Lorna in Cambodia: Province

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.