Cambodia - Part 5

Friday 20th April 2007

New Years & Health Scare

Sok Sabi Chnum Khmai (Happy Khmer New Year)

I have had a mega busy week.

Firstly, on Khmer New Years Eve, we had a big morning of handing out rice (and other foodstuffs, including cooking oil from Australia) to orphans and people living with HIV/AIDs. The day went quite well, heaps of MODEs clients turned up (they were qued up outside when I arrived – I felt guilty that I was carrying my breakfast and had to sneak around the back) and we gave away somewhere in the vicinity 1000kg of rice. They came in big 50kg bags which we had to split into 30kg bags for people to take away. I ended up lugging around most of the bags - They were really heavy and really hot, but I wanted to show that I was really keen to help, so I pretended like it was nothing. All the guys in the office started calling me ‘bourng klang’ (strong man) which sufficiently placated my ego. It was a long/hard mornings work, but well worth it. The guys on the office kept jumping on the scales to see who was the heaviest. They kept trying to get me to go on, but I knew that a) the scales did not go up to my weight and b) I had about 40 kg on the nearest competitor, so I strategically avoided it.

While were handing out the rice, one of the grandmothers came up to me and emphatically thanked me for giving them rice. It was quite sweet at her, but I felt quite embarrassed about it (yes, it does happed). It would have still happened if I had been there or not. It is not like I organised it. I felt a bit humbled I guess.

After we handed out all the rice we packed up the office and headed out to the lakeside for an office picnic. There was a lot of eating, drinking and playing cards which was a lot of fun. I ate raw snails, and little clam things. Did I mention the pig innards I had the other week? They go great with beer…

Just as everything was winding up for New Years, we had a rushed meeting/visit from some of the donors. So instead of kicking back for a few days before new years I was busy redrafting a funding proposal and going around with the sponsors. It was good though. I feel like I am finally getting involved in the organisation and the work.

MODE has been working on a project that aims to replicate successful micro-businesses which will help people get out of poverty. If you earn under $20 here you are considered to be in poverty. People living with HIV, people living with disabilities and women-headed houses holds in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to poverty and marginalised by the local communities, many do not have the basic skills or access to programs that could help them develop the skills in order to generate an income. The aim of MODEs is to help these people. By providing them with skills, micro-financing, health services and empowering them through self-help groups.

On our field trip, we took the donors out to see some successful micro-businesses that had been established by people living with disabilities and their families. We visited a cake maker, a rice wine maker (my favourite), a pot maker and basket weavers. They set up their businesses on the side of the road or take their produce to the local village market.

Our meeting and field trip went late, but I still managed to get down to Phnom Penh (there were some seriously bad accidents along the road and it took two extra hours on the bus) for a Saturday departure with some of the other AYAD guys. We hired a mini van with a driver for the weekend and he took us in his ‘Mercedes’ van down to Kampot. We spent the afternoon/night at a place on the river where we went swimming, ate heaps and drank the first day of new years away. It was also one of the girl’s birthdays (Kim) so we made sure she got extra smashed. It was quite a nice spot and was nice to catch up with the guys. On the way home eleven of us squeezed into a tuk tuk. A few of us took turns pushing it up the hills.

The next day the group split up between the ‘mountain goats’ and the ‘beachcombers’. Some of the guys went hiking, while the rest of us (Ags, Tim, Susan, Allison and me) went to Kep which is on the beach. Kep was great – beautiful and tropical and packed with Khmer people on holidays.

Somehow we managed to find a bungalow in this beautiful hotel set among the trees looking over the water. Stunning. It was one of the nicest places I have ever stayed at and all for about $12 a night. From Kep we tried to go Island hoping, but were thwarted by a dodgy boat engine and only got to Rabbit Island, which was beautiful, but not as secluded as we wanted. The Islands off Kep are really close to the border with Vietnam and we were told that if you went the wrong way that the Vietnamese border patrol would just open fire at the boat. So we all had a moment when the boat engine died and we started drifting towards Vietnam. Thankfully our trusty boat driver jumped in and jimmied up the engine so we could get back to Rabbit Island.

While we were on the boat a flying fish jumped out of the water and hit me in the head. Why do all the weird things happen to me? I hadn’t even seen a flying fish before.

At Rabbit Island we splashed about in the water, kicking back in a few inner tubes, lazed about under the palm trees and sunk some beers (to celebrate new years of course). It was so nice to go swimming in a cool ocean. I could literally feel the dust washing away.

