Phnom Penh Reflections
Trip Start
May 15, 2007
1
17
22
Trip End
Jul 15, 2007
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Song of the day: Standing on the Moon.
It's raining every day. Cooler, but still a price to pay (in sweat) for being outside. I'm to where I hate that wet back feeling. Big baby. We get pretty close to zero exercise.
This is our last week in Phnom Penh. From here we are off to Bangkok for a few hours, then Chiang Mai, then Luang Prabang, back to BK, HK, and home.
03 market down the street
The first time I was in Phnom Penh I experienced it as dark and menacing. The second time it was much less negative. This time I caught the stark yin and yang of it - Hagar and the slums. HOPE and HIV. Samnang and the hangers on the corner. Chhavelith and the cops stopping random (poor) people. The sick, naked man and the man who covered him. Light and dark, kind and cruel, stark.
Except for being with David, it is almost like this (time in Phnom Penh) is separate from the rhythm of my life as I imagine it might unfold in whatever comes next. Phnom Penh does not seem to be where Leslie or I fit. If we were more with patient care we would surely feel differently. Most things here (in healthcare) are seriously stuck in the past and it's like few people seem to care that 1950s style medical care and not rocking the damned boat will have little impact on what matters the most (<morbidity/mortality). And I don't have the strength to swim against the tide.
Working on the classes I taught at the hospital I used my Terminal Illness website over and over again. Also the Refugee Health site. It was almost like much of the work I did on those sites over the past few years was in anticipation of this time in Phnom Penh.
09 David's street
On our last day at the hospital, there was a farewell lunch for Leela and me at In Many's (say In Mah-knee's) home. People there were Phalla (nurse educator, ER nurse, my best friend there), Many (hospice), Rotha (director of nursing), Hong (educator), Rassi (educator and the guy I hung out with in the office), Leela (true servant, from Amherst), and a couple I didn't know. The food was good: big hot pots of soup with meatballs, to which each person would use their chopsticks to add whatever they chose from the vegetables, noodles, beef, shrimp, cuttlefish, and then take whatever out of the pot and put it into a small individual bowl, season with pepper, chilis, salt, garlic, lime, etc., and eat it and then add some more, and so on. In a graceful gesture, Many had a new bottle of ketchup for me. For dessert we had fruit and little pumpkins stuffed with coconut jello(?). Leela and I were given some nice gifts - book, lamp, krama. It was a good party and a great way to leave.
As we left the hospital several people talked of how unusual it was for a family to volunteer together. It also was significant to people that David is Khmer.
On our last evening we went to the Art Café, where David and Antone played Mozart and a French composer whose name I don't recall. Igor and Ces came by, bringing Leslie and me a beautiful bouquet. David has made some good friends here.
___________________________
I hear a cry of victory,
Another of defeat,
10 Man outside hospital
A scrap of age-old lullaby,
Down some forgotten street.
Standing on the moon,
With nothing left to do,
A lovely view of heaven,
But I'd rather be with you.
Comments
God's messengers
Charles:
Just read your log from June through today. You and Leslie are truly living God's dictum of DOING love and mercy. Your trip all means so much more to me having now been in Burma and Cambodia. The heat, humidity, smells... naps/showers. (If no one has told you, unfortunately, Dallas is experiencing the same kind of Cambodian heat/humidity.... never have I see Dallas weather like this. It halts all out doors' activity, but unlike the Asians, we have the blessing of air-conditioning.).
I met a very special man in Siem Riep.
Here's what I wrote about him:
Our Itinerary said: 'Nhean Samban, 'Sam' tells a very personal account of Cambodia's recent history. He tells an enthralling description of hiding in caves from American bombs and surviving the depredations of the Khmer Rouge takeover of the 1970's." What it didn't say was that we were meeting a man who would inspire us to a greater good.
For my Design Your Day Option, I chose "the Cambodian Countryside.' Only four other AK guests selected this tour, and "Sam" was our guide. Because of the small size of our group, we all became friends of Sam's, and in turn, he shared many of his life stories with us. We went unannounced into a Village elementary school. Happy children in uniforms, all without shoes, go to school for half a day and help their parents work the fields the remainder of the day. Village children only attend school until they are 12. We stopped at 3-4 separate villages and learned extended families build their hut-homes on proximate land to their parents and grandparents. Houses are all on stilts to provide air-conditioning. A communal village bath is a large hollowed out pot. Families support themselves, and each other, by working the rice fields and selling the handi-work of the women: sugar candy; baskets; woven goods; and wooden carvings. Village children are cared for by whoever is not working the fields that day. The Biblical communal life of "showing love and mercy to your neighbor" is a reality in these villages.
As we drove from village to village, and asked questions of Sam, we learned that he bought a house in the city and has 26 nieces and nephews living with him whom he is supporting. He is putting them all through school, being sure they learn English. In the city, the children can attend school all day and school goes though 12th grade. Sam is attending the University and will receive his BA in English Literature this year. He supports his family by being a tour guide. As if these responsibilities were not enough, Sam works as a coordinator for not-for-profit organization whose mission is to fund the digging of water wells in Cambodian villages. Understanding without fresh water, people are more disposed to failure from disease, Sam is dedicating his time to supplying what is essential for villagers to thrive: clean, fresh water.
He explained that the water table in Cambodia is very high so that wells do not have to be dug very deep. The cost of one well is only $250. It was an honor to fund one well.
Sam was but one of the guides throughout our trip who exemplified the essence of professionalism and humanitarianism. Each impressed me with showing us how happy people were in their countries; how gracious they are in their hospitality; how proud they are of their countries; and how they truly live the Word of the Bible. They do love one another and care for each other. With so little, they have so much!
I will be forever grateful to Sam for offering me a way to share in that caring... '
And I am so very thankful to you, Charles, for sharing your journey/life/feelings with me.
In case you'd like to contact Sam, his email is: sambrothers@online.com.kh. I am keeping in touch with him and plan to do more with his work in bringing fresh water to the countryside. 'The water of life...'
Safe jouney and healing, Charles. You bring such hope to so many and am thrilled to be hearing this trip is refreshing your spirit. The 'bunnies' in bed I can also relate to. My 3 Dallas grandchildren are my bed-bunnies. Just nothing more loving that having flesh upon flesh with those whom you love and who unconditionally love you.
Cracked up at the thought of you doing a SWOT analysis for the hospital! CB