So far this week has been a series of up’s and down’s with work, starting badly and now going great! On Monday I had planned to have a meeting with the School Director of Pu Long School to discuss involving the community in creating a new school map for this year. However, when we turned up we were informed that he had in fact gone to a workshop in SM. Not great. Communication is limited at best here and in his defence he was probably informed of said workshop that morning. It would’ve been nice of him to give us a call though and save us the journey. Still, Jeltje was able to do a lesson observation with the grade one teacher whilst I headed back to SM with Sean (a volunteer with another project locally who offered to help us out for a couple of days doing whatever he could).
My Tuesday meeting at Pu Trom Cha was looking to go the same way when we arrived after a 45min gruelling off-road drive (including one painful spill on the way there and one VERY painful and scary one on the way back. And here was me thinking I might be bruise free in time for the beach!). The School Director was there but the community were not. He did dispatch several girls from the school to go inform the village chief that I was here and would like a meeting though, which is progress. The door which we had asked him to fix 8 weeks ago (in order to make the school secure, so we could give it some resources) was still leaning up against the outside wall. So we asked him if it would be possible for us to try and fix it now while we waited. The SD ummmed and ahhhhed for a while and eventually hopped on his bike to go get some tools from his home. He arrived back and immediately he, the teacher, Chak and Sean were all systems go creating new hinges and repairing the old ones. The door was back on again and working in about 10mins with all them sweating like mad in the sun! Still, the door was now fixed and several village elders hod now turned up so I went ahead with my community meeting whilst Sean and Jeltje re-painted the blackboards which were completely knackered.
The meeting was a great success with the SD having listed his issues and ideas for school improvements and the community giving their opinions about the school too. The one thing that was really highlighted was the amazing level of poverty in the community which was certainly reflected in the school. The children there are hardly dressed, have no paper, books or pens as their parents simply cannot afford these things. The school is very run down with hardly any resources, the class room walls are pretty much bare and there is nothing to fill them with. The school is also lacking a water supply which means there is nowhere for the children to wash, go to the toilet or drink. It is by far the worst school I have visited so far and it really pulls at the heart strings when you think about how little is actually needed to get it on the right track. It costs $200 to build a well, around $50 to provide it with resources such as paper, pens, card, chalk etc.
Still, although I have no funding to give them I am determined to help somehow to improve the school. It is the first one I’ve been to where the community has turned up so I am really keen to encourage continued partnership between school and community. During the meeting I suggested a ‘Community Open Day’ where everyone is invited to the school to see what happens there and also to see how it needs some support to make improvements. The community and SD were all really keen on this idea and have really flown with it. I have asked them to come up with some ideas and expectations for the day for our next meeting so we can set a suitable date and a list of activities.
So that was great, a very uplifting experience after weeks of feeling like I’m banging my head against a wall, not getting anywhere and being sick in Phnom Penh!
I have a meeting with Lauka School and the community there tomorrow morning which I really hope goes just as well!!
Just a quick update...I now have a kitten called Coco! She is very cute but still a little too small to catch mice and rats (sadly, as I am completely overridden with the buggers!).
Merry Christmas! I had almost forgotten...I do not feel even remotely Christmassy here as I am warm, it is sunny and everyone here is Buddhist!
Love xx
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Ratanakiri, Bum breakage and Saturday swim with Elephants! 13/12/09
So this week I spent Sun 6th-Thurs 10th Dec in the province of Ratanakiri, attending a workshop on the issue of education of indigenous children.
This is a problem in several provinces around Cambodia, as in order to reach the UN Millennium Goals by the 2015 deadline, all children must be in education. However, there is a serious issue with indigenous peoples as they all speak their own languages but the teachers speak in K’mai, making it impossible for the children to follow. It is therefore necessary to train bi-lingual teachers who can also teach the children K’mai so that they can stay in education.
There are also issues surrounding teacher retention. The teachers are paid very badly, if at all, so there is a high rate of teacher absence as they usually have to work second jobs. Also, teachers are sent to these remote communities straight from teacher training college and frequently don’t settle as a result of a drastic change in lifestyle.
So, these are some of the issues we discussed during the two day workshop, with representatives from the government, UNESCO, UNICEF and CARE, who are all key NGO’s working in the region in education.