The food in Kep was also amazing – fresh fish, prawns, crab and octopus – and soooo cheap. It was great. We ate like kings. On our last night we went to Karaoke bar where the locals all came up to talk to us (there weren’t many tourists about) and get us to dance. But after two bottles of vodka and a couple of goes at dismal Karaoke performances I think they were happy to see us leave.

It was a long trip back to Kampong Thom (over 7 hours in total) and I was feeling pretty crap (see afore mentioned vodka reference). When we got back though, things didn’t improve. I started getting weird aches and pains in my chest and shoulders, on top of which my rash had gotten worse. I was quite worried about this all (being at least 3 hours from reliable medical help), so I decided to call SOS who told me to go to Phnom Penh and get checked out. I spent the night moaning to myself and woke up feeling better, but decided to bum a ride with my boss to Phnom Penh and get checked out anyhow. At least I could get something effective for my rash.

When I got to the SOS clinic they decided that they better do a blood check for malaria and told me to come back the next day. At this point, I really started to get worried. I stayed the night, slightly panicked, at a friends place and went back to the clinic this morning. To my great relief, I do not have malaria (I have been very good taking my anti-malarial medicine), I just had a bit of a bug, no doubt from the seafood or something and the rash it turns out, is most likely due to the anti-malaria medicine (although the doctor kept asking if I took body building drugs - I will take that as a complement. I am like ‘do I look like I am on roids?’). So I am now on anti-biotics and have some kick-ass cream. Phew. If that doesn’t fix it I will have to change my anti-malaria regime.

And I get to spend the weekend in Phnom Penh.

Too add to the good news – I checked my bank balance and have managed to save while I have been here. Cool. Time to go shopping! Maybe I can buy something that won’t fall apart in 4 seconds.

Next week I will be back in Aus for a few days for my sisters wedding, so will see some of you then.

Also, Liz, my cousin, is doing a bit of a collection for toys and clothes and stuff. So, if you have anything that some kids in Cambodia would like let me or Liz know.

Liea Ta (See you)

Erin

Cambodia - Part 4

Tuesday 11/4/07

Khmer New Years Eve…

For some reason I get inspired to write on Tuesdays. It is not intentional; it just works out that way.

Khmer New Years is this weekend coming and office is pretty much winding down. No one is looking to do anything much. I wanted to talk to the boss and my counterpart about some work that I had done. They gave me a kind of tired look and said it would be better to talk about it after New Years. So now I have three days of work and nothing much to do. Which is ok by me, it is hot and I don’t feel like doing much.

Khmer New Year is a big celebration here it goes over three days. While we only get one public holiday, the office will be closed for almost a week (everyone takes leave). Everyone goes to spend time with their families and dances for three days. My counterpart, Nary, only gets to see her husband a few times a year – New Years is one of those times. A few guys from the office are also travelling back to their home towns to visit their families, but most will stay and celebrate in Kampong Thom. As for me, I plan on catching up with a few of the other guys from the AYAD program. We are going to go down to Kampot in the South near the Vietnamese border – surf, sand, trekking and no doubt a few cocktails. It will probably take me about 8 hours to get there, but it will be worth it.

Around the streets people are putting up big colourful stars, lights and decorations. The local kids have been setting off fire works…like the good old days…it’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas…

Last weekend Shin and I got to go to our first Khmer party. It was really fun. It was a house warming party for the new office and house. We received formal invites on nice paper with golden writing. I am told that it was a fairly upmarket affair in comparison to most Khmer parties. They set up a big colourful marquee at the front of the house. We had to register when we arrived and make a donation to the party. Given that it was bosses party and that I am a foreigner I was expected to give a little more than most others. I am seen as rich and close to my boss and you pay according to the respect you should give. But still I got off quite lightly. The food was great and the beers just kept coming. Everyone wanted to drink with us because we were the foreigners.

Before drinking the people will designated how much of the glass should be drunk. ‘Moi moi’ translates to ‘one after the other’ which means you have to knock back the whole glass. Most of the night people kept saying ‘moi moi’ to us. Thankfully I am much bigger and quite the experienced drinker, so it wasn’t too much of a problem keeping up and remaining composed. Later in the night they broke out the Karaoke (it was nice to be on the other side of the stack of speakers for once) and everyone started to dance. Again, everyone wanted to dance with us so we were up dancing for quite a while. Khmer dancing pretty much consists of going slowly around a centre piece: stepping a few steps forward, then stepping a few steps back while contorting your hands. I was a natural and received many compliments, but it might have been the beer talking. They all knew that Shin and I weren’t married so they kept angling for us to dance near the single girls at the party which was kind of funny. We were still metres away but people were giggling and saying that we should get married. A few guys from the office, including my boss Sinal, got up and sung a few songs. They were all really good. Lucky for Shin and I, there were no songs in English and we could decline singing ourselves. All in all it was a really fun night.

