Fast April

April April April, by far April has been the fastest month.

Work

The First week and a half was stress filled. I was informed that three polish volunteers would be joining me working for the Children Fund and for some reason I was given the impression that all three could speak fluent Khmer. I was thrilled because it meant I essentially had a full team to fill each Phnom Penh Admin. Okay – let me give you some back ground info – there are over 800 children who go to different Primary and secondary schools in the Provinces that surround Phnom Penh. Don Bosco, through sponsors from Europe, helps to fund these children to go to school. It is the Admin of Phnom Penh’s job to therefore make sure that all these children are still attending school, gather and send photos of these children to their sponsors, send money from the sponsors to the families of the children, make profiles about the children and answer any questions that the sponsors may have about the children that they are sponsoring. Now, not long ago the previous Phnom Penh admin was fired due to her neglect of the job. Angry, she deleted all the files with the information about sponsors and children. SO, it has been my job to sort all of this mess out and gather the information that we lost back. However, I was not directly told this but just given an excel sheet and told to work on it. This is obviously a hell of a lot of work for 1 person to look after 800 children and sponsors. In fact almost impossible and the longer it takes for me to gather back this information the more unhappy sponsors are becoming and the less they are wanting to sponsor which means children will be unable to go to school! Therefore I realised that the job needs to be split into 4 so instead of 1 person looking after 800 children, they only have to look after 200 which is much more manageable. Therefore, I made it my mission to split the excel spreadsheet and all the information into 4 equal amounts. Therefore 4 admins. So, hearing that I would have 3 polish volunteers, there was now enough people to split up the work into 4. This meant I spent hours and hours for a week rushing to get the work done before they arrived. I also made a plan – knowing that for some schools we have absolutely no contact with and have had no contact for over a year. This means we have no idea how many children that we have from our old record that are actually still going to school. If many have stopped and we did not know then many sponsors have not been informed and have been paying money to families of children who do not even go to school and are therefore losing money! This is obviously a major problem and could be detrimental to the functioning of Don Bosco Cambodia if all these sponsors were to find out. So I made a plan. The three polish, Wictor, Lucash and Hola, and I will figure out what schools we need to visit and what information we need to gather from them. Then we will all travel together to Phnom Penh and visit the schools like I did in February but at a much larger scale and because they speak Khmer it will be really easy to explain to the schools what we need from them…… this was when I found out that none of them actually speak Khmer. Great. Now we had a dilemma how can we visit the schools if we do not speak Khmer? Then it clicked – we don’t actually need to speak to them at all – all we need to do is write out in an excel spread sheet the information we need from them and translate it in Khmer. Then all they need to do is fill out the information and BAM sorted! With us all happy with the plan we cracked out finding out what information was missing. That is what we have been doing work wise for the month of April.

Holiday!

I have been very lucky this month, because of Khmer New Year the school was shut for 10 days so Maryam and I were allowed to go away to Siem Reap and Battambang. I have never needed a holiday so much, I love Don Bosco but the work is stressful and hard sometimes and although so unbelievably worthwhile and meaningful it does drain me. Also, I am 19 years old but am expected to act and be 24 years old all the time. This is because my students have been told that 24 is my actual age. Having to be mature all the time and not act childish even when that’s all I feel like doing is very difficult. I also was getting to the point of frustration at not being able to show my legs, shoulders, stomach or chest. I am from England so when temperatures reach 25 degrees I’m out there with everyone else wearing short shorts, skirts, strap tops and crop tops. So being here in 35 degree heat and having to wear long trousers and tops feels almost suffocating and unbearable at times. All you want to do is rip your trousers and take off your top. So… let’s say after three and half months of this I needed a holiday just to be a bit more free and act myself a little more a.k.a childish and weird. However, before we left Maryam and I got to start Khmer celebrations with the students. At first there was a party at the hotel where all the hotel staff and students enjoyed dancing, eating and chucking baby power at each other (a recent tradition introduced from Thailand) and then the next day the whole school was invited to have a similar celebration but it also involved school games and a feast. At the very end each student took a bottle of water and went round to each teacher pouring a little on their hands. This is their way of saying thank you for the work that we have done for them this year.

