Welcome to Poipet

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After the very early morning and late night the day before, we'd agreed a sleep in would be a good idea, and that we'd have a sleep in and meet for breakfast at about 8.45am. Things didn't quite go according to plan though - there was a funeral at the neighbouring temple so we awoke at 5.30 to the sound of singing (projected via loud speaker), drums and music. Fortunately it only lasted 30 or so minutes before it stopped.... and then started again 5 minutes later.

And so the day began, with everyone on time we enjoyed a nice breakfast at a nearby cafe before heading to P's place to learn a bit about the work she has been doing in Poipet and the issues that face the people living there. I was really struck by what we were told about the people trafficking that takes place. Poipet sits right on the border to Thailand and thousands of people wheel their wooden cards from Cambodia into Thailand each day, hoping to find work for the day. Even small kids cross back and forth regularly by themselves. Border control seems to be limited - the volume of people crossing makes it impossible to check everyone's identification and most of the people crossing would be unlikely to have any written form of identification. With people so desperate for any income, men, women and children can be easily enticed by the promise of a job in Thailand (apparently the offer usually comes from someone they trust) and end up being quickly moved via a chain of people to a place that is confusing and unfamiliar, where they're not able to speak the language or seek help. P told us that the people who are trafficked end up working in jobs as things like domestic servants, or often the commercial sex trade, for little or no pay. There are a few groups working in Poipet to try to prevent trafficking, and to rescue victims and return them to their families, but it is still a huge problem. I think this is one of the things that made me realise just how important job creation projects are - to provide people with a reliable income so that they're not as vulnerable to being exploited by traffickers. It also made me think about the kinds of job creation that would be useful - for example creating IT jobs via an outsourcing project doesn't immediately help the day labourers pushing their carts into Thailand each day. Yet in the longer term, maybe Poipet does need development of a sustainable, professional industry to increase the overall social infrastructure? But what about in the shorter term? And if professional industries do become more established and generate a higher income, how can that best be done in such a way as to benefit the whole community and create more jobs (both professional and 'unskilled') rather than simply creating a big financial and social divide between professionals and manual labourers? People who have devoted themselves to the study of these issues, and who have practical experience are far better qualified that people such as myself to answer these questions, but I its something worth considering - how do we, as people from a very rich western country, ensure that projects we start or support are wanted, relevant, effective and 'good' in the long term for the communities they are run in?

After another morning that left me with a number of things to come back to and consider we had a bit of scheduled free time. Most of the group headed to one of the casinos that are located on the "no man's land" section that sits between Cambodia and Thailand. The casino was the recommended location for coffee and reasonable internet access - although it was sobering to note later as we walked though the gambling area of one that the minimum bet was equivalent to 2 days wages for the day labourers who cross into Thailand each day.

Amanda and I decided however that we'd go exploring the local market - which was a great decision! Our introductory Khmer lessons once again served us well, as we spoke to a few of the stall holders in our best Khmer, made friends, took pictures and even made purchases (using much pointing and nodding and descriptive hand gestures). We also found a group of girls running a hairdressing stall who spoke a bit of English (having learned it at school). We asked about their ages and found that actually most of the 'girls' were about 23 although one was 16. Amanda asked whether the 16 year old was still in school, but the girls explained that she'd had 4 years of school, and that was all they need. Such a contrast from Australia, where in some cases having an undergraduate degree is starting to be seen as a bare minimum of education

For the afternoon, P had arranged that half of us would teach her English class and the other half would go to visit the village and church that her friend comes from. My group set out to the english school, where I suddenly became a teacher. At first we sat in on a lesson for kids in in about year 2 to year 5, taught by an older student of the school (who later introduced himself by the nickname of "Bruce Lee"). Bruce Lee was doing an excellent job teaching about 25 kids that E is for egg and elephant and he got us up to help out with pronunciation. Vicki proved to be the star teacher, running the class in the end! Our second class was P's class of youth and adults. I really enjoyed this part - the guys in my group were very forgiving of my poor English teaching skills and it was great to learn a bit about them and have a bit of conversation.

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