It was an interesting few days and we created some good recommendations for the government on how to increase school attendance amongst indigenous children, namely, recruiting good teachers from the community who are then given bi-lingual education training. Also it is vital that the government pay their teachers sufficiently and on time. However, this has been said many, many times before by lots of NGO’s and nothing is being done. The army on the other hand have been given a large pay rise...watch out Thailand!
Anyway, I’ll tell you a little bit about Ban Lung (capitol of RTK). Well, it is much larger than Sen Monorom, with proper shops and a massive market. It is also much flatter, now that I am used to be surrounded by hills it feels weird! It also has a beautiful volcanic crater lake not far from the town which is simply breathtaking. We went swimming the warm green water and it was just ACE! There is lots of mythology and religion surrounding the lake and it is a sacred place for the local communities who care for it. Sadly, Kirsty (the vso I was staying with), said that there are plans for the government to sell it to the Vietnamese who are going to build a casino right on the shore of the lake. I can’t think of anything worse than this happening and I really hope they come to their senses.
My journey back from RTK (and the bum breakage mentioned in the title) was certainly a little interesting. I managed to arrange to get a lift with the UNESCO people down to Snoul, which is an easy place to get a ride to Sen Monorom. However, the driver got confused and took me to Kratie instead, which meant I needed to get a ride to Snoul from there and then another up to SM. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after much bartering with drivers I managed to get the front seat of a pick up (with 5 people in the back seat, designed for 3 and someone sat with the driver!) to Snoul and the same driver then arranged for me to get in another pick up to SM. This pick-up was the most laden down vehicle I have ever seen! It had about 3 tons of stock on the back, about six people on top and 6 people in the cabin. It went ridiculously slowly as a result and the 2 hour journey took almost 4! Another day in Cambodia!
Anyway, after our stressful week, Jeltje and I decided that we needed to relax so yesterday we headed on over the Pu Long waterfall, about 30mins moto ride through the hills on dirt roads. You would not believe the dust now that the dry season is here. It hasn’t rained in about 5 weeks and the roads and just pure red dust, meaning that whenever you go out you inevitably get a ‘mondulkiri tan’. So, jumping into the cold water after the trek down to the waterfall was an amazing feeling, as was washing off the orange coating! We had a lovely time, swimming, pick-nicking, sun bathing and reading on the rocks at the fall. Then something really cool happened, an elephant trek arrived so they could take a bath in the waterfall. It was great seeing the elephants in such close proximity and watching them in the water. However, I felt a bit saddened by the way they were draped in chains and have decided that I don’t want to ride one. We are going to our friend Jack’s elephant project on Tuesday (after visiting a school to meet the community members!) and he doesn’t do rides but does do treks to see them in their natural habitat which I think will be better than going on a touristy ride.
I have put a couple of elephant pictures up but I need to get the photo’s from Kirsty of RTK as I had to leave my other camera in PP to be fixed, sadly.
I will update again soon with pictures from the elephant project and more news about how my work is going here.
C x
This is a problem in several provinces around Cambodia, as in order to reach the UN Millennium Goals by the 2015 deadline, all children must be in education. However, there is a serious issue with indigenous peoples as they all speak their own languages but the teachers speak in K’mai, making it impossible for the children to follow. It is therefore necessary to train bi-lingual teachers who can also teach the children K’mai so that they can stay in education.
There are also issues surrounding teacher retention. The teachers are paid very badly, if at all, so there is a high rate of teacher absence as they usually have to work second jobs. Also, teachers are sent to these remote communities straight from teacher training college and frequently don’t settle as a result of a drastic change in lifestyle.
So, these are some of the issues we discussed during the two day workshop, with representatives from the government, UNESCO, UNICEF and CARE, who are all key NGO’s working in the region in education.
It was an interesting few days and we created some good recommendations for the government on how to increase school attendance amongst indigenous children, namely, recruiting good teachers from the community who are then given bi-lingual education training. Also it is vital that the government pay their teachers sufficiently and on time. However, this has been said many, many times before by lots of NGO’s and nothing is being done. The army on the other hand have been given a large pay rise...watch out Thailand!
Anyway, I’ll tell you a little bit about Ban Lung (capitol of RTK). Well, it is much larger than Sen Monorom, with proper shops and a massive market. It is also much flatter, now that I am used to be surrounded by hills it feels weird! It also has a beautiful volcanic crater lake not far from the town which is simply breathtaking. We went swimming the warm green water and it was just ACE! There is lots of mythology and religion surrounding the lake and it is a sacred place for the local communities who care for it. Sadly, Kirsty (the vso I was staying with), said that there are plans for the government to sell it to the Vietnamese who are going to build a casino right on the shore of the lake. I can’t think of anything worse than this happening and I really hope they come to their senses.
