Blogs from Cambodia, Asia - page 11

Our first round of extended volunteers left this week. I was only given the opportunity to get to know them for a week, but like college or a job enviroment, people tend to get closer faster when they live together or share extreme/challenging circumstances (watch Speed if you don’t believe me). It has been interesting to watch people process through going home (back the the US and Great Britain) after volunteering or exposing themselves to a new culture and poverty for the first time. Alden was the first to leave. He finished college and is unsure of his next step. So much of his processing is around excess back home and enjoying small things that get thrown to the side when you get in the rush of life. He is convinced he wants to go home, ... read more

The war museum occupies a large area encircled by a fence giving it the feel of an isolated time. A guide is provided and all experienced some portion of the Cambodian civil war, Khmer Rouge, or the takeover of Cambodia by the Vietnam forces. The museum contains tanks, landmines, guns, and helicoptors as well as a written presentation the 30 year time period (1960 to 1991). Our guide was a child soldier during the Khmer Rouge period and fought against the Vietnam invasion. He recently had been written about in a book and been given the name the cat becabuse of the number of times he evaded death. As a young child, he left home one morning to run an errand, upon his return he found his entire family had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. ... read more

Another delivery day. It amazes me how during the week, I thought we had done a good job filling up the holding containers with clean sand, pebbles and gravel only to have them emptied between us and the drill team. It was a comparable feeling to how I feel about laundry, dishes and showering...they always need to be done again even immediately after you finished them. The deliveries themselves were pretty straight forward, I did get a promotion to being allowed to help lower the filters out of the truck. As Shelby's dad would say..."we're so fit!" I also came more prepared with a neck gator to pull up over my face while we are in the truck to block out the passing car fumes and the dust from the dirt roads. The highlight of today ... read more

Starting week two at Trailblazers Foundation. Here are some cool things about this foundation: They are one of the few NGOs invited to a government meeting each year to determine who will be responsible for helping meet the request needs of each village in the country. Individuals sit in the room and each village lists of requests are put on the wall and each group signs up to fulfill these needs. The organization was started by two Americans, but now is run by 12 Khmer natives. The founders and board are in charge of raising funds while the 12 employees are in charge of being the boots on the ground. Trailblazers builds and installs water filters, digs wells (most are 25 to 40 meters deep), funds the construction of school (including toilets, classrooms, fences), and developing ... read more

This week I had the privilege of seeing the Phare show. They call it a circus (which I could not attend due to animal love and standards), but what it is is the most incredible acrobatically, musically entertaining displays EVER! The show they did was called Same Same But Differentwhich "explores the different habits and ways of living between Cambodians and foreign visitors." I laughed so hard and had my jaw drop at the strength, athleticism and poise of these individuals. This company is actually pretty amazing outside of their stunts and music compositions. They tell Cambodian stories and all artists (musicians, circus artists, and dancers) all graduated from Phare Ponleu Selpak which is an NGO school and professional arts training center located in Cambodia. The school was founded in 1994 by nine Cambodian men returning ... read more