We hope you've enjoyed reading our weekly blogs from Cambodia. If you'd like to continue following us on our gap year experience, we've created another blog for our journeys in Ladakh! To find it, go to www.tomandjossladakh.blogspot.com
Lee-hai!
(Good bye!)
P.S. We will be uploading more photos to our Cambodia blogs when we get back from Ladakh at the end of August!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Week 29: Goodbye Chamcar Bei...
17/04/09
Unfortunately it has come to our last week in Cambodia - however, I'm glad to say that we made the most of it and spent it well. It turned out really well that our last week coincided with Khmer New Year because it meant that we had the opportunity to have a good time with our students and friends at all the parties that were going on before we left.
Khmer New Year is really only a three day holiday from Tuesday to Thursday but of course Monday and Friday get sucked into it too. So, instead of having to teach on Monday, we spent a day enjoying the peace at the Red House.
Tuesday was spent in a similar way except we had to get down to doing some house work since Paa was also on holiday this week. In the evening however she had invited us round to her house for dinner with Saran. Paa lives right by the market so, eating outside the front of her house on a low wooden table which most Khmer houses have, we saw quite a few of our students going by. Sengly also showed up and entertained everybody with his miming skills. We've seen quite a lot of Sengly recently and were wondering if he had stopped going to Epic Arts but apparently they have a 2 week holiday for Khmer New Year. After dinner we went down to the market where, traditionally, there is a village party every night during the celebrations. A music system had been set up and kids were running around with big balloons. Soon enough we were part of a giant game of duck duck goose - although instead of running around the circle on your own, the person next to you had to run with you as well. Then of course we were engulfed into the whirlpool-like mob of people dancing around a table. The phrase 'work hard, play hard' sums up Khmer work ethic pretty well - except you could say they put a bit more emphasis on 'play hard'. By the time we got home we were pretty exhausted (although perhaps more from the 15 minutes of trying to kick-start the moto into life as usual).
We'd bought bus tickets to Phnom Penh on Thursday so we decided we'd give ourselves the whole of Wednesday to pack and do last minute things. However, at 8am I got a call from Phirom asking if we'd go to his house for a party at 5pm. Although we had to be up early the next morning to catch the bus, we didn't want to miss out on our last chance to see Phirom and some of our other Youth Team friends so we said we'd come for a couple of hours. By about 2pm we'd just gathered together everything we wanted to give to CLC or keep at the Red House when I got a call from Lalin saying that Phirom had asked if we'd come for 3pm instead. We still hadn't packed our own luggage yet but reckoned we could do it when we got back. So we went at 3pm with Lalin and soon enough the rest of the Youth Team showed up hawling tables and installing the sound system. Unfortunately we could only stay for a couple of hours so when we left at about 6pm the proper party hadn't even started yet. However, we had a pretty good pre-party time with Bo, Lalin, Phirom, Ramit and a few other Youth Team friends. Phirom even fished out some English music which he'd been given by a previous volunteer so we sat around the table eating minced beef rice pancakes and salad, joking around with our friends and listening to American Pie and John Lennon. Nice :)
We arrived back at the CVTC to the wonderful news that tonight there was no electricity. Urrr...so we will pack our bags how exactly? So I called Chaney, the guard's wife and voice box (strangely he doesn't talk to us) and, although I didn't understand half of what she said, managed to arrange for electricity - phew! Back at the Red House we took our bags off their hooks on the wall where they'd been for 3 months to discover that Tom's was absolutely seething with ants. Oh yay. Eventually locating some bug spray we managed to get rid of them all after about half an hour. Then we saw another zip all along the bottom of the bag and opened it to find yet another cavern of ants. Having used up about half of our electricity time we finally got to work doing actual packing when suddenly the lights went off again. Ayoh! So, another phone call to Chaney - this time I had no idea what she was saying so I had to call Theary to ask him to call her. Anyway, eventually we got electricity again and in fact it stayed on way past the usual time so we got everything sorted. What a calamity...
The next morning Paa and her sister Sitat came by to help us get ourselves and our bags to the bus. Chaney and her husband came along with their moto as well so, at 8am we rode in our little convoy of 3 motos for the last time away from the Red House to the main road and got on the bus. As the bus set off and we waved down to Paa and Sitat it felt like we were leaving behind a place that had really come to feel like home. Despite all our differences we made some very close friends who we'll never forget and will always welcome us back if we came to visit again. Everyone always says that the more you put in, the more you get out - I feel like we put quite a lot of effort into getting the most out of our experience and although it was pretty tiring at times - the teaching and the general lifestyle - it definately paid off and when we look back at what we've been through I have to admit that we feel very proud of having done it :)
Friday 17th April, 5am: two UWCSEA gappies, 1 Vy and just under 60kg of luggage squeeze into a tuk tuk at the Bridges Across Borders office. A squashed 30 minutes later we all arrived at Phnom Penh airport and flew back to Singapore...
Week 28: Almost the end!
12/04/09
Our penultimate week in Cambodia was spent finishing off the second module of Cutting Edge. This seems to be going really well and the kids seem to be enjoying the structured lessons much more than our temporary syllabus. I think they particularly like seeing the progress they are making so clearly and being able to recognize the purpose of what they are doing on a daily basis within a longer-term plan. The children also love using the speakers that were kindly donated by the Cleal family who visited Chamcar Bei a few months ago. The new technology works hand-in-hand with Cutting Edge because every lesson has at least one listening exercise. This will be particularly useful when we have left because the children will have some idea how to pronounce new vocabulary.
The basketball court was finally made useable this week as we spent the last of our funds on some heavy soil to be packed down over the rocks and pebbles. I am told that this will make it easier to lay concrete later if we can afford it so it seems like a good investment. The men who delivered the soil just left it in big mounds all over the court and because of this a whole new sport was born. Our kids discovered that basketball without dribbling is much more fun if you can chase each other around, over and through small mountains of earth. On Thursday we requisitioned the youth team to help us flatten out the soil. Although it is now significantly better, the soil is still too loose to really bounce a ball on as it absorbs most of the energy. However, looking at the ground of the volleyball court it seems that repeated use of the court will solve this problem. When I get back to Singapore from Ladakh in late August I plan to do some fundraising (hopefully with the help of my Mum as she is proven master) and get some concrete for the court.
Since this was our last week of teaching, which all of the children were well aware of, once we had finished module 2 of Cutting Edge many of our lessons got hijacked after the break and we ended up just swimming, playing mountaineering basketball or just mucking about and taking photos together. This was actually a really nice way to wind down our teaching because we weren’t sure how much we would see the kids during the week of Khmer New Year.
Friday was Jocelyn’s birthday and we had planned to spend the morning in Kampot to pick up some birthday cake and spend what was left in our education fund on education equipment for CLC. We thought that if we left at 10am we would have plenty of time to get things done and be back in Chamcar Bei for the leaving party which was due to start at 3. Unfortunately we foolishly called a tuk-tuk driver who we had met during the project week volunteers’ stay who was cheaper than our reliable Bun Tien. As we learnt - cheaper is not always the best option. Our alternative driver didn’t show up for a whole hour so we tried calling him and when we got hold of him he told us he had gone to the Champey guest house in Kep! He promised he would be with us in 20 minutes, which we found hard to believe as Kep is a good 45 minutes away. Half an hour later we tried calling him again and he told us there was a problem with his tuk-tuk. At this point our phone credit, which we hadn’t topped up - thinking we wouldn’t spend it before leaving Cambodia - ran out. So we were forced to get our moto (which wouldn’t start for quite some time) and head to the market for phone credit. We called Bun Tien who had somehow heard about our dealings with another driver and was rather sulky but still agreed to pick us up. By the time he arrived it was already getting on for 12:30 and, since it takes about an hour each way to Kampot, time was getting very tight. We just about got everything sorted out in time and made it back to Chamcar Bei in time to grab a change of clothes and head to CLC for our party. Upon arriving hot, sweaty and already quite tired we found that Savoeurn (the organizer of the party) wasn’t even there yet! He arrived at about four and the party started at about half past. All our stress and rushing was for nothing!
The party started with us all standing in a huge circle on the basketball court while BAB staff said some very kind but often unintelligible things about Joss and I during which the children started to get pretty restless. When the speeches were over Savoeurn asked me to explain the rules of basketball in 5 minutes or less to the Under 14s who had been chosen to play the first official game on the court. Although they obviously understood the need to clear the ball after a shot and that the ball was supposed to go through the hoop I think most other things were a bit lost on them since this was the first they had heard of basketball. Still, another great sport was born: basketball rugby!
Game 1 commentary:
The children insisted on playing girls vs. boys and although the boys won the game the girls were definitely the more physically intimidating side. Srey Pao and Srey Ney especially decided that the best defense was to grab the boy who had the ball, throw him aside and thereby get the steal. Still, in the end the boys’ slightly better shooting won the game despite the Srey Pao/Srey Ney blitz.
After this memorable game we had a full-court Youth Team vs. BAB staff match. In the first half none of the foreign BAB staff played and the Youth Team jumped to a huge lead through dint of, well… youth. However, in the second half Joss, Erin, Biff, Savurn and I subbed in and fought hard to make the game respectable.
