Hi Everyone
I'm speaking to you from a poolside of a lovely garden hotel in PP. It's cloudy and breezy so perhaps there is rain on the way. We're here to start our last bit of language training at the VSO Programme Office tomorrow. The blog is a welcome diversion from learning vocab!
Geoff arrived back safely from UK via Singapore last night and I travelled south on the bus from a Health Workshop in Siem Reap yesterday. It was great - lively, informative and friendly and largely presented by volunteers. I sat next to a hospital management adviser from Broadbottom, near Glossop who said that a volunteer coming out in the October batch to work in the province next to us, has parents who live in Saddleworth! He is called Oliver Shipp for those Saddleworthians reading this. The world is a small place.
Geoff has had a good time and says to say sorry to all those he was unable to speak to.He spent most of the time with Nick and his Mum and saw the Farne Islands and Bamburgh in the sunshine.Our house is still in one piece and I'm looking forward to getting onto our roof with my new paints. It's been very quiet without him but I've been busy at work teaching his 3 English classes, supporting the Project Manager in writing his quarterly report and interviewing for a new manager for the Project's community based health insurance scheme. The next big priority is to look for a new donor as the present funding ends in April 09. There seems to be no sense of urgency even though everyone could be out of a job in 9 mths, including me! Today we said goodbye to an Indian couple in our group who are returning home as their placement has not worked out - I think they have found it difficult to adapt to the very different work culture here.
We have a good social life to look forward to for 2 weeks, especially good as there are few treats in Samraong. I've survived though with the company of the other 2 volunteers - bike rides, coffee in the market, lunch in a lean too shed costing all of 70p, and lots of reading has helped to pass the time, but its good to have Geoff back.
Hope the Summer sunshine continues and that those of you going away have a lovely time. Keep us posted!
Much love from us both
Carol and Geoff xx
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Friday, 3 July 2009
Buddy Week in Kratie
Hi Everyone
We've been back almost a week from our trip to the SE of Cambodia - 1 1/2 days of buses and an overnight stay en route each way.We're getting used to feeling saddle - sore but I'm so grateful for Yoga and the Alexander technique which I have plenty of time to practice and which seem to sort us both out. Geoff arrives in the UK today, for 2 weeks, having booked a flight via Singapore so as to have a night with Laura and Alberto.He's spending time largely with his Mum and Nick.
We stayed with 2 volunteers in Kratie, our age, the wife, a doctor, working in health promotion and her accompanying husband, teaching english to young people recruited to work in the tourist industry. They made us feel very welcome in their large wooden house in spite of the heat and frequent power cuts. I visited villages with her and her health promotion team, spent time with a volunteer working as a maternal and child health adviser, and also a Kenyan volunteer who works as a health adviser to a small NGO like me but is having a really difficult time with inadequate funding and poor organisation.Kratie is a poor, small town, very much in need of building repairs and a general clean - up, like so many places in Cambodia, but the sunsets over the Mekong were stunning, they had a couple of western restaurants, and it felt good to meet new people. We then had a stunning day watching the Irawaddy dolphins from a small boat on the Mekong. We saw lots, swimming in the deep pools , but their numbers are falling and the WWF in Kratie feel that their nos, about 70, are nearly unsustainable. Pollution from the likes of China and Laos seem to be the major culprits.
We had a night of luxury on the way home - we've found a great boutique hotel in Siem Reap, Golden Banana, which we would recommend to any of you planning to visit us and Angkor Wat.It's run by a couple of guys, Thai and New Zealand, with a great pool, stylish rooms, and of course, a/c. Very friendly staff too. So all this along with massage, pedicure, 2nd hand bookshops and a lovely French restaurant set us up well for our return to Samraong. The road is still good inspite of heavy rain and we were home in 2hrs.
It feels good to be home. I think that I have turned a little corner in that I feel more settled and time seems to be passing more quickly. Geoff has really settled in well - I wonder how he'll feel about the UK? I've begun to work on my activities which I need to come up with for my VSO review visit in August/Sept. and we've heard this week that we are getting 3 more health volunteers in October. So then we'll be 6!.
