AsiaLIFE

Not everyone is prepared to leave a cushy life in the U.S. for the streets of Phnom Penh. For Isaac Veth, however, returning to his homeland was a no-brainer almost from the moment he left. Words by Nora Lindstrom.

Isaac Veth is no ordinary guy. Born in Battambang, he fled Cambodia in 1979 through the refugee camps in Thailand. Around seven years old, he and his remaining family were settled in the Projects of the Bronx, New York. Together with his mother and five siblings he later moved to Reading, California. Growing up on welfare in the U.S. wasn’t easy. Isaac describes how he and his brothers would support the family by collecting cans for recycling, or even diving into dumpsters for discarded food. “We’ve always been hard workers our family, we’ve never been taught to beg or steal,” he says.

Despite the opportunities living in America offered, Isaac says he always wanted to return to Cambodia. “In third grade I wanted to come back to get rid of the Khmer Rouge,” he says. “But as education helped, I wanted to come and educate Cambodia.” A graduate of early childhood education, Isaac first returned to his homeland in 1998, settling here on a permanent basis in 2003. “I wanted to come and run an orphanage because I thought there were a lot of orphans in here,” he explains. “But the more I studied the issue, I realised these kids are not orphans. Many have families, but they’re stuck in an orphanage because their parents can’t afford them.” He soon abandoned the idea.

In an effort to improve his Khmer and be closer to his people, Isaac spent his first year in Phnom Penh working as a motodop and tuk tuk driver, sleeping in front of the FCC. “I felt joy being with the lowest of the low, sleeping where they sleep, eating what they eat, and taking showers where they took showers,” he says. In the U.S. too, Isaac had worked with the down and out, spending time with homeless people and drug addicts. “I want to bring pride and honour back to Cambodia,” he says. “After all, we are the people of Angkor.”

Describing himself as a “freelance individual”, he performs occasional translation work and supports his family by teaching English. He also helps out the less fortunate, be it through giving directions to a lost tuk tuk driver or treating street kids’ cuts and bruises. “I fill in the gaps,” Isaac says. “I’m not an NGO and will never register as one, because I want to prove to Cambodia that as Cambodians we can help ourselves.” Highly critical of NGOs, Isaac sees them as victimising the Cambodian people through handouts, while lining the pockets of their own staff. “The NGOs should leave,” he says.

One of Isaac’s ongoing projects is providing basic medical care from a mobile clinic to communities living around the former municipal dumpsite in Stung Meanchey. He says some 300-400 people still live in the area despite the closure of the dump, which effectively terminated their source of income. “Kids come to me with scabies and abscess on their head, pregnant women who haven’t been seen by doctors... I make sure everything is ok, give them vitamins, tetanus shots,” he says. “It’s about showing them that we love them.” Though not a trained doctor, Isaac received basic medical training while in the U.S. army, and has taken courses in medicine. He also has friends in the medical field who help him out in treating more difficult cases. “I’m just there to pick up what’s left over,” he says, describing how he will go to almost any lengths to help those falling through the gaps, such as HIV and Hepatitis C positive individuals rejected by most medical institutions.  

A single father of three adopted children, Isaac is motivated by his love for Cambodia, and his determination to change what he sees as a mentality among his countrymen “to do anything for a buck”. For him, money is not a goal. “I don’t need to be a millionaire to feel like one,” he says. “I just need to help someone that day – it’s incomparable to any money in the world.”

In a country filled with NGOs, Isaac’s one-man approach may come across as unusual. He admits even his family, all of whom remain in the U.S., is not entirely convinced. “But I don’t think it’s crazy at all,” he says. “Cambodia is home and I’ll do anything to benefit Cambodian society.”