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I’m writing this from my desk at the TPO head office in Phnom Penh. It is situated in the heart of NGOville. The surrounding area contains many an airy café filled with foreign expats tapping away on their apple laptops. Walking down the street you can see Oxfam, The Red Cross, UNFPA, UNICEF, World Vision, all the ‘big names’ in International Health. TPO are a local organisation now, but they started as the country branch of an international Dutch charity. They officially went native a few years ago, mostly for reasons of funding (some of their major donors will only fund local NGOs...) and now they operate without any foreign staff, aide from the occasional VSO volunteer and people who come to teach from abroad. I think it's a great model of how to create something sustainable then hand it over to local control.
My hard drive was broken, which sucks. On the bright side in only cost me 40 quid to get a new one, with whatever software I wanted, and the guy managed to recover most of my data. Though only letters A to C of my music library. I should explain that this laptop was purchased for 74 quid from Ebay, including postage. So I should really have known something like this was going to happen. Never trust technology, never trust ebay, what was I thinking??
I really like Phnom Penh. It’s nowhere near as flashy as the other Asian capitals I’ve seen. It’s small and manageable and it has no skyline, there are few buildings here over a couple of stories tall. It feels like an overgrown town. I’m staying by Boueng Kak lake which is like a mini Ko San Road, only shitter. It feels grimy and sleazy, full of motodrivers selling hash. Its one redeeming feature is the fantastic sunsets over the lake. I am there purely because that’s where the cheapest rooms in town are. Mine is $3 a night. It is clean and not horrendous, with an ensuite bathroom.
Phnom Penh doesn’t feel particularly dangerous, despite the obvious poverty. I know crime is going to be high here, as it is in any place with a poor and desperate population (particularly one with access to firearms) so I am taking all sensible precautions, but I mean it doesn’t feel ominous like some cities do. It doesn’t have a bad vibe, it doesn’t put me on edge.
The French colonial influence is still just about apparent, and by that I mean there are a few nice buildings left and you can get good bread. Actually the food is surprisingly lovely. There are loads of charitable restaurants set up by NGO types that train street kids as waiters and source organic fair trade food from local farmers, that kind of thing.
Oh. Interestingly, one of the psychiatrists has just handed me a study to read. It's by some French organisation, in conjunction with TPO, and it covers pretty much EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO.
Cock.
It hasn't been published yet, which is why I hadn't read it. Well, I don't know whether this is good or bad. On the one hand, it means my idea is sound and the study is possible. On the other, IT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE, with much greater professionalism, depth and detail than I could hope to achieve. Bastards. I suppose I should look on the bright side. It's not like my project was going to get published anyway, so it makes no difference in that respect, and the people marking it will never know that it had already been done and so was essentially totally pointless.
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