Steung Meanchy

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We drove out to the Wat at Steung Meanchy with Yassak of Save the Children Australia; we had an appointment with the Venerable Luy Bora, one of the monks in SCA's network of pagodas supporting orphans and children most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

Steung Meanchy has an interesting history. The Khmer Rouge leveled the Wat, and only 2 monks survived the regime. But rebuilding began in 1979 and continues to this day. Scattered among the temple and outbuildings, is a series of gigantic green and yellow phoenixes.

While some monks might be content with rebuilding the physical temple, Bora has taken up the mantle of social engagement. He weekly visits over a hundred HIV-affected families within what you might call his "parish" in the West. Part of this geographical area that comprises his religious backyard includes the garbage dump for Phnom Penh. Land is cheap to rent around the dump, and you can eek out a living picking plastic out from the heap and selling it to a broker. That's exactly how one HIV-positive woman we met gets by. After her husband died, she began going out every day making an average of 3000 riel, or about 75 cents, collecting plastic. One of her two daughters is also HIV positive, but is currently getting ARVs. Bora tries to ensure that the children attend school and that they're receiving medical attention when needed.

Luy Bora says he first began noticing a problem in 1997 -- noticing families effected by HIV -- while on his daily trek out into the community to ask for alms or rice. Today he helps provide over 100 families affected by HIV/AIDS with sacks of rice of their own.