Hello everybody,
We forgot to mention Angkor Wat in our last post. We were there in early December for the annual marathon which raises money for land mine 'victims' and those affected by HIV/Aids. There are several events and VSO was represented in two of them. Spectators need to leave Siem Reap at 5.30 with the runners in order to avoid high entry fees to the temples but you are rewarded with a beautiful initially misty setting and sunrise over Angkor. Races began promptly at 6.30 and were well organised, with participants from 47 countries. I`m pleased to say that a VSO volunteer from Glossop won the 10k race for women. Perhaps we'll walk briskly round next year! Its whetted our appetite for templing again when friends come to visit in the New Year.
At last there has been a whiff of Christmas in Samraong. Soroth, the son of our landlord, invited us to the service in his "church." There are no churches in Samraong yet so we congregated at the house of the pastor which was decorated with balloons of all colours and shapes. We sat outside in the compound under the house.
Although we did not recognise any of the carols it was a delightful afternoon with many familiar features. The pastor prayed, the youth choir sang, the small children danced (Khmer style, mainly with their hands) and American evangelists preached with a Khmer translation provided. I was asked to introduce Carol and myself so I made my first speech in Khmer. It was warmly applauded, but whether that signified approval or relief that I had stopped I do not know. There was, of course, a lot of local colour. Small children,toddlers,babies,chickens and dogs wandered bemused among the performers and at the end of it all trestle tables were erected and the worshippers were treated to a wonderful meal. Khmer hospitality at its best!
Speaking of dogs,Khmer people do not have pets, but all families seem to have dogs. They do not name them, train them or walk them. They feed them but do not interact with them. The dogs rarely leave the vicinity of the compound and at night they bark and howl. Sometimes, (full moon?)you think that every dog in the village is howling. Nobody ever tries to shut them up.
Last night was a case in point. The dogs barked and howled from 3.00 for a good half hour. When they stopped the cocks began to crow, 2 hours too early. Then a baby screamed. Finally at 4.15 day 2 of a nearby wedding began. They play music through speakers that a large gymkhana would be proud of, and continue to play it till late at night. You can hear wedding music 200 yards away - it`s a sign of wealth so we're told, that the families of the bridal couple have sufficient resources to enable them to party over several days!
So Carol said, "Do the blog today, call it Silent Night." And I did.
We're packed and all ready to 'escape' to a very different Asia and can't wait to see Nic and the family over Christmas via our new toy, Skype. Mincepies and Christmas cake will hopefully come back for a Samraong Christmas tea. I'll forget about our funding problems for a few days and we'll return refreshed and enthused for a new year here! I've found a lovely Phillipino guy with lots of experience of proposal writing who has offered to help me, so it won't quite be the blind leading the blind. On that optimistic note , we'll close. Thanks for all your Christmas greetings. Have a lovely time, wherever you are, and good health and fun in 2010.
Our love and thoughts
Carol and Geoff xx
Sunday 20 December 2009
Thursday 10 December 2009
Ups and Downs of Life in Cambodia
Hi Everyone
Just got back from Sisophon, the provincial capital of Banteay Meachey, the NW province next to us, and as its Human Rights Day and a Public Holiday, I have the day off. Although still dirty and dusty like Samraong, it is a town with a modern hospital, in parts, a large market, a university, wide roads and several reasonable hotels and restaurants which we don't have. Its famous for its karaoke bars as its on the main trucker road to Thailand! Although only 2hrs from us, it felt more modern and part of the world and shows how our region has really suffered from civil war, unrest and a lack of investment. Still, we came home to a surprise farewell lunch for Anne, a volunteer German midwife, who leaves us today after working with Cambodian midwives in health centres for 8 wks and we have had Wanda, a young accountant from Berlin join us for a short while and Pathma has arrived to start her VSO placement. So we enjoyed sweet and sour fish, a beer, and of course, rice, so life feels good!
We met in Sisophon for our 1st NW volunteer 'cluster' meeting and the UK nurses among us laughed afterwards as it felt very much like being back in the NHS - lots of talk about resources, or more precisely, the lack of them - although the setting, a noisy cafe, hot, and with lots of biting insects , I guess was a bit different. The most useful part for me was picking up some tips as to how best to utilise the skills of a volunteer assistant as my best news this blog is that I've appointed Vatanak as my VA. He'll work 2 1/2 days each week from January and will support me with interpretation, translation, teaching and the niceties of Cambodian culture. He starts 2nd Jan.
Another trip away has been to Battambang, Cambodia's 2nd largest city with friends we met on the training course. It is a grand place, falling to bits as usual, but with some wide, leafy boulevards and several beautiful colonial buildings like the Governor's Residence and an elegant and atmospheric hotel dating from the early 1900's which has been sensitively restored to its former glory. The French influence is still evident. Not as touristy as Siem Reap and less cosmopolitan than PP, we really liked it. We stayed at a Khmer hotel - the best shower yet, fluffy white towels, a big pool and of course young, charming staff, all for $30 ( approx £18) per night!
My organisation joined up with a large Cambodian NGO, to organise a community health forum last week in the grounds of the pagoda in Samraong. The idea was that about 350 poor people from some of the villages in which we work would be able to meet with health service providers like the public health and hospital director and ask questions about the quality of care they receive at the local hospital and health centres. The beginnings of accountability I guess, which they call here patient and health provider rights. There was a good representation of women and disabled people which pleased me. There was Emma, the other VSO volunteer, and me up on the pink, green and yellow silk decked stage, with all the' high ranking people' and I couldn't help but smile and reflect on what a privilege it is to be here, well, at least some of the time! We had a great staff post event discussion back at the office and the challenge now is to get them to formulate some constructive feedback which we can communicate back to the organisers.
