It’s one of the saddest places in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: a sprawling 100-acre garbage dump where hundreds of children work.

Mountains of trash burn toxic gases while trash pickers—mostly children between the ages of 5 to13—comb through the garbage with steel picks looking for tin cans, paper, plastic and other recyclable goods.

Children toil for about 50 to 75 cents a day here at the Steung Mean Chey Municipal Waste Dump. Some start as early as 3 a.m. Others jump into the jaws of garbage trucks to fish things out before they reach the dump.

Many of the children are born to poor families who built makeshift huts on the private property that flank the dump. Some children are orphans who lost parents to AIDS, prostitution or drug abuse. Most kids don’t go to school. And none of them will ever complete a primary education—if someone doesn’t help.

A Fantastic Way to Reach These Children
This is the reason we rebuilt two buses into mobile feeding and education centers. We wanted to establish a place where children could eat a good meal, take a shower and learn basic reading and writing skills.

Each bus arrives every morning to offer the children breakfast. Then team members teach the children how to read and write. Most importantly, team members tell them about Jesus. The buses leave after lunch.

This is a fantastic way to reach these neglected children—to show them that the world has not forgotten about them. But a situation like this requires more than a couple of buses can provide.

Hundreds of children live and work at Steung Mean Chey. We’ve got a head start and will continue to meet the needs of the children. Please pray for us and the children as we run this race with patience and endurance.