Boarded the vans and drove south to Choeung Ek, apparently one of the more infamous of the Khmer Rouge’s numerous killing fields. Paid respects at the large monument filled with the skulls of some of the 20,000 plus killed at this site. The gardener idled the weed-eater while we inspected some of the mass graves and other horribilia and the guide repeated his gruesome stories. It was very good to get on the bikes and away from yet another reminder of Cambodia’s horrific oh-so-recent past.
After about 20k we turned right and heading to a Temple – another Ta Prom if I understood correctly. This one on a nice small scale, with several buddhas inside. Quite intense commercial activity out front and the hardy few who resisted the hard-sell were rewarded with gifts of the flowers and joss sticks on offer.
Just around the corner was the lake with cute little rest platforms out on the water. Rebecca had a swim of course, with Brian joining in and Smey working up quite a lather before beef and noodles for lunch. Barry and I were targeted by a nice young chap absolutely determined for a serious English practice. When Barry escaped I feigned sleep, which slowed him down briefly.
Back on the bikes, back on the main road and only 50 k to go to Takeo, nice sealed road with enough potholes and trucks to ensure vigilance was maintained. Couple of breaks along the way where the crew diligently delivered hydration and carbo restoration. What is it about Australians and chundering – is it true that they lobbied for it to be included in the Sydney Olympics ??
It was getting fairly warm – high 30s no doubt by the time we limped into the swarming metropolis of downtown Takeo, highlight of the trip – yeah right! The shower was cold – just right. Then Barry and I selflessly headed off on one of the more important tasks of the day – to find cold beer. This proved more difficult than one might think. Sure some of the amber fluid on offer was stored in fridges – but were they switched on? Warm beer could be provided and poured over ice in the glass, but having observed the ice being delivered, sawed and then chopped apart this option lacked appeal. Finally, in the bottom of one of the many large orange chilly bins on the very dusty main street we located two reasonably cool cans, and even a third when the illustrious King (Kyle of course) was spotted wandering aimlessly on the other side of the road in an advanced state of dehydration. The day had been saved !
Six of the participants went to visit their sponsor children today. Their non-stop verbal testimonials upon return were evidence of the enormity of the day's impact on them. Here is Fiona Whyte's account:
Samrong Tong World Vision Community Project
A day with a difference and a dream come true. Six of us ventured off with the local World Vision staff to meet our sponsored children, Belinda & Richard, Annette, Marion, Victoria and myself , were able to realize a dream today by meeting our sponsored children.
Samrong Tong comprises of 15 communities, WV works in 4 of these communities. within these communities there are 76 villages encompassing 34,800 people. WV began working in the community in 1997. There are various phases of the community, this community is now entering a transition phase. The community is about ready to stand on it’s own two feat so to speak. World Vision will exit this community by 2012, they will have adequate support and leadership by this time to ensure the continued success.
The ADP Project Coordinator shared some of his experiences through the time of Pol Pot’s rule of terror. He had been asked on 3 separate occasions what his occupation was. He replied that he was a farmer and not able to read or write. A friend of his was a little too honest for his own good. The Khmer Rouge thanked the friend for his honesty, (he’d been educated and had a degree) his reward was to be sent to work in the embassy. However he was never heard from again, they lied. From some of the reading we’ve done previously and the museums we’ve visited in the last two days, I’d hazard a guess that the questioning is likely to have included some form of interrogation. For those unfamiliar with this history Pol Pot was on a mission to eliminate all the educated people from the population.
We were then able to see the work of world vision in action. First stop Ang Chrey primary school in Tonle Kantel Village. We sat and spoke with the principal.
WV kicked the school off in 2000 by funding the first complete school building. A couple of previous attempts by other benefactors had resulted in partially completed structures which were never finished and unusable. There are now 555 students attending the school. It is still growing!! A couple of new buildings are underway. There is an admin / library building which is nearing completion. Half of the building will be used for teachers and school admin, the other half will be the library. They need to send a teacher away for training to learn how to run the library. Once this is done they will then ascertain which books are required in the library. Rather exciting for them. It is fantastic to see some collaboration as now the Government is supporting the school and assisting the building of more classrooms.
