I have worked in the field of Child Protection for almost eight years and it was during my period working at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) based in London that I first came into contact with CCF. At the time I was leading an enquiry into the activities of a British man who had established a bogus charity in Phnom Penh and was allegedly sexually abusing very young and vulnerable children.
When I arrived in Phnom Penh, I was astonished at just how poor and how vulnerable the children were and therefore how easy it was for a motivated offender to gain access to them and to sexually exploit them. Some of the victims of the man that I was investigating ended up being taken in by Scott and his team at CCF and I made a point of visiting them during some down time in the investigation. I was overwhelmed by the poverty and suffering and I was equally astonished by the commitment and care shown by Scott and his team. My experience had such lasting effect on me and I could not simply walk away from Cambodia at the end of the investigation without giving something to CCF. When I was asked to be a trustee I simply could not say no.
It is really important to remember that the work that CCF do does not just lift these children and their families from poverty but protects them from the evils of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. In the SE Asian region it is an appalling fact that children are a commodity and it is here where some of the worlds most vulnerable children are sold to human traffickers and end up in the brothels of the big cities being forced to have sex with numerous men every day. The region is just so poor that parents often sell their eldest children in order to get money to survive.
I returned to Phnom Penh last in October 2011 whilst working with Australian and American law enforcement teams as part of e research study. I plan to take my family to CCF in November 2012, my two teenage daughters plan to teach the CCF girls a thing or two about netball, my long suffering wife Jo will be running a cookery course (she is a trained and experienced chef) and me...well I will just have fun hanging out with the kids and kicking a ball around!
In the meantime I will be busy with my eldest daughter Eleanor selling some bags on Ebay that have been made by the children at CCF. We hope to raise money that will continue to sustain the vital aid that Scott is delivering daily and making such a difference to the lives of the local children and their families. Please let
Susie@ccf-uk.co.uk know if you would like to be added to the database for our newsletter or would like to purchase a bag before they go on sale on e Bay.
John Geden
