Sihanoukville from many angles

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This morning I had a nice sleep in, waking up just in time to take another doxy tablet (and eat some cereal at the same time) before logging on for Skype. At this point I learned Doxy Lesson #2: They are not kidding when they say 'dont lie down'. I learned this because I naturally laid back on the bed where I'd been sitting as the call finally connected. Moments later I was racing for the bathroom as the doxy tablet protested this sudden horizontal orientation. I am hoping that I was able to hang up the call fast enough to spare Ryan the sound effects. What a pleasant beginning to the day!

With that out of my system (literally) a more sucessful skype conversation was held before Kong came to pick me up on the moto and take me back to Agape house. It was rather amazing that waters from the rain of the night before had already disappeard without a trace! Stopping in at Agape house Adono and I shared a lovely breakfast before setting out to visit the villages where some of the children's families live. Another young guy supported by the organisation who attends the bible school had joined us for the day, bring a moto borrowed from a friend, which made the transport arrangements a little easier. Only two per bike.

The village is actually not too far from the town itself. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes by moto (which was still enough time for the rain to begin!). Navigating the dirt roads/tracks among self made shacks we saw Dara, one of the boy walking toward his brother's house. Dara's parents passed away some time ago, and he spends the weekends staying with his older siblings and their families. He was kind enough to show me around the house where his sister lives with her husband and children, including a new born. One thing that stuck me was that it was very dark. Not really any windows to let in the light. The 'kitchen' is a small fire and one or two pots just outside the door. What I loved about Dara though was that he constantly had a smile on his face. Having had the experience of losing a parent as an adult, and understanding the pain and grief involved, I cant help but wonder at how one so young (no matter where they live) can process the pain of losing both parents. And I wonder what impact the differences in culture and living standards have on the process too.

The next family that we visited was of the three girls and their mother. Their father was away in the jungle, collecting the grassy straw that the family use to make brooms for sale. This is very labour intensive work, and the brooms sell for as little as 1500 Riel (about 75c each). On the afternoon we visited, the only thing the family of four had eaten all day was one egg - shared among all of them as well as some for their pet dog. I could understand why the children might sometimes be reluctant to come home at the weekend. And yet, I can also see how vitally important it is for them to keep coming home to their family and staying connected to their community. I'm still thinking this one over now (weeks later), and wondering if there is some way that I can help with a solution that is more sustainable than just thowing money at the problem. In the immediate term though, all I could do was to give the kids a pack of m&m minis I happened to have in my bag. It's not much
really, is it.

The house was fairly similar to Dara's sister's place, just a bit bigger. Still no windows but there are some internal rooms - the girls all share one and the boys have another. We're not talking about much privacy though. The kitchen here is enclosed, and they have rainwater for drinking - which seems like a good thing until you see the barrels where the water is actually stored. Open at the top and definitely not very clean. This is their drinking water though. I can see how the kids here would get sick pretty often.

After spending some time with the family sitting and chatting, we left the village and the guys took me for a bit of a tour around the area, particularly to show me some of the nice beaches. I read somewhere that Sihanoukville is like Thailand, but less developed. Not having been to Thailand I can't really comment on how similar it is, but it certainly isn't overerly developed yet. There is a big resort being built along one of the beaches though that looks like it might soon change that. I actually spent a few hours in the afternoon on my own at the main beach in Sihanoukville while Adono went to check on Hannah, the youngest girl and take her to the doctor (thankfully Hannah was much better by the next morning).

The beachside experience at Sihanoukville for me was... interesting. I can't really say it was relaxing though. There are lots of comfy chairs set out both on the beach, and under the cover of small restaurants that line the beach. Within 5 minutes of sitting down I had inadvertantly started a cat fight among the manicure ladies who walk up and down the beach asking if you want to have your nails done. Apparently, the rule is that whoever sees you first owns you. No matter whether you wanted a manicure at that time or not, if you later get one done by another person there is yelling and guilt tripping and all sorts. It really was not pleasant actually. There are also heaps of kids selling wrist bands to the tourists, again the same rule seems to apply. Probably my least favourite part of the whole experience though was the very old, very fat, very ugly white guy who came and sat in the seat next to me, along with his much younger (but adult) Cambodian "girlfriend". I proably could have just ignored him, if he hadn't insisted that she had to sit on his lap, kiss him all over his face and basically grope him in public. At that point it was past what I could stomach and I decided it was time to head back to the hotel. My favourite part about the beach experience was actually right at the beginning. If you want to use one of the seats, you need to order a drink. I ordered a coca-lite (diet coke). Quite some time later, the man returned with a coconut. Not quite what I'd asked for, but it made me laugh, was much cheaper and tasted pretty good.

The rain was pretty heavy in the evening. Getting back from a nice dinner with Adono, I could see a family's home out the window of my hotel. It was a lot nicer than the ones I'd seen in the villages, but still not somewhere that many westerners would be happy to live. I got to thinking about what it must be like living where the kids do in the village in the rain like this. Does their roof leak? Most likely. And then thinking about what they'd said about the mice and roaches too that might crawl on them while they were asleep. The contrast even to my cheap hotel room just doesn't seem fair.

On Sunday, it was time to head back to Phnom Penh. But first we were hoping that we might be able to go to the church service at the bible school. This was dependant on the weather, as the road is pretty muddy at the best of times and not really easily passable in the rain. Thankfully the weather held and we were able to make it to the service, albiet a little late. There were quite a mix of languages in use for the music - most songs having the words in Korean, English and Khmer and the participants using whichever they felt most comfortable in. It was kind of cool actually. There was also a presentation from the Sunday School kids, singing some songs they had learned which was very cute. After church Adono showed me around the school, which is actually nicely set on a fairly big piece of land out of the busyness ofthe town. Then it was time to say our goodbyes and return to the bus station for the ride home. Kong was again our driver, though this time a little embarrased because the number of bags had grown and Adono was also carrying a broom - apparently we looked like a Cambodian cliche. I think though that being the 3rd person on a moto along with 4 bags and a large broom must give me some points toward status as a local.

***Scroll down for more photos***

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Comments

[Leo]

Makes you realise that physical possessions don't make people happy, it's the relationships people have with others that do. But it definitely shows the contrast in standards of living that people throughout the world have.