If you are at all interested in looking a little further into the current political situation in Cambodia please check out the following links. The first is to a film on youtube which shows the problem of land grabbing and the second is a report by Global Witness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G_4J94kGIs
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/713/en/country_for_sale
So, I hope you find these both as interesting interesting as I did.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Another week another random sickness!
So last week I had to rush off to Phnom Penh as I was really, really sick. Yes. Again.
Anyway, it turns out it was acute salmonella poisoning which is fairly nasty and if left untreated can cause your insides to go septic...which I’m sure is something you wanted to know!
However, being in Phnom Penh gave me the opportunity to go shopping with a small budget VSO gave me. I have decided to create ‘resource boxes’ for the School Support Committees with materials to help them support the schools, whether by having learning resources making sessions or running arts activities with the children during school holidays.
I have as yet been unable to get up to Pu Trom Cha School to check on the well’s progress but I hope to do so this week.
VSO Mondulkiri is also welcoming a new volunteer this week! Ben will be working on Effective Teaching and Learning in Pechrada District and is here on a visit week to introduce himself to the office here, sort out a house and generally get himself a bit settled in the place where he is to spend the next two years. Ben is very nice and experienced as he has already completed a two year placement in Papua New Guinea so Jeltje and I look forward to working with him and increasing the size of our team here!
As I am now almost exactly at the half way point of my placement here in Cambodia I thought I’d share a little bit of how I’m feeling seven months down the line...
Anyway, it turns out it was acute salmonella poisoning which is fairly nasty and if left untreated can cause your insides to go septic...which I’m sure is something you wanted to know!
However, being in Phnom Penh gave me the opportunity to go shopping with a small budget VSO gave me. I have decided to create ‘resource boxes’ for the School Support Committees with materials to help them support the schools, whether by having learning resources making sessions or running arts activities with the children during school holidays.
I have as yet been unable to get up to Pu Trom Cha School to check on the well’s progress but I hope to do so this week.
VSO Mondulkiri is also welcoming a new volunteer this week! Ben will be working on Effective Teaching and Learning in Pechrada District and is here on a visit week to introduce himself to the office here, sort out a house and generally get himself a bit settled in the place where he is to spend the next two years. Ben is very nice and experienced as he has already completed a two year placement in Papua New Guinea so Jeltje and I look forward to working with him and increasing the size of our team here!
As I am now almost exactly at the half way point of my placement here in Cambodia I thought I’d share a little bit of how I’m feeling seven months down the line...
Things I have learnt about life in Cambodia:
‘No’ is not an answer (e.g. ‘Yes, I understand what you mean’ only to find out later ‘I didn’t know what you meant’ and ‘Yes we can fit two more people, a moto and a bunch of chickens into the full mini bus’).
Being clean all the time is not necessary and everyone is as dirty as each other so it really doesn’t matter (this is in reference to the dust and not poor personal hygiene!).
If you don’t have at least two mobile phones you are a NOBODY.Karaoke can grow on you.
Things will get done at some point. Just because no-one knows when that point will be doesn’t matter, it will get done.
Air conditioning always has to be on an absolutely freezing setting or you’re not getting value for money.
People are, in general, happy!
Going one day without eating rice (nyam bai) is a fate worse than death (this is genuinely the fate of bad people and there is one day a year when you leave out rice balls for your naughty ancestors).
When I first arrived in Cambodia I was completely overwhelmed. Everything seemed really intense; the climate, the traffic, the food and the people but seven months on I really feel like I’m starting to get the hang of things here!
When I return home I wonder if I will have to reacclimatise to the weather, food and traffic!!
Monday 15 March 2010
The Khmer Riche 160310
As you have read in my previous blogs I am really struggling to balance the complete and abject poverty experienced by the majority here in Cambodia, forced on them and hindered by a small percentage of highly powerful 'Khmer Riche'. This small group run Cambodia, politically and economically, with corruption at such a high rate it is very difficult for the average Cambodian to get anywhere without becoming part of the process.
