Shout Out #15- CambodiaFund Re-cap

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  Siem Reap, Cambodia
Monday, March 19, 2007

     There were two buses going to Cambodia from Si Pan Don- a twenty kilometer ride ending with a rough 7 kilometer stretch through a gorgeous forest of widely spaced trees and a brown understory.  In the rainy season the dirt road would be virtually impassable and the browns would be a lush green.  At the border I had to get a Cambodia visa.  Had I obtained one in advance, I could have travelled by boat.  The official thumbed through my passport, handed it back, and told me I didn't have a page left for visas.
"What about all of these in the back?"
"They are for endorsements."
"There's nothing you can do?"
"I have to make a phone call...you will have to pay some money."
Yes, I see now

01- Orphans and Disabled Arts School

.  As I looked through my passport, a Swedish girl asked him if I could use her passport.  We had been talking economics and she was kindly trying to help.  Just then, on my third attempt, I found a spare page.  I paid for the visa and left with the Swedish girl and her two friends.  The officer wondered how he could have missed the page, I didn't wonder at all.
     There was a second stop, where the guards scrutinize your visa, give you a stamp, and you're in.  They were asking everyone for a $2 stamp fee.  I was one of the last people to go through.
"Sure, I'll pay the fee.  Can I get a receipt?  The other guy gave me a receipt for the visa fee."
They looked at one another, spoke in Khmer, and told me they'd make an exception for me.
"Yes, I see.... an exception.  No, I won't tell anyone else."
     It took two days to get to Siem Reap.  The route made a big vee.  On the first day we drove south to Kampong Cham, arriving after 8 PM.  Everyone checked into the same guesthouse so we could all leave easily in the morning.  It was also fortunate we found rooms for everybody.  The city is dead but somehow the guesthouses were all full.
     A large group of us ate at a spot owned by a British expat

