Siem Reap...

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My last blog ended up being long-winded despite my earlier writers’ block, and thanks to a number of glitches on the blog website, it was a drama to load...funny how some things work out that way....the beginning of the week just seemed totally out of kilter, but it’s back on track and all is well again.....



I’m happy to have left the NHC school and am now back with SCC and loving it. The school that I’m at was set up by an Australian couple about a year ago, and they spend a lot of time administering it, as well as teaching alongside the two Khmer teachers. They have one large covered classroom that holds about 40 students and they have three teaching sessions a day, and an outdoor covered area that they also use. The “classroom” is literally a thatched shelter and so incredibly basic – my school in PP suddenly appears very luxurious by comparison. The toilet is a lean-to shed, and when Chris was showing me around, her words were “that’s the toilet, but I would strongly suggest you don’t use it”. The “running water” for the school comes from a manual hand pump, but they buy in drinking water for the students.



The students range in age from 5 to 20 years old, and they’re at all different levels of ability. Until now, the couple have never accepted volunteers, however the Director of SCC recommended me highly, so they’ve decided to see how things go, and for me I hope that they can see the benefits of letting someone assist them – they are both exhausted and need some assistance. Considering the number of students, the ages and abilities, I’m really not surprised that they’re exhausted, because there’s a lot of work for 4 people. Chris has me working with four of the very young students that are slow learners. One student has some minor brain damage; one has HIV and TB, so their attention span is very limited.....I’m so grateful to the kids in PP that taught me lots of hand-clapping games involving the alphabet etc, so that when the kids start to lose the ability to concentrate, I can introduce one of these games to get their attention, and to also wake them up a bit....then it’s back to the lesson. I can almost keep them involved for 40 minutes, which is fantastic...



The school is a distance out of town (near the temples, maybe 10kms), and as I’m working in the afternoons I’ve decided to take a tuk tuk there and ride the bicycle home (it’s amazing what you can fit in a tuk tuk). It’s only about a 30 minute ride at a decent pace, but during the middle of the day when I go to school it’s simply too hot to ride there – well, I could but I’d take the next couple of hours trying to cool down (it was 32 degrees inside the classroom yesterday, which was considerably cooler than outside). I love being on the bike....you see so much, you are greeted by many friendly people along the way, and it’s a real buzz when you get home and realise that you’ve not been taken out by one of the crazy drivers along the way.....seriously, I think you need about 5 sets of eyes when on the roads because they come at you from every direction....It was great yesterday afternoon on the way home, an old Khmer guy was riding towards me and I was intrigued by his apparent grace (do men have grace?)....as we passed each other he greeted me with a very polite “Bonjour Madam” and a big smile....I sometimes forget that French is a commonly spoken language of the older Khmer generation, as the French were a major part of Cambodian and Vietnamese history.



Before Alan left for Australia, he asked me to think of any areas in which we could improve the customer experience at the guesthouse (and also the accounting system – haha, how little he knows me). I realised the other day that there are a number of other solo travellers staying here, so I’m in the process of putting together a poster for the noticeboard, so that solo travellers can suggest trips, outings and dinners with each other. I’ve spoken to some other solos and they think it’s a great idea. One of the guys I was discussing it with (Lee) thought it was a great idea, and we got into a great conversation about the joys of travel etc. We then ended up going to a photographic exhibition together (really interesting photography) and chatting about travel etc and drinking beer until very late......way too late for a school night, but gosh I enjoyed the night. I love photography and have learnt many new techniques along the way, but it’s always great to hang out with someone that knows so much more about photography as I always learn something new.



Tonight, a group of us are going to a performance by Dr Beat Richner (alias Beatocello) at the Jayavarman VII Hospital. Beat is an amazing man – he’s a Swiss (or Swedish, can’t recall exactly) and he was working in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over. He was expelled from the country at that time, but once the KR were overthrown, the government invited him back and asked him to assist in re-establishing some hospitals. His passion, apart from being a doctor, is playing the cello. He now fund-raises money each year to support 4 hospitals........the last figure I heard, was $19 million. Last time I was here, I donated blood at one of his hospitals, and will be doing so again next week....they really need it and thankfully my blood type is common here, though the Cambodians don’t like to donate, so my blood is also desperately needed. One thing I found interesting last time I donated was the fact that at home, only 8% of the Australian population are B+, but here 70% of the population are.......what a major contrast, and I wonder why?? Maybe this is why I feel so at home here........I have the right blood type.



I was getting ready for school yesterday when a text message came through on my phone.....I decided I’d look at in when I was finished getting ready etc. Anyway, about 2 minutes later my phone started ringing....I didn’t recognise the number....and when I answered it was very obviously a Khmer person and I didn’t understand what was being said for a little while. Then I heard “teacher, it’s Davin.....I really miss you teacher”. It was one of my students from PP !!! His was the message that I’d received. I told him I missed him too and that I was happy that I was coming back in December.... and that was pretty much the end of the conversation due to the lack of common language. Wow.... I’m so glad that I’m going back to see my them before I leave the country....I’ve promised to email Lida (teacher) and send pictures from Europe, and she will share them with the kids.....they’re awesome...



I’m quite settled into Siem Reap now....the early part of the week was a bit of a challenge with the school and tummy bug (almost gone), but since then, I’ve been getting out on the bike to explore and am getting to know the town again.......the school is great....I’m getting to know some of the locals.....and so the week has finished on a positive note.



Hope you all have a great weekend and hugs from Siem Reap.

Rob

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Comments

[Sylvi]

Sounds heaps better
So glad your new school is much better then the other one in SR. Hope there's a toilet you can use there anyway. Not sure I could last more then a few hours without a toilet break. I'm sure you'll be able to help Alan with improvements to the guesthouse. He won't want you to leave. Glad it's all going much better for you now and you feel more comfortable and settled. The kids at the new school will love you as much as the Aussie couple who run it. They won't want you to leave either. Could be your destiny!!! Take care, have a great week-end, hope you can relax somewhere nice. Love Sylvi xo