There is a book I read somewhere that stated, “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” We want our kids, at every church home, not only to help with chores, but also to learn life skills that will make them productive Cambodian citizens.

Everyone works when there are chores in the home

I started working at age six, in the early 1950’s, assembling milking machines for the twice per day milking of our dairy herd. By age ten I was operating the largest farm equipment available at that time. During high school I’d be up and have the corn silage fed to the herd of replacement heifers before school, and on Saturdays? I pitched “you know what” with a five tine fork for much of the day.

Today, UNICEF and CNN would accuse my father of “modern day slavery.” What a crock! On the farm, especially during harvest and planting, everyone did whatever was necessary to get the crop in. I learned to work, think on my feet, and innovate. And, if I controlled the destiny of every young, able bodied person on earth, they’d learn to navigate life at the narrow end of a five-tine fork as well; rather than on a keyboard playing video games.

Talk about slavery? There is nothing worse than video game addiction. CNN loves to run a clip showing kids cutting cocoa pods as though it were the ultimate modern day evil. Instead, they should show a clip of some brain dead kid staring at an electronic game screen who can’t even sweep a floor. The harvesting of most crops in Cambodia, from rice to fish, is very labor-intensive. On Cambodian farms the whole family, together with friends and neighbors help out.

We do the same at our Church Homes. Everyone has a daily chore, and when its time to harvest fish, or some other crop, they may work hard for a few days. I make no apologies. It teaches them self-worth, the value of accomplishment, enjoyment from the fruit of their labors, how to work as family, and life skills that follow them all of their days. You can see the positive pride in their faces as they all help out. You think I’m a “slave-master”? Check out the fruits of our results in about ten years!