Andrew Giving Blood in Cambodia

Ways to Help in Cambodia

The people we met and the things we learnt in Cambodia really touched my heart. In particular I’ll never forget our visit to the spectacular Angkor Wat or how it felt to walk through the Killing Fields, haunted by the thousands of people who died there. I found visiting Cambodia a deeply emotional experience and despite the scars of poverty and genocide my lasting memories of the country are of the peace, kindness and resilience of the Khmer people.

Sunset in Kratie, Cambodia

When you travel in Cambodia you’ll see that the country is struggling to recover from the recent genocide and you’ll likely feel the urge to offer help. As we found out though, sometimes this can cause more harm than good; for instance, giving money to children who beg or visiting an orphanage may actually trap people in poverty and leave them vulnerable to abuse. There are plenty of other ways you can make a small difference during your time in Cambodia though; here are a few of them.

Good Cause Dining

The great thing about Cambodia is that there’s a strong charity and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) presence across the country. In all the cities and towns we visited there were a variety of restaurants set up to support Cambodian people; we ate as many meals as we could at these restaurants to help local people and communities. All of the restaurants we ate in offered delicious food but you can read about our top five good cause dining experiences in this post.

Fish Amok at Haven Restaurant in Cambodia

Fish Amok at Haven Restaurant, Siem Reap

Donate Responsibly

In any part of the world I think it’s best to give donations for people, animals or causes through charities you trust. For instance, back in London I avoided giving money directly to people begging on the streets and donated money to the charity Shelter instead, as I knew they’d use the money in the most effective way.  The same is true in Asia; rather than give money directly to people begging in the street I think it’s a better idea to give to a local charity, community project or microfinance scheme. To help children in Cambodia you can give directly to ChildSafe International, for example or support a local business through microfinance via Kiva.

Watch a Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus Performance

One of the most amazing evenings we had in Cambodia was watching a performance by the Phare Ponleu Selpak  (PPS) Circus in Battambang. The PPS is a non-profit organisation which provides education, arts programmes and social support for vulnerable kids and young people in Cambodia, some of whom were former street kids or were born in refugee camps under the Khmer Rouge rule. Some of the students from their performing arts school become part of the circus, which holds performances most nights in both Battambang and Siem Reap.The performance we saw cost £6.10 per person and was full of energy, music, dance, acrobatics and more besides. There was an incredible energy and the crowd was fully engrossed – we loved it.

Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus, Cambodia

Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus performance

Give Blood

Everywhere we went in Cambodia we were confronted by cute, smart kids who often spoke brilliant English, either begging us for money or trying to sell us postcards or bracelets. After reading Child Safe’s advice on not giving money to children as it merely keeps them out on the streets where they’re vulnerable to abuse, we decided to give blood to the Angkor Hospital for Children to help instead. I was nervous as I’d never donated blood before and Andrew has reacted badly to needles in the past, but the hospital was very clean and the nurses were friendly and put us at ease.

Andrew Giving Blood in Cambodia

Andrew Giving Blood in Cambodia

Although there was some difficulty getting the needle into my small veins and Andrew had a funny turn, the process of giving blood was fairly simple. A small sample of our blood was tested first to make sure we were healthy enough to donate. Next another needle was inserted to extract the blood; it took about quarter of an hour to fill a bag with my blood while Andrew’s gushed out in just a couple of minutes.  Afterwards we were given a drink and snack to recover before being sent on our way with the knowledge that each of our donations could potentially save the lives of two Cambodian children.

Have a Seeing Hands Massage

We didn’t try this, but if you love being pampered check out Seeing Hands Massage, which employs blind Cambodians who are fully trained to give professional massages. Branches of Seeing Hands Massage can be found in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang and Sihanoukville.

Street Massage in Siem Reap

Massage in Siem Reap – not by Seeing Hands

Don’t Visit Orphanages

As I mentioned in my post about volunteering at the Dog Rescue Project in Thailand, not all volunteering projects actually benefit local people and communities. In Cambodia there is currently a huge problem with ‘Orphanage Tourism’, whereby companies offer tourists the chance to go and visit orphanages and volunteer with them. Having strangers constantly coming in, bonding with them and then leaving can be extremely harmful for children and leave them vulnerable to abuse; in addition to this, there are some disturbing stories about kids from poor families being rented out to orphanages to make money from tour groups. I think it’s best to stay clear of any orphanage tourism in Cambodia completely.

Ways to help in Cambodia, Pinterest

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Do you know of any other ways to responsibly offer help in Cambodia or other Asian countries?

