Old Age in Cambodia

It is common in Cambodia for older people to ignore their health problems to avoid expenses. Finding enough to eat is only one of the difficulties. In most cases, they or their children simply do not have any money to pay for the treatment, medical treatment typically comes second only to that spent on food. "The high cost of healthcare puts a special burden on old people who depend on their children, "Illness may also force older people who are poor to choose between risking their family's livelihood by selling ... cows or land ... or going without treatment." The lack of formal structures to help the elderly is so widespread that there will be room for both approaches for years to come.

The Situation of older people in Cambodia, defined 'older' as 55 years and above. The biggest problem facing them was making a living. Other than work, many rely on support from their children, as well as help from neighbors and their community. The main source of support for the elderly is themselves, followed by their children. Those who lack the strength to work and have no children rely entirely on charity, a dismal strategy in a country where more than one-third of the population lives under the poverty line.

Without enough to eat, many older people are becoming weak and malnourished. This leaves them more vulnerable to illnesses that they cannot afford medical care for and unable to provide for even their most basic needs. In many cases, family members are unable to help as they struggle to feed themselves and their children. This leaves the elderly without any form of support and often living in heartbreaking conditions.

The lack of help means many elderly citizens live in pagodas. While old women will often become nuns to serve the temple's monks, other men and women end up in the country's numerous pagodas because they have no other means to support themselves. Pagodas in Cambodia should always be welcoming as a second home for the elderly.

There are as many as old women who are living in the lurch in the streets selling items for their daily lives. People are looking at them on the pavements and taking big sigh murmuring how can they help them overcome this suffering life. Where are their children, why do not they help their mothers. However they are also poor.

A lady knows the hardships of old age and poverty. She lives in Phnom Penh's Wat Botum, close to the Royal Palace. Starting at 6am, she sweeps away the rubbish at the temple, then goes out until six or seven at night to earn whatever she can. If she is lucky she will come back with 2,000 riel. "I used to work as a dishwasher," she says , "but by 2000, I had no more energy. I couldn't work anymore, so I came here to beg to make my living."

A 78-year old man doesn't mind that his six children cannot feed him despite a constitutional requirement that they do so; they have their own to care for, he reasons. He began his career as a cyclo driver aged 20, when the Japanese entered Cambodia. He rents his battered cyclo for 1,500 riel a day, and saves between 3-4,000. Once a month he goes home to Kampong Cham to visit his family. "They give me money and food every year, but the food is not enough, so I have to come here to ride a cyclo," he says. When might he stop peddling and retire?