The selling off of land which belongs to indeginous people, who have been working it for years, in order to log it for the highly sought after (and illegal) tropical hardwood is just one of the many ways in which the rich are profiting from taking advantage of the poorest.It is not just a problem in Mondulkiri either, all over Cambodia huge swathes of land have been sold off in order to extract the natural resources, whether it is wood, gold, gems or oil. In the linked article from The Times it says that Cambodia should be making billions a year in oil revenues alone and yet it still receives more than this in foreign aid.
So why, I hear you ask, should we support a country which is so set on not helping itself? This is a difficult question and one I have asked myself many times, especially when I come across corruption perpetrated by Cambodians which directly damages those most in need.
Firstly, Cambodia needs help. The Khmer Rouge destroyed an entire generation of professionals like teachers and doctors, so advisors are needed to temporarily fill the stop-gap. However, the government regularly fails its key workers when they need support the most. For example, teachers are paid $30 a month on average. $30? Even here that is barely enough to support a family for a week. So they need to generate more income and this is done by corrupt practices such as charging students to come to school, making students pay for exam papers or even insisting that the children buy snacks from the teachers spouse. This in turn causes parents to resent teachers and means the poorest will never succeed at school. I have seen this happen regularly and teacher/parent relations are a huge aspect of my work here. However, how much sustainable success can I really have if the Government continues its low salary policy?
Secondly, if foreign aid pulled out from Cambodia it is the poorest who would suffer. The rich elite rely on NGOs to support the poor and I fear that if they did leave in protest at the system, the rich would not suddenly revert to social responsibility. The poor would suffer a huge drop in services and in the short term there would be a peak in mortality rates, not to mention the long term effects such a radical change would cause. The Department for International Development (DFID-British Government) have recently pulled out of Cambodia; I wonder who will be next?
So, although I regularly feel that Cambodia has been let down by those who are supposed to protect, conserve and love their country I do not think it wise to abandon Cambodia to its fate.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7023700.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
The selling off of land which belongs to indeginous people, who have been working it for years, in order to log it for the highly sought after (and illegal) tropical hardwood is just one of the many ways in which the rich are profiting from taking advantage of the poorest.It is not just a problem in Mondulkiri either, all over Cambodia huge swathes of land have been sold off in order to extract the natural resources, whether it is wood, gold, gems or oil. In the linked article from The Times it says that Cambodia should be making billions a year in oil revenues alone and yet it still receives more than this in foreign aid.
So why, I hear you ask, should we support a country which is so set on not helping itself? This is a difficult question and one I have asked myself many times, especially when I come across corruption perpetrated by Cambodians which directly damages those most in need.
Firstly, Cambodia needs help. The Khmer Rouge destroyed an entire generation of professionals like teachers and doctors, so advisors are needed to temporarily fill the stop-gap. However, the government regularly fails its key workers when they need support the most. For example, teachers are paid $30 a month on average. $30? Even here that is barely enough to support a family for a week. So they need to generate more income and this is done by corrupt practices such as charging students to come to school, making students pay for exam papers or even insisting that the children buy snacks from the teachers spouse. This in turn causes parents to resent teachers and means the poorest will never succeed at school. I have seen this happen regularly and teacher/parent relations are a huge aspect of my work here. However, how much sustainable success can I really have if the Government continues its low salary policy?
Secondly, if foreign aid pulled out from Cambodia it is the poorest who would suffer. The rich elite rely on NGOs to support the poor and I fear that if they did leave in protest at the system, the rich would not suddenly revert to social responsibility. The poor would suffer a huge drop in services and in the short term there would be a peak in mortality rates, not to mention the long term effects such a radical change would cause. The Department for International Development (DFID-British Government) have recently pulled out of Cambodia; I wonder who will be next?
So, although I regularly feel that Cambodia has been let down by those who are supposed to protect, conserve and love their country I do not think it wise to abandon Cambodia to its fate.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7023700.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
The Elephant Project 150310
http://www.elie-cambodia.org/
My friend Jack has been in Mondulkiri for 6 years setting up the Elephant Project here, which now consists of several bungalows as accommodation for tourists and volunteers working at the project. You can go for the day, week, month or several months!
