Burning Down the House

Just as there is throughout Asia, here’s an appetite for golf courses in Cambodia, bringing with it wealthy plane loads of Koreans, Japanese and Chinese tourists.  They come to Siem Reap with their fabulous fashion and umbrella accessories, walk all over the sacred temples in the morning, play golf in the afternoon, and most likely visit the prostitutes in the evening.  Of course, that’s a mass generalization but today I’m angry with them.  

With the demand for golf courses and more five star hotels, entire ‘residential’ areas, slum and every day are literally being bulldozed by and ‘bought out’ for a pittance by wealthy developers.  As such, families are being pushed to the outskirts of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap putting an incredible strain on the workforce and food supplies.  (Apparently even the new Australian Embassy is guilty of this).  Also, the demand for water for the golf courses and hotels is raising the water table, causing increased acidity which will affect the condition of the temples. 

I learned of a man whose relatively nice house was burned to the ground by a developer in an effort to steal his land.  The man challenged the developer but instead of receiving justice, was himself imprisoned for two years.  He’s just been released and is now living in a slum area where his children collect rubbish for $0.75 cents a day. 

A story in today's Phnom Penh Post tells of a 23 year old activist who was beaten unconscious and arrested while attempting to deliver a petition to Ban Ki-moon while he was visiting the Kingdom this week.  The man was part of a group of approximately 100 people who gathered outside the Cambodian Russian Friendship Hospital during Ban's visit to the facility to protest against their impending eviction from the Boeung Kak Lakeside in Phnom Penh.  Rights groups estimate that approximately 4,000 families will be evicted from the area to make room for a 133 ha development owned by a ruling party senator. 

Dysfunctional Family Trees

On Wednesday I’d arranged with Katie from the New Hope Outreach Program to visit Kim Heng, the mother of the family I sponsor.  I’d selected this family when I was here last year as it comprised two exceptionally beautiful teenage girls whose livelihood I feared for.  Without an education, it was strongly likely that they would be enticed or even stolen and trafficked to Phnom Penh, Thailand or even Malaysia to work in the “karaoke”  (sex) industry.  I’d made my sponsorship conditional on the fact that the girls regularly attend school.

Bon La (15) and Bon Lee (13) lived with their mother and their nephew whose parents were working on the Thai border, sending back as much money as they could to support their family at home.  They were however dependant on my New Hope sponsorship as the money from the border and the salary Kim Heng earned from washing dishes in a restaurant was not enough to feed the small family.

Just as we were leaving New Hope to visit Kim Heng, she entered the front gate.  She was completely surprised to see me – had no idea I was back in Siem Reap and was in fact there to see Kerry or Kemsour for help.  A classic “Crisis Care” moment, first hand. 

I didn’t recognize her at first, she was clearly distressed and had changed so much in the year.  Her clothes were torn and filthy clothes, her once stylish hair unruly.  As we found out minutes later, it was no wonder. 

In a nutshell, her son who’d been working on the Thai / Cambodian border had been shot and killed, his wife had fled and had hooked up with another man, leaving their two children in Kim Heng’s care.  Bon La, the beautiful 15 year-old had left for the border to dig potatoes, and 13 year-old Bon Lee now cuts grass around the village.  Neither goes to school.  Kim Heng is also caring for another two children whose family history no one can quite work out, though I think they’re also orphans – bringing the “family” count to eight.  And, on Tuesday night, the house was robbed and her dog stolen (probably for someone else’s food), the sum of which was the catalyst for the New Hope visit on Wednesday. 

It’s common for Cambodians to travel to Thailand hoping for work or better salaries.  The threat however is huge; being killed by the Thai army, trafficked into prostitution or kidnapped and murdered for your body parts. With one child already killed on the border, Kim Heng must have been beside herself.

Some things in Cambodia take forever to happen but tragedy here is swift and appears in every single direction you turn.  It seems that everyone you come into contact with has at least one tragic story and yet they continue to astound you with their beautiful smiles, really funny sense of humor, and their generosity. 

Katie, Carol, Seth (from New Hope) and I returned to visit Kim Heng yesterday with a mountain of supplies.  We’d visited the markets to stock up on mosquito nets, floor mats, rice, fruit, vegetables, treats for the kids, and all kinds of personal effects (soaps, shampoos, underpants, sarongs etc.).  Carol also gave an entire suitcase of baby and children’s clothes to Kim Heng which had been donated by a friend of hers in Queensland.

They were thrilled with the supplies and put the clothes on immediately.  But we were worried through the night that we’d gone overboard and that the truly evil looking neighbour who was hanging around making phone calls from her mobile would return in the night to steal it.  (Will check on that!). 

I also gave Kim Heng money to get Bon La back from Thailand.  The next job is to find her a job that will support this growing family.   So much for the education – for now …

New Hope is faced with situations like this every single day.  PLEASE if any of you, your friends or work colleagues can spare any cash, New Hope always needs support for its Crisis Care Program which provides emergency and disaster relief for families in tragic situations. 

Snakes Alive!

Anyone who knows me really well will know of my extreme snake phobia and some have witnessed it first hand; most recently my nieces Polly and Charlie when they gave me a “trick present” for Christmas last year – a rubber version from the $2 shop - or my IMG work colleagues at the Singapore night zoo.  

My phobia is thriving here in Cambodia where the worms are the size of small snakes, where it’s not uncommon to see a snake slithering across a road (in “suburbia”), a local giving one a good whack against a fence, clearly dreaming of her family feast that night or little children ‘wearing’ them as a fashion accessory!   Out at the floating villages, a friend of mine, Carol, saw a woman force-feeding a small-ish python the other morning, obviously trying to fatten it up to get more meat for her starving family. 

