Orphanages

from biography
Joubert felt quite traumatized when she visited several Cambodian orphanages. Joubert went to one and found a boy of 9 years old who suffered from cerebral palsy. This meant that he was unable to move and merely stared at the ceiling all day. The Catholic nuns who looked after him seemed very disinteresed in changing his environment for him. He also had 6 massive lesions in his lips and his lips were severly bleeding. His lips were slit in 6 places. When Joubert asked what was wrong, they stated he had 'a fever'. Joubert researched cerebral palsy and found out that he was suffering from vitamin deficiencies. Joubert offered to help to raise money for the orphanage, however the elder nun refused her help. Joubert offered to adopt the child, but the nun said that it was a lengthy process and probably not achievable. She then told Joubert that she was dressed innapropriately and could only return fully covered from head to toe. Joubert wanted to take photographs of the child but was not allowed to.

Joubert told the story to a local teacher. The teacher stated that she had taken all her money and bought clothing and food and bedding for one orphanage, however when she came back she found out the principle had sold everything and syphoned the money into his account. Joubert also witnessed children she felt had been sold into sexual slavery and were also forced to pick pocket. She heard children as young as 6 and 9 years old using the world 'yum-yum' to foreigners which meant they were asking to provide felacio for money. She noticed how every time she went to the border, the children's hair had been dyed and recolored so as to look like different children so that people would think they were giving funds to new children. They were receiving very little money however. She was told by some social workers that children were bought for the price of a bicycle into slavery. Often their fathers had sex with them before selling them to 'inititate' them. They also were given heroin, which is in plentiful supply in Cambodia and very cheap and available, to prevent them from leaving the industry.

She was also told that the females who were too young to have sex because their vaginas were too small, had natural cork placed in them. Then water was added to force the vagina to expand. Joubert was told also that there were housing facilites that had hundreds of prostitutes in supply, most were made of cardboard boxes in abandoned buildings. Nevertheless the buildings were 'serviced' well as male customers were provided with duck eggs, and a plentiful supply of drugs along with multiple women and children. For three dollars or less a whole orgy could take place...

To worsen matters, when Joubert briefly taught in Bangkok, one of the teachers was arrested for being a pedophile. Hundreds of photos were found in his apartment of him performing acts with children of ten and under, each was paid the equivalent of a few bars of candy.

By Venetia Joubert