Getting into the swing of things

Started work in the office on Monday with an American girl who is also volunteering with KYSD. We are just starting work on an environmental education project with workshops running on both Saturday and Sunday. The focus will be on biodiversity and the effect rapid development is having on the environment. It's already been a busy week. On Monday I got myself a bicycle decked out with random neon stickers...which will be handy for trips to the market where it will undoubtedly be placed amongst hundreds of identical bicycles. So now I'm braving the Phnom Penh traffic and at the same time refusing to be put off by the flat tire on my way to work yesterday. It's also a bonus not to have to rely on motos to get to work everyday. Yesterday we met with East West Management Institute to discuss the workshop plan then later attended a meeting at the World Bank on climate change. The World Bank has put together a commission of 12 people who will visit Cambodia in May for 3 days. They are attempting to see first hand the effect climate change is having on the lives of the people. I just don’t see how it would be possible to meet with the people most affected and in the most dire situations within a 3 day timeframe. And will the outcome just be another report what lots of meaningless facts and figures or will some serious and much needed resources be coming our way? But regardless I guess it’s still a good thing that the environment and global warning are becoming a bigger focus here (even if the PM refuses to believe that Cambodia is in any way a contributor to carbon emissions). Only time will tell…