A Well Overdue Update

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

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

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

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