02- Orphans and Disabled Arts School

.  The place looks out on the river and the large bridge spanning across.  The bridge was a donation from the Japanese government.  The expat explained that while it was being built, teams of Japanese engineers were in town overseeing the construction.  They came to ensure it was built properly- that the contractors didn't dilute the concrete or skimp on rebar to pocket a lot of extra cash.  He also mentioned an article he read in the papers recently about a government purchase of many police motorcycles.  Each one cost twice what they should and nobody's certain where the extra money went.
     Cambodia's much more developed than Laos- even in smaller cities, the streets are paved there are concrete buildings, and infrastructure- but the people are in worse conditions.  Places like Kampong Cham aren't too enticing.  On our walk back to the room we saw very few people; a couple teenagers riding around on motorbikes and a lady beating her son with a broom while he screamed and fought to escape.  When he did wriggle loose, she ran after him down the street waving the broom in the air.
     We arrived in Siem Reap shortly after noon.  Most of us checked into the same guesthouse again.  Sara, Ida, Jenny (the Swedes), and I went out for some food.  They were planning to visit the temples the next day and I explained why I wouldn't be visiting the temples- why I had returned.  Sara had lived in Sihanoukeville, knew the founder of cambodiakids.com, and had even sponsored one of the children.  It's a small world, cambodiakids is one of the groups I've included on the website.
     They were expecting to meet a Canadian friend Matt, and while wondering if he'd arrived or not, he walked by.  He joined us, caught up with the girls, we talked a bit, and prior to leaving, I went to the restroom.  When I came back, they gave me a big donation for CambodiaFund.  I was surprised and humbled. 
After lunch, we parted ways.  I wanted to find my friend Hong Kong, an orphan who sells books to get by, to see if he could help.  I ran into Srey, another girl I had met during my last visit, and she said Hong Kong no longer sells books.  She only saw him occasionally and didn't know what he was doing.  I asked her if she could help and we set a time to meet the next day.  I sent an email to Hong Kong to see if he could help on a different day.
     The next morning Srey was waiting with her friend Mila.  An extra would be nice, so I asked if Mila could come too.  We hired a tuk-tuk driver they knew and went to the market.  The girls were incredible.  It's hard to find people who will help to buy such large quantities of goods without looking to take advantage of the situation.  We bought notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, and clothes and the girls did a great job of negotiating good deals- they had to work hard on some of the vendors. 
     That day we went to two orphanages, a school, and two villages.  The orphanages have schools so we delivered school supplies.  The second orphanage had classes for blind and deaf students as well as having a music program.  The younger kids were wiggling in their seats as we handed out the books and pencils.
     In the first village, we distributed clothes to several children, some of them naked.  The school was near Sras Srang village, a place I had visited several times before.  When we gave out the supplies, I saw a girl I knew from the village.  Her hair was still growing out since she shaved it in remembrance of her father who had recently died.  She beamed her magnetic smile when I recognized her.
     Her village was our last stop.  I gave the remainder of the clothes and a box of pens to my friend Sarein.  She knew how to best distribute everything among the kids in the village.  It was getting late and Srey and Mila needed to get back into town.  I told Sarein I'd come back the next day so we could talk more.
     That night was the last night in town for the Swedish girls and Matt.  Sara was going to show them the beach life in Sihanoukville.  We had a nice dinner and relaxed at a place with some music before saying goodbye.
The next day I spent some time hanging out with Srey, Mila and some of their friends before heading out on bicycle.  There were some pens left to distribute so I handed them out on the way.  My journey took me through some villages outside of town and I stumbled across the Landmine Museum.  It's well known though I had no idea it existed.  It was a highlight of my time in Cambodia.
     A man converted a portion of his home into a place to exhibit different types of mines he's de-activated.  When he was young, the Khmer Rouge killed both his parents.  His village was under Khmer Rouge's control and the children were forced to set landmines.  School was a term used to explain where people were taken who never returned.  He grew up thinking school was a death camp.  Sometimes people were killed in the village; their necks cut slowly with palm branches while the villagers were forced to clap and sing along.
     In the 70's, the Vietnamese came and killed many Khmer Rouge and many of his friends.  He ran off, escaped death, and was captured- his options were death or work for the Vietnamese.  He now had to fight his friends and the children were sent out to de-activate the mines they had been forced to set.  The Vietnamese treated him well and in time, he didn't feel as bad about fighting the Khmer Rouge.
     When the Vietnamese left, he was conscripted into the Cambodian Army.  The UN came in shortly thereafter and needed help de-activating mines.  They gave him the opportunity to go to school, and as an older teenager, he started to realize that life isn't all about war and death.
     He now de-activates mines on his own, using a stick and a knife.  It's far faster and far more dangerous than with the metal detectors he used with the UN. 
With all of the de-activated mines at his home, he decided to create the museum to help support his work and the 20 disabled orphans he's adopted, and to raise awareness for the problem.  There are around 10 million mines in Cambodia- he's deactivated 30,000.  In a day his team can clear 30.
     I paid a boy with a missing leg to tell me about the variety of mines they have on display.  It was a lesson in cruel intentions- the engineering of these things is depraved.  It reminded me of the George Carlin bit, "In order for the flamethrower to be invented, somebody had to say, 'Gee, I'd really like to set those people on fire, but they're way over there...' What mind created a landmine that pops in the air, explodes in the persons face, and because it's filled with ball bearings, sends out enough shrapnel to take out 10 other people if they're close enough?  That one was designed in the United States.  Mines from several countries were on display, Russia, Vietnam, China...It was frightening.  There were also big metal spikes that could be left in the jungle.  When someone steps on one, they will most likely bleed to death before they can get back to anyplace for treatment.
     After the museum I came across a man who teaches English from his home to kids who can't afford to go to school.  He had seen me on the main street and I happened to stumble across his home in the country.  I left pens with him and he told me of his plans for trying to expand what he's doing.  I have him in mind for future help, but for now his situation is better than many others.  
     I finished the day by visiting my friends in Sras Srang village.  Sarein and her cousin Sally were there, and so were most of the kids I knew.  I went swimming with some of the boys and let the girls draw pictures in my journal.  When the shops were closing, I helped some of the women pack up their stands.
On my ride back to town I dropped the last of the pens off at an art school for disabled orphans.  They also provide English classes for kids who can't afford school.  An Enlish man was there volunteering some of his vacation time to teach the kids.
     That night I was sitting at a cafe and a little girl came up to ask for food.  She looked to be about 5 years old and frail.  Srey had recently come by and she told me the girl is 12 and that her wrist is broken because another kid pushed her.  I went to buy her food and two other kids came along.  They wouldn't take rice or noodles from a street stall I commonly ate at.  They wanted "meal"- powdered baby formula.  I went in a store and looked at what they wanted.  It was a big can of this stuff and they each wanted one.  They refused to share if I bought only one.  I didn't have the money for three and wasn't going to get each of them one.  I was about to leave because they simply refused to share and they wouldn't eat actual food from the street.  I was tired of trying.  When he saw my feet turn to the door, the boy without a leg showed me individually packaged cans of "meal".  They would be able to share.
     Walking down the street became increasingly more difficult.  The kids all knew what I was doing and constantly got on my case.
"Why you no hire me to help?"
"Because I know Srey and Mila and they don't try to take from the project."
"It's not fair.  You only take girls!  One boy, one girl."
"I hired a boy in Phnom Phen."
"But not in Siem Reap.  It's not fair!"
"Look, I hired Srey and Mila because they are smart.  They work hard and they don't try to take advantage of the situation.  I didn't hire you because I think you would try to take from the project." 
When I said it this bluntly, the boys typically shifted gears and became friendlier.  There were still another 20 kids chasing me around though.
     There were some extra donations so on the next day, I went with Srey, Mila, and a couple hanger-on's to the market.  We bought 15 kilos of meat for an orphanage with a very friendly lady managing the operations.  She helped me quite a bit the first day I went with supplies.  We also took notebooks and pens to a large school outside of town.  Afterward, I went to Sras Srang to talk with Sally and Sarein.  Sally was teaching English to children in the village but didn't have many resources to do so.  An Australian man had sponsored her at a prestigious English school in town.  She is nearing completion of all the levels in the program and is now looking to help her village.  I decided to help her.  We bought chairs, lesson books, dry-erase markers, pens, a Khmer-English dictionary, and a battery for the lights at night- she can only have class at night.
     When I saw how Sally's education will benefit her whole village, I decided to sponsor Srey, Mila, and Gale- three girls who had helped tremendously and have great potential- at the same English school.  The sponsorship is my donation to the project.
     It was a great return to Cambodia and a great reminder of how pleasant the Cambodian people are.  Thank you all for your support.  There was $1500 in total donations.  $350 has been donated since I left Cambodia.  A little will go toward the Landmine Museum, and depending on how everything goes, toward further terms in the English program for the girls.  I can't tell you how much it means to have such a supportive group of friends and family.

(I have no photos to share because my camera was still broken.  I took some poor film photos and haven't found a place to scan them yet.)
 

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