The work there consists of working with the mahouts (elephant handlers) to ensure that they do not mistreat the elephants. Jack pays the mahouts a certain amount each month so that their sick/injured/infirm elephants do not have to work, causing them further suffering and long term health issues.
The plot of land out at the project is beautiful and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the jungle at elephants pace, stopping for the occasional mud bath!
So check out the website and if you ever fancy spending a week in the remote jungle, in lovely lodgings and spending the day walking around with elephants, this is the place to go!!!
xx
My friend Jack has been in Mondulkiri for 6 years setting up the Elephant Project here, which now consists of several bungalows as accommodation for tourists and volunteers working at the project. You can go for the day, week, month or several months!
The work there consists of working with the mahouts (elephant handlers) to ensure that they do not mistreat the elephants. Jack pays the mahouts a certain amount each month so that their sick/injured/infirm elephants do not have to work, causing them further suffering and long term health issues.
The plot of land out at the project is beautiful and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the jungle at elephants pace, stopping for the occasional mud bath!
So check out the website and if you ever fancy spending a week in the remote jungle, in lovely lodgings and spending the day walking around with elephants, this is the place to go!!!
xx
Speaking Gecko (Mum and Brian visit Cambodia) 23/02/10
Sorry-this is really late!
So Mum and Brian left yesterday for a two day stopover in Thailand (and I am informed-a luxury hotel!) before heading home from their trip to SE Asia.
I was a little nervous at first that Mum and Bri wouldn’t like Cambodia but I was wrong to doubt how quickly people fall in love with this Country, even with all its problems.
We started off in Phnom Penh with a great airport greeting then back to The Pavillion Hotel, which has been converted from the Queen’s (of Cambodia!) former residence into a lovely boutique hotel surrounded by lush tropical gardens and a beautiful pool. However, Mum and Bri’s room actually had their own pool which was ace. On the first night I decided that it was probably best to start with ‘Phnom Penh light’ so I took them to FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) for dinner and drinks on the roof terrace overlooking the river and Royal Palace complex.
The next day we headed back into Phnom Penh (Brian looking particularly bleary eyed as he had stayed up till 4am watching Liverpool loose!) to check out the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Brian had surprised me with a new lens for my camera, so he quickly set about taking some photographs with it.
After an afternoon of chilling by the gorgeous pool we headed to a roof terrace on the river for (small) cocktails and the on to a French restaurant for dinner. I was taking the opportunity of taking Mum and Bri to places which I usually can’t afford!!
The next morning we headed out to The Killing Fields, the scenes of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70’s. From experiencing the genocide prison complex in Phnom Penh (S21) I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant experience but none the less I am glad we went. A huge stupa has been erected which contains the bones of the victims which were dug up during the initial excavation of the site in the 80s. It was decided, after the scale of the graves was realised, that leaving the bodies where they are is for the best and many mass graves remain untouched at the site. It is strange, but I found it to be a very peaceful place, almost verging on beautiful. There is a natural lake in the centre and other than the odd sign it is difficult to tell that this was a scene of mass murder. I’m not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say that when the Khmer Rouge were perpetrating these killings they were not ones to waste bullets on executions, so the means of death are very grim indeed. If you ever go to Cambodia it needs to be done to help understand the country’s horrific past, but the people here do not dwell. In fact, many do not even want the trials that are currently happening here to continue. Most just want to move on, which I can understand, but these horrific crimes must be accounted for and many of the Khmer Rouge leaders are still alive.
Anyway, onto something much more cheerful! That evening I took Mum and Bri for cocktails at Raffles (the best martini in Phnom Penh) then onto a NGO restaurant which does some of the nicest (and most foreigner friendly) Cambodian food in Phnom Penh.