I've just come back to the office from a day's celebration to mark the completion of a village irrigation scheme and a new bridge. A crowd of about a 100 villagers, lots of speeches from the likes of the district governor and the programme coordinator of ZOA, a Dutch international NGO, - she's Irish, married to a Cambodian, speaks fluent Kamai and has lived here for 15 years! - and followed by a big party with food, lots of beer and whiskey, and dancing to a live band. These people know how to enjoy themselves - Dad, in his younger days , would have loved it!
On that happy note I'll close - keep the comments and emails rolling!
With lots of love
Carol and Geoff xx
We've been back almost a week from our trip to the SE of Cambodia - 1 1/2 days of buses and an overnight stay en route each way.We're getting used to feeling saddle - sore but I'm so grateful for Yoga and the Alexander technique which I have plenty of time to practice and which seem to sort us both out. Geoff arrives in the UK today, for 2 weeks, having booked a flight via Singapore so as to have a night with Laura and Alberto.He's spending time largely with his Mum and Nick.
We stayed with 2 volunteers in Kratie, our age, the wife, a doctor, working in health promotion and her accompanying husband, teaching english to young people recruited to work in the tourist industry. They made us feel very welcome in their large wooden house in spite of the heat and frequent power cuts. I visited villages with her and her health promotion team, spent time with a volunteer working as a maternal and child health adviser, and also a Kenyan volunteer who works as a health adviser to a small NGO like me but is having a really difficult time with inadequate funding and poor organisation.Kratie is a poor, small town, very much in need of building repairs and a general clean - up, like so many places in Cambodia, but the sunsets over the Mekong were stunning, they had a couple of western restaurants, and it felt good to meet new people. We then had a stunning day watching the Irawaddy dolphins from a small boat on the Mekong. We saw lots, swimming in the deep pools , but their numbers are falling and the WWF in Kratie feel that their nos, about 70, are nearly unsustainable. Pollution from the likes of China and Laos seem to be the major culprits.
We had a night of luxury on the way home - we've found a great boutique hotel in Siem Reap, Golden Banana, which we would recommend to any of you planning to visit us and Angkor Wat.It's run by a couple of guys, Thai and New Zealand, with a great pool, stylish rooms, and of course, a/c. Very friendly staff too. So all this along with massage, pedicure, 2nd hand bookshops and a lovely French restaurant set us up well for our return to Samraong. The road is still good inspite of heavy rain and we were home in 2hrs.
It feels good to be home. I think that I have turned a little corner in that I feel more settled and time seems to be passing more quickly. Geoff has really settled in well - I wonder how he'll feel about the UK? I've begun to work on my activities which I need to come up with for my VSO review visit in August/Sept. and we've heard this week that we are getting 3 more health volunteers in October. So then we'll be 6!.
I've just come back to the office from a day's celebration to mark the completion of a village irrigation scheme and a new bridge. A crowd of about a 100 villagers, lots of speeches from the likes of the district governor and the programme coordinator of ZOA, a Dutch international NGO, - she's Irish, married to a Cambodian, speaks fluent Kamai and has lived here for 15 years! - and followed by a big party with food, lots of beer and whiskey, and dancing to a live band. These people know how to enjoy themselves - Dad, in his younger days , would have loved it!
On that happy note I'll close - keep the comments and emails rolling!
With lots of love
Carol and Geoff xx
Friday, 19 June 2009
Field Trip to Anlong Veng
Hi Everyone
We've had an adventure since last being in touch as last week Geoff and I travelled 2hrs east of Samraong in work's land cruiser to visit several villages. It was a remote and poor part of the province and the idea was to support some motivated villages who with the support of our project team have improved the health of themselves and their families by for eg. covering water jars to prevent mosquitoes breeding, started to boil water and possibly built a pig house to keep people and animals separate!
We had large meetings of about 30 villagers with the village chief and village health support workers, who work voluntarily to improve their community's health.People from unmotivated villages were invited to hear and then we all walked around the village, the idea being that everyone would see what was good and bad and come up with an action plan as to how they could bring about change in their own place. These people are a tough lot, living in the middle of nowhere, in the most basic of houses, eating what they grow, in an area still being cleared of landmines and with the sun beating down. We sat under thatched shelters though, had tea and biscuits as a snack, and a lunch of rice and a leafy vegetable soup provided by our project. There was lots of laughter too which is typical of life here and people listened intently even to the session on domestic violence!
