“Cowpeemun” in Khmai means “different.” This is a word I learned this week at work and has stuck with me. I’ve been witnessing just that since I began working at Daughters. People are being transformed by the love of God and are embracing freedom. Truly living a brand new, “cowpeemun” life from the one they had before coming to work at Daughters. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Cambodia’s independence from the Khmer Rouge Regime and one of the clients at Daughters has shared his story with me. He experienced the horrors of the Khmer rouge first hand and it is evident that his entire life was affected by Pol Pot’s evil plot to exterminate all the educated and/or religious people of Cambodia during his reign.
Daughters has a brand new program called “Son’s” that works with lady boys who have been sexually exploited and are coming out of sex work (males who are very feminine, identify themselves as females, dress and act like women). Like many of the clients at Daughters and in the Cambodia sex trade in general, they have been tricked into doing sex work by friends, neighbors and even family or they don’t have enough education or job training to find other work and have to make money for survival so their only other option is to work in brothels, beer gardens, bars, cafe’s, massage parlor’s and guest houses. I have the privilege of working with a handful of these lively young men in the silk screening program that I oversee. There is one in particular who has truly been a blessing to me. His work ethic and attitude are an encourage me everyday.
Like many others who survived the Pol Pot regime to talk about it, he suffered great loss. Like my dear friend many endured harsh labor, were nearly starved to death, lost family members which resulted in the need to survive by any means necessary as a result of extreme poverty. In his case, like many others, the only source of income was for him to sell his body. However, when I converse with this particular client, I do not see a broken life. I see a life that has been mended, restored and given another chance to laugh and to love. This is what it’s all about. He expresses to me on a daily basis how he feels he is living a “cowpeemun” life and it is evident to all those around him. His presence is one that can not go unnoticed because of the joy that he has. What a blessing to be a part of something like this, that is truly making a DIFFERENCE!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
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The above is an example of a design we’ve printed in the screen printing department
Amarja, I really admire your life of sacrifice to Christ. I pray you continue to stay strong on this journey. You are doing exactly what God has called all of us to do, spread the gospel! I love and miss you! Stay encouraged luv.
Questions, are the “lady boys” cross dressers, transgender, homosexual, surgically altered? I’m not quite getting the concept.
Also, there is something not working quite right with your blog. The lines are running into each other with whole lines being cut out in come cases.
may we all live cowpeemun lives!!!!
This is so encouraging!!! Wow, thank you so much for sharing this story.