amarjamitsutomi - What would life be like without the freedom to CHOOSE?

*Please note: The following blog is not exhaustive and does not apply to all Cambodians.

Close your eyes for a moment and begin to ask yourself how different your life would be without the freedom of CHOICE.

I have often taken for granted my education, travels, life experiences and the choices I have been encouraged to make since childhood.

Growing up in the West, we are bombarded from grade school with questions like "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Even though I'm in Cambodia now, I am constantly being asked by friends and family, "what's next?" These questions have always bothered me. Perhaps its because I've never had clear answers to them and have always felt pressured to "become" something I'm not.

What I want to emphasize however is what I am just now beginning to realize and am extremely grateful for...that I've grown up with the freedom to CHOOSE which path I want to follow.

Since living in Cambodia I have observed how others live and are treated. What I have found more often than not is that culturally ones destiny and identity is quite dependent on what family one was born into. Whatever business or trade the family runs is most likely what that individual will end up doing as well. Unless of course the child is married off or sold into some type of slave labor to generate an income for the family.

Women usually have less freedom to choose than men. A woman's obligation is primarily to care for and obey her family (parents, grandparents and/or husband) at any cost. She is viewed as a commodity to the family by the services she provides and the money she can make. I come across people facing these circumstances on a daily basis and my spirit grieves for them because this is their norm.

They have never been taught to dream, they have never been told they can do and become whatever their heart desires...

What would life be like without the freedom to CHOOSE?

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