The next day we headed off to the French Colonial coastal town of Kep and our villa overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand on one side at a jungle covered mountain on the other-stunning! Unfortunately, I had chosen this day to get really sick so the most I saw of the place was my bed and the bathroom (both of which were the nicest I had been in/to in Cambodia!). The next day however we took a walk down to the crab market which was buzzing as it was Chinese New Year and many people were on holiday. So we had great fun just wandering around the market stalls selling freshly caught seafood, which went from said sea to someone’s tummy in about 10 minutes.
The following day Brian decided that we were going to go for a walk, which I was reassured, would not be going through jungle or up hills (I still felt ropey). Naturally, the walk we ended up on was straight up the hill and through the jungle. It was worth it though as after talking (hmmm) to a very enthusiastic nun and a friend of the Queen’s who had set up said nunnery, we ended up at a beautiful lookout point where you could see the entire bay area. Another stunning example of how this country is so full of the unexpected.
The next morning we had arranged a tour with Rith, a rather enterprising young man who has set up his own tour/travel agency in town and he promptly (only 15mins late) arrived to take us around the sites of Kep in his retro Toyota camry. The first part of this tour was of the ‘ghost town’ which is comprised of the burnt out French villas from the ‘30s40s. It is actually pretty creepy going around there and it is strange to see these beautiful old villas in such a decrepit state and it makes you wonder what an amazing place it must’ve been back in the day. It is also quite bizarre that there are beautiful fences and gates surrounding completely empty plots of land. Rith informed us that this is because if there is not a fence around it the government will now sell that plot of land. This is a familiar problem across Cambodia, with the government selling off huge swathes of prime real estate in order to make a quick buck, with no thought that eventually the land is going to run out and Cambodia will be left with nothing. It is happening everywhere, with massive plots having been sold here, in Mondulkiri, which are now being logged, mined and planted with rubber trees with none of the income benefiting Cambodia. The workforce are imported, the materials immediately exported (on roads built by foreign businesses) out of Cambodia and into the foreign markets with absolutely no sustainability or positive outcome for Cambodian people. When there is nothing left, the foreign investors will no doubt try and sell the land back to Cambodia for far more than it is now worth.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant and I’m afraid I may revert to it when I write about Bokor Mountain Hill Station!
Anyway, on the tour we also visited the amazing caves at Kampong Trach (where small children showed us around with torches) which were pretty breathtaking, but impossible to get a decent photo of! We also stopped off at a pepper plantation, where Mum took the opportunity to invest in a big bag of black and white Kampot pepper, which is famous around the world for its unique flavour. So whilst on the way back to town, Rith mentioned that the road up Bokor Mountain was open for Chinese New Year and tomorrow was the last day. I knew that this was quite a rare occurrence and that the other option was an 8hour trek each way, so we arranged for him to pick us up the following day and to take us up the mountain and then drop us at our new hotel in Kampot.
The Vietnamese company Sokha, is building a new road up the mountain as it is building a huge hotel complex at the top, which will be 5* all bells and whistles when finished. Currently, at the top there is the remains of the small town, built by the French, mostly consisting of a Hotel/Casino. This must have been beautiful it its day, with some of the best views I have ever seen of the jungle and coast. However, rather than refurbishing this beautiful, albeit run down, building Sokha is creating a hotel which would not be out of place in Dubai or Las Vegas. The word travesty does not even do this justice and it makes me very sad. They are going to flood an entire valley to create an artificial lake where they’ll be water sports. Seriously. I cannot even comprehend the damage this will do to the ‘national park’ and the wildlife which has all but departed. Saying that, we were fortunate enough to see a couple of eagles and great hornbills whilst on the road, which was pretty amazing. I feel very lucky that I have managed to see this beautiful place before it is ruined by ‘development’.
The next day we felt pretty exhausted from doing about 1hr of walking the previous day...so this called for a massage. We had a recommendation from a VSO in town and had appointments booked. Brian had opted for the ‘steam’ option and the result was one of the funniest things I have seen in my life. One has not lived until they have seen their father wearing a sarong and crouching down so that two tiny Khmer ladies can baste him in bright orange paste to then seat him on a commode covered in a plastic bag then lighting a fire under his bum.