After 2 days of these activities, the project manager took us off for a bit of macabre tourism - this area was the last stronghold of the Kymer Rouge in the late 80's. We saw Pol Pot's grave and the house of his 2nd in command, Ou Moc. It was up a mountain, the first hill we'd seen in 3mths, and the views south over a flat, largely deforested Cambodia were stunning.
On the home front, our landlord has built us a thatched shelter on the flat roof which is lovely to escape the sun and get a breeze in the evenings. It's difficult to tolerate being in the house during the day as it is so hot and humid, usually about 33c. Geoff has got going with his teaching, 3 sessions each week at my work place, at 7am! and an advanced english language group at home 3 times a week. He'll be home 2nd July for 2wks to see Nic and his Mum.
I'm rushing this as we're out tonight at a friend's leaving do, a lovely German Girl whose been here for 6 mths building the admin. capacity of an international NGO. We leave for Kratie tomorrow, a town on the Mekong, where we hope to see the rare irrawaddy dolphins. Its a buddy week, arranged by VSO to see how other volunteers work.
Hope all's well with you all and that the sunshine is still with you!
With much love from us both
Carol and Geoff xx
We've had an adventure since last being in touch as last week Geoff and I travelled 2hrs east of Samraong in work's land cruiser to visit several villages. It was a remote and poor part of the province and the idea was to support some motivated villages who with the support of our project team have improved the health of themselves and their families by for eg. covering water jars to prevent mosquitoes breeding, started to boil water and possibly built a pig house to keep people and animals separate!
We had large meetings of about 30 villagers with the village chief and village health support workers, who work voluntarily to improve their community's health.People from unmotivated villages were invited to hear and then we all walked around the village, the idea being that everyone would see what was good and bad and come up with an action plan as to how they could bring about change in their own place. These people are a tough lot, living in the middle of nowhere, in the most basic of houses, eating what they grow, in an area still being cleared of landmines and with the sun beating down. We sat under thatched shelters though, had tea and biscuits as a snack, and a lunch of rice and a leafy vegetable soup provided by our project. There was lots of laughter too which is typical of life here and people listened intently even to the session on domestic violence!
After 2 days of these activities, the project manager took us off for a bit of macabre tourism - this area was the last stronghold of the Kymer Rouge in the late 80's. We saw Pol Pot's grave and the house of his 2nd in command, Ou Moc. It was up a mountain, the first hill we'd seen in 3mths, and the views south over a flat, largely deforested Cambodia were stunning.
On the home front, our landlord has built us a thatched shelter on the flat roof which is lovely to escape the sun and get a breeze in the evenings. It's difficult to tolerate being in the house during the day as it is so hot and humid, usually about 33c. Geoff has got going with his teaching, 3 sessions each week at my work place, at 7am! and an advanced english language group at home 3 times a week. He'll be home 2nd July for 2wks to see Nic and his Mum.
I'm rushing this as we're out tonight at a friend's leaving do, a lovely German Girl whose been here for 6 mths building the admin. capacity of an international NGO. We leave for Kratie tomorrow, a town on the Mekong, where we hope to see the rare irrawaddy dolphins. Its a buddy week, arranged by VSO to see how other volunteers work.
Hope all's well with you all and that the sunshine is still with you!
With much love from us both
Carol and Geoff xx
Friday, 5 June 2009
Our First Visitors!
Hi Everyone
Laura and Alberto came to stay, over half term week.The flight to Siem Reap from Singapore takes just 2 1/2 hrs; its then the dirt road up here in a taxi, which, because the road is good just now, as there hasn't been too much rain, takes approx. 2 1/2 hrs. They came loaded with goodies - blue tac, quality dusters and dishcloths, books, DVD's, M & S nibbles, good wine and biscuits! The best thing for Geoff was a DVD machine which plays DVD's through the television screen. We really appreciate our simple pleasures.
2 German friends offered to take us all in their NGO Land Cruiser to a remote temple of the Angkor era, well off the tourist route. It was very impressive, if not a bit daunting, as there were huge stone door ways which looked as if they were about to topple over and huge trees growing through the masonery. Some beautiful carvings too. We had a great picnic under the trees - ratatouille, salad nicoise, roast loin of pork and tortilla. You have to be inventive here!
