Lorna in Cambodia

Time to Kick Back

2008-12-24T20:20:00.009+07:00

It's been a hectic year so far and a well deserved break was in order. First stop on the list - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Adjusting to the fast pace of the big smoke took a couple days but it was worth it. KL is a fast developing capital and moves at an equal pace. The city is a melting pot of different cultures and religions making for interesting days filled with visits to shrines, temples and mosques, all equally as beautiful. The downtown Petronas towers were amazing and a contrast to the surrounding areas.

Petronas Towers

Do-it-yourself satay

Next stop was Brunei. We arrived in the quiet capital, Bandar Seri Begawan on the 20th. The city was gorgeous and incredibly quiet compared to the often chaotic Phnom Penh. We spent the days relaxing and visiting some of the amazing mosques in town. We also took a trip down to Kampong Ayer, the largest water village in the world and down the river further to see the proboscis monkeys. The city was very chilled and the people were incredibly friendly, as they seem to be in this part of the world. Today it took us four buses and a boat to get to the closest border town, Miri, in Sarawak. Exhausted, we've left the exploring for the coming days. Christmas in Borneo is sounding perfect to me!

Brunei's mosques

Kampong Ayer

Bako National Park, Sarawak

November - The Month of Festivities

2008-12-09T14:30:00.007+07:00

Mid November saw an influx of visitors to Phnom Penh for Bon Om Tuk, the annual Water Festival and Independence Day celebrations. The festivities kicked off on the 9th with an impressive parade through town to mark 55 years of independence from the French. It was more of a showcase presented by the Government to highlight their so called 'achievements' over the years. Each Government Ministry was represented and regardless of intent it was still impressive.

From the 11th - 13th Phnom Penh was buzzing with some 2 million visitors from provincial areas coming to celebrate the Water Festival and changing of the tides. This is perhaps the biggest celebration in the Khmer calender and one that shouldn't be missed. There were impressive long boat races running continually for 3 days down the Tonle Sap. The riverbanks were packed with people. Once evening came it was time to relax and check out the illuminated floating barges, complete with fireworks.

Yet another overdue update…

2008-10-31T13:52:00.006+07:00

A lot has happened over the past month or so. I’ve moved on from KYSD and am now working with a great organisation, Bridges of Hope. BoH focuses on sustainable socio-economic reintegration programs for people living with HIV/AIDS. At the moment we are developing a new project aimed at providing vocational training for our clients. We’re also working on some health education and prevention programs for young people, along with group therapy and art therapy sessions for children. The work is great, I'm learning a lot and the staff are absolutely lovely. There’s never a dull moment and everyday is entertaining, usually at my expense. We've been conducting some home visits and also some field trips to neighbouring provinces visiting projects which has been another eye opener. I’ve also had the opportunity to do some more traveling lately thanks the clusters of public holidays. The latest trip was up to Sisophon and Battambang. It was great to get out of the city and experience a little more of the beautiful countryside. Not long after my Dad came to visit which was a great excuse to see a bit more of what Phnom Penh has to offer and I finally learnt how to ride a motorbike. Quite a feat considering the traffic in Phnom Penh. All in all life is great here, making the most of this great experience and living it up.

Downtown Sisophon

Visiting a Wat in Sisophon for P'chum Ben

Exploring the countryside in Battambang

Having A Bad Day?

2008-07-30T11:22:00.009+07:00

Think again...
A few weeks ago we took a small group of students from KYSD to visit Stung Mean Chey, Phnom Penh’s municipal dump. Around 10,000 people live in the adjoining slums and most, including children, seek a meagre income picking through trash at the dump. With empty rice sacks and metal hooks in hand, most are searching for tin cans, plastic bottles and other recyclable goods which can be sold for around 10 cents per kilo. Garbage trucks constantly roll through dumping trash while people swarm around looking for goods they can sell before the bulldozer quickly shovels everything over the edge. There were countless children, few people wearing shoes let alone masks or gloves and houses constructed right on top of the smoking mountains of trash. Everything ends up here, including dangerous medical waste and poisonous chemicals. This place is the closest thing to hell on earth.