Game 2 commentary:
On our first possession Joss surprised herself and everybody else, including the defense -who foolishly left her open - with a beautiful set-jumper. Going back the other way Erin came up with a big time block on Vanna and Biff scored again at the other end. The CLC mob went wild! Erin and I locked up at the defensive end and grabbed all the rebounds that were going. Biff took over the point and fed Erin and I for some easy buckets to get it close. The Youth Team gave up going inside and started throwing up some prayers from long range. Miraculously, a lot of these shots went in and that sealed the game for the Youths.
Our kids kindly came up to us at the end with cries of “la-or na!” (very good) meaning they were impressed by our performance - no doubt trying to console us since we had been schooled by the Youth Team.
After this epic clash we were all quite tired and in need of some refreshment so we bypassed a few items in Savoeurn’s itinerary and went straight for dinner. But of course we couldn’t eat until there was another round of kind well-wishing from our friends. By the time this was finished everybody was gagging for some food! After dinner the YouthTeam began blasting Khmer pop which, by this point, Joss and I were getting quite attached to and we had a great time dancing with all our kids and the Youth Team. We danced until what felt like the wee hours of the morning but what was in reality half past 9. This is how long we have lived in a village were lights out is at half 9. Throughout the evening our friends took us aside to give us gifts, photographs and letters to remember them by. Some of our younger students took us aside individually and burst into tears. Despite having known several months in advance exactly when we would be leaving the party was the moment for many of them when they realized we would be gone next week. It was very sad for both us and the children but after a big hug and a promise that I would be back some time in the not too distant future they calmed down a bit and we went back to enjoying the rest of the evening. Later on, the children discovered a cache of water bombs that we had forgotten about and after that a late night water fight was inevitable. All through the evening our Khmer friends (Youth Team and students alike) ambushed each other and us with talcum powder. Although this tradition had been occurring on and off for a few weeks everybody went wild at the party and we were all covered in talcum powder that stuck to our faces, hair and clothes! Later, after most of the children had gone home and only a few of our close friends remained we sang Happy Birthday to Joss. By that time we were exhausted and went home for a shower and some sleep.
The next day we were up bright and early for a very solid early lunch with Sitat and Paa at Sitat’s house. It was really nice to just relax quietly and have a nice lunch with them at their house. We intended to go swimming with Paa and Sitat that afternoon but the weather conspired against us so we postponed it until the next day. We had a lovely time swimming with Sitat and Paa before heading home for a good rest before our first and last Khmer wedding.
We had been invited a few weeks before to the wedding of Sarim’s close friend and had accepted, forgetting that we had another party just a few days before! When we arrived we were seated at a table which I think must have been for out-of-town relatives since nobody at the table was from Chamcar Bei and it was the only table with several bottles of Red Label whiskey on it. As it turned out we were in for some social drinking in the extreme! The rule at these occasions is apparently that if one person is seen taking a sip from their drink then everybody around the table must do their best to “chin up!” as the Khmers say. Luckily there were enough people around the table to distribute the Red Label into fairly reasonable amounts so nobody got too much! A Khmer wedding can be accurately described as stunning; it is stunning in the sense that people who really don’t have very much can be willing to give so much to their children for their wedding. Of course a large part of it is neighbourly jealousy - a kind of “well the X family had a big wedding and I won’t be outdone!” mentality - but some of it is a genuine delight that Khmers have in doing the best for their family. A Khmer wedding is also stunning in that some senses get totally overwhelmed. The noise of so many people and the blasting Khmer wedding songs make conversation almost impossible. It’s also a very popular fashion for the ladies to wear the brightest-coloured party dresses in the wardrobe. The heat from so many people packed into such a small, low ceilinged place is intense. Although all of these things take some getting used to, a Khmer wedding is above all an extremely enjoyable time. Everybody has a huge smile on their face (except occasionally the bride and groom when the MC has really picked up momentum!) and is completely enjoying the party atmosphere. Again we went home after the wedding totally drained of energy and ready for bed!
This blog seems to have gone on muuuuuuuuuuuch longer than anticipated but there’s one more thing I want to mention since this will be my last official post on the Cambodia blog. It’s been an unbelievable 7 months here in Chamcar Bei and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it. I feel very sad now that our time here has come to an end because even if we come back to visit we will never be able to fully relive the experience. We won’t be living in the community and the people here won’t be able to share so much with us. However, it is comforting to know that we will always have friends here who will welcome us back and it is also comforting to know that we have a whole leg of our gap year yet to begin!
Tom Kemeny
Our penultimate week in Cambodia was spent finishing off the second module of Cutting Edge. This seems to be going really well and the kids seem to be enjoying the structured lessons much more than our temporary syllabus. I think they particularly like seeing the progress they are making so clearly and being able to recognize the purpose of what they are doing on a daily basis within a longer-term plan. The children also love using the speakers that were kindly donated by the Cleal family who visited Chamcar Bei a few months ago. The new technology works hand-in-hand with Cutting Edge because every lesson has at least one listening exercise. This will be particularly useful when we have left because the children will have some idea how to pronounce new vocabulary.
The basketball court was finally made useable this week as we spent the last of our funds on some heavy soil to be packed down over the rocks and pebbles. I am told that this will make it easier to lay concrete later if we can afford it so it seems like a good investment. The men who delivered the soil just left it in big mounds all over the court and because of this a whole new sport was born. Our kids discovered that basketball without dribbling is much more fun if you can chase each other around, over and through small mountains of earth. On Thursday we requisitioned the youth team to help us flatten out the soil. Although it is now significantly better, the soil is still too loose to really bounce a ball on as it absorbs most of the energy. However, looking at the ground of the volleyball court it seems that repeated use of the court will solve this problem. When I get back to Singapore from Ladakh in late August I plan to do some fundraising (hopefully with the help of my Mum as she is proven master) and get some concrete for the court.
Since this was our last week of teaching, which all of the children were well aware of, once we had finished module 2 of Cutting Edge many of our lessons got hijacked after the break and we ended up just swimming, playing mountaineering basketball or just mucking about and taking photos together. This was actually a really nice way to wind down our teaching because we weren’t sure how much we would see the kids during the week of Khmer New Year.
Friday was Jocelyn’s birthday and we had planned to spend the morning in Kampot to pick up some birthday cake and spend what was left in our education fund on education equipment for CLC. We thought that if we left at 10am we would have plenty of time to get things done and be back in Chamcar Bei for the leaving party which was due to start at 3. Unfortunately we foolishly called a tuk-tuk driver who we had met during the project week volunteers’ stay who was cheaper than our reliable Bun Tien. As we learnt - cheaper is not always the best option. Our alternative driver didn’t show up for a whole hour so we tried calling him and when we got hold of him he told us he had gone to the Champey guest house in Kep! He promised he would be with us in 20 minutes, which we found hard to believe as Kep is a good 45 minutes away. Half an hour later we tried calling him again and he told us there was a problem with his tuk-tuk. At this point our phone credit, which we hadn’t topped up - thinking we wouldn’t spend it before leaving Cambodia - ran out. So we were forced to get our moto (which wouldn’t start for quite some time) and head to the market for phone credit. We called Bun Tien who had somehow heard about our dealings with another driver and was rather sulky but still agreed to pick us up. By the time he arrived it was already getting on for 12:30 and, since it takes about an hour each way to Kampot, time was getting very tight. We just about got everything sorted out in time and made it back to Chamcar Bei in time to grab a change of clothes and head to CLC for our party. Upon arriving hot, sweaty and already quite tired we found that Savoeurn (the organizer of the party) wasn’t even there yet! He arrived at about four and the party started at about half past. All our stress and rushing was for nothing!
The party started with us all standing in a huge circle on the basketball court while BAB staff said some very kind but often unintelligible things about Joss and I during which the children started to get pretty restless. When the speeches were over Savoeurn asked me to explain the rules of basketball in 5 minutes or less to the Under 14s who had been chosen to play the first official game on the court. Although they obviously understood the need to clear the ball after a shot and that the ball was supposed to go through the hoop I think most other things were a bit lost on them since this was the first they had heard of basketball. Still, another great sport was born: basketball rugby!
Game 1 commentary:
The children insisted on playing girls vs. boys and although the boys won the game the girls were definitely the more physically intimidating side. Srey Pao and Srey Ney especially decided that the best defense was to grab the boy who had the ball, throw him aside and thereby get the steal. Still, in the end the boys’ slightly better shooting won the game despite the Srey Pao/Srey Ney blitz.
After this memorable game we had a full-court Youth Team vs. BAB staff match. In the first half none of the foreign BAB staff played and the Youth Team jumped to a huge lead through dint of, well… youth. However, in the second half Joss, Erin, Biff, Savurn and I subbed in and fought hard to make the game respectable.
Game 2 commentary:
On our first possession Joss surprised herself and everybody else, including the defense -who foolishly left her open - with a beautiful set-jumper. Going back the other way Erin came up with a big time block on Vanna and Biff scored again at the other end. The CLC mob went wild! Erin and I locked up at the defensive end and grabbed all the rebounds that were going. Biff took over the point and fed Erin and I for some easy buckets to get it close. The Youth Team gave up going inside and started throwing up some prayers from long range. Miraculously, a lot of these shots went in and that sealed the game for the Youths.