Aside from the party Shin and I also went up to Siem Reap for a night. We stayed in a good hotel which had air conditioning and a hot shower. I forgot how good a hot shower could be. It was heaven. Lainie was also in Siem Reap for work and we met up with her. We all went up to watch the sun set over Angkor, which was quite cool, but packed with tourists. I am still to actually see Angkor though, but I am gradually getting closer.

Last week I also went out with my boss to Sunden; a small town about 2 hours north east of Kampong Thom. Sunden is my boss and his wife’s home town and is also home to one of MODE’s satellite offices. I thought Kampong Thom was quite rural, but this place was more so. No sealed roads and only about two shops. It was nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck there. Sinal told me that up until about 3 years ago the Khmer Rouge was still active in the area between Kampong Thom and Sunden, and that there were still a few hiding out in the forest. They would often hijack cars on the road that we were on and kidnap westerns. But that was three years ago, they pose no threat now (phew).

The reason we went out to Sunden was because it was the Chinese day for the dead. Sinal’s wife is Chinese in ethnicity and she goes every year to meet her family and pay respect to her ancestors. We went to a big mound where her father was buried next to his old rice paddy. There the family decorated the graves with colourful pieces of paper, lit some incense, chanted a bit and then made offerings of food, money (they burn fake money that they buy at the market) and drink to the dead. Strangely, it got me to thinking about my own family and history and I got a little emotional about the whole thing. After, we went back to her family house where we had a big lunch and played English teacher with the kids. They are quite smart and quick, so I had to keep my wits about me. They were writing words I said in the dirt with sticks.

On the way back from Sunden we visited Parsat Tao, a largely in tact temple on the outskirts of Kampong Thom. The temples in the area are mostly made from clay bricks (Angkor is made of stone) and are located in the middle of the forest. It is quite a cool area and would make a great picnic location (or rave party). The temples are quite simple, predating Angkor by about five hundred years, and have been worn by the elements. This area use to be the capital of Kampuchea before it was moved to Angkor and it still remains quite a spiritual place for the Khmer people. The boss’s kids were really excited to see it and went running ahead; it was nice to see them so interested in their history. The other great thing was that there were no other tourists about! We had the whole place to ourselves.

I also got my first haircut in Cambodia. All I knew how to say was ‘short’, so I was pretty much at the mercy of the barber. It cost me $1, but they took a lot of care. I was day dreaming away and didn’t notice the guy pull out the razor - I have been worried about getting my haircut over here because of the high rate in HIV and hepatitis that may been transmitted via razors etc, but the guy started before I could say ‘’no’’ and then he had to even it up. Well, he didn’t cut me, so I think I am safe for now. But I had images of going to HIV/AIDS support groups and hanging out with ex-junkies and prostitutes telling them how I got HIV at a barber in Kampong Thom…” he splashed my face with windex after – I thought that would kill it’’. Seriously though – he did use windex as lubricant, after shave and gel. I smelt like a freshly cleaned window for hours! On the upside he also gave me a massage.

Aside from my meanders, not much else has happened this week. Except that our cleaner started and we found a Khmer teacher. Both should make our lives here a little easier. I think I have forgotten more Khmer than I can use.

Tomorrow we are going to be giving out rice to the needy for New Years celebrations. That should be pretty cool. Aside from that I have finally been given some work to do, although, they have given me over a month to complete it. They want me to conduct a review of the local governance and decentralisation program. I am hoping I will be able to do some surveys and stuff with the villages, so I can gauge how much they understand about democracy etc, but I think that money will probably be an issue. On the up side it good to have something to concentrate on. Shin has nothing to do at work and has been amusing himself creating posters.

That is all for now.

Take Care.

Liea Ta.

Erin

Cambodia - Part 3

Friday 6/4/07

An average day in the life...