My journey back from RTK (and the bum breakage mentioned in the title) was certainly a little interesting. I managed to arrange to get a lift with the UNESCO people down to Snoul, which is an easy place to get a ride to Sen Monorom. However, the driver got confused and took me to Kratie instead, which meant I needed to get a ride to Snoul from there and then another up to SM. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after much bartering with drivers I managed to get the front seat of a pick up (with 5 people in the back seat, designed for 3 and someone sat with the driver!) to Snoul and the same driver then arranged for me to get in another pick up to SM. This pick-up was the most laden down vehicle I have ever seen! It had about 3 tons of stock on the back, about six people on top and 6 people in the cabin. It went ridiculously slowly as a result and the 2 hour journey took almost 4! Another day in Cambodia!
Anyway, after our stressful week, Jeltje and I decided that we needed to relax so yesterday we headed on over the Pu Long waterfall, about 30mins moto ride through the hills on dirt roads. You would not believe the dust now that the dry season is here. It hasn’t rained in about 5 weeks and the roads and just pure red dust, meaning that whenever you go out you inevitably get a ‘mondulkiri tan’. So, jumping into the cold water after the trek down to the waterfall was an amazing feeling, as was washing off the orange coating! We had a lovely time, swimming, pick-nicking, sun bathing and reading on the rocks at the fall. Then something really cool happened, an elephant trek arrived so they could take a bath in the waterfall. It was great seeing the elephants in such close proximity and watching them in the water. However, I felt a bit saddened by the way they were draped in chains and have decided that I don’t want to ride one. We are going to our friend Jack’s elephant project on Tuesday (after visiting a school to meet the community members!) and he doesn’t do rides but does do treks to see them in their natural habitat which I think will be better than going on a touristy ride.
I have put a couple of elephant pictures up but I need to get the photo’s from Kirsty of RTK as I had to leave my other camera in PP to be fixed, sadly.
I will update again soon with pictures from the elephant project and more news about how my work is going here.
C x
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Pictures
Sea Forest
Playing footie at break time!
See saw fun, see the buffallo in the background?
Wall of Fame!!
Swinging in the company of large animals with horns!!Pu Tang Cha and Sea Forest 01/12/09
Weather: Windy, windy, windy but lots of sunshine too which makes it easier to deal with!
Khmer word of the day: chor t’lai (discount!)
Wow, I cannot believe it is December already the time is going so quickly!
So today we went on a visit to our furthest school at Pu Tang Cha which is a Pulong village about 40km from Sen Monorom. It doesn’t get visited very often and after you leave the main road you can see why. The roads to the village are seriously hardcore biking and I am actually surprised I made it with only one small incident when the bike fell into a ditch and I physically couldn’t lift it out.
The school is seriously run down and lacking in basic materials. It does, however, have a play ground where the children park the water buffalo they have to look after whilst they’re in school! The kids there are great though, sat patiently waiting to be taught by a teacher who is teaching three grades in one classroom. Their behaviour is impeccable.
The School Director there is also really keen to get the community involved in improving the school and has arranged a meeting for me to meeting the village chiefs to discuss how I can support them, which should be really interesting.
On the way back we decided to stop by our friend Jack’s elephant project which was really beautiful. Unfortunately we had just missed him or we would’ve gone on a bit of a trek to see the elephants in the wild. Still, I am here for another 11 months still so plenty of time!
In the afternoon we headed up to our closest school, Lauka. The main teacher there, Lavi, is amazing. She really takes everything on board and is really keen to improve the school and as a teacher. So we had a positive meeting and next week I am meeting with the school director there to discuss community involvement, which is currently none, so lots of work to do there!
On the way back from this visit we went to the Sea Forest, which is literally a blanket of jungle with little hills in it so it looks like waves. It is very beautiful and from here you can see the Vietnamese border. Really puts into perspective how much this region must have suffered during the US’s blanket bombing of the Cambodian/Vietnamese border.
So I have uploaded some pictures of the beautiful kids at Pu Tang Cha School and of the Sea Forest. Also put one up of ‘the wall of fame’ where I stick all the cards I receive from home...see if you’re on there and if not then send me something!!
