JAMES

James is a tuk tuk driver living and working in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. Riding with James is more than just  transport; it’s an experience. It starts when he gathers everyone around the tuk tuk for a ‘family’ photo, then shows you a brief slide-show of his other passengers from that month on his camera. James is the kind of guy you need in a big, dirty city like Phnom Penh: whether you want art supplies, Mexican food, cosmetics, a massage or a decent cup of coffee, James will know where to find it. “When you ride with James you are always smiling,” he says.

When James was thirteen years old the Khmer Rouge came into power in Cambodia. For James, this meant he was totally separated from his family and placed in a different province to look after a field of cows. The Khmer Rouge was a communist government that, on the surface, stood for equality; but in reality was a brutal regime that orchestrated a mass genocide of any educated person who could potentially be a threat to their complete control. Within this period James’s parents and two of his siblings were either murdered or died of starvation- James doesn’t know.

A hard childhood is the reality of most adults in Cambodia. Despite this, James found himself a wife and worked during the day as a motor-taxi driver. Moto- taxi drivers are a step below tuk-tuk drivers; they earn less money because they can only take a maximum of two passengers. Tuk-tuks are $880 dollars to purchase. For a moto-driver - who earns one dollar for a small trip and needs to provide for his family - saving enough for a tuk-tuk could take a life time.

When James invited us to his house to meet his family and have a drink he started raving about a Scottish boy named Martin, who is now a doctor living in Melbourne with his girlfriend. He met James when he was a boy on holidays in Cambodia; they became friends and exchanged emails. James had saved $20 to buy himself a tuk-tuk and Martin’s family sent him the remaining $860. They also support him with $300 a year.

I can tell you that their home was not much, but James couldn’t be prouder of his situation and the fact that he can work and his daughter can attend school. James was given an opportunity for his family to escape the unjust options that poverty forces many people into, such as sex-slavery, the drug trade or having to send your children out to work -denying them opportunity for education. He wanted more than anything for me to email Martin’s parents and tell them that I had met him and his family, in the home that they have supported him to have.  

James still has a younger sister who he regularly goes and visits. He is incredibly thankful to his customers because, the way he sees it, they are allowing him to have a house for his family and to send his daughter to school. Although many Khmer people are not thankful for the many western tourists who come to Cambodia and abuse Cambodia’s poverty, James has had a positive experience from our abundance. What Cambodia needs is not for more money to be thrown at it and then lost in corruption, but for people to have an opportunity to work: to have a choice to work in an industry that is not damaging to the country or its people.  Schooling in Cambodia is very expensive, and James works long hours to ensure his daughter can get an education.

James’ favourite story is how his daughter rides her bicycle at 6am every morning two hours to school so one day she can have the opportunity to work in a sustainable industry. James’s hope and genuine desire to have a relationship with his customers teamed with his Canadian baseball cap and prompt chauffeur skills  is why his saying rings true: “When you are riding with James you are always smiling”



LUKE 12:48