Cambodia's Orphan-Industrial Complex

Cambodia's Orphan-Industrial Complex
BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - 2007/12/01: Vimean, 4, and her younger brother Heng, 3, live at an orphanage. Vimean and Heng are both HIV-positive, and like 55,000 other children in Cambodia they lost their parents to AIDS. . (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA - 2007/12/01: Vimean, 4, and her younger brother Heng, 3, live at an orphanage. Vimean and Heng are both HIV-positive, and like 55,000 other children in Cambodia they lost their parents to AIDS. . (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Seyma had a rebellious streak, and it came out strongest in the classroom. The 11-year-old Cambodian had some real authority as an assistant teacher, which is to say translator. He liked to leverage his power. Without him, the foreign volunteers that taught the English class found the communication gap uncrossable and the distracted pupils uncontrollable.

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