C x
Khmer word of the day: chor t’lai (discount!)
Wow, I cannot believe it is December already the time is going so quickly!
So today we went on a visit to our furthest school at Pu Tang Cha which is a Pulong village about 40km from Sen Monorom. It doesn’t get visited very often and after you leave the main road you can see why. The roads to the village are seriously hardcore biking and I am actually surprised I made it with only one small incident when the bike fell into a ditch and I physically couldn’t lift it out.
The school is seriously run down and lacking in basic materials. It does, however, have a play ground where the children park the water buffalo they have to look after whilst they’re in school! The kids there are great though, sat patiently waiting to be taught by a teacher who is teaching three grades in one classroom. Their behaviour is impeccable.
The School Director there is also really keen to get the community involved in improving the school and has arranged a meeting for me to meeting the village chiefs to discuss how I can support them, which should be really interesting.
On the way back we decided to stop by our friend Jack’s elephant project which was really beautiful. Unfortunately we had just missed him or we would’ve gone on a bit of a trek to see the elephants in the wild. Still, I am here for another 11 months still so plenty of time!
In the afternoon we headed up to our closest school, Lauka. The main teacher there, Lavi, is amazing. She really takes everything on board and is really keen to improve the school and as a teacher. So we had a positive meeting and next week I am meeting with the school director there to discuss community involvement, which is currently none, so lots of work to do there!
On the way back from this visit we went to the Sea Forest, which is literally a blanket of jungle with little hills in it so it looks like waves. It is very beautiful and from here you can see the Vietnamese border. Really puts into perspective how much this region must have suffered during the US’s blanket bombing of the Cambodian/Vietnamese border.
So I have uploaded some pictures of the beautiful kids at Pu Tang Cha School and of the Sea Forest. Also put one up of ‘the wall of fame’ where I stick all the cards I receive from home...see if you’re on there and if not then send me something!!
C x
Monday, 30 November 2009
Huff and I’ll Puff and I’ll Blow Your House Down!! 30/11/09
Weather: Windy as hell and cold! Sorry, I know you guys in the UK are suffering from really awful weather at the moment and hate to complain but I’ve just got used to the heat!
Khmer word of the day: tro chek (cold!)
Ok, so it has got really windy here again and after my sleepless night on Saturday, when I was actually concerned about my house taking off, I decided to go into a guest house for the night! I know it is a bit of a cop out but my house rocks all over the place when it gets really windy and scares the bejesus out of me! I have, however, been informed that the windy season is nearly over and after that there is hardly any wind so I think I will stay in my house and stay in a guest house when it gets too scary!
On the plus side it meant that I got a good night’s sleep (concrete buildings don’t rock in the wind!) which was nice. Well, I say that, but another wedding started up at 4:50am this morning so I had seriously loud khmer karaoke as an alarm! I really don’t understand 1) why the weddings start that early 2) why the music is loud enough that the entire town can hear it 3) how the people at the wedding’s ears don’t bleed! Gah. It is wedding season now though so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!
This morning however, I did manage to make it out on my bike through the wind to Pulong school, where I had a quick meeting with the School Director. I didn’t want to keep him long though as he is teaching 5 grades today as one teacher didn’t turn up, another is giving birth and the other one has a nasty throat infection so has gone to PP for treatment. It is amazing though how all the kids are sat patiently and quietly in the classes, waiting for the teacher to come it. Considering how many kids in the UK would do anything for their teacher not to turn up, for the kids here it means one less day of being able to learn.
Anyway, I have a meeting with him next week to discuss community involvement in the school which I think will be quite positive as he already has good ties with the community and has had successes in getting them to help build a playground.
Just in the office now with the wind blowing around us making some plans for a student support network I am interested in setting up.
Tomorrow morning we are going to Pu Trom school, which is next to our friend Jack’s elephant project so we are going there for lunch. He has his own chef there who he says is great so I am looking forward to it and seeing the elephants in the wild!! I will take lots of pictures and post them on here as soon as I can.
Here’s hoping I don’t blow away...!
C x
Khmer word of the day: tro chek (cold!)
Ok, so it has got really windy here again and after my sleepless night on Saturday, when I was actually concerned about my house taking off, I decided to go into a guest house for the night! I know it is a bit of a cop out but my house rocks all over the place when it gets really windy and scares the bejesus out of me! I have, however, been informed that the windy season is nearly over and after that there is hardly any wind so I think I will stay in my house and stay in a guest house when it gets too scary!