Flights/hotels/trips: $2000
Steam/massage: $9
A photograph which will forever be used for blackmailing purposes: priceless
Ahhh anyway. Soon it was time for us to head on back to Phnom Penh, as Mum and Brian were leaving in a couple of days and we still needed to shop!! So this we did and Brian decided that a trip to the S21 torture and genocide museum was a more appealing prospect than going to the market with Mum and I!! So, I am sure all of you who are now the proud owners of silk scarves know that they were indeed bought in a Cambodian market!
There is so much more to tell but this blog is already way too long! So I guess you will all have to come to Cambodia to experience it for yourselves!
xx
So Mum and Brian left yesterday for a two day stopover in Thailand (and I am informed-a luxury hotel!) before heading home from their trip to SE Asia.
I was a little nervous at first that Mum and Bri wouldn’t like Cambodia but I was wrong to doubt how quickly people fall in love with this Country, even with all its problems.
We started off in Phnom Penh with a great airport greeting then back to The Pavillion Hotel, which has been converted from the Queen’s (of Cambodia!) former residence into a lovely boutique hotel surrounded by lush tropical gardens and a beautiful pool. However, Mum and Bri’s room actually had their own pool which was ace. On the first night I decided that it was probably best to start with ‘Phnom Penh light’ so I took them to FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) for dinner and drinks on the roof terrace overlooking the river and Royal Palace complex.
The next day we headed back into Phnom Penh (Brian looking particularly bleary eyed as he had stayed up till 4am watching Liverpool loose!) to check out the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Brian had surprised me with a new lens for my camera, so he quickly set about taking some photographs with it.
After an afternoon of chilling by the gorgeous pool we headed to a roof terrace on the river for (small) cocktails and the on to a French restaurant for dinner. I was taking the opportunity of taking Mum and Bri to places which I usually can’t afford!!
The next morning we headed out to The Killing Fields, the scenes of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70’s. From experiencing the genocide prison complex in Phnom Penh (S21) I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant experience but none the less I am glad we went. A huge stupa has been erected which contains the bones of the victims which were dug up during the initial excavation of the site in the 80s. It was decided, after the scale of the graves was realised, that leaving the bodies where they are is for the best and many mass graves remain untouched at the site. It is strange, but I found it to be a very peaceful place, almost verging on beautiful. There is a natural lake in the centre and other than the odd sign it is difficult to tell that this was a scene of mass murder. I’m not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say that when the Khmer Rouge were perpetrating these killings they were not ones to waste bullets on executions, so the means of death are very grim indeed. If you ever go to Cambodia it needs to be done to help understand the country’s horrific past, but the people here do not dwell. In fact, many do not even want the trials that are currently happening here to continue. Most just want to move on, which I can understand, but these horrific crimes must be accounted for and many of the Khmer Rouge leaders are still alive.
Anyway, onto something much more cheerful! That evening I took Mum and Bri for cocktails at Raffles (the best martini in Phnom Penh) then onto a NGO restaurant which does some of the nicest (and most foreigner friendly) Cambodian food in Phnom Penh.
The next day we headed off to the French Colonial coastal town of Kep and our villa overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand on one side at a jungle covered mountain on the other-stunning! Unfortunately, I had chosen this day to get really sick so the most I saw of the place was my bed and the bathroom (both of which were the nicest I had been in/to in Cambodia!). The next day however we took a walk down to the crab market which was buzzing as it was Chinese New Year and many people were on holiday. So we had great fun just wandering around the market stalls selling freshly caught seafood, which went from said sea to someone’s tummy in about 10 minutes.
The following day Brian decided that we were going to go for a walk, which I was reassured, would not be going through jungle or up hills (I still felt ropey). Naturally, the walk we ended up on was straight up the hill and through the jungle. It was worth it though as after talking (hmmm) to a very enthusiastic nun and a friend of the Queen’s who had set up said nunnery, we ended up at a beautiful lookout point where you could see the entire bay area. Another stunning example of how this country is so full of the unexpected.
