When we
spoke at our home church on our visit to the U.S., Alan and I shared a funny
story about our language-learning experience in Cambodia. In our first few
months, we would go on what we called ‘language routes.’ Each time we went on
language route, we’d walk down the same road. Alan would talk with the men, and
I would talk with the women. This allowed us to practice our Khmer and get to
know people. The punch line of the story is that inevitably I would come back
from language route with food that the women had given to me. Alan only ever
got offered warm beer.
It’s a
funny story, but after telling it a few times, I realized it gives insight to
the culture. The reason women gave me food is that women are typically vendors.
They gave me fruit or snacks not just to be nice but also in hopes that I would
come back and buy from them (which I did).
Women are responsible for the finances in Cambodia. Our coworkers just
told us that the accounting field in Cambodia is dominated by women because
they are the ones who are used to handling the money. Daughters, not sons, are
responsible for their parents’ financial well-being which is why impoverished
girls often find themselves in compromising work such as prostitution, karaoke
bars, and working as overseas maids (a profession that often turns into a
trafficking situation). When I told a friend here that often in the U.S. it is
the male’s responsibility to take care of the family finances, she laughed and
said, “If men in Cambodia were in charge of the family’s money, they would go
drinking, go out with other women, and gamble it away.” I guess that explains
why the only thing ever offered to Alan was a warm beer….