On the plus side it meant that I got a good night’s sleep (concrete buildings don’t rock in the wind!) which was nice. Well, I say that, but another wedding started up at 4:50am this morning so I had seriously loud khmer karaoke as an alarm! I really don’t understand 1) why the weddings start that early 2) why the music is loud enough that the entire town can hear it 3) how the people at the wedding’s ears don’t bleed! Gah. It is wedding season now though so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!
This morning however, I did manage to make it out on my bike through the wind to Pulong school, where I had a quick meeting with the School Director. I didn’t want to keep him long though as he is teaching 5 grades today as one teacher didn’t turn up, another is giving birth and the other one has a nasty throat infection so has gone to PP for treatment. It is amazing though how all the kids are sat patiently and quietly in the classes, waiting for the teacher to come it. Considering how many kids in the UK would do anything for their teacher not to turn up, for the kids here it means one less day of being able to learn.
Anyway, I have a meeting with him next week to discuss community involvement in the school which I think will be quite positive as he already has good ties with the community and has had successes in getting them to help build a playground.
Just in the office now with the wind blowing around us making some plans for a student support network I am interested in setting up.
Tomorrow morning we are going to Pu Trom school, which is next to our friend Jack’s elephant project so we are going there for lunch. He has his own chef there who he says is great so I am looking forward to it and seeing the elephants in the wild!! I will take lots of pictures and post them on here as soon as I can.
Here’s hoping I don’t blow away...!
C x
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
The Curious Incident of the Motorbike on a Sunday
Khmer word of the day: tummy ache: chew puh
Weather report: No more rain but it has been replaced by cool winds which really aren’t much fun. Especially if your house is on stilts!
I’m sorry for not updating my blog more recently but please accept this following blog entry as way of explanation...
So a couple of Sunday’s ago Jeltje (the other new VSO in Mondulkiri) and I decided to head up to Sen Monorom waterfall with a couple of friends for the afternoon. However, in order to get to the falls you have to go up a really steep hill...which is where we ran into trouble. I was riding pillion behind Jeltje, as I was yet to receive my own bike, and J was trying to shift down the gears but struggling, then it clicked into first and J lost control, opening the throttle up full. This caused the bike to fly straight up in the air and for me to go flying off the back. I was completely winded and rolling about, some Khmer people came running out of a house and carried me inside lying me flat on my back and immediately covering me in tiger balm (which causes your skin to burn like mad!!). This probably helped quite a bit as it probably prevented any more bruising than there was.
So here I was, lying on the floor of a tiny wooden house, everything I feared coming true. Seven hours from any real medical help. Anyway, the friends I was with managed to borrow a 4x4 to take me to the hospital. When I say hospital here, it is a very loose interpretation of what is considered a hospital. The most medical thing about it is the big sign outside and the pictures on the bill boards. When we got there we realised that there was absolutely nothing there, which is very sad as this is supposed to be the entire provinces access to free healthcare. However, we were informed that there is a private clinic in town which has an x-ray machine, so off we went there. Again, this clinic is extremely basic with a pharmacy shop at the front and 3 beds with drips behind. They did have an x-ray machine of kind upstairs though (a really steep, skinny set of stairs...what if you had a broken leg?!). Anyway the x-rays didn’t show any fractures, but got to admit, the doctor really didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t even check me for concussion until we made him. Anyway, we relayed all this info to VSO who informed London as they have to do.
I stayed with J that night just in case, plus I really couldn’t move properly so I just laid where they left me! So that was Sunday, then Tuesday night I get a call from VSO London telling me that I had to go to PP asap for further scans as they always treat neck and back injuries very seriously. Fortunately Veasna (one of the volunteer assistants) managed to arrange travel for me the next morning in a taxi, which only took 6 hours (VERY good!).
So I went to the hospital in PP and had lots of x-rays done again which came back clear. However, by this point the bruising and swelling was really getting going and it was actually more painful then after the accident. So I was quite grateful to get some anti-inflammatory medication and head on back to the Programme Office to lie very still!
However, being back in PP does offer some advantages...I went to the Pavilion Hotel one day and had a nice swim and hot power shower. I also got to see the new batch of volunteers again, which was nice. The vast choice of food in PP is also great...always somewhere nice to go for dinner relatively cheaply.