After that Maryam and I got packed up and made our way to the bus station. We were taking the 8:30 night bus and travelling 11 hrs to Siem Reap. I had been dreading this as I struggle with just four hours to Phnom Penh. However, it was actually quite a pleasant experience. I watched a bit of a film before nodding off under the stars being rocked gently by the bus. We got there in no time at all and we had both had a fairly substantial sleep. Then onto a tuck tuck to our Hostel. It was pretty decent with a nice pool and restaurant BUT we couldn’t check in until 12 and it was only 9am, so we left our bags in the luggage room and wandered outside to look for some breakfast. Luckily for us, there was a Khmer place just down the road. Happy we slumped down on the cool metal chairs and a waiter brought a fan over – clearly we looked exactly how we felt, sweaty and greasy. Then he brought over a menu it looked amazing and my stomach growled eagerly. I ordered a banana PEN cake not Pan cake, PEN cake and lipton tea with condensed milk and Maryam ordered a Omlete. I have no idea why I am going into such great detail about our food but there you go. We gobbled down our food and then sat back to relax, to my surprise the waiter then brought out some ice tea and a platter of cold fruit. I looked at him with shock but he just said that every meal was given with fruit and ice tea for free. COULD this place be any more amazing (Chandler from Friends quote).

Happy we gave a tip and headed back to our hostel I was itching to have a shower because one of my most favourite people in the world was soon going to be arriving in Siem reap – RACHEL BULLOCK. We have been waiting for this moment for three and a half months and it was almost time. So I grabbed some clothes and wash bag stuff and showered in the outside shower and then sat impatiently by the pool waiting for her to text me her location. Amazingly her hostel was round the corner from mine. I grabbed my bag and almost ran over to her hostel. However, there was a lot of people there and I couldn’t see her so sort of stood awkwardly by the front door. The next thing I knew I was being charged at by someone in yellow. They flung their arms around me and almost toppled me over…. It was Rachel. For about 5 minutes we stood there hugging each other - pure happiness. I joined her and her friends for breakfast and as a group we went to explore the centre of Siem Reap, two seconds with being with Rachel and I had already bought a new silver ring – classic. It was nice to meet and spend time with her friends but we were aching to be alone so that we could talk about everything that has gone on these three months without each other, so, we broke off from the group and went to get a beer. It was almost like being back in Bristol.

Then sadly we went our separate ways as I needed to go and meet the rest of my group who had arrived, Katie and Kaylen from Kep and Iris another Project Trust volunteer who works in Siem Reap. We went out for dinner and then to a lovely little ice cream shop for dessert before heading back to the hostel for a good nights sleep. The next day I work up early so that I could get breakfast with Rachel. We wandered around for a while but most things were shut due to it being the first day of Khmer New Year. Eventually we found this very posh looking place and sat down to enjoy another chat together. Then we wandered round the old market and ended up buying matching rings … I mean … how could we not?