21st Birthday Festivities

2008-07-08T15:11:00.005+07:00

It was indeed a very memorable birthday this year and what a place to celebrate! The festivities kicked off with a cocktail party at my place which was a lot of fun. This was followed by a piñata with the kids at the orphanage the following day. The piñata is somewhat a long lost birthday tradition and we thought this would be the perfect place to bring it back. I spent the big day relaxing, something I’d been dreaming to do since arriving here, and of course had to live the high life if only briefly at Raffles for Happy Hour.

The rooftop cocktail party

Add one giant fish piñata, one extravagant Khmer birthday cake and 27 screaming kids, it was a recipe for a fantastic day.

Happy Hour at Raffles

Back from Paradise - Kep, Kampot and Sihanoukville

2008-05-21T11:52:00.008+07:00

Last week was officially the most relaxing week ever. Mum and I drove down to Kep and stayed in a gorgeous house in the mountains. Kep is a beautiful little town down south where the mountains meet the sea, it's quiet and there are very few tourists. We stayed there for 5 nights and made trips in the Jeep regularly to Kampot about 25km from Kep. The Jeep was a must as the road to town was pretty bad but made for good entertainment. Kampot is another small town on the river that is just as laid back with some great cafes. We managed to make a trip up to Bokor which is still open even though it has officially been sold off to developers who are just beginning to redevelop the area to build a 5 star resort. We took a pick up truck from town up to the hill station. It was a long trip which was made even longer when everyone had to get out and push the truck through knee deep mud. But we made it all the same and it was well worth it. The atmosphere was incredibly eerie this time of year with clouds rolling across the mountain and through the ruins. The peak was full of scattered ruins from the French colonial period. The most impressive was the Bokor casino and church. During the war the Vietnamese were stationed in the old casino and the Khmer Rouge in the church where they battled back and forth which would explain the bullet holes in all the buildings and the landmines in the surrounding areas. So far everything has pretty much remained untouched, but unfortunately not for too much longer. On the way back we stopped off at a waterfall before taking a boat trip along the river and back to town. The next day the weather cleared up enough so we decided to chance it and drive to Sihanoukville. It was well worth it with a day of beautiful beach weather. There was nothing more relaxing than sitting back in the sand and soaking up the sun. We drove back to Phnom Penh on Sunday which was easy enough until you reach the city limits and the traffic is insane. Welcome home.

Kep

Kampot

Bokor Hill Station

A Well Overdue Update

2008-05-07T09:30:00.015+07:00

Apologies for being so slack updating my blog lately. It’s been a busy couple of weeks so I may as well start at the beginning…
On April 17 I headed out to Mondulkiri province with KYSD. This was other of those ‘interesting experiences’ which there seems to be a lot of lately. So before sunrise on Thursday around 17 of us got into a Ute and drove for at least 14 hours, half of that being down a horrible ‘road’ which was really an ox cart path. In case this wasn’t bad enough we were driving down sections of road that were between mine fields full of unexploded ordinance left over from the US bombing. We finally arrived in Toul, a tiny village in the middle of no where with no electricity, running water, phone coverage or toilets. We spent 5 days in the village doing much the same as we had done in Kampong Chhnang. We met with the youth club, interviewed villagers, went hiking and put on an educational role play for the village. The forest surrounding the village was really beautiful and is also facing huge threats around deforestation. One of the more interesting things about the trip was a visit to a neighbouring village Preah Miah. A Chinese mining company has recently moved into the area and opened another gold mine right in the middle of the village. They are paying locals $2.50 a day to work 11 hours at a time down in these mines that regularly collapse killing many. Many of the villagers from Toul have been forced to work here because the rubber trees, which they rely on for income, are being cut down. There are some serious problems out in this province. I admit it was a difficult trip this time and I was glad to get back to Phnom Penh to meet up with mum who’s out here for two months volunteering with the Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC).