Our kids kindly came up to us at the end with cries of “la-or na!” (very good) meaning they were impressed by our performance - no doubt trying to console us since we had been schooled by the Youth Team.
After this epic clash we were all quite tired and in need of some refreshment so we bypassed a few items in Savoeurn’s itinerary and went straight for dinner. But of course we couldn’t eat until there was another round of kind well-wishing from our friends. By the time this was finished everybody was gagging for some food! After dinner the YouthTeam began blasting Khmer pop which, by this point, Joss and I were getting quite attached to and we had a great time dancing with all our kids and the Youth Team. We danced until what felt like the wee hours of the morning but what was in reality half past 9. This is how long we have lived in a village were lights out is at half 9. Throughout the evening our friends took us aside to give us gifts, photographs and letters to remember them by. Some of our younger students took us aside individually and burst into tears. Despite having known several months in advance exactly when we would be leaving the party was the moment for many of them when they realized we would be gone next week. It was very sad for both us and the children but after a big hug and a promise that I would be back some time in the not too distant future they calmed down a bit and we went back to enjoying the rest of the evening. Later on, the children discovered a cache of water bombs that we had forgotten about and after that a late night water fight was inevitable. All through the evening our Khmer friends (Youth Team and students alike) ambushed each other and us with talcum powder. Although this tradition had been occurring on and off for a few weeks everybody went wild at the party and we were all covered in talcum powder that stuck to our faces, hair and clothes! Later, after most of the children had gone home and only a few of our close friends remained we sang Happy Birthday to Joss. By that time we were exhausted and went home for a shower and some sleep.
The next day we were up bright and early for a very solid early lunch with Sitat and Paa at Sitat’s house. It was really nice to just relax quietly and have a nice lunch with them at their house. We intended to go swimming with Paa and Sitat that afternoon but the weather conspired against us so we postponed it until the next day. We had a lovely time swimming with Sitat and Paa before heading home for a good rest before our first and last Khmer wedding.
We had been invited a few weeks before to the wedding of Sarim’s close friend and had accepted, forgetting that we had another party just a few days before! When we arrived we were seated at a table which I think must have been for out-of-town relatives since nobody at the table was from Chamcar Bei and it was the only table with several bottles of Red Label whiskey on it. As it turned out we were in for some social drinking in the extreme! The rule at these occasions is apparently that if one person is seen taking a sip from their drink then everybody around the table must do their best to “chin up!” as the Khmers say. Luckily there were enough people around the table to distribute the Red Label into fairly reasonable amounts so nobody got too much! A Khmer wedding can be accurately described as stunning; it is stunning in the sense that people who really don’t have very much can be willing to give so much to their children for their wedding. Of course a large part of it is neighbourly jealousy - a kind of “well the X family had a big wedding and I won’t be outdone!” mentality - but some of it is a genuine delight that Khmers have in doing the best for their family. A Khmer wedding is also stunning in that some senses get totally overwhelmed. The noise of so many people and the blasting Khmer wedding songs make conversation almost impossible. It’s also a very popular fashion for the ladies to wear the brightest-coloured party dresses in the wardrobe. The heat from so many people packed into such a small, low ceilinged place is intense. Although all of these things take some getting used to, a Khmer wedding is above all an extremely enjoyable time. Everybody has a huge smile on their face (except occasionally the bride and groom when the MC has really picked up momentum!) and is completely enjoying the party atmosphere. Again we went home after the wedding totally drained of energy and ready for bed!
This blog seems to have gone on muuuuuuuuuuuch longer than anticipated but there’s one more thing I want to mention since this will be my last official post on the Cambodia blog. It’s been an unbelievable 7 months here in Chamcar Bei and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it. I feel very sad now that our time here has come to an end because even if we come back to visit we will never be able to fully relive the experience. We won’t be living in the community and the people here won’t be able to share so much with us. However, it is comforting to know that we will always have friends here who will welcome us back and it is also comforting to know that we have a whole leg of our gap year yet to begin!
Tom Kemeny
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Week 27: Khmer New Year on the horizon
05/04/09
I reckon that, although we still have 3 more weeks left, this was probably the last week of productive teaching. The week after next is Khmer New Year but we can already sense the party vibes seeping into the classroom and threatening to reduce any allusion of concentration to mad excitement. Break times are already get longer and, instead of the usual skipping, tagging and wacking games, bottles of talcom powder and water balloons have appeared on the scene. Some of the kids have also put orange dye in their hair which makes for an interesting look when also mixed with the white talcom powder which everyone covers each other with. After break time it seems like half the class has gone grey!
However, despite the potential disruptions we've been making good progress with the Cutting Edge in Sarim's 10-14 year old classes. We're now on module 2 which is all about countries. I think it's quite difficult to find a good quality English text book for Asian students as they are usually very Eurocentric and the content is largely irrelevant to Asian learners. However, we chose Cutting Edge because, although some parts are verging on irrelevant, it's the best we've come across that is readily available in Cambodia. For example, I think that teaching the students at CLC the names of lots of countries isn't the most useful set of vocabulary and Tom and I decided that not all the activities in this module are possible in this class (as they don't even know most of the countries in their own language). However, the grammar is clearly presented and practiced and there are some good 'real life' sections such as having a conversation about where you're from.
The beginners class of 6-10 year olds is still going to use the old books although this week we read them a book which had lots of description of people's faces and then told them to draw their friend's portrait. They really enjoyed the activity and now we have some new student's work to put on the walls instead of the big, ripped "Selfintro Duction" posters.
At the end of last week Savorn (an ex-Youth Team student who is going to take over my CVTC class) and I went around to talk to all the CVTC students to talk to them about attendance because it has been steadily dropping and, more often than not, the class has been cancelled because there are only 2 or 3 students whereas we would like at least 8 (even though it's supposed to be compulsory for all 30 odd of the producers). We decided to merge the 12:30 class and the 16:00 class and they now start at 15:30 instead. On Monday and Tuesday we had 8 students but then on Wednesday no one came because they were busy sorting out their salaries and on Thursday there were only 3 students. Progress with the book has been extremely slow because of the poor attendance so we're still only on the 3rd or 4th page of the book which is pretty frustrating. Savorn and I are quite surprised because we both regularly get people asking us to teach them sometime in the midst of their busy schedules.
On Thursday we had a meeting with Theary and Savoeurn who gave us lots to think about before we leave. Savoeurn has asked us to help him plan a 1-day workshop to train teachers how to use the Cutting Edge books effectively. BAB Cambodia has education projects in a number of other provinces around Cambodia and they're hoping to standardise the English education by implementing Cutting Edge in all of these projects. Tom and I were already thinking of spending a day training Sarim as we're slightly worried about how she'll manage the book so we were glad to help Savoeurn with this. Another of his and Sara's ideas is to use some of the land behind the school building as a student agriculture project where each class gets a plot of land and can grow whatever they like there to give them a sense of responsibility. If they grow vegetables or fruit they can either keep it for themselves or sell it at the market. The basketball court is now complete - although it's hoped that eventually some more funds can be raised from visitors' donations in order to be able to purchase enough concrete to lay a better surface as bare earth isn't ideal for basketball - so Savoeurn has asked Tom to give him some ideas about how to set up some teams for basketball as well as for volleyball and football.
One other thing that came up during the meeting was Savoeurn's idea to have a leaving party for me and Tom with all the villagers who we got to know during our stay. Of course we thought that would be awesome so we came up with some ideas such as basketball contests and funny games. And Savoeurn plans to have the party on 10th April which is also my birthday!!
This week we also got invited to a wedding on the 12th and to three Khmer New Year events - dinner at Paa's house, a celebration at the pagoda and a celebration at CLC. Please forgive us if we spend the first few days back in Singapore sleeping!
On Friday, after going to CLC in the morning to talk to the CLC Education Team in a workshop about why we've introduced Cutting Edge, we came up to Phnom Penh again to buy 3 CD players for CLC and the CVTC so that they can play the listening activities from Cutting Edge. We got them from a huge shopping centre called Sorya (the only one in Phnom Penh to have esculators!) which was like stepping into Singapore. There were adverts for head massagers and we even had ice cream at Swensons!
I only have 5 minutes to pack my bag before we go back to Chamcar Bei so I'm off! Although wait I nearly forgot to mention that the King has decided to visit the village on the 29th of April!
Week 26: Project week volunteers!
28/03/09
This week we had five UWCSEA students from grade 11 come and spend their Project Week working in Chamcar Bei. We were in P.P. for the final selection of the UWC grade 8 scholars last weekend anyway so on Saturday night we decided to meet up with the five volunteers as we had not met them when we were at UWC. When we met them we were very relieved as they were all genuine UWC students, all very motivated and ready to get to work in Chamcar Bei but also to be as culturally sensitive and polite as possible. Since the episode with the ISPP I think we were pretty desperate for them to be good to everybody in the village, and they didn't let us down.