Reading over my last few instalments it has become apparent that I sound like I am doing a lot. The truth is, is that there is a lot of sitting around between doing really cool things. So to break this image people may be forming of me saving entire communities single handed, pushing back the scourge of corruption and bring democracy to the people, I have decided to detail an average day of my life in Kampong Thom:

Wake up at about 5.30am when the sun rises and shafts of light bore through the wooden windows. Lie in bed for two hours trying to ignore my stomach cramps and cursing the fact that it is already hot and I am sweating, despite having the fan pointed directly at me. (Over the last week I have had the added joy of waking to the neighbour’s music – it has been the festival of the dead, I think they are actually trying to wake the dead. They like to kick things off between 4am and 5am – now I get a bit antsy where here an alarm go off at a low level, so music blaring at levels I have only heard in night clubs or at concerts standing next to the speaker does not entirely impress me, but mostly starts around 7ish, by which time I am wide awake anyhow).

After I get up I often grunt at Shin before getting ready for work. I have to dress fairly conservatively for work – long sleeve shirts and long pants (with sandals of course – I bought some faux Birkenstocks in Phnom Penh for $7 - bargain!). I also lather myself in repellent and sun cream – there has been a bit of a dengue epidemic around Kampong Thom over the last few years and my office is opposite a swampy area.

Sometimes I make breakfast, but usually I get some noodles from a road side dinner (by which I mean a couple of chairs on the footpath next to someone cooking) on the way to work. The cycle ride to work is about 1 km. Not very far – but I do have to avoid the dogs, chickens, cows, ducks, children, buffalo and other human traffic (including tour buses steaming through town and crazy moto drivers). There is one particular dog (which I suspect is rabid mostly because it doesn’t like me) that likes to chase me and bark loudly. To put it plainly – I hate it. I plan on eating it before I leave town (actually, the Khmer don’t like eating dog – they only did so during the Khmer Rouge period when there was no other food. Now it is frowned upon).

I arrive at work around 8ish, sit around and say hello to everyone (they don’t say hello to each other – they just smile and nod at each other – so they indulge me). If I have work to do usually I do it first thing in the morning before it gets too hot. But most days I do some Khmer practice from a book, chat to the other staff, write emails on my laptop or try to break my top score on pinball. Now I know a few people out there will think I have merely transported my old ways in Sydney to Cambodia (I never realise how much work I put into work avoidance before). But, seriously it can be quite dull and frustrating. Even when I push for work it hardly ever comes. We warned about this though. It is simply not the Khmer way to make people work hard for the first few months – not until they get to know you. So I have put it down to a ‘learning’ experience and make sure I take something to do to work.

By about 12 noon it is scorching hot and time to go home for my two hour lunch break. I usually swing by the markets to buy something fresh to make lunch with (the town isn’t that big and it is kinda on the way home) and a cold drink.

It is so hot by this stage, I usually have to take some clothes off (sexy I know – but it helps it the sweat dry – not so sexy now, hey) while I have lunch. After lunch I sleep for an hour or so on the hammock with the fan at maximum setting and angle. Most days I wish I could just stay there in the hammock, relaxing with my thoughts, but somehow I manage to get up and ride through the thick thick heat to get back to work.

No one does much in the afternoon. We usually sit around eating fresh fruit and chatting (read ‘relationship building’), waiting for five o’clock to come. No one dares to leave early, unless they have a good reason.

After work I swing by the market again and/or the internet café. Generally, Shin and I take turns doing the cooking, even though our options are quite limited. I like to eat dinner on the veranda over looking the river with a few drinks (I bought some gin and vodka in Siem Reap). Sometimes we watch TV. There is an Aussie channel that shows Aerobics Oz style! But aside from the ABC Asia news it has little else of interested. We also get BBC, NBC, CNN, a movie channel (which changes every few days to another movie channel) and a heap of Khmer and Hindi channels. There is this guy that is always on TV – I think he is like the Khmer Daryl Sommers (circa 1984 – during the Hey, Hey it’s Saturday period). He wears a big mop like wig, a fat fake moustache and a tight tight tight yellow t-shirt. Apparently he is very funny, but just like Mr Sommers, I can’t understand why. Most evening though I read or listen to music or call our other friends from the program and see what they have been up to. Sometimes we catch up with the other expats in town for a game of badminton and some drinks.

At night we have to negotiate having the fan on high and trying to get the mosquito net to stay in place. Any romantic notions I may have had about mosquito nets have been quashed by the practical realities. Once tucked in, it is a pain the arse to get out again, but inevitably I have to go to the toilet five minutes after I get settled. Usually I am in bed by 10 pm – mostly because there isn’t much else happening and I try to go to sleep.