Soon after that I got a call from Maryam – she was telling me that Joe (Volunteer) from Kep had arrived and they wanted to make a start to the day. So I walked Rachel back to her group of friends and then went on my merry way to find Maryam and Joe. Once I did we made a plan, Joe has never really been one for doing all the big mainstream touristy things – it was even a stretch just to get him to come to Siem Reap, so we decided that we would buy a day pass to all the temples but instead of doing the big ones that most people would do we would do the smaller ones on the outskirts of the city and then head back to do Angkor Wat when there was less people and it wasn’t so hot. After struggling to get out of the congested city we found the first temple hidden away behind some trees. It was small and deserted but non the less still amazing. My excitement was increasing at the idea of exploring ancient ruins that once meant so much to a whole population of Cambodia. Becoming a little girl again I jumped up and across big slabs of stone gently touching the carvings so as not to damage them. Imagining men and women dragging big bits of rock in sweltering heat I eventually sat back and marvelled at the creation and strength of man to do such a thing without modern day technology. Once our bodies were dripping with enough sweat we moved on to the next one. Much further out this one was a lot bigger. It had big steep stairs and crumbling sides and my my I couldn’t help but stop myself running towards it. Joe and I took risks standing at the very edges and daring each other to dangle our legs over the side. BUT… we were soon told off by a guard and fair enough. By this time we were almost dead from the heat and decided we needed to find a body of water to immerse ourselves in. The lady who gave us the ticket said it was also valid for a waterfall in the national park with the idea of running water we headed towards to waterfall. Unfortunately we had not calculated how far away it was, having left the last temple at 4 by 5:30 we were still not at the waterfall and the heat was still unbearable. However we had made it this far there was no way we were turning back. When we eventually arrived a lady told us that the waterfalls were shut! GUTTED, I picked my stuff up to start heading back but Joe being Joe said that was “bollocks, you can’t shut nature” So we hiked up the mountain to find it anyway. Getting closer and closer we realised that we couldn’t hear the sound of water and soon started to question whether there would be any water... after all it was the hot dry season. When we reached the top we were stopped by a police man who asked us whether there were any policemen at the bottom of which we said no. With that knowledge he relaxed and then told us that there was no water in the waterfall but we could still go and take a look at the carvings that you can not normally see when there is water. Slightly disappointed we grabbed a quick drink from the only stall at the top and headed towards the waterfall without water so… just the fall. Then fearing it getting dark we raced down the mountain stopping only briefly to take a few photos and marvel at massive spiders. We made the long journey back to Siem Reap city centre stopping along the way to chat to a few locals that we had met before. When we arrived in Siem Reap it was dark and that’s when we knew that we wouldn’t see Angkor Wat (and that has become a running joke in our Don Bosco community).

That evening Katie and Kaylen told us to hurry up and eat dinner, get our swim suits on and come out to a bar they had been at the last hour. With our instructions clear we went outside and instantly had water and power chucked on us. Khmer New Year celebrations involve water guns, water balloons, buckets and baby power. In Cambodia girls and boys rarely are seen spending time alone together, they don’t hold hands or touch each other especially on the face. It is just their culture. Which to me or you would make it seem almost impossible to develop any kind of relationship. However Khmer New Year is three days where both boys and girls are allowed to touch each other anywhere they want apart from the obvious private areas. It allows for three days of bonding. Out of these three days a girl could put a boy in prison for touching her. Having to push our way through the sea of people, water and powder we just about made it to the roof top bar where we had a number of drinks before heading right into the centre of it all! Enjoying Khmer culture with hundreds of Khmer people made me feel completely happy! For the rest of the night Joe and I didn’t stop shouting, “I LOVE CAMBODIA!!

The next day we all had hang overs, so I slept and chilled at the swimming pool with Rachel. Then in the evening Maryam and I decided we would at least go and stand outside Angkor Wat. So we jumped in a Tuck tuck and strolled around looking at the little stalls, had a dance with a few Khmer people before taking some photos of Angkor Wat and heading back to bed. The next day we were travelling to Battambang so I had a last farewell with my pal Rachel by having breakfast with her. We hugged and waved each other sadly away. ONTO BATTAMBANG!

Battambang was amazing! It was just Maryam and I so it meant that we could decide to do exactly what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it! Having not planned anything we arrived at our hostel and started researching things to do. There is so much that it was easy and only took us 5 minutes to plan and book things. Great! Then we slept. In the morning Maryam had a lie in and I read my book that I bought in Siem Reap - “First they killed my Father” it is the most famous books written about the Khmer Rouge and I know I probably should have read it before I arrived in Cambodia, but honestly I’m glad I am reading it now. I am dyslexic and quite a visual learner so I sometimes find things hard to picture or understand if I have not seen it with my own eyes. Therefore, having lived in Cambodia for 4 months means that I can really see what she is describing in the book and it makes it all much more real. Without having read much about the Khmer rouge I was also able to see how a young person of Cambodia today without the knowledge of the Khmer Rouge could easily be oblivious to the devastation that it had and still has on its country today. This is because of peoples nature to just “get on with things” it is hard to remember sometimes how poor this country really is and how much help it is not getting and makes me realise how important history and education are to make change possible. If no one talks about it nothing will change, Cambodia’s population will continuously be manipulated and taken advantage of. So, anyway, I read my book before Maryam woke up and then we went down for breakfast ready to start our day. It was at that point that it started to torrential rain. Great. We had already booked a tuck tuck driver to take us miles out into the country side to visit Phnom Wat temple, the killing caves, bat caves and the bamboo train and if we chose to do it on a different day we would have to unbook and book everything else again. So being the true English girls that we are we put on our trainers and marched right on to the tuck tuck! It was the most amazing day and the rain even added to the mood of it all. Battambang is beautiful. It is like the city is just in the middle of a jungle. It is almost too difficult to describe everything I saw that day so I suppose photos will have to do.

