Leigh
Ramsay
322
Wecker Road
Carindale
QLD
4152
25th
Feb 2013
Dear Leigh
Chanti informed me this morning
that Citipointe has decreed that the house I have bought her family in Prey
Veng (along with my Christian friend) is not big enough and that the church
will not allow Rosa and Chita to live in it.
I had a translator with me but
just in case something got lost in translation could you please let me know if
Chanti has understood correctly what Citipointe has told her. If she has, this
raises two interesting questions: (1) How does Citipointe know whether the
house is big enough or not – given that Citipointe has neither seen the house
or even a photo of it and (2) Pastor Mulheran has been at pains to tell me that
decisions regarding the fate of Rosa and Chita are made by MOSAVY and not by
the church. So, it follows that MOSAVY, having seen neither the house nor a photo
of it, has decided that it is not big enough for the family. Could you please
clarify?
It could be argued that it is
none of Citipointe’s business what size Chanti’s new house is. What gives the
church the right to interfere in this aspect of any Cambodian family’s life?
Chanti also told me that if and
when Citipointe returns Rosa and Chita to hers and her family’s care, the only
contribution the church will make to the future of Rosa and Chita and the
family is the acquisition of a mobile phone and a bicycle – the full value of
both combined being around $140. Has Chanti understood Citipointe correctly? If
not, could you please let me know what assistance you intend to provide the
family when reintegration has occurred and how far into the future?
Whilst the house in Srey Veng is of
the same size as most of its neighbours – with families the size of Chanti’s –
I do think it desirable that the house be enlarged to make it comfortable for
what will be,once Chanti;s new baby girl is born, a family of none. The quote I
have received for the appropriate renovations is $1,500. Given what Citipointe
has to say on its website about assisting families I think it would be
appropriate for Citipointe to foot this $1,500 bill – especially since the
church as done nothing this past close to five years to help the family. If the
church declines to make any contribution to the future of this family other
than $140 to buy a mobile phone and a bicycle, so be it. My Christian friend
and I will foot the bill. Citipointe will be judged, as it should be, by its
actions; not by what is written on its website.
I have, this morning, couriered
all of the footage I have shot this past few weeks back to Australia – just in
case Citipointe goes through with Pastor Mulheran’s thinly veiled threat to
have me ‘forcibly removed’.
I do not expect that you, Pastor
Mulheran or anyone at Citipoine will make any sort of promise in writing
relating to the continued support of Chanti’s family once Rosa and Chita have been
returned to its care. I would be deluged to be surprised, however.
Again, let me remind you that one
function of my blog is to make sure that future readers of it can read for
themselves a fairly comprehensive record of my attempts to work with Citipointe
church towards the reintegration of Rosa and Chita into the family. When
CHANTI’S WORLD comes out it will be difficult for Citipointe to maintain even a
modicum of credibility it the church complains that I have, in my film, misrepresented
the church in some way.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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