But, because of the afore mentioned ‘festival of the dead’ sleeping hasn’t been so easy this week. The music and mega phones have been blaring well into the night – at one point I could hear it clearly over my ipod at top notch – it was soooooo LOUD! Now, I have thrown some loud parties in my time, but nothing compared to this. For such a quite people they sure love an amplifier and speakers. Shin and I decided to check out the action and road past on our way away from the noise early this morning. There were only about 30 people there! They were just sitting round drinking tea under colourful awnings. I always say though – if you got more than 5 people coming to a celebration you an amplifier is a must.

While I am writing this some guys are working outside my window. They are putting up an awning on a second floor building. I feel ill looking at them. They are standing on this flimsy scaffolding thing (which buckles under their weight) with a ladder lying across it, in thongs, welding (with no glasses or protective clothes on). A while ago some of the structure fell down, but no one was hurt. I am just waiting for one of them to die. I expressed my concern to my colleagues, but they just shrugged it off. That is how they do things here.

Till next time
Erin

Cambodia - Part 2

Tuesday 3/4/07

Bed Bugs, Siem Reap & tales from Kampong Thom

Look at me I am blogging!!! Given the crap email access in Kampong Thom this should work out better...

My chest, my shoulders and my back are covered in a rash of bed bug bites. It sucks - I am really itchy. This morning I had to spray my clothes, my bed and my sheets with bug spray before leaving them out in the sun. Apparently bed bugs are quite difficult to get rid of. So fingers crossed that this will work (crossing your fingers here means something else entirely, as does sticking your thumbs up – both are rude, so I am crossing my fingers figuratively only).

But to put this all into perspective, I went out in the field this morning, with one of the field workers (named Mab), to visit some families living with HIV/AIDS. The first family that we saw was a family of six. All were infected with the virus and the father was also suffering from TB. The youngest child was about two years old and the eldest about ten. The whole family will be lucky to live for another two years. Basically, Mab sat around talked to them for a bit, checked that they were taking their medication and checked out their house (which MODE had built for them) to see if it needed repairs. These people are seriously poor and marginalised by their community, but they still managed to smile and were very sweet. They pulled out the good matt for us to sit on. I don’t know all that much about HIV/AIDS, but around here I am still considered an expert on nearly everything, including health issues (I would probably have a similar, if not better knowledge, of things than the field workers have without having attended any training). After that we visited a number of other families including an eight year old who had lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. She was clearly not doing so well and scabs were starting to appear over her body. At Mab’s prompting I took her photo and she lit up when she saw herself on the screen of my camera. Next time I go out I plan on taking some toys with me to give to the kids. I know it isn’t much, but still, it would be nice to try and cheer them up.

So today was pretty full on. MODE appear to be doing some really great work with the local communities and I am glad I am here to help them, if only for a short time and in a limited capacity. The other day I edited a funding proposal that they are putting together. Most of the guys in the office speak pretty good English but there writing isn’t so good. The funding proposal I edited was attempting to get funds for a program which aims to assist the most marginalised and poor people (particularly women-headed house holds that where people are living with disabilities, mostly land mine victims, and HIV/AIDs) to set up sustainable micro-businesses. There are a lot of micro-finance NGOs around, but there is not a lot of support and a lot of poor people end up borrowing from several lenders and end up getting into massive debt ($100 US is a massive debt in Khmer terms – but I could pay it off in a week). The program MODE are proposing relies on establishing networks in the community and has several follow ups over the course of a few years.

Aside from that I haven’t done much at work except ‘build relationships’ (a euphemism for sitting around talking, playing games and learning Khmer off the guys in the office). The guys in the office have taken great joy in teaching me ‘bad phrases’ and making me say that I love different member of the staff. It has been a lot of fun, but at the same time the day drags by…there is no hurry to do things around here – I kinda like that, even if it is frustrating at times.

The thing that has struck me the most over the last couple of weeks is the lack of coordination from international sponsors. There are massive holes in many of the programs. Organisations like MODE have attempted to deal with this by remaining locally focused. Also local NGOs tend to tailor their project to what the sponsors think is the right way to do something rather than shaping the project around the needs of the people the projects are aimed at. I know I was joking about setting up the ‘Erin Blake Foundation’ before I left. But now I am seriously putting some thought into organising something…

Outside of work things are going well. Shin and I moved into the house last week. My whole office turned up to check it out. I was like – ‘is anyone at work??’ The guys at work love checking out what I am up to. The other day I ripped my pants riding to work and the whole office was talking about it all day. One of the guys drove me to the market – my bare white arse hanging off the back of his moto. I then had the joy of going through the market looking for the one pair of pants that would fit me. Finally I found a pair and we went back to work. Everyone came up, one at a time, to look and tell me they were very nice pants.