The next morning we had arranged a tour with Rith, a rather enterprising young man who has set up his own tour/travel agency in town and he promptly (only 15mins late) arrived to take us around the sites of Kep in his retro Toyota camry. The first part of this tour was of the ‘ghost town’ which is comprised of the burnt out French villas from the ‘30s40s. It is actually pretty creepy going around there and it is strange to see these beautiful old villas in such a decrepit state and it makes you wonder what an amazing place it must’ve been back in the day. It is also quite bizarre that there are beautiful fences and gates surrounding completely empty plots of land. Rith informed us that this is because if there is not a fence around it the government will now sell that plot of land. This is a familiar problem across Cambodia, with the government selling off huge swathes of prime real estate in order to make a quick buck, with no thought that eventually the land is going to run out and Cambodia will be left with nothing. It is happening everywhere, with massive plots having been sold here, in Mondulkiri, which are now being logged, mined and planted with rubber trees with none of the income benefiting Cambodia. The workforce are imported, the materials immediately exported (on roads built by foreign businesses) out of Cambodia and into the foreign markets with absolutely no sustainability or positive outcome for Cambodian people. When there is nothing left, the foreign investors will no doubt try and sell the land back to Cambodia for far more than it is now worth.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant and I’m afraid I may revert to it when I write about Bokor Mountain Hill Station!
Anyway, on the tour we also visited the amazing caves at Kampong Trach (where small children showed us around with torches) which were pretty breathtaking, but impossible to get a decent photo of! We also stopped off at a pepper plantation, where Mum took the opportunity to invest in a big bag of black and white Kampot pepper, which is famous around the world for its unique flavour. So whilst on the way back to town, Rith mentioned that the road up Bokor Mountain was open for Chinese New Year and tomorrow was the last day. I knew that this was quite a rare occurrence and that the other option was an 8hour trek each way, so we arranged for him to pick us up the following day and to take us up the mountain and then drop us at our new hotel in Kampot.
The Vietnamese company Sokha, is building a new road up the mountain as it is building a huge hotel complex at the top, which will be 5* all bells and whistles when finished. Currently, at the top there is the remains of the small town, built by the French, mostly consisting of a Hotel/Casino. This must have been beautiful it its day, with some of the best views I have ever seen of the jungle and coast. However, rather than refurbishing this beautiful, albeit run down, building Sokha is creating a hotel which would not be out of place in Dubai or Las Vegas. The word travesty does not even do this justice and it makes me very sad. They are going to flood an entire valley to create an artificial lake where they’ll be water sports. Seriously. I cannot even comprehend the damage this will do to the ‘national park’ and the wildlife which has all but departed. Saying that, we were fortunate enough to see a couple of eagles and great hornbills whilst on the road, which was pretty amazing. I feel very lucky that I have managed to see this beautiful place before it is ruined by ‘development’.
The next day we felt pretty exhausted from doing about 1hr of walking the previous day...so this called for a massage. We had a recommendation from a VSO in town and had appointments booked. Brian had opted for the ‘steam’ option and the result was one of the funniest things I have seen in my life. One has not lived until they have seen their father wearing a sarong and crouching down so that two tiny Khmer ladies can baste him in bright orange paste to then seat him on a commode covered in a plastic bag then lighting a fire under his bum.
Flights/hotels/trips: $2000
Steam/massage: $9
A photograph which will forever be used for blackmailing purposes: priceless
Ahhh anyway. Soon it was time for us to head on back to Phnom Penh, as Mum and Brian were leaving in a couple of days and we still needed to shop!! So this we did and Brian decided that a trip to the S21 torture and genocide museum was a more appealing prospect than going to the market with Mum and I!! So, I am sure all of you who are now the proud owners of silk scarves know that they were indeed bought in a Cambodian market!
There is so much more to tell but this blog is already way too long! So I guess you will all have to come to Cambodia to experience it for yourselves!
xx
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