In Cambodia, there are more amputations of limbs as a result of non-treatment of snake bites that there are from landmines.  Many of the poor opt to visit a local medicine man than to go to a hospital where they will be charged $4.  Recently one man rocked up at New Hope’s Clinic with a completely black (effectively dead) arm, the result of a particularly nasty bite.  He had to be taken to hospital to have it amputated. 

The best type of snake in my opinion is a dead one.  Many of my more adventurous volunteer friends have dared to try them at local markets and to my horror, New Hope serves it up as an entrée to its Tour groups, alongside crickets and salted peanuts!  (The horror part of this is actually the smell of it cooking in the afternoon which sends me flying from the office I work in!).

Water Festival Celebrations in Battambang

Water Festival - Siem Reap 2009

Our trip to Battambang on the weekend co-incided with the Water Festival, supposedly the most extravagant festival in the Cambodian calendar, though the Battambang version being nothing on what I’d experienced in Siem Reap last year.

Over three days starting with the last full moon day in October or the beginning of November up to a million people from all walks of life from all over the country flock to the banks of Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers in Phnom Penh to watch hundreds of brightly colored boats with over 50 paddlers battle it out for top honors. The boat racing dates back to ancient times marking the strengths of the powerful Khmer marine forces during the Khmer empire. In the evening brightly decorated floats cruise along the river.  

What we saw however was a disappointing effort, further marred by the pure filth – a carpet of plastic, polystyrene and other refuse.

Heading to the Pagoda

The following day however we came across a number of pilgrims flocking to the pagodas and noisy celebrations in gaudy marquees as we passed through villages.  The Water Festival marks the changing of the flow of the Tonle Sap (South East Asia’s largest lake) and is also seen as thanksgiving to the Mekong River for providing the country with fertile land and abundant fish.

A cross between a truck + a plough

Serenity at its best

It is at this time when the river flow reverts to its normal down stream direction. The remarkable phenomenon that is the Tonle Sap sees the river  flowing upstream during the rainy season and then change direction as the rains cease and the swollen Tonle Sap Lake empties back into the Mekong River leaving behind vast quantities of fish. This could however be affected in the very short term with the sell-out of the Laos Government to Chinese electricity companies who are damning the Mekong.  Ultimately this will seriously impact agriculture and the livelihood of not only the Cambodians, but the Vietnamese).  


The Water Festival takes place from 20 - 23 November in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. 

Water Festival - Siem Reap 2009

Water Festival - Siem Reap 2009

A Different Way of Dressing

Five-(ish) year old Srey Much fell over in the school yard the other day and with it, scraped off many of the scabs on her little shin.  There was blood and pus everywhere.

With Srey Much, I jumped on the back of a moto, driven by Teacher Channa, and headed for the new Health Clinic.  Dutch Volunteer, Nurse Anna patched her up beautifully, without the slightest complaint or even flinching at the bucket of antiseptic being administered in an effort to clean the wounds .  We discovered about 20 of the manky ulcer-type sores all over her legs, and some on her arms.

Feeling sorry for her, and imagining the pain she was feeling, I carried Srey Much back from the clinic, balancing her on my hip, sweating like a pig.  An hour later I discovered her skipping up a storm in the “playground”, beaming with happiness.

The New Hope Health Clinic treats up to 100 patients a day – people who could otherwise not access health care or afford the necessary medication.  The Clinic also has a dedicated Khmer Counselor who educates mothers on family planning, childcare and food hygiene.

www.newhopecambodia.com

Just when you think you're doing it tough ...

One of my tasks in Week One at New Hope was to try to get some publicity for a remarkable five-year old Cooper Smith who stepped out last Sunday to raise funds 
for New Hope by walking 1km around Frankston’s Ballam Reserve Athletic’s track in Victoria. 

Born with cerebral palsy, Cooper took his first steps only two years ago but was determined to make the 1km distance and with it, raise funds for the children of 
New Hope.  

Cooper’s mother, Bronwyn Leeks said the family was researching their forthcoming Cambodian holiday when Cooper became distressed that many Cambodian children went hungry, and some didn’t even go to school.  “He took it upon himself to do something for people less fortunate than himself, raising sponsorship for his walk”, she said.

“His walk went really well.  (It was) very emotional and overwhelming, especially  for Cooper who although loves attention, perhaps not over 200 people on top of him!  He showed much maturity by pushing through his tiredness and kinder girlfriends patting him!”

The initial target of $500 was blown out of the water – the final figure is edging the $15,000 mark. 

To support Cooper's charity efforts, visit www.gofundraise.com.au/coopersmith

And for a guaranteed cry, visit http://theheartofliving.com.au/ for images from the day.

Special thanks to Brenna and Louise of Verve Communications, Sydney, who helped me with the on-ground media.  We achieved great radio coverage and are expecting ABC 24 to cover it this Friday.  

Floods and Family Outings

It’s winter in Cambodia but you’d never know it.  Today was beyond stinking.  Revolting.  But at least the flood water in Siem Reap has subsided which is more than I can say for the road from Battambang yesterday. 

Arriving here just over a week ago, from the air the town looked as though it was completely submerge.  The road outside Diamond Villas, where many of the New Hope volunteers are staying was completely flooded, as was the back yard.  When draining the yard they discovered two catfish which had managed to swim the 800m from the river to our back yard, winding up on the dinner plates of the staff.

Meanwhile, on the return trip from a weekend in Battambang, our car was caught in a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere.  Local Cambodians descended on the worst of the flood waters, bringing with them tyre tubes, floaties, fishing rods and picnics, the children frolicking in the muddied waters.   They've since broken out in body rashes, colds and bouts of all sorts of stomach bugs.  Nice.    

Does Team Wheel2Wheel really know what it's getting itself into?