Mini Charity Marathon for Kids in Cambodia

Runners gearing up to race to raise money

If you haven't witnessed it yourself then you would have heard the story of a child with his or hands stretched out begging for money, pleading for help, longing for a bit of hope.

A common sight for tourists traveling in Asia and around the world.

The plight of children in poor countries is not something everyone has witnessed first hand. But for those who have, it's something they never forget.

In Cambodia, where half of the population is under 15, the story is no different.

Child prostitution, homelessness, poverty, a paedophile's playground, human trafficking are just some of the horrors faced everyday.

And something two well traveled women saw for themselves and never forgot.

Andrea Kvasnica and Emma Stringer got the chance to help those children they had seen being exploited, neglected and forgotten during a marathon of a fundraising stint at the weekend.

What started out as being a fun 10km run between friends turned into a mini-marathon of English teachers in Daegu raising 2.4million Won ($2,700 Canadian dollars) for children of Cambodia.

Along side the river on the morning of Saturday, June 9th, with a back drop of mountains, and below the roaring traffic overhead, 75 people ran, walked, cycled and rollerbladed all with a common cause. To support children of poverty.

"It was just supposed to be a small run with 10 friends, but more people heard about it and it just escalated from there," says Emma, originally from Leicester, England.

The two pals have lived in South Korea for three years and as keen athletes, running about five times a week, they wanted to do another long distance run having completed a half marathon in April.

Andrea Kvansnica and Emma Stringer with co-worker Mr. Cho never forgot what they saw in Cambodia

"The way it works here is that as the season goes on so the distances get longer, but we only wanted to do a 10km so decided to organize our own," says Andrea, from Ottawa, Canada.

With the help and support of other friends they were able to organize the 10km and 5km mini-marathon in Daegu and from their experiences in the impoverished Southeast Asian country decided the children they had seen stuck in a plight of hopelessness would benefit from their hard work.

The two friends, who met in South Korea while working at a Hagwon in Daegu, traveled to Cambodia in October 2005 with the intention of staying for seven days.

But having experienced the plight of children and families there were forced to cut their holiday short. Something they never forgot.

"We were planning to be there for seven days, but everywhere we went it was like people were breathing devastation," recalls Andrea, 27.

Hearing stories from tuktuk drivers who had lost their family to genocide, murder and poverty and seeing first hand the immense problem of child exploitation by paeodophiles they were shocked by how it left them feeling. Were they also taking advantage of the people by being tourists? Were they feeding the corruption of the poor?

"It was really depressing and we felt really bad because we are mega rich compared to them. We were trying to have a vacation and we felt so guilty because we were rich and they weren't," adds Emma, 26.

Andrea says "To go and visit was really hard because every day you are reminded of how dire the situation is. It's in your face all the time. Any time anyone asks me where's the worst place I have been to, Cambodia always pops into my head. That was humans in their worse situation."

Since their trip the pair have learnt more about the history and politics of the country and discovered the charity Children of Cambodia Fund who they chose to donate the money from the mini marathon to. The money will be used to help rescue children living on the dumps and tips of litter and rubbish everywhere because they have no families, no homes and no money.

The organization is trying to combat the problem with child prostitution by setting up orphanages and projects to get the children off the streets.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia with 85 percent of the population of 12.5 million people living in rural areas. There is a high infant mortality rate and the average life expectancy is 57 years old. During the notorious regime of Pol Pot in the 1970s around 1.5 million people lost their lives.

"Everywhere has poor places, we know, but it was a massive difference in Cambodia," says Emma.

Andrea adds: "The difference is that in other countries you can see there is some wealth and they can feed themselves and provide houses, but in Cambodia you just don't see it. Everyone is just suffering and the thing is there's no hope. They just don't have the means to move on. Their generation is stumped."

Since starting to organize the mini marathon six weeks ago, Andrea and Emma have realized they are not alone in their experience and know they will not be the last.

"A lot of people told us they had been or were about to go. Cambodia touches a lot of people's hearts from what they have heard or seen," adds Andrea.

The money raised far exceeded the two women's expectations and the support they say was amazing.

"We just want to say thank you to everyone who helped us and we hope it will be of some benefit to the children in Cambodia," Andrea says.