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Published: July 27th 2009
Jason and Lint
My BFF Jason and his wife. I mean, my BFF Lindsay and her husband Jason. :) Since I last wrote, so much has happened. Things were really up in the air and I wanted to see where the chips fell before writing this blog entry.
My previous internship ended due to lack of funding. But I'm now interning with KAPE (Kampuchean Action for Primary Education). They are a local non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been around for 10 years. KAPE is well known for their work in education in Cambodia. The KAPE office is located in Kampong Cham, about 2 hours east of Phnom Penh. I'll be spending most of my time there before I head back to the States on August 29. The best part about working with KAPE is that I get to develop multicultural curriculum. This is something I really want to do. As luck would have it, that's exactly what KAPE needs me to do.
Besides working, I've had a few visitors. My best friend from high school, Lindsay, and her husband, Jason, came to visit. Lindsay and I joke that we only like to meet up in foreign countries. We met up in Malaysia in 2006, Ireland in 2007, and Mexico and Cambodia this year. As always, catching
Ryan and Me
Bowling, snooker, swimming, Genocide Museum, the dump, Russian market... we stayed busy. up with Lindsay and Jason was loads of fun.
Ryan, a 6th grade teacher on the south side of Chicago, also visited. He's traveling in Southeast Asia before heading back to school to take on his new role as Reading Specialist. I met Ryan in the Peace Corps in East Timor. He lived in a town about 10 miles from me, as the crow flies, but we were in the mountains, on different branches of the road. There was almost no transportation between our towns. So whenever Dewey started craving pancakes, he would hike 8 hours to my town. Once I asked him if he could chip in and bring some vegetables next time. He brought palm wine. My Timorese family loves this story because it illustrates how much of a typical Timorese man Ryan had become. Ryan and I reminisced about Timor and talked about our lives now. A lot had changed for both of us, but we agreed that if we died tomorrow we'd be happy with how we spent our time.
On Ryan's last day, we visited the dump. The Phnom Penh dump sustains hundreds of families who scavenge through the trash to
Issac (center) on the way to the dump
In the back of the truck on the way to the dump. find items they can sell. You can find this in many major cities in the developing world, including my former hometown, Mexico City. A local bar, Rick's Place, organizes trips to the dump to distribute food and offer first aid. Rick's Place is the only place I know that has 60 cent Angkor draft beers and it's close to my apartment, so I'm a big fan.
We met at Rick's Place and loaded the truck with supplies. Then we headed to the market to buy fruit and bread. I already knew the medic, Issac, a Cambodian-American who returned to Cambodia to teach English and help out where he can. When we arrived at the dump, he handed me a pair of latex gloves and asked me to help him out. I spent the next hour or so cleaning and dressing gashes and sores. Most of them were kids, brave as I scrubbed their wounds with hydrogen peroxide. They winced but never cried, while I just hoped that I could prevent infection long enough to let the wounds heal.
I've started Khmer language classes again. I'm always impressed how knowing a few words and making an effort
Ryan, me, Jennie and Jake
... at The Shop bakery, a place I had been to twice last year in Phnom Penh. enriches my experience in a country. People are friendly and more helpful. I don't know too much, but I'm learning. When our water shut off, I was able to tell the guy downstairs and he fixed it. My teacher, Chomrong, is great and very much worth it at $5/hour. After struggling so much with Spanish in high school, learning languages has become a lot easier since figuring out how I learn them.
Everything has been really great and I know the next month, my last in Cambodia, will be just as amazing. I leave for Kampong Cham tomorrow morning, but tonight I'll be celebrating the return of a few friends to Phnom Penh from travels abroad. I'll be sad to leave Cambodia, but I hope to return in January if I can find a job here. In the mean time, I'll be focusing on finishing my degree and writing my thesis in New York. So if you've been meaning to visit me in NYC, this fall is your chance. I hope this finds all of you happy and healthy.
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Lisa Robinson
non-member comment
I'm so glad you found another internship! You are doing such great work, and learning so much as well! I would love to know what your secret is to language study. With all my exposure to French, I still hardly ever understand a word of spoken French!