The next day we hired bikes and cycled around the sights of Samraong - the market, my office, the wat, Enfant De Mekong, the charity that Geoff is to work for, the hospital and the lake. Alberto said it reminded him of rural Italy in the 60's! We escaped the heat by watching the film "Milk", Sean Penn, which was excellent, in their ac. hotel room, and enjoyed the relative cool of the evening on our flat roof with good wine and food. Then we went off to Siem Reap to enjoy a lazy time at a boutique hotel with a lovely pool.Hopefully, we'll meet up with them again in Singapore in September.
Clive has asked us via post a comment about the mossies here and how we deal with them. Peter G. also referred to them after hearing a "Today"article, so I thought more of you might be interested! We do have mosquitoes which carry maleria - these bite at night, and denque fever - these bite during the day, but particularly during the rainy season. We always wear anti- repellant cream, sleep under a net which has been impregnated with some chemical whose name I can't remember, and we take anti- malerial medication daily. So far so good - we both feel very healthy, sleep and eat well and we've both lost some weight - me more than Geoff, big surprise! It's hard to take exercise though as it is always hot and there are few facilities for sport. We really enjoy our bikes and have begun to bird watch around the lake as the water rises.
Our big news this week is a straw and wood shelter which our landlord has erected on the roof to give us some shade! This will make such a difference to the quality of our lives as we could only sit outside up their after about 5.30pm. So think about us this weekend sipping our iced Ricard, which retails here for $5 a litre, surrounded by coconut palms, and views of the lake and Thai mountains.That actually sounds more beautiful than it actually is but never mind! Geoff's gone to SReap today to collect some cushions for our heavy wooden lounge furniture and buy a connection to enable us to post some photos on the blog.How is it we still manage to lose only useful things!
Please keep emailing or posting comments. If you'd like to write - we get post sent up once a week - our address is: VSO Cambodia Programme Office. PO Box 912. Phnom Penh. Cambodia
Lots of love to you all
Carol and Geoff xx
Laura and Alberto came to stay, over half term week.The flight to Siem Reap from Singapore takes just 2 1/2 hrs; its then the dirt road up here in a taxi, which, because the road is good just now, as there hasn't been too much rain, takes approx. 2 1/2 hrs. They came loaded with goodies - blue tac, quality dusters and dishcloths, books, DVD's, M & S nibbles, good wine and biscuits! The best thing for Geoff was a DVD machine which plays DVD's through the television screen. We really appreciate our simple pleasures.
2 German friends offered to take us all in their NGO Land Cruiser to a remote temple of the Angkor era, well off the tourist route. It was very impressive, if not a bit daunting, as there were huge stone door ways which looked as if they were about to topple over and huge trees growing through the masonery. Some beautiful carvings too. We had a great picnic under the trees - ratatouille, salad nicoise, roast loin of pork and tortilla. You have to be inventive here!
The next day we hired bikes and cycled around the sights of Samraong - the market, my office, the wat, Enfant De Mekong, the charity that Geoff is to work for, the hospital and the lake. Alberto said it reminded him of rural Italy in the 60's! We escaped the heat by watching the film "Milk", Sean Penn, which was excellent, in their ac. hotel room, and enjoyed the relative cool of the evening on our flat roof with good wine and food. Then we went off to Siem Reap to enjoy a lazy time at a boutique hotel with a lovely pool.Hopefully, we'll meet up with them again in Singapore in September.
Clive has asked us via post a comment about the mossies here and how we deal with them. Peter G. also referred to them after hearing a "Today"article, so I thought more of you might be interested! We do have mosquitoes which carry maleria - these bite at night, and denque fever - these bite during the day, but particularly during the rainy season. We always wear anti- repellant cream, sleep under a net which has been impregnated with some chemical whose name I can't remember, and we take anti- malerial medication daily. So far so good - we both feel very healthy, sleep and eat well and we've both lost some weight - me more than Geoff, big surprise! It's hard to take exercise though as it is always hot and there are few facilities for sport. We really enjoy our bikes and have begun to bird watch around the lake as the water rises.