I had a lot of fun during the week since I was able to take a little time out of my usual schedule to help the volunteers build a house from scratch. This was a really nice experience but I'm very glad we had the help from Theary and some other people from the village or I doubt the volunteers and I would have known where to start! In the afternoons the volunteers came and taught at the school - two working in the nursery, two working with Joss teaching the small kids and one working with me teaching the older class. We also had them rotate through the different classes so that they got to see teaching at different levels. Their stay also included some epic games of pi-niak (two-people) a favourite game in which everyone pairs up and one person carries the other on their back. The people being carried have to throw a ball around and if they drop the ball then the people doing the carrying have to try and hit them with the ball before they run away. If the people on top get hit with the ball on the first throw then everybody switches over, if the ball misses then the people on top stay on top. A fiendishly complicated game! But a very fun one when played with 50 children, all the teachers and half of the staff! It was really nice having the UWC students working with us for a week since they were all really hardworking and willing to get involved with anything that was available. It was great to see how much they got out of the experience and I'm glad I could be involved with it.
Another huge event occurred this week! The basketball court is finished!!! We now have a semi-functioning basketball court at CLC! The only problem now is that the surface has waaaaay to many rocks in it so you can't really bounce a ball there just yet. We have started clearing the rocks now and its already looking better and until we can afford concrete we are buying seven trucks of good quality sand to pack down on the court so it can be played on. These surface problems haven't slowed down the students at CLC at all! They are often outside at play time now shooting hoops. I'm really glad the children are already taking such a liking to basketball because it is something I can really leave behind for them after I leave (which is awfully soon now). Not to mention it would have looked pretty bad if I was the only one in Chamcar Bei playing after all the hassle we have been through to get the thing built :).
We went back to Kep with the volunteers on their last night and ate at the Veranda since that is where they were staying. We took some of them to see the Riel bar and played pool for a little while and then Joss and I stayed on for a little while afterwards to hang out with Marcel since that was probably the last time we would see him before we leave. Although I'm sure I will be back here some time soon it's still sad to be saying our goodbyes already - the 6 months went by so fast!
Although I am so sad to be leaving I am also looking forward to getting back to Singapore to see my parents and my friends there. Another silver-lining to the cloud of leaving Cambodia is that Vy, the volunteer co-ordinator in P.P., will be coming back with us and staying for a week! She will probably stay at my family's house for part of her stay. Joss and I are really excited about showing Vy around Singapore. At least to start with we can bring some of Cambodia back with us literally!
This week we had five UWCSEA students from grade 11 come and spend their Project Week working in Chamcar Bei. We were in P.P. for the final selection of the UWC grade 8 scholars last weekend anyway so on Saturday night we decided to meet up with the five volunteers as we had not met them when we were at UWC. When we met them we were very relieved as they were all genuine UWC students, all very motivated and ready to get to work in Chamcar Bei but also to be as culturally sensitive and polite as possible. Since the episode with the ISPP I think we were pretty desperate for them to be good to everybody in the village, and they didn't let us down.
I had a lot of fun during the week since I was able to take a little time out of my usual schedule to help the volunteers build a house from scratch. This was a really nice experience but I'm very glad we had the help from Theary and some other people from the village or I doubt the volunteers and I would have known where to start! In the afternoons the volunteers came and taught at the school - two working in the nursery, two working with Joss teaching the small kids and one working with me teaching the older class. We also had them rotate through the different classes so that they got to see teaching at different levels. Their stay also included some epic games of pi-niak (two-people) a favourite game in which everyone pairs up and one person carries the other on their back. The people being carried have to throw a ball around and if they drop the ball then the people doing the carrying have to try and hit them with the ball before they run away. If the people on top get hit with the ball on the first throw then everybody switches over, if the ball misses then the people on top stay on top. A fiendishly complicated game! But a very fun one when played with 50 children, all the teachers and half of the staff! It was really nice having the UWC students working with us for a week since they were all really hardworking and willing to get involved with anything that was available. It was great to see how much they got out of the experience and I'm glad I could be involved with it.
Another huge event occurred this week! The basketball court is finished!!! We now have a semi-functioning basketball court at CLC! The only problem now is that the surface has waaaaay to many rocks in it so you can't really bounce a ball there just yet. We have started clearing the rocks now and its already looking better and until we can afford concrete we are buying seven trucks of good quality sand to pack down on the court so it can be played on. These surface problems haven't slowed down the students at CLC at all! They are often outside at play time now shooting hoops. I'm really glad the children are already taking such a liking to basketball because it is something I can really leave behind for them after I leave (which is awfully soon now). Not to mention it would have looked pretty bad if I was the only one in Chamcar Bei playing after all the hassle we have been through to get the thing built :).
We went back to Kep with the volunteers on their last night and ate at the Veranda since that is where they were staying. We took some of them to see the Riel bar and played pool for a little while and then Joss and I stayed on for a little while afterwards to hang out with Marcel since that was probably the last time we would see him before we leave. Although I'm sure I will be back here some time soon it's still sad to be saying our goodbyes already - the 6 months went by so fast!
Although I am so sad to be leaving I am also looking forward to getting back to Singapore to see my parents and my friends there. Another silver-lining to the cloud of leaving Cambodia is that Vy, the volunteer co-ordinator in P.P., will be coming back with us and staying for a week! She will probably stay at my family's house for part of her stay. Joss and I are really excited about showing Vy around Singapore. At least to start with we can bring some of Cambodia back with us literally!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Week 25: Bring in the Cutting Edge!
Sunday 22/03/09
Well, I can safely say that there is no shortage of events for me to write about this week! Last week Savoeurn brought down one copy of the new Starter and Elementary Cutting Edge text books so we could have a look at them before the final decision to buy them for the school. We were all very pleased with them so we went on a mission to Kampot on Sunday to get enough for all of our students. Unfortunately the trip was unsuccessful because the shop wanted to charge much more than it would cost for them in Phnom Penh so Savoeurn said he would buy them during the week. This meant that we only had one text book to teach each class with which wasn't ideal but we really needed to start teaching this week because we only have about 3 more weeks of teaching left and need to make sure the Cambodian teachers will be able to carry on teaching Cutting Edge when we leave.
Returning to CLC on Monday we found the basketball court builders hard at work laying bricks to mark the boundaries of the court. It was very exciting to finally see it coming together!
Tuesday afternoon was accompanied by a massive rainstorm and subsequently an absence of Cambodian teachers and half of our students. Unfortunately this meant that an unattended class of kindergarten students plagued our classes in which the students were being particularly rowdy. I can tell you that two hours of trying to get heard above a class of 25 noisy students, a windy rainstorm and constantly slamming wooden windows and doors was not easy on the vocal chords. Let alone that, but the school was expecting a visit from the Prince that afternoon as he, as the King's advisor, was spending a few days in the village to see if it was suitable for a visit from the King. Fortunately he spent the afternoon at the CVTC instead.
The next morning Sarim, who would have been helping me with my class, didn't show up again as her father was sick. However, I decided to go ahead with starting to use the Cutting Edge books anyway. Fortunately the students were really focused and unusually well-behaved which worked out pretty well because the Prince decided to drop by that morning with his video recorder. Apparently he enjoys making videos and was making a 2 hour presentation on the village for the King to see. I was wondering if he was "the Prince" or if there were many princes so I asked Sara who said that he was perhaps a brother of the King but that there were a lot of princes.
That morning we looked across the pond to see not only Paa but a procession of enforcements proceed down the gravelly path towards the Red House. She had been asked the night before to cook lunch for the Prince and 10 Community Based Organization members from the village. So the Prince came to tea at the Red House and we had delicious battered prawns and juicy juicy mangoes. Over lunch he spent an hour or two asking the CBO members what they did and how the village had changed since BAB had arrived and also suggesting new ideas for the development of the village.
On Wednesday I started teaching Beginners Cutting Edge to the CVTC producers with Savorn (an ex-Youth Team member who is being sponsored by BAB to go to university - part of the deal is that he helps the project by teaching English and helping to run CLC) at 12:30 and with Theary at 4pm. And back at CLC Tom started teaching the Starter level Cutting Edge with a new class of Youth Team members and CLC teachers at 1pm. Tom's class seems to have very good attendance although I'm not sure how the attendance levels will be at the CVTC. On Thursday they said they couldn't study because they had a big order which was overdue and were too busy. I guess we'll have to see how it works out and make changes if necessary. It was of course a little tricky teaching with just one book and we were hoping to have enough copies by next week. However, on Friday when we met Savoeurn here in Phnom Penh (we're here to help out with the second and third round of the 5-year UWCSEA scholarships), he said he hadn't had time to buy them yet. Fortunately we knew a shop down the road from the BAB office and the lady said she would have enough brought in by Sunday afternoon when we're going to return to Chamcar Bei.
Yesterday we spent a long, hot day at the Cambodian Dump Children's Centre invigilating the second English and Maths exam for 20 potential scholars. We also oversaw and marked an interactive group activity where the students had to work in 4 groups of 5 to build the tallest tower possible out of newspaper. We met up with Kevin Morley (who had come down to do the interviews) again in the evening for dinner, after which we met up with 5 students from UWCSEA who had arrived that morning for their Project Week which they'll be spending in Chamcar Bei with us building a house and teaching English.