It was partly due to the pants incident and the fact that I was getting seriously short of cash (we had to pay 3 months rent in advance) that I decided to go to Siem Reap last weekend. It is a three and a half hour bus trip. But it was well worth it. Firstly – they have banks that accept credit cards and secondly, given that it is a tourist hot spot (being near Ankor Wat) they have bigger sized clothes for westerners. The bus was also air conditioned (our house isn’t), so it was all quite luxurious. I text messaged my friend Lainie, who is based in Poipet on the border with Thailand, with my plans and she decided to meet me there (she had a four hour ride over some rough roads in a share taxi).

We met up late on the Friday night and checked into the first guest house (read dodgy hostel) that we found (It was five bucks a night for a room with a bathroom) and then we hit the town. We ended up at a ‘lady boy’ bar drinking cocktails to all hours of the morning….ahh, the expat lifestyle…

The next morning I figured out that it wasn’t just because I was drunk, but that the water wasn’t actually working in my room and in the process of trying to get it to work I had actually broken the toilet – I don’t envy the Plummer who had to fix it. So, I got moved into what turned out to be the ‘bed bug’ room. Given that were both hung over, we decided to forego an excursion out to Angkor Watt, and made a lazy day of it bumming around Siem Reap sucking down coconuts (the local hang over cure – I tells ya it works a treat), getting massaged by blind people (hey – it helps them) and going out to the floating village on Tonle Sap lake.

The floating village was first established by people escaping the Khmer Rouge. They put their houses in the river and pushed them into the middle of the lake (which is massive) out of sight of the Khmer Rouge. Talk about crafty. They have floating schools, restaurants, basket ball courts, houses, farms and a tourist centre. It is pretty cool. We got a boat to ourselves and our guide was quite entertaining.

Because we were practicing our Khmer the Cambodians really opened up to us and we met heaps of nice locals. Everyone is poor and everyone has a story, but they were all so warm and engaging. After we got back from the lake we found a rooftop bar where we kicked back in some hammocks, with a couple of G&Ts, to watch the sun set over Siem Reap. It was actually quite pretty (thanks mostly to the pollution).

I must say I was a bit embarrassed by the behaviour of some of the tourists. They can be so loud, disrespectful and rude. I think if you are going to travel somewhere you need to at least try fitting with the local customs. Walking around in bikini top and short shorts in a country like Cambodia is not cool – they get excited when they see a shoulder (sorry girls – the boys in the office went mental at the pics from my party). Aside from that Siem Reap was pretty cool. It is still a small town, despite the number of tourists that come through (very different to Kampong Thom) and there are some cool places away from the hordes. Lainie and I found a cool little bar at the back of a silk shop. It was tucked away and we were they only two people in there. It had a great range of cocktails, crepes and a cool bamboo seating area. They also played some great world music, we spent most of Saturday night hanging out there.

So I got a heap of stuff for the house (like sheets and booze and stuff) in Siem Reap and some more clothes, as well as bed bugs. All in all not a bad little haul and it was good to get away from Kampong Thom (I have mentioned that it is small haven’t I?). On the way back a grand ma and her grand son fell asleep on my shoulder. It was quite cute. Actually all the kids are really cute. Lainie and I were talking about splitting one. It could work…

Last weekend was also the election for the Commune Council. Shin and I were asked to be international observers which would have looked great on my CV...but we had to decline after the AYAD manager gave us a stern warning. There is a high risk of political violence. Also, the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) won 97% of the seats – I wouldn’t want to legitimise what is obviously a corrupt system - sorry I am not suppose to be political (but I am teaching people how to advocate for their rights). If one was cynical (and I am not saying I am), one might think that that the CPP held the election in the driest time of year when food was short and then drove around last week handing out food to people who don’t have enough food for a reason…but that would be only if you were cynical.

I am getting better at Khmer and I am also getting use to the whole living in Asia thing. It is weird just how easy it has been. The guys at work have been a great help in learning the language. Although, Mab (who I went out in the field with this morning) has been spreading a rumour around town that I am learning Khmer because I want to meet a Khmer girl. As a result, there are a couple of ladies interested to meet me…not sure what I can do about that. All the Khmers keep telling me that I am very tall and very handsome. To the point where I know that they are talking about me if I hear (Bourng Saart – handsome man). It isn’t bad for the old ego, but I am also a little unsettled by it.