Our big news this week is a straw and wood shelter which our landlord has erected on the roof to give us some shade! This will make such a difference to the quality of our lives as we could only sit outside up their after about 5.30pm. So think about us this weekend sipping our iced Ricard, which retails here for $5 a litre, surrounded by coconut palms, and views of the lake and Thai mountains.That actually sounds more beautiful than it actually is but never mind! Geoff's gone to SReap today to collect some cushions for our heavy wooden lounge furniture and buy a connection to enable us to post some photos on the blog.How is it we still manage to lose only useful things!
Please keep emailing or posting comments. If you'd like to write - we get post sent up once a week - our address is: VSO Cambodia Programme Office. PO Box 912. Phnom Penh. Cambodia
Lots of love to you all
Carol and Geoff xx
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Holiday In Kep
Hi everyone
Sorry for the gap in postings! The internet has been down a lot recently and we've been away. We travelled 12 hrs over 2 days to reach the SE coast,not too far from the Vietnam border. We had 4 days public holiday to celebrate the king's birthday and stayed at the Verandah Resort, high on a hillside surrounded by blossom and tropical foliage and overlooking the Gulf of Thailand.It was worth the hot and bumpy treck - quiet, clean and undeveloped, but with a very distinctive feel.The area was used by the French in colonial times for rest and recreation.Magnificent villas built in the 19th century with flat roofs and straight lines survive as bombed out ruins, destroyed by the Khmer Rouge army in the 70's as they wiped out any vestige of colonialism. In typical Cambodian style some of these are now occupied and even have electricity! The scene helped us to appreciate the reality of Cambodia's recent history.
The province is famous for sea food and in particular crab and shrimp, cooked with Kampot pepper and chilli - the best seafood we've had and the cheapest! All served in wooden shacks overlooking the sea. One day we took a half hour boat trip to Rabbit Island and spent a few hours swimming off a lovely beach. Cambodia is really a small place - we met 4 other VSOs staying in the same hotel, 2 of whom we'd emailed from the UK as they were our age and the husband was an accompanying partner like Geoff.
It was back to Samraong for a few days and then another break for our 1st guests, Laura and Alberto. We'll keep their brave venture for next time! Geoff starts teaching English at my organisation next week, I carry on meeting people and attending meetings and wondering how on earth I'm going to help make even the smallest of changes!
Geoff's home July 2nd - 16th primarily to see his Mum.
Lots of love from us both
Geoff and Carol xx
Sorry for the gap in postings! The internet has been down a lot recently and we've been away. We travelled 12 hrs over 2 days to reach the SE coast,not too far from the Vietnam border. We had 4 days public holiday to celebrate the king's birthday and stayed at the Verandah Resort, high on a hillside surrounded by blossom and tropical foliage and overlooking the Gulf of Thailand.It was worth the hot and bumpy treck - quiet, clean and undeveloped, but with a very distinctive feel.The area was used by the French in colonial times for rest and recreation.Magnificent villas built in the 19th century with flat roofs and straight lines survive as bombed out ruins, destroyed by the Khmer Rouge army in the 70's as they wiped out any vestige of colonialism. In typical Cambodian style some of these are now occupied and even have electricity! The scene helped us to appreciate the reality of Cambodia's recent history.
The province is famous for sea food and in particular crab and shrimp, cooked with Kampot pepper and chilli - the best seafood we've had and the cheapest! All served in wooden shacks overlooking the sea. One day we took a half hour boat trip to Rabbit Island and spent a few hours swimming off a lovely beach. Cambodia is really a small place - we met 4 other VSOs staying in the same hotel, 2 of whom we'd emailed from the UK as they were our age and the husband was an accompanying partner like Geoff.
It was back to Samraong for a few days and then another break for our 1st guests, Laura and Alberto. We'll keep their brave venture for next time! Geoff starts teaching English at my organisation next week, I carry on meeting people and attending meetings and wondering how on earth I'm going to help make even the smallest of changes!
Geoff's home July 2nd - 16th primarily to see his Mum.
Lots of love from us both
Geoff and Carol xx
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Hi everyone. After the wedding we returned to Kampong Cham to finish the language course before moving to Phnom Penh for the end of In-Country Training. Here we were able to find several items of furniture for our new house and VSO provided a truck to take us to Samraong.It was decrepid, dusty and old - the middle part of the steering wheel came off 2hrs in - but with a good driver, we arrived safely 9hrs later, feeling very much our age and no hot bath to soak in!