Loading up 'the beast' with supplies

Lunch stop kitchen near Snoul

Sieving the rice in the village

Workshop in the forest

Preah Miah village

Children in Toul village

On ANZAC day my Aunt Sandra come to Phnom Penh to visit for the weekend. Mum and I went to the Dawn Service at the Australian Ambassador's Residence before meeting her at the airport. We stood in this beautiful garden, holding candles in the humidity of Phnom Penh really appreciating what it means to be Australian.

Dawn Service in the 5am humidity of Phnom Penh

After the service we took a tuk tuk out to the airport and had Diary Queen for breakfast while waiting for the plane to land. This is a rarity and the only one in the country...ahh memories of the States. It was great to see a familiar face from home. We had a great weekend and kept ourselves busy with trips to the Russian Market, National Museum, Royal Palace and Wat Phnom which I haven’t been back to since we were here in 2005.

Diary Queen at Phnom Penh International Airport

National Museum

Murals at the Royal Palace

Last weekend mum and I went up to Siem Reap for a long weekend. We stayed in a great place near the Old Market and spent most of the time checking out as many temples as humanly possible, shopping in town and making the most of relaxing by the pool. We saw plenty more temples we hadn’t seen on our last trip along with the favs – Ta Phrom, Bayon and Angkor Wat. We also took a trip out to the Ruolos temples which was well worth it. Make sure you check out season 13 of the Amazing Race. We were at Angkor Wat on Sunday and found the clue box! They were filming for hours and we spent half the time stalking the contestants looking for the next clue, it was hilarious! I’m sure they’ll be spending plenty of time editing us out of the background.

Crickets in Skoun, on the road to Siem Reap

Sunset over the Tonle Sap

Ta Phrom

Bayon

Angkor Wat and the clue box
Angkor Association for the Disabled

'Bucket' of margaritas for $5

Now I’m back in the office…but not for long I have next week off so we are thinking about going down south for a couple days. I’m feeling the need to get away at every opportunity right now.

Happy Khmer New Year

2008-04-16T12:23:00.006+07:00

Khmer New Year was from the 13th to 15th of April. I decided to go to Koh Thom for a couple days with my work supervisor Borith, his wife Sitha and Lauren, a volunteer from the States. We all piled into Borith’s tiny car, along with Sitha’s aunt and nephew and drove down to Kandal province stopping along the way for breakfast (noodles and animal intestines of some sort) and at the local market. It took us a couple hours to get to the ferry where we crossed the river and walked to Sitha’s grandparents house. Their house was right on the river and it was absolutely beautiful and so peaceful. Her family were so great and we were defiantly spoilt with great home cooking and hilarious conversations. We took motos out to Wat Tuol Reachea, a new Wat just opened by Hun Sen in the hopes of bringing tides of new tourists to the area. It’s a real shame because this area is just amazing and I can’t help but think what this new construction and huge mansions going up next door will do. Nevertheless the temple was just amazing, with two huge Buddha’s which were just beautiful. Construction is still going on so I can’t imagine what it will look like when it’s finished. The moto ride was hilarious and I was either crying from laughing so hard or from the pure fear of blasting down these dusty rural roads, down dried up river banks and dodging the numerous cows, all without a helmet. The next day we went to see the local primary school where Sitha’s relative works and checked out the library. This was pretty amazing. Pretty much the only books they had there were ones donated by NGOs on different educational campaigns they were running at the time. I think they were trying to appeal for more funding to get some much needed resources in there. From there we went to the local Wat for a New Year blessing and spent the rest of the time relaxing and hanging out with the family. Heading out to a small village in Mondulkiri province tomorrow for 5 days to do some work out there, much the same as in Kampong Chhnang. Arriving back in Phnom Penh just in time to meet up with mum, can’t wait!!