Anyway, must go now as the 7 top scorers in yesterdays activities will be arriving soon with their families to receive more information about UWCSEA and for further interviews - who will be the lucky two???
Returning to CLC on Monday we found the basketball court builders hard at work laying bricks to mark the boundaries of the court. It was very exciting to finally see it coming together!
Tuesday afternoon was accompanied by a massive rainstorm and subsequently an absence of Cambodian teachers and half of our students. Unfortunately this meant that an unattended class of kindergarten students plagued our classes in which the students were being particularly rowdy. I can tell you that two hours of trying to get heard above a class of 25 noisy students, a windy rainstorm and constantly slamming wooden windows and doors was not easy on the vocal chords. Let alone that, but the school was expecting a visit from the Prince that afternoon as he, as the King's advisor, was spending a few days in the village to see if it was suitable for a visit from the King. Fortunately he spent the afternoon at the CVTC instead.
The next morning Sarim, who would have been helping me with my class, didn't show up again as her father was sick. However, I decided to go ahead with starting to use the Cutting Edge books anyway. Fortunately the students were really focused and unusually well-behaved which worked out pretty well because the Prince decided to drop by that morning with his video recorder. Apparently he enjoys making videos and was making a 2 hour presentation on the village for the King to see. I was wondering if he was "the Prince" or if there were many princes so I asked Sara who said that he was perhaps a brother of the King but that there were a lot of princes.
That morning we looked across the pond to see not only Paa but a procession of enforcements proceed down the gravelly path towards the Red House. She had been asked the night before to cook lunch for the Prince and 10 Community Based Organization members from the village. So the Prince came to tea at the Red House and we had delicious battered prawns and juicy juicy mangoes. Over lunch he spent an hour or two asking the CBO members what they did and how the village had changed since BAB had arrived and also suggesting new ideas for the development of the village.
On Wednesday I started teaching Beginners Cutting Edge to the CVTC producers with Savorn (an ex-Youth Team member who is being sponsored by BAB to go to university - part of the deal is that he helps the project by teaching English and helping to run CLC) at 12:30 and with Theary at 4pm. And back at CLC Tom started teaching the Starter level Cutting Edge with a new class of Youth Team members and CLC teachers at 1pm. Tom's class seems to have very good attendance although I'm not sure how the attendance levels will be at the CVTC. On Thursday they said they couldn't study because they had a big order which was overdue and were too busy. I guess we'll have to see how it works out and make changes if necessary. It was of course a little tricky teaching with just one book and we were hoping to have enough copies by next week. However, on Friday when we met Savoeurn here in Phnom Penh (we're here to help out with the second and third round of the 5-year UWCSEA scholarships), he said he hadn't had time to buy them yet. Fortunately we knew a shop down the road from the BAB office and the lady said she would have enough brought in by Sunday afternoon when we're going to return to Chamcar Bei.
Yesterday we spent a long, hot day at the Cambodian Dump Children's Centre invigilating the second English and Maths exam for 20 potential scholars. We also oversaw and marked an interactive group activity where the students had to work in 4 groups of 5 to build the tallest tower possible out of newspaper. We met up with Kevin Morley (who had come down to do the interviews) again in the evening for dinner, after which we met up with 5 students from UWCSEA who had arrived that morning for their Project Week which they'll be spending in Chamcar Bei with us building a house and teaching English.
Anyway, must go now as the 7 top scorers in yesterdays activities will be arriving soon with their families to receive more information about UWCSEA and for further interviews - who will be the lucky two???
Week 24: Birthday parties and Basketball courts
Saturday 14/03/09
Most of this week was fairly uneventful up until Friday. We were supposed to have the Cutting Edge books ready on Monday but of course we didn't so Joss and I had to do some last-minute lesson planning AGAIN. Hopefully we should have at least one copy to work from by next Monday.
All week Savoeurn has been promising a meeting with another building contractor for the basketball court and on Thursday morning he finally delivered! Although he suddenly told me he had the contractor waiting for a meeting when I was five minutes into my morning class I was still pleased on some level haha. The meeting was far more arduous than any class with Savoeurn and the contractor talking heatedly in Khmer that was too fast and probably too rude for me to follow. Eventually they came to a decision and Savoeurn took fifteen minutes to type it all up into a nice neat contract that took forty-five minutes to carefully explain to me in English. Eventually we all thumb-printed the contract to make it official and the contractor promised to return tomorrow with materials so we could give him the first installment of his pay.
So bright and early Joss and I commuted to Kampot to withdraw cash from the Basketball fund. This worked out pretty well since we were able to pick up some party snacks and a really tasty cake for my birthday party on Friday night. As promised the contractor started work on the basketball court on Friday morning.
The basketball court finally being built was a pretty great b'day pressie but I also got some other pretty memorable ones. I got a great book about Ladakh from my family that my mum carefully smuggled into Joss's care the week before. I got some nice cards and a funny luggage tag from the Ames clan.... and I got a bunch of coconuts. Not just any coconuts either, coconuts that required a long and drawn out story. Apparently Phirom, Lalin and Bo were trying to think of a good present and they remembered we really like fresh coconuts. Unfortunately, by the time they had figured this out there was quite a storm going on. Phirom decided to climb the tree in the rain anyway and Lalin told me he was yelling "Phirom! You crazy!!" at the top of his voice as is the Khmer custom among friends to which Phirom replied "No I'm not crazy, its for Tom's present!". Thats how crazy our students are. I also had lots of fun and exercise getting the coconuts open with a realllllly blunt cleaver on Saturday.
The party itself was great fun. At least half the youth team showed up along with most of the staff. Savouern was still in Chamcar Bei so he came as well bringing some exciting news. As soon as he arrived at the party he got a phone call and talked away from the house for a while and when he finished he came back grinning from ear to ear and explained that the King of Cambodia had expressed an interest in visiting the project before Khmer New Year. He also informed me afterwards that the King is a big basketball fan and would like to play with us if he visits. Savoeurn thinks this is a good excuse to speed up the construction. The party went crazy after that with youth team members blasting raucous Khmer tunes and dancing, drinking and generally partying while the staff looked on happily from behind their beers, occasionally joining in with dancing. Even Sarim and Pech showed up about half way through the party (on the same moto, which caused quite a sensation and elicited lots of teasing from the youth team) and got right into the swing of things. Just before the party started, when we had tied down the last balloon, we had worried that we might have gone overboard buying lots of fruit, snacks and a 24 pack of Angkor and Coke. We realised we had been right on the money pretty quickly when everyone started challenging each other to beer downing contests. But of course being Khmer they slowed down or switched to Coke after two beers which made for a far more pleasant party. We played lots of weird and wonderful party games as well. One game involved putting a balloon between two people's foreheads while both of them pushed until the balloon popped. Luckily nobody drank too much so nobody got more than a light collision of heads.
It was a really great way to celebrate my birthday in Cambodia, despite alllllll the tidying up :)
Most of this week was fairly uneventful up until Friday. We were supposed to have the Cutting Edge books ready on Monday but of course we didn't so Joss and I had to do some last-minute lesson planning AGAIN. Hopefully we should have at least one copy to work from by next Monday.
All week Savoeurn has been promising a meeting with another building contractor for the basketball court and on Thursday morning he finally delivered! Although he suddenly told me he had the contractor waiting for a meeting when I was five minutes into my morning class I was still pleased on some level haha. The meeting was far more arduous than any class with Savoeurn and the contractor talking heatedly in Khmer that was too fast and probably too rude for me to follow. Eventually they came to a decision and Savoeurn took fifteen minutes to type it all up into a nice neat contract that took forty-five minutes to carefully explain to me in English. Eventually we all thumb-printed the contract to make it official and the contractor promised to return tomorrow with materials so we could give him the first installment of his pay.
So bright and early Joss and I commuted to Kampot to withdraw cash from the Basketball fund. This worked out pretty well since we were able to pick up some party snacks and a really tasty cake for my birthday party on Friday night. As promised the contractor started work on the basketball court on Friday morning.
The basketball court finally being built was a pretty great b'day pressie but I also got some other pretty memorable ones. I got a great book about Ladakh from my family that my mum carefully smuggled into Joss's care the week before. I got some nice cards and a funny luggage tag from the Ames clan.... and I got a bunch of coconuts. Not just any coconuts either, coconuts that required a long and drawn out story. Apparently Phirom, Lalin and Bo were trying to think of a good present and they remembered we really like fresh coconuts. Unfortunately, by the time they had figured this out there was quite a storm going on. Phirom decided to climb the tree in the rain anyway and Lalin told me he was yelling "Phirom! You crazy!!" at the top of his voice as is the Khmer custom among friends to which Phirom replied "No I'm not crazy, its for Tom's present!". Thats how crazy our students are. I also had lots of fun and exercise getting the coconuts open with a realllllly blunt cleaver on Saturday.
