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Does it sound ridiculous to say we knew it was coming, we knew it was going to be wet, but we just didn't understand. When it rains heavily in Australia we both use cars, buses and trains. here the modes of transport we can choose from are motorbikes or tuk tuks. The tuk tuks keep you mostly dry as they are well prepared for the rain. unlike us - as of yet we do not have two rain coats. Something we plan to rectify tomorrow and the one we have - we don't take everywhere which has resulted in Chris getting very soaked 2 days ago whilst riding his bicycle, it was so wet the water was mid thigh. So the rain came down heavily around 4pm 3 days in a row, defiantely suprised by this turn of events.
We attended a traditional ceremony this week which is used to prodict which crop will yeild the best harvest. It is called a ploughing ceremony here is a link from the news to tell you more about it
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050856020/Lifestyle/museum-grounds-ready-for-ploughing-ceremony.html However what it doesn't tell you is that because we are white we got ushered to special seating with a great
view of the event. We both have mixed feelings about this, in its essence it is white privllage and we reaped its benefits. We both knew prior to this that we are privileged on the basis of our skin colour but now we are beginning to realise how privliged we actually are, even back in Australia things are easier for us because we are white. So we sat there and enjoyed the privlige the most aware of it we have ever been (by the way it wasn't just us after we arrived they filled the whole place up with white people and a few Cambodian dignitries). Other then that we really enjoyed the ceremonial aspect of the event, the costumes, we got to SEE THE KING. The oxen were elaborately decorated and the Queen's representitve scattered seeds among the freshly 'ploughed field'. it was great watching the oxen choose what to eat and the gasp that went through the crowd when the cow ate grass (which is taken as a sign that there will be an outbreak of mad cow disease).
Kari Suprisingly I got the opportunity to actually assist in implementing the life skills program
I developed which was really awesome. I have to say that I got a lot more respect then I think I would have if I had of walked into a jail in Australia with a group of 17 - 30 year olds. Prior to it starting I was concerned about sexual comments - me being one of the only females many of them had seen in years that they weren't related to. Basedon my experience in working with young men in australia and having heard these comments in the background I asked my collegue to let them know if there are any sexual comments I won't come back, but in a light hearted way. He did but i wonder if it was necessary because the atmosphere wasn't at all threatening, I did not observe power plays amongst each other and when we asked those who could read & write to help those who couldn't they definately did. I don't think I expected them to be bad or rough, but i was suprised at how gentle they were with eachother and how respectful they were to all the facilitators. I guess my assumptions were blown a bit and I realise now
Tonle Sap
Disassembling the old floating frame for the biodigesterthat I had these assumptions in the first place, I think next time i deal with this situation I will ask myself what is it i'm afraid of or concerned about and what is the most respectful way to address this, perhaps asking my collegue to discuss sexual comments isn't necessary here or in australia and it is just something to deal with if it arises.
In regards to the language barrier it was different to my expereince of providing training, for one I know more words and secondly sometimes I was able to have input into facilitation without words. I was mainly there to support my Cambodian collegues (because they asked me to be there even though I had not planned on going) and share skills that I have and demonstrate different ways of doing this to give them different tools. The other advantage from being in attendance is as I wrote the program it was good to be there to be able to change things on the spot that weren't going to work and then go home and revise the whole program to make sure it does work.
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I am interested in hearing if anyone Tonle Sap
Making the new plastic biodigester can share expereinces in how they have dealt with white privilege
Chris: I am continuing to be involved in the design of small biodigesters. I am understanding more and more now how challenging the environment is in a floating village and how you cant take anything for granted. I have been involved in investigating the feasibility of a supplementary fuel source that can be used in the biodigesters called water hyacinth which is an aquadic plant found almost everywhere and yet is an introduced species. Think the lantana of Cambodia's lakes. To do this, I am planning to carry out experiments to determine the magic ratio of water hyacinth, waste and water that will produce the most cooking gas. This is proving to be a little difficult as I need to build about 5 different biodigesters and need to find out how to chop up the plant in a way that can be replicated in the floating village using their available resources. One ingenious idea put forth by a local fisherman is to use a boat propeller to mash up the plant.
I was also involved in designing instructions in both english and
Khmer on how to use a type of toilet pioneered by our NGO called the ecosan toilet. Toilets are just not often used in the floating villages and its quite difficult to break the common habit of "going over the side" or "in the bush". It was necessary to reduce the amount of written text as some villagers are illiterate and I found it very difficult to write in the universal language of pictures.
Im constantly improving my Khmer (cambodian language) by chatting with my work collegues and I hope to be able to hold a conversation soon. The rainy season is a bit daunting as the otherday my motodop (personal motobike driver) had to navigate through knee to waist deep water on the road from flash flooding!
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Patti Bartlett
non-member comment
Really interesting from you both. xox