Another fascinating experience last week was my organisations meeting in Siem Reap at a very grand hotel, with our donors, Malteser, a German international NGO. I was there to support my Executive Director and Programme Manager in their meeting with their partners. The development world is like all others - demands, constraints, project planning. We were given a great DVD on our work in OM Province, which will keep the memory of Samraong alive, should we ever forget this experience!
I've saved the bad news until last - we heard yesterday that CHHRA and its international partners has not had either of its EEC Food Security proposals accepted. We have funding to maintain our community based health insurance scheme hopefully until December 2010 but things look precarious for our health promotion team. So my time for the forseeable future will be taken up trying to support the management team to find a new donor. We don't need a massive amount of money in the big scheme of things as we have a good team, motor bikes and an established office in place. Salaries for 4 health promoters are the major item. People remain cheerful, philosophical and accepting of their lot however. Projects coming to an end and people loosing their jobs are just a way of life here, though an older Cambodian who spent his adolescence in the camps on the Thai border told me recently that he was weary of always asking for money to support basic services. So many services which we take for granted, like a health service available for all, regardless of wealth or social status is just not available here.
On that unhappy note I'll close. We'll be in touch before Christmas and our trip to Singapore which we're so looking forward to. It's hard to imagine you all preparing for Christmas. I don't envy you, but Geoff is missing the frantic activity and the crack amongst great friends at Winos, especially at this time of year!
Please keep in touch and lots of love to you all
Carol and Geoff
Just got back from Sisophon, the provincial capital of Banteay Meachey, the NW province next to us, and as its Human Rights Day and a Public Holiday, I have the day off. Although still dirty and dusty like Samraong, it is a town with a modern hospital, in parts, a large market, a university, wide roads and several reasonable hotels and restaurants which we don't have. Its famous for its karaoke bars as its on the main trucker road to Thailand! Although only 2hrs from us, it felt more modern and part of the world and shows how our region has really suffered from civil war, unrest and a lack of investment. Still, we came home to a surprise farewell lunch for Anne, a volunteer German midwife, who leaves us today after working with Cambodian midwives in health centres for 8 wks and we have had Wanda, a young accountant from Berlin join us for a short while and Pathma has arrived to start her VSO placement. So we enjoyed sweet and sour fish, a beer, and of course, rice, so life feels good!
We met in Sisophon for our 1st NW volunteer 'cluster' meeting and the UK nurses among us laughed afterwards as it felt very much like being back in the NHS - lots of talk about resources, or more precisely, the lack of them - although the setting, a noisy cafe, hot, and with lots of biting insects , I guess was a bit different. The most useful part for me was picking up some tips as to how best to utilise the skills of a volunteer assistant as my best news this blog is that I've appointed Vatanak as my VA. He'll work 2 1/2 days each week from January and will support me with interpretation, translation, teaching and the niceties of Cambodian culture. He starts 2nd Jan.
Another trip away has been to Battambang, Cambodia's 2nd largest city with friends we met on the training course. It is a grand place, falling to bits as usual, but with some wide, leafy boulevards and several beautiful colonial buildings like the Governor's Residence and an elegant and atmospheric hotel dating from the early 1900's which has been sensitively restored to its former glory. The French influence is still evident. Not as touristy as Siem Reap and less cosmopolitan than PP, we really liked it. We stayed at a Khmer hotel - the best shower yet, fluffy white towels, a big pool and of course young, charming staff, all for $30 ( approx £18) per night!
My organisation joined up with a large Cambodian NGO, to organise a community health forum last week in the grounds of the pagoda in Samraong. The idea was that about 350 poor people from some of the villages in which we work would be able to meet with health service providers like the public health and hospital director and ask questions about the quality of care they receive at the local hospital and health centres. The beginnings of accountability I guess, which they call here patient and health provider rights. There was a good representation of women and disabled people which pleased me. There was Emma, the other VSO volunteer, and me up on the pink, green and yellow silk decked stage, with all the' high ranking people' and I couldn't help but smile and reflect on what a privilege it is to be here, well, at least some of the time! We had a great staff post event discussion back at the office and the challenge now is to get them to formulate some constructive feedback which we can communicate back to the organisers.
Another fascinating experience last week was my organisations meeting in Siem Reap at a very grand hotel, with our donors, Malteser, a German international NGO. I was there to support my Executive Director and Programme Manager in their meeting with their partners. The development world is like all others - demands, constraints, project planning. We were given a great DVD on our work in OM Province, which will keep the memory of Samraong alive, should we ever forget this experience!
I've saved the bad news until last - we heard yesterday that CHHRA and its international partners has not had either of its EEC Food Security proposals accepted. We have funding to maintain our community based health insurance scheme hopefully until December 2010 but things look precarious for our health promotion team. So my time for the forseeable future will be taken up trying to support the management team to find a new donor. We don't need a massive amount of money in the big scheme of things as we have a good team, motor bikes and an established office in place. Salaries for 4 health promoters are the major item. People remain cheerful, philosophical and accepting of their lot however. Projects coming to an end and people loosing their jobs are just a way of life here, though an older Cambodian who spent his adolescence in the camps on the Thai border told me recently that he was weary of always asking for money to support basic services. So many services which we take for granted, like a health service available for all, regardless of wealth or social status is just not available here.
On that unhappy note I'll close. We'll be in touch before Christmas and our trip to Singapore which we're so looking forward to. It's hard to imagine you all preparing for Christmas. I don't envy you, but Geoff is missing the frantic activity and the crack amongst great friends at Winos, especially at this time of year!
Please keep in touch and lots of love to you all
Carol and Geoff
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