I also got to pick up my handmade shoes from ‘Beautiful Shoes’ and they are indeed very nice. Fit really well but my feet just aren’t used to wearing closed in shoes after sandals for so long so the blisters came swiftly. It is amazing that you can get a pair of bespoke shoes here for $18. Love it.
Whilst in PP I have also managed to make contact with friends of a friend from Uni who have just invested in a bar on an island just off the Cambodian coast! Pretty brave step and they only arrived two weeks ago and have been really busy setting everything up. So it was nice to meet up and I have been showing them around PP and helping them to source stuff they need for the bar, which has been quite fun really.
But please, don’t think it has all been fun! I have also had a bout of gastric-enteritis whilst here which has been far from pleasurable but not something a course of antibiotics can’t fix.
So, I am feeling well again and looking forward to getting the go ahead to go back to MDK soon, so that I can really start to get my teeth into things up there again.
Since being in PP has given me some spare time I have done lots of research into a Girls Support Network programme and am really interested in setting one up at a couple of schools as a community project. I now just need to figure out how....!
I promise to update again soon!
Charlotte x
Weather report: No more rain but it has been replaced by cool winds which really aren’t much fun. Especially if your house is on stilts!
I’m sorry for not updating my blog more recently but please accept this following blog entry as way of explanation...
So a couple of Sunday’s ago Jeltje (the other new VSO in Mondulkiri) and I decided to head up to Sen Monorom waterfall with a couple of friends for the afternoon. However, in order to get to the falls you have to go up a really steep hill...which is where we ran into trouble. I was riding pillion behind Jeltje, as I was yet to receive my own bike, and J was trying to shift down the gears but struggling, then it clicked into first and J lost control, opening the throttle up full. This caused the bike to fly straight up in the air and for me to go flying off the back. I was completely winded and rolling about, some Khmer people came running out of a house and carried me inside lying me flat on my back and immediately covering me in tiger balm (which causes your skin to burn like mad!!). This probably helped quite a bit as it probably prevented any more bruising than there was.
So here I was, lying on the floor of a tiny wooden house, everything I feared coming true. Seven hours from any real medical help. Anyway, the friends I was with managed to borrow a 4x4 to take me to the hospital. When I say hospital here, it is a very loose interpretation of what is considered a hospital. The most medical thing about it is the big sign outside and the pictures on the bill boards. When we got there we realised that there was absolutely nothing there, which is very sad as this is supposed to be the entire provinces access to free healthcare. However, we were informed that there is a private clinic in town which has an x-ray machine, so off we went there. Again, this clinic is extremely basic with a pharmacy shop at the front and 3 beds with drips behind. They did have an x-ray machine of kind upstairs though (a really steep, skinny set of stairs...what if you had a broken leg?!). Anyway the x-rays didn’t show any fractures, but got to admit, the doctor really didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t even check me for concussion until we made him. Anyway, we relayed all this info to VSO who informed London as they have to do.
I stayed with J that night just in case, plus I really couldn’t move properly so I just laid where they left me! So that was Sunday, then Tuesday night I get a call from VSO London telling me that I had to go to PP asap for further scans as they always treat neck and back injuries very seriously. Fortunately Veasna (one of the volunteer assistants) managed to arrange travel for me the next morning in a taxi, which only took 6 hours (VERY good!).
So I went to the hospital in PP and had lots of x-rays done again which came back clear. However, by this point the bruising and swelling was really getting going and it was actually more painful then after the accident. So I was quite grateful to get some anti-inflammatory medication and head on back to the Programme Office to lie very still!
However, being back in PP does offer some advantages...I went to the Pavilion Hotel one day and had a nice swim and hot power shower. I also got to see the new batch of volunteers again, which was nice. The vast choice of food in PP is also great...always somewhere nice to go for dinner relatively cheaply.
I also got to pick up my handmade shoes from ‘Beautiful Shoes’ and they are indeed very nice. Fit really well but my feet just aren’t used to wearing closed in shoes after sandals for so long so the blisters came swiftly. It is amazing that you can get a pair of bespoke shoes here for $18. Love it.
Whilst in PP I have also managed to make contact with friends of a friend from Uni who have just invested in a bar on an island just off the Cambodian coast! Pretty brave step and they only arrived two weeks ago and have been really busy setting everything up. So it was nice to meet up and I have been showing them around PP and helping them to source stuff they need for the bar, which has been quite fun really.