The party itself was great fun. At least half the youth team showed up along with most of the staff. Savouern was still in Chamcar Bei so he came as well bringing some exciting news. As soon as he arrived at the party he got a phone call and talked away from the house for a while and when he finished he came back grinning from ear to ear and explained that the King of Cambodia had expressed an interest in visiting the project before Khmer New Year. He also informed me afterwards that the King is a big basketball fan and would like to play with us if he visits. Savoeurn thinks this is a good excuse to speed up the construction. The party went crazy after that with youth team members blasting raucous Khmer tunes and dancing, drinking and generally partying while the staff looked on happily from behind their beers, occasionally joining in with dancing. Even Sarim and Pech showed up about half way through the party (on the same moto, which caused quite a sensation and elicited lots of teasing from the youth team) and got right into the swing of things. Just before the party started, when we had tied down the last balloon, we had worried that we might have gone overboard buying lots of fruit, snacks and a 24 pack of Angkor and Coke. We realised we had been right on the money pretty quickly when everyone started challenging each other to beer downing contests. But of course being Khmer they slowed down or switched to Coke after two beers which made for a far more pleasant party. We played lots of weird and wonderful party games as well. One game involved putting a balloon between two people's foreheads while both of them pushed until the balloon popped. Luckily nobody drank too much so nobody got more than a light collision of heads.
It was a really great way to celebrate my birthday in Cambodia, despite alllllll the tidying up :)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Week 23: Hilary's visit
07/03/09
After spending Monday night in PP catching up on some much-needed sleep at the BAB office, we hopped in a tuk-tuk to the airport before breakfast to pick up Tom’s mum, Hilary, who would be spending a week with us in Kep. Although she has visited us once already, in November, we were particularly looking forward to having her again to show her the real Red House experience as we had arranged for her to stay there with us for 2 nights.
The three of us and Hilary’s bag full of basketballs, books and baking supplies tuk-tuked back into town for breakfast at the Boddhi Tree guesthouse followed by a visit to Lucky Supermarket for some special cooking ingredients, the office to meet Vy, the Russian Market for anything and everything and finally the FCC (!!!) for a delicious end to a well-filled day.
After filling Wednesday morning with odd jobs we caught the 1pm bus to Chamcar Bei. An uneventful 3 and a half hours later we were standing at the entrance to the village on the main road waiting for Sara and co to pick us up by moto as unseasonal clouds began to cluster and loom. Fortunately, the rain never came (although we have been having an unusual number of downpours recently) and we spent a nice evening letting Tom win Monopoly again.
By Thursday morning Hilary had already shown herself to be an accomplished Red Housian, much proven by her excellent standard of flashlight and ability to sleep through the sound of laboriously nibbling rats.
The morning at CLC wasn’t incredibly exciting although Hilary gave out some pens and pencils to the students. During my teacher training class I taught the teachers a few new teaching games and activities and after our classes Hilary, who is herself a teacher trainer, gave us some useful tips, especially on CLC classroom control. However, in the afternoon we bought balloons at the market and had a massive water balloon game which when down with a cacophony of shrieks and laughter.
But the day’s excitement wasn’t over yet! When Tom and I had finished teaching I ferried Tom and Hilary to David’s guesthouse, about 10 minutes away by moto, where we were met by Saran. When the guest house eventually opens she’ll be in charge of the kitchen so she’s been begging us to teach her how to cook Western food. As it happens, Hilary is an excellent cook and so we arranged a pizza-cooking lesson at the guest house which has the only oven in the village. While Saran and Hilary got started in the kitchen Tom and I worked up an appetite by going back to the Red House to get the forgotten cheese. When we returned, Sok and Sara, the rest of the Tasting Committee, had arrived and soon enough the kitchen had churned out 6 delicious pizzas of various textures and tastes. Yummmmm.
Friday was another full day as we visited the Kampong Trach Caves again in the morning before showing Hilary the sleepy town of Kampot where we had lunch and dropped by the Epic Arts café for carrot cake. With full stomachs we headed to Kep where we’d booked 2 nights at Botanica. We spent our Saturday in Kep playing boules at Botanica and chilling out by the poolside at Kep Lodge before going to the Crab Market for dinner followed by a visit to the Riel Bar. The weekend felt like a nice break from teaching but I remember what a strange feeling it was when, while at Kep Lodge, my mind wandered to our time at CLC and I realized that even though we were only about 45 minutes away from Chamcar Bei, it felt like we were in a completely different world. Tom agreed and we both started thinking about how it would be when we leave in a month’s time. Will it all feel like a dream again?
The three of us and Hilary’s bag full of basketballs, books and baking supplies tuk-tuked back into town for breakfast at the Boddhi Tree guesthouse followed by a visit to Lucky Supermarket for some special cooking ingredients, the office to meet Vy, the Russian Market for anything and everything and finally the FCC (!!!) for a delicious end to a well-filled day.
After filling Wednesday morning with odd jobs we caught the 1pm bus to Chamcar Bei. An uneventful 3 and a half hours later we were standing at the entrance to the village on the main road waiting for Sara and co to pick us up by moto as unseasonal clouds began to cluster and loom. Fortunately, the rain never came (although we have been having an unusual number of downpours recently) and we spent a nice evening letting Tom win Monopoly again.
By Thursday morning Hilary had already shown herself to be an accomplished Red Housian, much proven by her excellent standard of flashlight and ability to sleep through the sound of laboriously nibbling rats.
The morning at CLC wasn’t incredibly exciting although Hilary gave out some pens and pencils to the students. During my teacher training class I taught the teachers a few new teaching games and activities and after our classes Hilary, who is herself a teacher trainer, gave us some useful tips, especially on CLC classroom control. However, in the afternoon we bought balloons at the market and had a massive water balloon game which when down with a cacophony of shrieks and laughter.
But the day’s excitement wasn’t over yet! When Tom and I had finished teaching I ferried Tom and Hilary to David’s guesthouse, about 10 minutes away by moto, where we were met by Saran. When the guest house eventually opens she’ll be in charge of the kitchen so she’s been begging us to teach her how to cook Western food. As it happens, Hilary is an excellent cook and so we arranged a pizza-cooking lesson at the guest house which has the only oven in the village. While Saran and Hilary got started in the kitchen Tom and I worked up an appetite by going back to the Red House to get the forgotten cheese. When we returned, Sok and Sara, the rest of the Tasting Committee, had arrived and soon enough the kitchen had churned out 6 delicious pizzas of various textures and tastes. Yummmmm.Friday was another full day as we visited the Kampong Trach Caves again in the morning before showing Hilary the sleepy town of Kampot where we had lunch and dropped by the Epic Arts café for carrot cake. With full stomachs we headed to Kep where we’d booked 2 nights at Botanica. We spent our Saturday in Kep playing boules at Botanica and chilling out by the poolside at Kep Lodge before going to the Crab Market for dinner followed by a visit to the Riel Bar. The weekend felt like a nice break from teaching but I remember what a strange feeling it was when, while at Kep Lodge, my mind wandered to our time at CLC and I realized that even though we were only about 45 minutes away from Chamcar Bei, it felt like we were in a completely different world. Tom agreed and we both started thinking about how it would be when we leave in a month’s time. Will it all feel like a dream again?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Week 22: The Kep trio!
03/03/09
This week saw some significant changes and events in Chamcar Bei, some of which were expected. We had the long awaited Kep trio running and cycling events which took up the whole weekend and quite a lot of the week for planning and preperation, which was all worthwhile because the events were a lot of fun for everybody involved and a substantial amount of money was raised for the BAB Kep Community Development project.
We found out last weekend that Srey, the head of the Livelihoods Project, is leaving for a job closer to home and her young children 
near Sihanoukville. Because she has done so much for the community of Chamcar Bei, BAB and the Community Based Organisation (CBO) members coorganized a leaving party on Wednesday night this week. The party was a great success and a nice example of the community organization skills Srey has taught to some of the Chamcar Bei residents since BAB's involvement in the party was mainly financial (extra power until midnight!). There was a huge meal of Khmer laksa-like curry with duck, rice noodles, salad and baguette which we have decided is the staple party food in Cambodia since we had exactly the same dish at
Phirom's house a few weeks ago. We were also forced to participate in tradtional Khmer dancing with our youth team friends. This basically entails walking slowly around a table while gracefully (or not in my case) weaving your hands in the air. This is fun until you realise you have done one and a half laps in the last four songs! As is the custom at these parties the music was also so loud that conversation was made rather difficult. But what kind of Khmer party would it be without some dodgy Cambodian pop blasted on a really bad sound system? But seriously it was a really nice send-off for Srey and a good celebration of the work she has done in Chamcar Bei.
near Sihanoukville. Because she has done so much for the community of Chamcar Bei, BAB and the Community Based Organisation (CBO) members coorganized a leaving party on Wednesday night this week. The party was a great success and a nice example of the community organization skills Srey has taught to some of the Chamcar Bei residents since BAB's involvement in the party was mainly financial (extra power until midnight!). There was a huge meal of Khmer laksa-like curry with duck, rice noodles, salad and baguette which we have decided is the staple party food in Cambodia since we had exactly the same dish at
Phirom's house a few weeks ago. We were also forced to participate in tradtional Khmer dancing with our youth team friends. This basically entails walking slowly around a table while gracefully (or not in my case) weaving your hands in the air. This is fun until you realise you have done one and a half laps in the last four songs! As is the custom at these parties the music was also so loud that conversation was made rather difficult. But what kind of Khmer party would it be without some dodgy Cambodian pop blasted on a really bad sound system? But seriously it was a really nice send-off for Srey and a good celebration of the work she has done in Chamcar Bei.
