Huck

I found this young boy sleeping near the Mekong River in Phnom Penh on a weekday morning around ten.

At first you might consider him a modern day Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. Skipping school, barefooted, catching a nap. His corn snacks tucked next to him. In reality I do not think the story is so quaint or innocent.

All through the city I often saw school age children not in school during the week. Sometimes they were with their parents while their parents worked. Sometimes they were just wandering around.

The poverty in Cambodia hits the children the hardest I think, because they know no other way of living. They therefore come to accept it as normal.