Up with the sunrise and down when the… oh wait, that’s a pedro the lion song… but we were up with the sunrise.
Today, we made a 3-hour drive out to visit some projects in Kampong Cham province. It was really nice to get out of the city. And as much as I love our van driver, I kind of missed taking the bus. I mean, the extra hour each way is totally worth it for the repeating karaoke CD.
Anyway, we stopped at the rest place famous for selling fried tarantulas. They must have realized the big tourist attraction because now there are two human sized tarantula statues at the entrance and in front of the bathrooms. I wonder if they will memorialize another tourist attraction, the squatty potty, in a similar way. I wonder if they’ll use the same scale… yikes.
At each of these stops, young children approached us with bags of fruit and sticky rice saying, “you buy from me, lady? you buy from me, and i go to school. pretty lady, you like pineapple? pineapple sweet.” Because I have yet to find a consistent way to respond to it (do I really purchase fruit from 12 kids? Do I give 12 kids a dollar or two each which will surely not fund their schooling? Anyone?), I pulled out a frisbee from my bag and taught the kids how to throw. The first time we stopped, only one child dropped her goods to play with me. On the way home, I had about 5 kids play with me. Both times I gave the discs to young girls, as they were the first who joined me. (John Ray and Dan, thank you much!) I decided to leave the discs with these kiddos, as I’m not entirely sure of their situation but realize that most of them do work all day rather than go to school. Frisbees can perhaps substitute for some interesting physics class? :)
Anyway, the morning in Kampong Cham was interesting. World Hope runs some development projects in the rural villages, working with the folks to plant crops and work towards sustainable community (like many other relief organizations). A couple brief thoughts:
1. There is something inherently awkward and strange about visiting a village with a collection of foreigners. I’m not sure how the people saw us, but I was more focused on their perceptions of me than my understanding of them. I was so afraid to appear as if I devalued their possessions, their way of life, and even who they are as people that I didn’t really think a lot about who they actually were, other than I thought they were neat. Anyway, I find these “tourist-mission” experiences to feel quite strange and uncomfortable, perhaps moreso than if I were to just “pop by” their village on my own. With a group,they feel on display, like an exhibit. I tried to imagine folks coming to my home setting, looking super interested and curious, and taking pictures. I’m not sure what I’d think about this. On a more important note though, I can attest that World Hope is doing excellent work in that area. These folks have learned new skills, empowering them economically, and giving them a sense of accomplishment in their work and community. Encouraging to see!
2. We got to see community development as prevention of human trafficking. One of the new forms of trafficking involves Khmer women becoming domestic slaves in Malaysia. The women are told that they can earn money for their families by working in Malaysia as nannies or servants in the home. There are even companies that provide “training” for such things. Once there, the women are treated as slaves, working in ridiculous conditions and receiving little or no pay. Recently, 9 Khmer (Cambodian) women were found dead in Malaysia and were identified as domestic servants. One of the women in the development project actually was going to sign up for this until the project director informed them of the issues, sparing this woman lots of misery, and potentially her life.
3. This one is short. I learned today that Destiny Rescue (after care center) in Kampong Cham is caring for and housing 5 girls with cognitive/intellectual disabilities–either pre or post-trauma. White Lotus cares for two. Perhaps there is a link in these fields afterall… Either way, I found out that Destiny Rescue still has Srey Touch. My absolute favorite kid with disabilities. I guess she’s gotten stronger and her behavior is a little more challenging. I think this is probably only the third time in my life I’ve considered looking into adoption (yeah, I know, I’m not stable enough yet…). She, my friends, is beautiful.
Alright, catch ya’ll later!