Joss and I left the party relatively early as we were quite tired after a full day's teaching. We said goodbye to Srey and her family and headed back to the Red House. About fifteen minutes later we were looking over towards the party and saw some car lights come on and start heading towards the pond. We assumed whoever it was just needed the extra space to turn around until the car was practically on the weir. As it turned out, when Erin and Sara said goodbye to Srey and her family, it was decided that they should be given a "ride" home aallll the way to the Red House and so having driven about a hundred metres Srey's family walked them the rest of the way. Of course having arrived at the Red House Srey's daughter was forced to sing us every English song she has ever learnt in school for the hundredth time that evening, but it's still cute :). Teaching this week was fairly uneventful in comparison to the weekend so I don't really have that much to say about it. We taught role plays on shopping/going to the market and numbers.
On Friday afternoon Joss and I went to Botanica guest house in Kep so we would be ready for the meeting on Saturday morning during which our duties for the weekend would be allocated. Staying at Botanica was a pleasure as we expected it would be, and we got a good night's rest which was fortunate because on Saturday afternoon we got busy with the events! We went inside Knai Bang Chatt for the first time for our bus monitor meeting so it was interesting to see what was inside the imposing walls. Our jobs, partners and buses for the weekend were finalized and we went back to Botanica for a quick lunch before picking people up for the 10km bike ride at 3pm.
Since my bus was for the spectators rather than the participants we didn't start picking people up at the guest houses until it was almost time for the race to start. The bus I was responsible for could seat 45 people and we had a whopping 6 supporters to pick up before heading to the finish line at CLC. When we were about half way to Chamcar Bei some omin
ous black clouds that had been gathering broke into torrential rain just as the horn blew for the bike ride to begin. It was a bit sad to arrive in Chamcar Bei in the pouring rain because the beautiful hills were eclipsed by the downpour and the village was a lot less attractive as a result. I was quite dissapointed because I had been anticipating showing people how amazing the village is but in the rain it looked rather bleak in comparison to its usual radiance. This was remedied when we arrived at CLC to be greeted by literally every child Joss and I teach (in their best school uniform) lining the road to CLC like a miniature Khmer tour de France. The children and other village residents made for a really nice atmosphere at the finish line despite the weather and thankfully the rain over CLC wasn't so heavy and the kids weren't drenched.
ous black clouds that had been gathering broke into torrential rain just as the horn blew for the bike ride to begin. It was a bit sad to arrive in Chamcar Bei in the pouring rain because the beautiful hills were eclipsed by the downpour and the village was a lot less attractive as a result. I was quite dissapointed because I had been anticipating showing people how amazing the village is but in the rain it looked rather bleak in comparison to its usual radiance. This was remedied when we arrived at CLC to be greeted by literally every child Joss and I teach (in their best school uniform) lining the road to CLC like a miniature Khmer tour de France. The children and other village residents made for a really nice atmosphere at the finish line despite the weather and thankfully the rain over CLC wasn't so heavy and the kids weren't drenched. Having dropped the supporters off at the guest houses after the bike event we grabbed a quick shower at Botanica and when to the sailing club for the big dinner event. This was nice because we had a brief opportunity to talk to some of the prospective 3YO students in their last year at UWC. Unfortunately having been there for ten minutes we were summoned to another bus monitor meeting and I got the short straw of taking people back to the guest houses for the last hour or so of the dinner. Unfortunately the buses weren't that well organized so this got a little hairy and I didn't finish till around 11pm. Thankfully Joss saved me some food .
Next morning Joss and I were up at the inhumane time of 5am to organize transport to the running events commencing at 6:30am and 7am. These trips were fairly uneventful although apparently one bus for runners didn't arrive on time and it took some miracle working from Vy and Antonia to compensate and somehow get everyone to the starting points on time. My bus arrived on time and all the supporters were ready and waiting when the first runners s
tarted coming in. As I had been predicting to Joss for weeks, our friend Hal Quin came in first place for the half marathon and his two younger brothers came 2nd and 3rd in the 10km run! Joss and I showed a few people around the Red House (including one of the next generation 3yo UWC students) and everybody seemed to love it just as much as us. There was a slightly drawn out group of speeches before the cyclists handed over their bikes to village children but the ceremony was still quite well done and everything was wrapped up in time for the participants and supporters to visit the CVTC shop and purchase pretty much everthing that has been made so far. This was really great because the project was very much in need of a boost since the women have been working very hard for months for very little reward up until this point. It's great that the project will have wind in its sails now for some time. On Monday morning Joss got the worst job instead of me as she had to leave Botanica at 4:15 am to get people back to P.P. for a 10:15am flight. Lucky, for I was spared another early start as m
y bus left at lunch time. We got everyone safely back to P.P. with no problems and stayed the night to pick up my Mum from the airport on Tuesday.
tarted coming in. As I had been predicting to Joss for weeks, our friend Hal Quin came in first place for the half marathon and his two younger brothers came 2nd and 3rd in the 10km run! Joss and I showed a few people around the Red House (including one of the next generation 3yo UWC students) and everybody seemed to love it just as much as us. There was a slightly drawn out group of speeches before the cyclists handed over their bikes to village children but the ceremony was still quite well done and everything was wrapped up in time for the participants and supporters to visit the CVTC shop and purchase pretty much everthing that has been made so far. This was really great because the project was very much in need of a boost since the women have been working very hard for months for very little reward up until this point. It's great that the project will have wind in its sails now for some time. On Monday morning Joss got the worst job instead of me as she had to leave Botanica at 4:15 am to get people back to P.P. for a 10:15am flight. Lucky, for I was spared another early start as m
y bus left at lunch time. We got everyone safely back to P.P. with no problems and stayed the night to pick up my Mum from the airport on Tuesday.So the Kep trio events were a great success once again and just over USD$50,000 was raised for the village - not counting the refreshments and CVTC products bought. Thank you to everyone who helped and participated in this event. Joss and I would like to say another thank you to the people who brought us teaching/basketball supplies and toothbrushes from Singapore as well as some much appreciated ant powder!
P.S. an upcoming event that is FAR more important than marathons and parties etc. drumroll please..... we are getting a kitten in two weeks!!!!!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Week 21: From CLC!
24/02/09
We also had a long meeting with Savoeurn on Friday to discuss how and when to start using some new textbooks – Cutting Edge – at CLC and with the CVTC ladies. It seems that after 10th March our schedules will be very different as our Youth Team students and the teachers will be taught together from 1-2pm instead of teaching them at 10am. Also, I will be teaching the two groups of CVTC ladies 5 times a week – one group from 12-1pm and one group from 4-5pm. However, our CLC student classes will remain the same. Tom and I both think that introducing Cutting Edge will be a great improvement to the education at CLC where they are currently either relying on our teaching or on other irrelevant and unchallenging text books. Savoeurn’s original plan was to start teaching with Cutting Edge in April but we’re leaving then so we decided to start earlier so Tom and I would be able to help to sort out any problems.
Back at the Red House we’ve had some fun evenings playing Monopoly and watching Erin and Sara paint the inside of their Little Red House across the pond. However, this weekend it’s pretty quiet because everyone has gone to Phnom Penh. Paa taught me how to cook rice in a pot the other day so I’ve been practicing that and Tom managed to cook some pretty tasty pork with honey. We’re both wondering whether we should have chosen self-catered rather than catered accommodation at university in September!
The CVTC shop was officially opened on Tuesday with a very (very) small ceremony which involved Sara wafting some incense sticks. Tom and I hope we get the chance to buy a few things there before the marathoners and cyclists come and buy it all up next weekend during the annual Kep marathon! Speaking of the marathon, I’d better go because Tom is about to go and measure the distance from the CVTC to CLC using a pedometer and I’m going to pick him up next to CLC at the market to buy some food for dinner!
Last weekend we were back on the bus along the bumpy road to Phnom Penh in the hope that the 5-year scholarships wouldn’t be postponed again during the journey. Fortunately they hadn’t been so we spent our Sunday invigilating and marking the English and Khmer tests at the Cambodian Dump Children Centre. Everything went smoothly despite the absence of the infamously unreliable Sokha, the Cambodian scholarship coordinator, who called me when we got to CDCC to say he was too busy to come and passed on all his messages to the other staff via me on a very crackly phone line. Talking to some of the students and reading their statements, we saw how eager they were to get the scholarship but it was hard to imagine any of them in Singapore!
We had to go through quite a lot of hassle getting back to Chamcar Bei on Monday again and ended up having to get off the bus and being transported to another bus company by moto. Weaving through Phnom Penh traffic - Tom carrying a package of very heavy weaving looms – was an intense experience. However, we got to the second bus and, once we got on (having bought the last two seats at the very back), we got talking to some very nice Norwegian people which made the trip go by faster.
