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| Sokayn at work in the Phnom Penh dump, aged 6 |
Executive Director
Cambodian Children’s Fund
Phnom Penh
29th October 2013
Dear Scott
On 25th September
2011 you wrote, in relation to Sokayn and Sokourn:
“CCF gave the
children a Western-quality education and provided the parents with a new life
back in their homeland. We provided real, tangible help to them.”
This was a lie. At the time
of your writing, in Sept 2011, Sokayn and Sokourn’s parents were working in the
Phnom Penh dump, earning between them $1,000 a year. Their daughters, Sokayn
and Sokourn were living in one of your CCF centres.
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| Sokayn's home perched on a 50 ft pile of rubbish |
At the time they were,
according to you, living a ‘new life back in their homeland’,
thanks to the generosity of CCF, Srey Ka and Chuan told me (and my camera) that
(a) they received no assistance at all of any kind from CCF and (b) they had
requested that CCF return their daughters to them but that CCF had refused to
do so. When I asked Chuan and Srey Ka (three times, to be sure) if they had
signed any form of agreement with CCF they said no, they had not. It seems that
CCF had entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs but not
with Srey Ka and Chuan. If this is not so, please feel free to correct me.
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| Sokayn and her parents at home in the Phnom Penh dump |
In this same email of 25th Sept 2011 you also wrote:
“You are a voyeur who has the luxury to romanticize a situation
that you know nothing about.”
As I have made clear in our fairly extensive email
correspondence, given that you have never met me, your description of me as a
‘voyuer’ amounts to little more than a rather pathetic personal insult.
As for my lack of experience, I have been coming to Cambodia for
18 years, have travelled the country extensively, have been embroiled in its
politics and have, through my association with numerous very poor families,
been able to see up close the sorts of problems they encounter in their lives.
I include Sokayn’s family in this. They very generously allowed me to film them
in their home (for want of a better word) in the dump and at work in the dump.
My ‘thank you’ to the family was a promise, when I had enough money, to buy
them the block of land that they had told me they most wanted and needed to extricate
themselves from the dump. You have gone out of your way to make this impossible
– in ways that I need not repeat here but which are there for all to read on my
blog, will be there for all to read in my book and will be apparent to viewers
of my documentary. I have set the money aside for the family in a bank account
and will, in the not-too-distant future, see if I can find them through
Facebook and other social media.
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| Sokayn and her mother take a break from work |
Yes, you have threatened (in your veiled way) to sue me if I
defame CCF. As we both know it is not possible for me to get E & O
insurance if my documentary in any way defames you or CCF. And without E &
O insurance no broadcaster will screen it. Just as your lawyers will be looking
for evidence upon which they can base a defamation suit, mine have been looking
at my film with the object in mind of guaranteeing that there is nothing
defamatory in it. There is not. I deal with facts only. It will be up to
individual audience members to make what they will of the facts at their
disposal.
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| Sokayn and Srey Ka (mum) |
It may well be that CCF does a lot of very good work and that
your NGO’s lack of assistance to Srey Ka and Chuan’s family is the exception
rather than the rule. Or there may be some explanation that you have not seen
fit to share with me. (Client confidentiality is the usual justification given
by NGOs for answering no questions). It may be that the Somaly Mam Foundation
does a lot of very good work also by telling lies similar to the one you put in
writing to me about CCF having helped Srey Ka and Chuan. Perhaps I am just very
old-fashioned but I take exception to NGOs
who play fast and loose with the truth, who make up sensational stories (Somaly
Mam, for instance) in order to boost donations and sponsorships. I also take exception (though I am probably
in a minority here) to Cambodian children being flown to Hollywood to provide
entertainment for celebrities. This is just another form of Poverty Tourism,
without the tourists even having to leave Los Angeles! Yes, it makes the
celebrities feel great about themselves but how much of the money raised by the
young dancers in Hollywood has gone to help their families? Are the mothers and
fathers still working in the dump?
You will not answer this question, any more than you have
answered any questions I have put to you. Transparency and accountability are
not your strong suits and it is highly unlikely that the media in Cambodia is
going to ask you the kinds of questions that you and other NGOs should be
asked. It is for this reason that Cambodia is awash with scam ‘orphanages’ and
other NGOs that are, in essence, exploiting the extreme poverty of so many
Cambodians to boost their bank balances.
I should stress here that there are lots of good NGOs doing
valuable work. My criticisms are reserved for those who are economical with the
truth.
I have finished filming CHANTI’S WORLD and am giving all those
who will, whether they like it or not, be in the film (even if we do not see
them) an opportunity to be interviewed. I have made this offer to you on a few
occasions. Here, I am making it again.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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| Sokayn |
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