Koh Thom local market

Crossing the Tonle Sap

Home cooking at Sitha's grandparent's house

Wat Tuol Reachea

Local kids by the river

Village primary school library

Sitha's grandparent's house

Getting into the swing of things

2008-04-03T08:34:00.003+07:00

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…

Kampong Chhnang Province

2008-03-29T12:49:00.022+07:00

On Sunday morning I headed out on a field trip to a small village about 2 hours outside Kampong Chhnang town. I went with 15 university students from Phnom Penh and 2 youth leaders. It started with a mini van…this thing had seen better days long ago. A total of 20 people crammed into this van, the back was roped down and the door was hanging by a thread. It was a surprisingly hilarious trip filled with Khmer singing, getting stuck in the sand roads and the bus breaking down. We finally made it to Ognchagn village. It turns out this village is facing many difficulties one of which being that the Government has sold the villagers land to a foreign company who have begun to deforest the area ready to replant the land to export goods. On top of this the village has virtually no infrastructure; no electricity, running water, sewerage system and poor roads. There is limited access to primary education and virtually no access to health care. The day we arrived we met the other young people in the village where I was introduced to all kinds of Khmer games and traditional dancing. On Monday we met with the village leader who talked about the main problems the people are facing at the moment. Afterwards we went out to interview some villagers. The majority of the people are farmers who rely on the rainy season so they are able to produce crops to survive for the year, support their family and send their children to school. Everyone we talked to was concerned about the sale of their land and the deforestation in the area both by the company and neighbouring villages. They also talked about not being able to send their children to high school and that healthcare was a major concern. Others did not have access to a well to obtain water, while others were worried that their wells would dry up soon. Everyone was so lovely, welcoming and keen to talk to us. That afternoon we attended a local wedding. It was so much fun! The ceremony lasted a total of 3 days and the whole village was invited. It was also another excuse to practice my dancing skills which are still in need of desperate improvement. Tuesday morning we headed out for a day long hike. It wasn’t long before we walked into a fire started by a neighbouring village. We passed through Kdol village which has a small market, primary school and unattended health post. We ended up at a small mountain where we held some workshops with both the Phnom Penh students and the local villagers sharing their ideas about how the problems could be tackled. Wednesday we helped the villagers dig a communal well before setting up then running a role play for the whole village that night. It started with more dancing then the leader asking me to make an impromptu speech to the village through a translator. At least I got a few laughs. I played the part of a foreign business woman and even though I couldn’t understand a word of the entire play it was the funniest performance ever and everyone really enjoyed it! Early Thursday morning we headed back to Phnom Penh…the trip back was easy and we didn’t even break down once. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I’m looking forward to the next trip soon.

Local market in Kampong Chhnang town

Stuck in the sand again on the way to the village

Traditional Khmer wedding in the village

Hiking with the locals

Putting out a fire started by a neighbouring village

Kdol village market

Lunch and workshops in the forest

Students and locals

Digging a village well

Educational role play

Happy Easter from Phnom Penh

2008-03-22T17:47:00.006+07:00

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Easter!!
I’ve really been enjoying settling into my new home and soaking up the atmosphere this week. I’ve moved into my new place in Boeung Keng Kang and absolutely love it. It’s in a quiet area with a local market right around the corner where you can buy all the essentials. I’m on the top floor with a gorgeous rooftop balcony which is really bigger than the living space. I’ve got two bedrooms so if you’re considering a trip to Cambodge within the next 12 months stop putting it off and come on over! This week has been filled with Khmer language lessons which have been really helpful. I’m thinking more lessons and a lot more practise is in order for me though. With AYAD orientation over now I’m looking forward to getting back into the work routine. Tomorrow morning I’m off to Kampong Chhnang until Thursday to work on an environmental project. Apparently the villagers in that region rely heavily on the forest to produce goods so deforestation is becoming a huge problem. So I’m heading out there with a group of 15 university students from Phnom Penh to run workshops and facilitate capacity building exercises between them and the local community. It should be a great experience to get a better feel of what life really is like for 80% of the Cambodian population who live in rural areas. It’s easy to fall into a carefree lifestyle as an expat in Phnom Penh where everything is available anytime of day.