There were still 5 days to spend in a hotel, then at last we moved into the house where we put our suitcases well out of sight.
Our landlord had installed a posh fridge, cable TV, a new bed, gas cooker and settee and chairs. Within a couple of days came new curtains. The house is made of pink stone and has 4 rooms and a rooftop space. There is a kitchen, a shower room/toilet, a bedroom and a lounge/dining room. The lounge has a high ceiling and a shop-house entrance which means you could drive a bus through. We have installed the largest mosquito screen in Samraong across this front space.
Carol started work on the 27th of April.Geoff has now handed over to me. I'm almost at the end of my 2nd week and it all feels very strange after the frenetic pace of the NHS. The days are long, 7.30 -12 and 1.30 - 5 and there's plenty of time to stand and stare! I'm shadowing the Project Manager who is typically Cambodian - small, smiley and generous of spirit. He told me yesterday that his parents and 7 brothers and sisters had been killed by the Khmer Rouge and that he and his 3 surviving siblings had spent their teenage years in a refugee camp on the Thai border. It is only 10 yrs since the civil war to drive Pol Pot out ended in these parts, electricity arrived 2yrs ago and the internet last year. I try to remember this as I complain at the lack of things like orange juice, cheese and white wine!
I've attended meetings with the Public Health Dept and the main funder of our organization, Malteser, a German Aid organization.I've been on a field trip to several villages to look at the reasons why so many families there have dropped out of the community based health insurance scheme which CHHRA - Cambodian Health and Human Rights Alliance , the organisation I work for also manages. I sat in on a days interviews to select a new health promoter and was impressed by the organization's professionalism in spite of the chickens clucking around which didn't seem to bother anyone! VSO say that it takes about 3mths to settle in to the job and I know that I will have to be patient. I'm still at the stage of meeting lots of people - looking for opportunities to make small changes will hopefully come later.
Geoff has met a French girl who is a teacher, working with a French charity trying to add value to secondary school age children's education. He's offered English teaching, a couple of times per week and has also agreed to teach English to CHHRA staff, beginners and more advanced. Meanwhile, he's content to shop daily at the local market for meat and veg which are of surprisngly good quality, wash clothes by hand, read, enjoy his music and cook for me. Nothing changes!
The 8 or so Aid workers here have been very welcoming. We've been out to dinner twice and a local restaurant last night to say goodbye to 2 medical students who have spent their elective at Samraong Hospital - one of them comes from Leeds!
We have 4 days public holiday next week to celebrate the King's birthday so we're making the long trek south to Kep to find some unspoilt beaches and a boutique hotel with ac. Laura and Alberto are also coming to visit the end of May so we have lots to look forward to!
Please keep trying to post a comment! Our address if you'd like to write is -
VSO Cambodia Programme Office. PO Box 912
#19, Street214. SangatBoeung Rang. Khan Daun Penh. Phnom Penh. Cambodia.
Good to know that you're having a beautiful Spring .
Love to you all
Carol and Geoff xx
There were still 5 days to spend in a hotel, then at last we moved into the house where we put our suitcases well out of sight.
Our landlord had installed a posh fridge, cable TV, a new bed, gas cooker and settee and chairs. Within a couple of days came new curtains. The house is made of pink stone and has 4 rooms and a rooftop space. There is a kitchen, a shower room/toilet, a bedroom and a lounge/dining room. The lounge has a high ceiling and a shop-house entrance which means you could drive a bus through. We have installed the largest mosquito screen in Samraong across this front space.
Carol started work on the 27th of April.Geoff has now handed over to me. I'm almost at the end of my 2nd week and it all feels very strange after the frenetic pace of the NHS. The days are long, 7.30 -12 and 1.30 - 5 and there's plenty of time to stand and stare! I'm shadowing the Project Manager who is typically Cambodian - small, smiley and generous of spirit. He told me yesterday that his parents and 7 brothers and sisters had been killed by the Khmer Rouge and that he and his 3 surviving siblings had spent their teenage years in a refugee camp on the Thai border. It is only 10 yrs since the civil war to drive Pol Pot out ended in these parts, electricity arrived 2yrs ago and the internet last year. I try to remember this as I complain at the lack of things like orange juice, cheese and white wine!