I dig the no shoes thing at work, taking siestas in the middle of the day, sleeping in a mosquito net (although once the fan goes on it is a bit of a pain) and using a bucket to wash with instead of the shower. The temperature has been in the high 30s nearly every day, so I look forward to splashing myself every night when I get home from work. Aside from house stuff I have also bought myself a bike. It’s grey with a little basket on the front and goes like a little rocket.

Shin and I have started cooking. Although our food supply is restricted to whatever looks fresh at the markets. The following are easy to get – rice, noodles, mangos (lots of other weird fruits), green tomato, garlic, ginger, mint, potato, mushrooms, cucumber, leafy greens and fish (the meat is always covered in flies – don’t think I can stomach it yet). If anyone has any ideas for recipes – let me know. We have also discovered just how quick the bugs can be…especially the ants. Thankfully the cleaner starts tomorrow. Again – ahh, the expat lifestyle…

Tonight we are heading to another expats house for badminton and cocktails. We have also been invited to a big party on the weekend (we have to take cash as a present). The weekend after that is Khmer New Year – which looks like it will be fun wherever I end up.

I am also planning on getting involved with some soccer and volley ball at the local ‘stadium’ (the ‘stadium’ makes Birrong Soccer Park look like a world class facility). The boys at work play and have invited Shin and I along…should be fun.

Anyways, I hope everyone is well.

Take Care

Erin

Cambodia - Part 1

Tuesday 27/3/07

Cambodia – Instalment 1

Chum Riep Sue (Hello),

So far, so good. So much has happened already.

I have decided the easiest way to keep you updated is to write a little bit of a journal on my laptop. Will save me time and money at the internet café. Also, I can keep them for future reference. So here goes instalment 1:

It is my second day at work. I am actually on my two hour lunch break at the moment – so this writing business is cutting into my well deserved siesta time. This morning I went to my first community meeting about half an hour out of Kampong Thom town on the back of a ‘moto’ (motor bike) with my counterpart Nary and one of her staff members (whose name I forget). Talk about the middle of nowhere, well actually it is almost the middle of Cambodia – Kampong Svay district. The roads were rough and ready and my ass was quite sore by the time we got back. It is a weird contrast out there – it is really dry and dusty, yet it still retains this tropical feel. The kids yell out ‘hello’ when they see me. The roads themselves are on top of dykes that run between dried out rice fields. If you weren’t with someone you could get very lost, very quickly. You could see for miles and miles, but there was only dried out rice paddies and trees to see (and cows – Kwoo in Khmer)

The meeting went for about 3 hours and didn’t seem to resolve much. But I understand that is how they do things in Cambodia. It is much more important to talk, maintain relationships and try to meet consensus than actually make a decision. People don’t play numbers games. Everyone has to agree.

MODE are trying to establish sustainable democratic practices. They are trying to encourage the local villages to participate in decision making by establishing small villages committees who then lobby the commune council. During the meeting the villages were complaining they had no money to attend meetings (they are that poor they can’t afford the cost of travel), so once funding to MODE ends for this project, it seems likely to me, this system will fall apart. However, they seem to think that once they get people talking, the rest will take care of itself. My thoughts on ‘sustainable’ practices are clearly different to theirs. But I guess this is why I am here.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how advanced MODE is in their local governance project and with the office – it is shmick by Khmer standards (I have a desk). Shin’s (the other AYAD in Kampong Thom) office is literally a shanty in the middle of a rice paddy about 5km out of town and his boss doesn’t speak English – so I have it pretty good. My office is tiled and has big fans which keeps it coolish. My boss lives behind it with his wife and four children.

MODE seem to have a clear idea on what they want to achieve and have written some well designed, budgeted and informative reports. However funding is a major challenged for them. MODE itself is a local NGO who deals with many aspects of human rights in about three districts. They have a HIV program, a general health program, a disarmament program, an orphanage support program and the local governance (or decentralisation) program. Local NGOs over here tend to focus on an area (like place management) rather than on a specific issue.

The guys at work are very nice. There is a lot of smiling and bowing going on. Most of them speak a little English and are very keen to 1. Learn better English off me and 2. Visit Australia (every Khmer sees it as a better life – although most would probably struggle to get work). My bosses name in Sinal and he speak excellent English. They have had a foreigner before, so I am not a complete freak to them.

