Kate McClure turned her back on her well paid job as a lawyer to help poor children in Asia
Five years ago I turned my back on the legal profession to start a charity in Cambodia giving shelter to homeless children. And my life couldn’t be happier.
It has taken a lot of effort and frustration getting my charity Streetchild to where it is today but the effort has been worth it.
The catalyst to change my life came six years ago. It was winter and I was driving through to my office in Edinburgh where I worked as a lawyer. It was rush hour and I just remember looking at everyone impatiently trying to get to their work in the dark, wet, cold morning. I just thought: I don’t care about my mortgage: I’m selling up to live the life I want to.
So I did. I had worked in Cambodia for six months in 2005 on an international legal exchange and I fell in love with the country. So it was always in my mind to return. But I promised if I did it would be to help the poorest children on the streets of the capital Phnom Penh who made such an impact on me during my first visit.
Since we started the charity in 2011 we’ve helped hundreds of children. Funding comes from a number of sources – none of it from the state. Cambodia doesn’t quite understand the concept of state aid so a lot of my funding comes from America and Australia, piggybacking on projects that are already established.
Fundraising can be very difficult. We need around $350,000 to do our work. Only $20,000 comes from donors as such – that’s an area we need to work on.
Cambodia is very much a forgotten backwater of Asia. Since the genocide of 1975-1979, the country has not rebuilt its infrastructure adequately. It means basic hospitals and care services are of a third world standard and that’s why our work remains vital.
The levels of poverty in the country is hard to imagine back home. There are people living on starvation rations. Despite being a communist country, there’s no real welfare state. So you see children looking after infirm parents while at the same time holding down very labour intensive jobs for a few dollars a day.
Streetchild effectively sponsors children. If they are orphaned we’ll put them into foster families. Or, if they are homeless, we’ll put them in secure accommodation. We do the whole package: shelter, education, personal development. We also help get employment when they leave school.
Education is key. Learning English is the gold standard here. It makes people eminently more employable and means that effectively they’ve got a passport out of the country to work elsewhere. Without English skills you’re chances of making a living is very limited.
It’s an intensive process but very worthwhile. While I pay myself a small salary, it’s just enough to live on. Yet I don’t hanker after my previous life at all. I do miss Scotland; the last time I was home was three years ago. But friends and family come here to visit so I do still keep in touch.
In the years we’ve been operational we’ve helped hundreds of children. A bit of effort goes a long way. The conditions here aren’t perfect for a charity to work in but then where is? I just know that anything worthwhile takes time. But the rewards are plenty.