But please, don’t think it has all been fun! I have also had a bout of gastric-enteritis whilst here which has been far from pleasurable but not something a course of antibiotics can’t fix.
So, I am feeling well again and looking forward to getting the go ahead to go back to MDK soon, so that I can really start to get my teeth into things up there again.
Since being in PP has given me some spare time I have done lots of research into a Girls Support Network programme and am really interested in setting one up at a couple of schools as a community project. I now just need to figure out how....!
I promise to update again soon!
Charlotte x
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Water Festival (and more!) 4/11/09
So this weekend was the annual water festival in Phnom Penh celebrating the end of the wet season and the change in direction of flow of the Tonle Sap River. It is a very old tradition for hundreds of teams to compete in dragon boat races on the river in front of the king and over 2 million people who travel to the city for the festival. So it is pretty crazy in Phnom Penh as you can imagine.
Anyway, VSO have entered a boat into the race for the past few years and it was up to us to continue this tradition. The VSO boat is the only boat with foreigners on (and women I might add) so we obviously drew quite alot of attention driving through town in an open top lorry in matching bright green t-shirts and caps! I do recall one man in fact just stood pointing and laughing. A great team morale booster there! I mean, we only did 4 hours of training and some of these teams spend all year training for this event as it is a really big deal to win.
As is typical of Cambodian organisation the only thing we knew on the day was that we were racing at some point! At about 9:30am we found out that we were racing at 12:30pm so had some free time on the quay to get suitably burnt. This is a massive issue for me at the moment as my skin has gone photo-sensitive from the anti-malaria tablets I am taking. I had factor 50 on and completely covered but could feel my skin burning through the tree, sunscreen and clothing! Really annoying and when it came to getting in the boat I got into my seat for about a minute before having to get out as my skin was so sore. Later when I got back to my hotel I discovered that I had been burnt though everything which is just crazy and really sore so I was very glad that I got out as the team was in the boat for way over an hour and I would’ve been in agony. I was really disappointed though as I was really looking forward to the experience of rowing in the race. As it turned out though the team didn’t quite make it to the start line as the current was really strong so they let them start with an advantage, though still managed to lose that race and the one after!! I managed to watch from the roof of the Foreign Correspondents Club which was really cool (and shady!).
So after all that action we went back to the guesthouse to prepare for the after-party! It was at this place with a really nice roof terrace not too far from the Royal Palace with a Moroccan theme. So lots of yummy food, a bit of random dancing to cheesy music and happy hour cocktails! Then onto the Heart of Darkness which is an infamous club in Phnom Penh, full of a massive mix of people and really very funny! I had a very enjoyable dance with a hilarious lady boy!
The morning after the night before we headed over the lakeside which is the backpacker district, in search of an English breakfast (it is ok to do this if you are an ex-pat!). So after some eggs and baked beans (to absorb alcohol) and banana shake (for potassium) we were all feeling much better so headed off to the river front to watch the second round of the races (which we obviously didn’t make it into). There was an amazing party atmosphere with the whole area pedestrianised and full of vendors, music and people having fun.
So in the afternoon I did a couple of jobs cruising around on my bike, which was a bit mental considering the heightened weight of traffic and I actually saw my first big accident with two people being knocked clean off their moto by a Lexus.
Anyway, that evening we had planned to meet at a restaurant not too far from the Programme Office and I knew the other guys had taken their bikes there so I hopped on mine and headed in that direction. However, I inadvertently managed to drive into the worst and maddest traffic ever. Everything was completely stationary with a car on fire in the middle, several ambulances trying to make their way through a completely solid mass of people and traffic. It was totally crazy and I was completely jammed in and spent over an hour trying to force myself and the bike through the scrum. So I arrived really really late for dinner and very stressed! It wasn’t long before the traffic had affected nearly every road in the area and we were penned into our restaurant! It calmed down enough after about an hour which meant that we were able to creep our way back to the PO. I have never seen so many Cambodians though, there must have been millions of people on the streets on Phnom Penh, with little to no organisation (other than the police randomly shutting roads and making you pay to go down them!). MENTAL.