I've attended meetings with the Public Health Dept and the main funder of our organization, Malteser, a German Aid organization.I've been on a field trip to several villages to look at the reasons why so many families there have dropped out of the community based health insurance scheme which CHHRA - Cambodian Health and Human Rights Alliance , the organisation I work for also manages. I sat in on a days interviews to select a new health promoter and was impressed by the organization's professionalism in spite of the chickens clucking around which didn't seem to bother anyone! VSO say that it takes about 3mths to settle in to the job and I know that I will have to be patient. I'm still at the stage of meeting lots of people - looking for opportunities to make small changes will hopefully come later.
Geoff has met a French girl who is a teacher, working with a French charity trying to add value to secondary school age children's education. He's offered English teaching, a couple of times per week and has also agreed to teach English to CHHRA staff, beginners and more advanced. Meanwhile, he's content to shop daily at the local market for meat and veg which are of surprisngly good quality, wash clothes by hand, read, enjoy his music and cook for me. Nothing changes!
The 8 or so Aid workers here have been very welcoming. We've been out to dinner twice and a local restaurant last night to say goodbye to 2 medical students who have spent their elective at Samraong Hospital - one of them comes from Leeds!
We have 4 days public holiday next week to celebrate the King's birthday so we're making the long trek south to Kep to find some unspoilt beaches and a boutique hotel with ac. Laura and Alberto are also coming to visit the end of May so we have lots to look forward to!
Please keep trying to post a comment! Our address if you'd like to write is -
VSO Cambodia Programme Office. PO Box 912
#19, Street214. SangatBoeung Rang. Khan Daun Penh. Phnom Penh. Cambodia.
Good to know that you're having a beautiful Spring .
Love to you all
Carol and Geoff xx
Monday, 13 April 2009
Laura and Alberto's wedding day: April 13th.
Hi Everyone
We had a fabulous day yesterday. Everything went to plan, starting off with the monks who arrived at dawn to pray that there would be no rain! The setting was magnificent, a white thatched roof villa in a beautiful garden overlooking the beach.We're staying here for a week of treats - a boat trip,nature walk,surfing lessons (not!)and lots of fine dining.
We had a traditional Britsh wedding with Italian and Balinese additions - buttonholes only for the men and lots of references to the sea!Laura and Alberto had their civil wedding in Singapore the previous week. What was planned as a simple affair with just Alberto's Mum and brother and us,grew to include Jen's family.An elder from the local Chinese community married them by the pool at their condo and then we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant for a blow-out meal.We have pictures which eventually we'll post to you!
Now back to the day - the wedding was at 5pm in a large grassy garden with an empty beach and crashing surf at the front.They were married under a gazebo decked out in white satin, white lilies and roses and lots of greenery. The seating was white with green sashes and the 'aisle' was strewn with yellow frangipani flowers.Laura and Geoff walked through here with Balinese children in traditional dress and Lucy and Helen, the bridesmaids in sea green dresses.Frankie, their wedding organiser,a handsome,smiley and very efficient Balinese guy married them under the gazebo. Auntie Jen and Paulo, Alberto's brother, read from Captain Correlli's Mandolin and L and A wrote their own very personal wedding vows.It was all very romantic.As you'll see in the photos L's dress was simple but stunning.
We then moved on to fizz and canapes and a traditional Italian meal,complete with Italian chef and team brought in for the occasion.Italian meats, 2 pasta dishes, beef, salad, cheese,and fruit were delicious with speeches from Geoff, Alberto, and Terry, the best man interspersed throughout.He had produced a video with pictures of L and A as they grew up.He somehow managed to compare the villages of Lugano and Uppermill!
We had a Balinese band for the ceremony and afterwards, which played all our favourite pop tunes, somewhat surprisingly, and then we danced the night away under a moonlight sky to pop standards and 'clubbing' music.We eventually ate the wedding cake - cup cakes topped,with a model of L and A on their motorbike,expertly crafted by Charles!
It has been a week we will always remember, in spite of the heat, which caused us all to wilt at times, and we are only sorry that so many of you we're unable to be with us to share Laura's special day.You were all in our thoughts!
Lots of love
Geoff and Carol xx
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