Language lessons with Setha

Local restaurant over the Mekong river

Home!!

And so the work begins...

2008-03-16T16:41:00.003+07:00

I meet with my host organisation on Friday. They are fantastic! Three of the staff came to meet me and took me over to the office. My desk was set up and already decked out with stationary and the like. I was even given a huge stack of business cards which is a first. KYSD is a small local NGO who have never had a foreign volunteer before which is pretty exciting. Everyone is so friendly and the work seems really interesting with a lot of travel to the provinces which is fantastic. There seems to be a lot of work to be done and not enough staff to carry it out. They are working on a number of projects at any one time, most of which are based on capacity building between youth in Phnom Penh and those in rural or remote regions with a focus on education, empowerment and advocacy. I’m already set to go out to Kampong Chhnang, about 90 km north-west of Phnom Penh, for 5 days next Sunday. The Khmer people are amazingly friendly and within the first few days I’ve been here I’ve been invited to a wedding and enough dinners to fill my schedule for the next month.

Seus s'day from the land of smiles

2008-03-12T19:47:00.003+07:00

I'm so glad to finally be here after all the anticipation, stress and plain insanity of the last few weeks! Left Sydney monday night and arrived in Hong Kong early tuesday before catching a connecting flight to Phnom Penh. We were met at the airport by the AYAD team. Everything was suprisingly hassel free..walk off plane, check passport, get luggage, hand customs form to official and keep on walking. We are staying in a great area of town. Nice hotel, quiet street, great restaurants and Wat Lanka a few doors down. What more could you ask for. Today we checked out the goods at the Russian Market. I know Í'll be hanging out there a fair bit..you can buy just about anything there. I bought a motorcycle helmet for $7 and yes I know it's going to be totally useless in an accident but atleast it will make me feel better in the meantime. This afternoon we went on a boat cruise up the Mekong, it was really beautiful and the authentic Khmer Pizza Company lunch just topped it off. We stopped off at a silk weaving village up river which was great and also saw a beautiful Wat. Later on I went back to the orphanage mum and I had been to last year and the year before. It was so great to see everyone again and I'm really looking forward to hanging out there, teaching the kids some english and just having fun!! Everything is so much easier than I thought it would be. Going house hunting tomorrow and looking forward to finding a place all of my own.

Hong Kong Airport

Phnom Penh Airport

Silk Weaving Village

Another AYAD bound for Cambodia!

2008-02-16T14:56:00.004+07:00

Well it's official...I'm off to Cambodia!! With my plane ticket in hand (along with a lot of anxious excitement) I'll be heading off in 3 weeks for a 12 month assignment with The Khmer Youth for Social Development Organisation (KYSD) http://www.kysd.org/ . KYSD is a local non-government organisation based in Phnom Penh. I will be working as an Organisational Development Officer on a new project designed to empower young people in advocacy, health and education. My assignment is being supported by the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program (AYAD) http://www.ayad.com.au/ which is fantastic and offers us AYADs great support both in Australia and on assignment overseas. I just finished the week long AYAD Pre-departure Training in Canberra which was great!! The 'Intake 21' Cambodia crew are a great group of people and all 10 of us are doing really different assignments through out the country. The training was really extensive with seminars at the Australian National University on all sorts of topics from cross cultural communication to effective capacity building. We had the opportunity to try some great Khmer food and also learnt some traditional Khmer dancing. Along with a cocktail party at Old Parliament House with the Foreign Minister and Cambodian dignitaries, a visit to the Cambodian Embassy, and a lot of fun in between, it was a great week! I'm sure the next 3 weeks are going to be filled with a lot of sad farewells and last minute preparations!

Learning Khmer dancing at the Phnom Penh Restaurant in Canberra

The Cambodge Girls at the Cocktail Party at Old Parliament House

Visit to the Cambodian Embassy in Canberra