So, I have now made it back to Mondulkiri in what was actually our best journey so far. Took about 7 hours so meant we were here at about 3pm which is really good. When we arrived it was a bit windy owing to another typhoon remnant rolling in but it has got worse and worse and I am now writing this at 11:30pm as I am unable to sleep as my house is rocking in the wind. Scary times!! We had a typhoon a few weeks ago and obviously my house survived that but it is still really scary as it is on wooden stilts and the walls and floor are very gappy which means that it is like sitting in a wind tunnel. Oh and just to top it off a rat just ran across my bedroom floor into its little hole. This is definitely not a highlight of my time in Cambodia so far...
Sorry to end on such a downer, hopefully things will pick up soon and I can write about that!!
Love xx
Anyway, VSO have entered a boat into the race for the past few years and it was up to us to continue this tradition. The VSO boat is the only boat with foreigners on (and women I might add) so we obviously drew quite alot of attention driving through town in an open top lorry in matching bright green t-shirts and caps! I do recall one man in fact just stood pointing and laughing. A great team morale booster there! I mean, we only did 4 hours of training and some of these teams spend all year training for this event as it is a really big deal to win.
As is typical of Cambodian organisation the only thing we knew on the day was that we were racing at some point! At about 9:30am we found out that we were racing at 12:30pm so had some free time on the quay to get suitably burnt. This is a massive issue for me at the moment as my skin has gone photo-sensitive from the anti-malaria tablets I am taking. I had factor 50 on and completely covered but could feel my skin burning through the tree, sunscreen and clothing! Really annoying and when it came to getting in the boat I got into my seat for about a minute before having to get out as my skin was so sore. Later when I got back to my hotel I discovered that I had been burnt though everything which is just crazy and really sore so I was very glad that I got out as the team was in the boat for way over an hour and I would’ve been in agony. I was really disappointed though as I was really looking forward to the experience of rowing in the race. As it turned out though the team didn’t quite make it to the start line as the current was really strong so they let them start with an advantage, though still managed to lose that race and the one after!! I managed to watch from the roof of the Foreign Correspondents Club which was really cool (and shady!).
So after all that action we went back to the guesthouse to prepare for the after-party! It was at this place with a really nice roof terrace not too far from the Royal Palace with a Moroccan theme. So lots of yummy food, a bit of random dancing to cheesy music and happy hour cocktails! Then onto the Heart of Darkness which is an infamous club in Phnom Penh, full of a massive mix of people and really very funny! I had a very enjoyable dance with a hilarious lady boy!
The morning after the night before we headed over the lakeside which is the backpacker district, in search of an English breakfast (it is ok to do this if you are an ex-pat!). So after some eggs and baked beans (to absorb alcohol) and banana shake (for potassium) we were all feeling much better so headed off to the river front to watch the second round of the races (which we obviously didn’t make it into). There was an amazing party atmosphere with the whole area pedestrianised and full of vendors, music and people having fun.
So in the afternoon I did a couple of jobs cruising around on my bike, which was a bit mental considering the heightened weight of traffic and I actually saw my first big accident with two people being knocked clean off their moto by a Lexus.
Anyway, that evening we had planned to meet at a restaurant not too far from the Programme Office and I knew the other guys had taken their bikes there so I hopped on mine and headed in that direction. However, I inadvertently managed to drive into the worst and maddest traffic ever. Everything was completely stationary with a car on fire in the middle, several ambulances trying to make their way through a completely solid mass of people and traffic. It was totally crazy and I was completely jammed in and spent over an hour trying to force myself and the bike through the scrum. So I arrived really really late for dinner and very stressed! It wasn’t long before the traffic had affected nearly every road in the area and we were penned into our restaurant! It calmed down enough after about an hour which meant that we were able to creep our way back to the PO. I have never seen so many Cambodians though, there must have been millions of people on the streets on Phnom Penh, with little to no organisation (other than the police randomly shutting roads and making you pay to go down them!). MENTAL.
So, I have now made it back to Mondulkiri in what was actually our best journey so far. Took about 7 hours so meant we were here at about 3pm which is really good. When we arrived it was a bit windy owing to another typhoon remnant rolling in but it has got worse and worse and I am now writing this at 11:30pm as I am unable to sleep as my house is rocking in the wind. Scary times!! We had a typhoon a few weeks ago and obviously my house survived that but it is still really scary as it is on wooden stilts and the walls and floor are very gappy which means that it is like sitting in a wind tunnel. Oh and just to top it off a rat just ran across my bedroom floor into its little hole. This is definitely not a highlight of my time in Cambodia so far...
Sorry to end on such a downer, hopefully things will pick up soon and I can write about that!!
Love xx
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