Last night I went out for drinks with the boys from the office – it was nice. We ate steamed fish (which they cooked in the yard) and what I can only describe as swamp weed – it was like eating peppery grass. But they told me it would stop malaria. So I hoed in. We had a few Black Panther beers – a stout beer made in Siem Riep which is surprisingly strong. I took some Pringles – cause we eat chips with beer in Australia…ahh, the cultural exchange…

My Khmer is improving: I can introduce myself, order food and talk a little about myself. I am organising lessons with a teacher who worked with the UN. I have taken to introducing myself as Eh-rin (it is easier for them to pronounce).

Shin and I have also found a house. Tomorrow we are going to meet with the owner and discuss the contract – we are demanding a cooker. It is a big wooden house on stilts with a view of the river (where kids and water buffalo swim – personally I think it has Giardia written all over it). While we were looking at the house a couple of wild horses decided to have a fight (or flirt – I am not sure which) in front of the gate. It has five bedrooms (but I would say only three would be ok to sleep in), a veranda and a big back yard with hammocks (I can taste the mango daiquiri’s), coconuts, mangos and bananas trees. Bonus – it has a western toilet AND a hot water shower. Looks like we will be paying $250 US a month for it. It is a part of town called ‘Elephant on Tiger’, apparently both animals use to roam these parts, alas no longer…

I borrowed a bike and taken to riding around town, much to the amusement of the locals – who all stare at me. We are two of five foreigners based in town (although tourist buses often stop at the one restaurant for lunch). Kampong Thom itself isn’t much to speak of. It has a kilometre or two of shanty shops down the main drag. Off the side streets there a few houses and then there are dried rice fields – I imagine in the wet season it will become quite beautiful and lush, but now it is dusty and dry. And the dust gets into everything (it’s funny I kept reading about how dusty it gets but it never really clicks until you get here). There is a market and two blocks of shops in buildings and about twelve petrol stations (being on the ‘good’ road to Siem Riep from Phnom Penh).

I had a great, but hectic, week last week in Phnom Penh. We had some intense language and cultural training. But I still managed to check out the markets, the genocide museum, be massages by a blind man (in a centre that helps blind people get work – the best massage I ever had) and the Wat Phnom Penh (temple). I also manage to sample some of the local night life (surprise, surprise). On my last night a big group of us went out to Karaoke which was a lot of fun – the place had big sofa’s and was completely Asian kitsch. On the front door it said we could not bring in knives, guns or hand grenades (aw man, not the hand grenades too) - it was only the next day I found out it was also a brothel.

I am glad I am out of the capital though – I can see how easy it would be to fall into that ugly ex-pat life style and completely miss out on the wonderful cultural experience that the provinces can afford. To me this is the real Cambodia – this is where most Khmer live and work. I have been here three days and have little idea of what I have actually put in my mouth. Yesterday I got my first bout of explosive gastro – completely gross, I won’t give details. I had a drink with some ice in it. I was hanging for a cold drink – it’s damn hot – but I paid the price.

The flight over seemed really long, mostly because I had the flu. When we were landing it felt like my brain was going to explode. Thankfully a few days in the dry heat sorted out my sinuses. The first thing that always strikes me about Asia is the smell. It is always that sickly sweet rotting fruit smell you find around the back china town. The second thing is always the heat. It’s like a wall. It was most noticeable when we landed in Malaysia for the stop over. We had to catch a golf cart to the hotel from the airport it was so overwhelming (ok, we didn’t have to, but it was far more fun than walking).

I have had a few cultural insights since I got here. Our Khmer teacher Sitha (we call him ‘Look Kruu’ meaning my teacher) was really good on that for us. Firstly – you can’t touch a Khmer on the head (it is real bad luck), but it is fine to put your hand on the inside of another males thigh. Secondly, Durians under the bed keep mosquito’s away, but they stick to high heaven...could you imagine picking up – ‘I hope that is durian under your bed that I can smell’ …Look Kruu also told us a his experience with the Khmer Rouge which had us all holding back the tears while he smiled (he was keeping face) but his eyes gave away the pain…I found that story a lot harder than looking at the genocide museum. I guess it made it all personal.


I will try and stick some photo’s in too – not sure if I am going to be able to post them on the web…

I will be flying back to Sydney for three days for my sisters wedding on the 28th of April. So I may see some of you then. Otherwise I will keep you posted.

Also, feel free to pass this on to anyone. I am not precious about such things.

Chum Riep Lieu (Good bye)

Lots of Love
Erin