipointe was
holding Rosa and Chita illegally and/or against the wishes of Chanti and Chhork,
I should have asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate the
trafficking of these two girls by Citipointe. Yes, of course you will try to
cloud the issue by maintaining that Citipointe had some kind of contractual arrangement
with Foreign Affairs at the time the church got Chanti to put her thumb print
to a sham ‘contract’ that gave you the right to hold the girls against the
wishes of their parents but until I see a copy of the legal document drawn up
between Citipointe and Foreign Affairs I will take this declaration with a huge
grain of salt. Even if such a contract exists, why was it entered into with
Foreign Affairs in such secrecy that Chanti’s commune chief was not consulted
and knew nothing about it?
Rebecca’s declaration about not helping
the parents of the girls resident in the She Rescue Home is , incidentally, completely
at odds with what the church claims on its website. It is also completely at
odds with what you wrote to me on 31st July 2012:
Recapping our discussions that we had with you on the
Riverfront in Phnom Penh on Saturday 28 July 2012, our stand has not changed in
that we are committed to the girls and we desire to safely reintegrate them
home under MoSAVY’s direction and instruction…We understand your frustration
and concern as you had mentioned how the family are so poor - that you found
them eating dog and that the other children often have red hair from a lack of
nutritious food. For all of these reasons we
are working diligently to ultimately have this family together in a safe
environment with available food and education for all the children…We
acknowledge receipt of all correspondence sent over this last two weeks of
which our communication will continue between MoSAVY, social workers, the
family and our Khmer staff.
Best Regards
Leigh Ramsay
Leigh, take a good hard
look at these words from your July 31st 2012 email:
“…we are working diligently to ultimately have this family
together in a safe environment with available food and education for all the
children…”
Now tell me, and the growing band of
followers of my Citipointe blog, just what Citipointe church has done this past
close to five years to facilitate reintegration, to provide food, clothing or a
roof over the family’s head or education for the children? The answer is nothing.
Nothing. The only contribution your church has made to the family’s finances is
to provide them with the material to make wrist bracelets for Citipointe and
then pay them a pitifully small amount in buying the finished product. I do not
have the footage with me but I seem to recall the amount Citipointe was paying
was $30 per 100 wrist bracelets. I may be mistaken in this but my point is that
this is the ONLY financial support Citipointe has provided the family this past
close to five years.
It has come to my attention that for a
considerable period of time Rosa has been ‘sponsored’ by a Citipointe donor.
Could you please confirm or deny that this is the case? In the event that it is
true, that Citipointe has been receiving sponsorship money for Rosa, some
questions arise:
(1)
Do Rosa’s sponsors know that she is not a victim of Human Trafficking?
(2) Do Rosa’s sponsors know tat she has
a mother, a father, a grandmother, siblings and is part of two extended
families?
(3) How much money does this sponsor pay
per month to Citipointe church?
(4) Why has none of the money paid by
the sponsor found its way to the family of Rosa?
I have quoted below, in full, one of
the letters that you acknowledged receipt of in your 31st,. July email. My 26th
Oct 2012 letter speaks for itself:
Dear Leigh
As you know, Chanti and her husband
Chhork have yet again made a formal request that Rosa and Chita (Srey Mal) be
returned to their family. I hope that you do not ignore this request as you
have ignored all previous requests this past four years.
The translation of the following
document may be a little imprecise but its meaning is clear: Chanti and Chhork
want Rosa and Chita (Srey Mal) to leave the ‘She’ Refuge and return to live
with their family. They have been requesting this for a long time and you have
promised, many times, that Citipointe would return the girls to Chanti’s care
‘soon’. Your promises have proved to be empty and, as the months and years
pass, it seems clear to me that the church has no intention of relinquishing
control of Chanti’s daughters.
This time the request is being made via
the Commune Chief who has visited Chanti and Chhork’s home and determined that
they are capable of taking care of Rosa and Chita.
We, Phnun Chhork, male,
aged 28; and the wife, YEM CHANTI, aged 27, currently residing at Rented
House...(address)
Respectfully submit to
Director of Phnom Penh
Municipal Department of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation
Subject: Request for
intervention in the case of two children in Citipointe Organization
1 PHUN ROSA Sex: Female Age
10
2 PHUN CHITA Sex: Female
Age 8
WIth regard to the above
subject, because presently we can afford to raise our children, we would like
them to live together again with our family.
Therefore, the director of
Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Social Affairs please intervene in taking
the two children from the organization at your favourable decision.
I wish you good health and
success
Guardians
Father
Mother
(Thumb Print) (Thumb Print)
Russei Keo, 24th Oct 2012
(signed and stamped) Moul
Vireak
I have, today, bought Chanti’s family
the first half of a tuk tuk - the motor cycle component. On Monday Chanti and
Chhork will take possession of the other half - the cabin in which passengers
sit. I will be making a down-payment on this but it will be up to Chanti and
Chhork pay off the remainder over for the next 10 months. If Citipointe would
like to make a financial contribution to the acquisition of the tuk tuk, a
vital step towards making the family self-sufficient (one of Citipointe’s
professed goals), it would be much appreciated by Chanti and myself. The same
applies for when Rosa and Chita are returned to the care of Chanti and Chhork,
as I trust they will be shortly. Even with the tuk tuk and what Chanti can earn
selling books, survival for the family will be a constant struggle - as it is
for all poor Cambodians. I will be helping out to the best of my financial
ability. I trust that Citipointe will also continue to provide some support for
Rosa and Chita whilst living in their family home so that they may continue
with their schooling and have regular access to medical and dental care.
best
wishes
Leigh,
I have invited you many times this past four years to correct me if any of the
facts I have presented in my letters or, this past year, on my blog, are wrong.
I issue the invitation again. Point out any errors of fact I have made and I
will publish the necessary corrections online. If Citipointe does in fact have
a legally binding contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that gave
Rebecca the right on 11th August 2008 to declare that Rosa and Chita would
remain with the church until they are 18, provide me with a copy and I will
publish it.
I
have likewise many times offered to work with the church to help the entire
family – as any reader of my blog in its entirely will confirm. Citipointe has ignored
my every offer. As soon as Chanti’s baby is old enough to make the journey I
will travel with the family to oversee renovations on their new home in in Prey
Veng order to make it bigger and better suited to the needs of the family.
Again, I invite Citipointe to make a financial contribution to this process.
best
wishes
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