14 Comments
  • Katie
    Posted at 23:46h, 11 June Reply

    What a thoughtful and helpful post. We’re looking forward to being in Cambodia at the end of this year and it would be lovely to give something back to the country for hosting us. I had heard orphanage volunteering should be approached with caution in particular and I think your comments are spot on. I will bookmark this post to revisit when we arrive there!

    Katie x

    • Amy
      Posted at 10:47h, 12 June Reply

      Hi Katie, I would definitely recommend some good cause dining and catching a circus performance – have a great time in Cambodia, I loved that country so much.

  • Simon
    Posted at 11:21h, 12 June Reply

    Hiya guys,

    Great info :-). I have looked into doing some school teaching or maybe visiting a home stay, is this something that you’d recommend in Cambodia? I want to help out as much as i can, but i do not want to cause more harm than good.

    Thanks,

    • Amy
      Posted at 11:49h, 12 June Reply

      Hi Simon, I’d probably steer clear of the teaching unless you’ll be doing it for a substantial amount of time (ie, not just a few weeks) and if you’re doing it through a company I’d research it well to make sure it’s ethical. The same goes for homestays, which can be good if they’re arranged with locals and any money you pay isn’t going through a middle-man. Good luck and have fun in Cambodia!

  • Kate
    Posted at 11:43h, 12 June Reply

    Great list. We are in PP right now and turned down offers of orphanage visits already (we learned about this last summer in Siem Reap). We are going to Friends tonight (restaurant that helps) and hoping to do a Seeing Hands massage tomorrow as it is right around the corner from our hotel. I’m going to share this list as it is so nicely done if you don’t mind:)
    It’s currently the low season plus all the troubles in surrounding countries means there are virtually NO tourists here. The child street sellers are even more prominent and having children with us (8 and 11) means it is very hard to say no — but we do. Tough.
    Thanks.

    • Amy
      Posted at 11:52h, 12 June Reply

      Hi Kate, feel free to share 🙂 Have a great meal at Friends (the food there is so tasty) and have a nice massage too. It sounds nice having no tourists around but I don’t envy you having the added pressure from street sellers – stay strong, even though I know it’s tough.

  • Beth
    Posted at 17:22h, 12 June Reply

    Great post!!! I’d like to add a great contact for volunteer teaching which requires a min. month commitment and a four day training session – aboutasiaschools and the contact is Sarah. We were lucky enough to be invited to present a one day music workshop for 40 rural children at the learning centre in Siem Reap just last week. This was a great experience for our entire family! There are some corrupt NGO’s unfortunately in Siem Reap but this one is very reputable…the guest house where we stayed has several teachers with Aboutasiaschools staying there longterm.

    • Amy
      Posted at 23:17h, 12 June Reply

      Thanks for that info Beth, it sounds like a reputable organisation.

  • Catherine
    Posted at 11:51h, 14 June Reply

    So many lovely ideas here, and I had no idea most of these things existed. I will definitely be looking out for the circus and the seeing hands massages while in Cambodia.

    • Amy
      Posted at 18:08h, 14 June Reply

      The circus is awesome Catherine – I would highly recommend it. Cambodia is a great country to explore and we loved it, the people were incredible.

  • Charlie
    Posted at 18:59h, 15 June Reply

    Lovely post, Amy. I found it hard seeing all the poverty in Cambodia years ago. I really wanted to do something to help but didn’t know how (especially after being told not to buy the bracelets etc from the kids on the street). Apart from giving our restaurant leftovers to someone sleeping rough, we felt at a loss to help. Wish I’d know about these things then! Especially the ngo restaurants, will keep an eye out for them. I went to the circus though, it was amazing!

    • Amy
      Posted at 20:21h, 15 June Reply

      Glad to hear you enjoyed the circus too Charlie! We had some of the tastiest food of our whole trip in those NGO restaurants 🙂

  • Daniele
    Posted at 14:22h, 30 November Reply

    Hey guys,
    I’ve just been to Phnom Penh and donated blood too. I discovered that some places are selling the blood to the hospitals, running the whole thing like a bloody business.
    I was recommended the Kantha Bupha pedriatic hospital and I had a great experience, including fainting 🙂
    I wrote about it here, I hope it motivate more travelers to donate safely:
    http://www.danielebesana.com/blog/life/travels/donating-blood-fainting-phnom-penh

    • Amy
      Posted at 07:13h, 01 December Reply

      Wow, thanks for commenting Daniele, I hadn’t heard about selling the blood. I’m pretty sure the hospital we donated too was using themselves – I guess everyone needs to check out where they donate.

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