Time to meet the children and see the classrooms. The first class we went into the children were all very excited to meet us, we both shared counting lessons in Khmer & English. Then the children decided to sing us a song, ìmoral songî about values. Then it appeared we needed to reciprocate,Ö a quick discussion and the decision was made to sing the National Anthem. Singing these words in this foreign land, recovering from a generation of genocide was quite powerful and a humbling experience for us kiwi’s. We have so much to be thankful for!
In order to maximize the limited resources the school schedules 4 hour daily classes for the children. They are rostered on mornings one week (which includes breakfast as they start at 7am) and afternoon’s the next week. This means the teachers cover a 8 hour lesson schedule and two groups of children are able to be educated at the same time. Currently the teacher student ratio is about 1 to 60.
The children start school at age 6, which is grade one. The Government has a commitment for children to be able to read and write and they should stay in school until grade 6. One or two students from this community have gone on to University in Phnom Penh.
It was 11am by this time and the kids were all ready to go home. They have an afternoon’s work ahead of them. We headed off to our next stop which was Thmor Bang Village, home gardening project. The exciting work that’s been done here, is that a water pump was installed August 2007. We could tell that the kids were still getting used to this luxury (to install the pump costs USD1200.00) as they spontaneously started tipping the water over their heads and laughing. Then would pump the water container full again to start again. The water overflowed into the garden with the vegetables, so no waste here. The pump had a green tick on the side, this is to confirm that the water was safe, they always test for arsenic levels. Prior to the pump being installed they used to have to walk 3km for clean water. Again we have lots to be thankful for.
Also in this community they operate 3 very different kinds of banks.. (I myself am a banker and was quite interested in this concept which didn’t revolve around money, but a far more useful commodity here) Rice Bank, Cow Bank and Pig Bank.
The purpose of the rice bank is to ensure a continuous supply of rice for the community. Some families have a small plot of land and may use up all of their rice before harvest time. If they borrowed Rice outside the community, effectively the loan sharks or rice sharks we can call them, charge between 50% & 100% interest rate. Whereas within the community the charge is only 20% and that charge is actually used to secure more rice for the community. Ie if they borrow 100kg of rice, once the harvest is complete, they will give back 120kg of rice to the rice bank. We noted that the rice bank was very low the harvest time is December ,which will allow people to repay their borrowed rice.
The cow bank allows one family to look after it until it calves. Then they keep the calf and the cow goes to another family. The life span of the cow is around 5-6 years. This program is successful.
The Pig Bank is not so common across all communities, as it is expensive to feed the pig in the first place. This community did have a pig, who was about to have a litter, again some of the piglets would stay with the family and the remaining would be shared amongst other families.
The immediate observations we had versus our previous few days riding through various rural communities, is that this community was clean, organized, seem to have order and pride. There was definitely a standard above that which we’d seen elsewhere.
We said goodbye and headed back into the ADP office, where our sponsored children and their families were there waiting to meet us. This was very exciting and emotional. We headed off to lunch and the World Vision staff assisted us to communicate with the children and their family. This was a really enjoyable experience for all of us. I noted that my Sponsored Child’s Mother, was just beaming the whole time. There was such an amazing feeling of goodwill even though we couldn’t speak directly. One boy’s Grandfather thanked us for what we’d been doing and the difference we’d made, ìon behalf of all of Cambodiaî
The kids all wanted to know when we were coming back, think they really enjoyed the food!!
After lunch we decided that we’d stop by the markets to buy some school uniforms for the children. Here’s an example of when so little can mean so much, for USD4.00 we were able to buy a uniform, ie shirt and skirt or pair of trousers!! These uniforms will probably last them two or three years.
We made a special stop at another stall in the market and found a football for one special boy, who’s Mother had been given strict instructions that this was the gift they wanted to give!!
Once we were back at the ADP, we’d also arranged to give a 50kg sack of rice to each of our families. The rice banks are probably quite low across the wider community.
We spent some more time talking about our families, showing photo’s to the children and some books of NZ as well as other little insights of NZ life with them.
Time for one or two last photo’s and we had to get in the van to our next destination.
It is really satisfying to see first hand how this project has made a positive difference in this community, in terms of schooling, food, and health. The World Vision staff, were incredibly passionate about their work and made this day a truly memorable one. We thank you.
Fiona Whyte
1 comment:
Thank you so much for all your help to cambodian people. It means so much to us.
Post a Comment