Exhausted we arrived back at the hostel, ate dinner and went straight to bed. The next day we got up early as I had booked Maryam and I in for a traditional Khmer cooking lesson. We had arranged a pick up for 9am and when we walked down to the entrance of the hostel he was already there waiting for us. Jumping onto the back of his crate on wheels we were driven to the local food market. There he showed us all the vegetables and meats necessary for the dishes we would be making. Then he took us to his house and got on to teaching. All that is needed is a fire, a bowl, a grinder, a knife and a table and you can make yourself the most delicious dish. He taught us all the techniques and took photos of us so we could remember. Then we ate the dishes we had made while he told us the “Do’s and Do nots” of being a tourist in Cambodia. He also told us the economic challenges that Battambang is facing (which I will write about in my report when I return).

Then Maryam and I made our way to the bamboo train as we didn’t manage to do it the day before because of the rain. The bamboo train was a traditional method of transport after the Khmer Rouge had recently ended. Now it is just used as a tourist site. Enjoying the scenery we decided not to add to much more into our day so took our time. Then we went out for dinner before heading to bed.

The next day was our last day in Battambang and because we hadn’t really explored the city centre much we decided we would spend the day there. We started off eating at a gallery café which was lovely, then we went to another gallery called, “the human gallery” it was owned and created by a Spanish man who had travelled the world by bicycle for four years writing down the stories of people that he met along the way and taking photos of them all. We spent a good two hours there and I could not take my eyes of this one photo he had taken. It was so ordinary and without knowing the story could have been any normal situation but it wasn’t and that is why it struck me so much. After we left we went to find the national museum before making our way to a café to relax before our night bus back to Sihanoukville. AND that was the end of my holiday, or so I thought. I got back on the Friday and said hello to the community hearing what they had all been up to and did nothing much but read by the pool side with Luca and Eduardo. Then I thought about Rachel, trying to remember what day she said she was leaving Sihanoukville for some reason I seemed to remember her saying Saturday and today was only Friday, with hope in my heart I sent her a message. That evening she replied saying that she was in fact still in Sihanoukville and she was free all day Saturday!!!! How stupid were we! Jumping with joy I got up early Saturday morning and went on over to her Hostel, we had breakfast together with of course consisted of pancakes before we started our day of FUN. I took her round Don Bosco so she could see where my class room was, were I ate, were my office was and where my room was. It was so exciting. Then we went on over to the Golden lion and took some photos before going for a swim at independence beach, seeing the monkeys and having lunch at the Gelato where she got to meet Paul. It was such a perfect and fun day and when we said goodbye for real this time I felt really really sad but glad we got that extra day.

The rest of this month has been work filled. I have been working on the Children Fund and last preparations to go before Phnom Penh as well as collecting information on the Kindergarten Children to ensure they continue to get funding. It’s all been a bit stressful but the gang and I always make sure we do things in the evening and on the weekends so I’m happy. This week Paul and I accidently discovered one of the most beautiful pagodas a secret beach with swings on it. Fun Fun Fun April.

Feelings part

I have been here for over half my time now and the months just seem to be flying. I miss my family and friends more than ever but I am also for the first time starting to fear my return to England and leaving the comfort of the community here. I like having something to do every day and I am worried about being bored back in England. However, I suppose that depends on if I make it boring.

Anyway that’s a rap see you at the end of May.