We had to go through quite a lot of hassle getting back to Chamcar Bei on Monday again and ended up having to get off the bus and being transported to another bus company by moto. Weaving through Phnom Penh traffic - Tom carrying a package of very heavy weaving looms – was an intense experience. However, we got to the second bus and, once we got on (having bought the last two seats at the very back), we got talking to some very nice Norwegian people which made the trip go by faster.
Back at CLC on Tuesday, we finished off the topic of food and started on the topic of the body. At the moment I’m really enjoying teaching the youngest students (6-12 years old) which is, to be honest, a bit of a change from how I felt about them when we first arrived. It’s been a long time coming but I think I finally remember almost all of their names – greatly helped by handing out their folders to them every day. I still teach the older kids (10-14 years old) on Wednesday and Thursday morning but that class seems to have grown recently and now it’s not unusual to have at least 30 students which makes it very difficult to control the class.
On Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting with the CVTC students because some of the ladies still weren’t sure which of the two groups they were supposed to be in and I wanted to check that the class time was ok with them as they were always late. Srey, the BAB Livelihoods coordinator, was supposed to come to translate but she didn’t show 
up. However, I somehow managed to get my point across and got some useful feedback in Khmer which I was quite proud of.
up. However, I somehow managed to get my point across and got some useful feedback in Khmer which I was quite proud of.We also had a long meeting with Savoeurn on Friday to discuss how and when to start using some new textbooks – Cutting Edge – at CLC and with the CVTC ladies. It seems that after 10th March our schedules will be very different as our Youth Team students and the teachers will be taught together from 1-2pm instead of teaching them at 10am. Also, I will be teaching the two groups of CVTC ladies 5 times a week – one group from 12-1pm and one group from 4-5pm. However, our CLC student classes will remain the same. Tom and I both think that introducing Cutting Edge will be a great improvement to the education at CLC where they are currently either relying on our teaching or on other irrelevant and unchallenging text books. Savoeurn’s original plan was to start teaching with Cutting Edge in April but we’re leaving then so we decided to start earlier so Tom and I would be able to help to sort out any problems.
Back at the Red House we’ve had some fun evenings playing Monopoly and watching Erin and Sara paint the inside of their Little Red House across the pond. However, this weekend it’s pretty quiet because everyone has gone to Phnom Penh. Paa taught me how to cook rice in a pot the other day so I’ve been practicing that and Tom managed to cook some pretty tasty pork with honey. We’re both wondering whether we should have chosen self-catered rather than catered accommodation at university in September!The CVTC shop was officially opened on Tuesday with a very (very) small ceremony which involved Sara wafting some incense sticks. Tom and I hope we get the chance to buy a few things there before the marathoners and cyclists come and buy it all up next weekend during the annual Kep marathon! Speaking of the marathon, I’d better go because Tom is about to go and measure the distance from the CVTC to CLC using a pedometer and I’m going to pick him up next to CLC at the market to buy some food for dinner!
- Joss
P.S. Because the office has moved to CLC now I am writing this blog from CLC! Amazing!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Week 20: Office in Chamcar Bei
14/02/09
It was also a long weekend as there was a public holiday on Monday, so we took the opportunity to go on a little excursion to the Kampong Trach caves which I visited last year with Leron when half of them were flooded. This trip Joss came instead and we were able to go much further into the caves since they are much drier at this time of year. The teenage girl who collects the tickets at the entrance and shows you around the caves for a small fee was surprised to see me again despite the fact I had promised to return in the dry season. It's probably not surprising really since the only foreigners you usually get in Kampong Trach are only stopping off for a few hours. This time she seemed to believe we were actually living in Chamcar Bei. Anyway, the caves and the surrounding cliffs were just as beautiful as last time. Our guide also showed us the far side of the caves where tourists don't usually bother going and the damage that has been done by local building contractors shamelessly quarrying the sides of the cliffs. Apparently the caves are now "protected" but in Cambodia that doesn't mean that much since the caves don't bring in that much money. (Photo below is of the "Dragon's Throat")
The office was supposed to be packed into two overlaiden flatbeds, the first of which was supposed to leave in the early morning and then arrive some time before lunch. It reached CLC at around one and by that point it was clear that no amount of clever packing would avoid making three trips. The last truck arrived at about five and most of Wednesday was spent unpacking everything veeerrryyy slowly much to the annoyance of Sara the project manager. The organization went downhill even faster because Savoeurn's wife, Lakna, went into labour a week early and they had to rush to PP, although we were later told Savoeurn had been letting everybody else do all the work anyway. Now we have a functioning office right next to our classrooms at CLC, and all the staff staying next to the Coconut Project at the CVTC with us
which is nice. There are lots more friendly faces around! Of equal importance to having our friend Sok live at CVTC is a special someone he brings with him. You may have seen her pictures last year if you were following our blog. She is undoubtedly the cutest cat in the world... LUCKY!!!
We had a very productive Friday this week! In the morning we taught Chakrya, a girl from the youth team who is a really excellent student but who can rarely attend our classes as the conflict with her unbelievably busy schedule! This week she watched Joss and I teaching a class and playing an educational game at the end. She was intrigued and asked if we could show her how to do it so she could play it with her students in the evening classes taught by the youth team. So on Friday morning we taught Chakrya a few games we use regularly and some other teaching methods we have learnt. This class could be a real breakthrough as Chakrya speaks very good English and has agreed to held us explain some of these games to the teachers. We also visited Kampot to observe a class at a school there for the hearing impared. The reason for this was that a parent from UWCSEA has been sponsoring one of the students there who is from Chamcar Bei and has received no information on his progress so we were asked to write a report. The school was really impressive and seemed very well run. The student in question was nothing short of inspiring. He is attending a school that is too far away for him to live with his f
amily and he is not only doing well academically but seems to be flourishing in general. He seems to have a great relationship with his fellow students and his teachers and is clearly a very happy person. He is really making the most of the opportunities he has been given. We gave him a ride home in our tuk-tuk so he could see his family over the weekend and during the whole journey he tried to communicate with us and teach us sign which seemed to be relatively successful. I feel like he got his points across anyway.
As you know there was no internet at the office during our last weekend in Kep. Unfortunately this meant we had to spend an afternoon using the WiFi at Kep Lodge and lounging by their pool. How horrible.
It was also a long weekend as there was a public holiday on Monday, so we took the opportunity to go on a little excursion to the Kampong Trach caves which I visited last year with Leron when half of them were flooded. This trip Joss came instead and we were able to go much further into the caves since they are much drier at this time of year. The teenage girl who collects the tickets at the entrance and shows you around the caves for a small fee was surprised to see me again despite the fact I had promised to return in the dry season. It's probably not surprising really since the only foreigners you usually get in Kampong Trach are only stopping off for a few hours. This time she seemed to believe we were actually living in Chamcar Bei. Anyway, the caves and the surrounding cliffs were just as beautiful as last time. Our guide also showed us the far side of the caves where tourists don't usually bother going and the damage that has been done by local building contractors shamelessly quarrying the sides of the cliffs. Apparently the caves are now "protected" but in Cambodia that doesn't mean that much since the caves don't bring in that much money. (Photo below is of the "Dragon's Throat") After we visited the caves we went to the Kampong Trach market which is supposed to be bigger and better than the one in Chamcar Bei. Paa wasn't cooking for us that evening as it was a weekend so we planned to get our groceries while we were there. However, when we got to the market we found the sellers to be strangely unfriendly; this coupled with the stiffling heat and, for me, the inherant problems with shopping in a market where the ceiling is about 6
ft from the ground at best, meant that we just bought a few vegetables and went back to Chamcar Bei to buy the rest. When we arrived at the Chamcar Bei market there was such a strong contrast. Everybody knew us and stopped to say hello, it's open-air and and so everything consequently seems a lot fresher. The experience reminded us that now that the office is at CLC we don't need to leave Chamcar Bei for anything :)
Cooking for ourselves was pretty successful; I fried some pork with a bit of honey and Joss stirfried some GIANT carrots. Cooking in our kitchen is a little stressful since there are inherantly a lot of ants on the floor at any given time so you have to either endure the pain or jog on the spot while you cook.
The office was supposed to be packed into two overlaiden flatbeds, the first of which was supposed to leave in the early morning and then arrive some time before lunch. It reached CLC at around one and by that point it was clear that no amount of clever packing would avoid making three trips. The last truck arrived at about five and most of Wednesday was spent unpacking everything veeerrryyy slowly much to the annoyance of Sara the project manager. The organization went downhill even faster because Savoeurn's wife, Lakna, went into labour a week early and they had to rush to PP, although we were later told Savoeurn had been letting everybody else do all the work anyway. Now we have a functioning office right next to our classrooms at CLC, and all the staff staying next to the Coconut Project at the CVTC with us
which is nice. There are lots more friendly faces around! Of equal importance to having our friend Sok live at CVTC is a special someone he brings with him. You may have seen her pictures last year if you were following our blog. She is undoubtedly the cutest cat in the world... LUCKY!!!Sadly we had some really bad news for the youth team this week. The UWC scholarships that they have worked so hard to apply and prepare for are now an impossiblility as the age specifications were quite suddenly given to us. The upper and lower age limits were much smaller than we had been told to expect and so all the applicants from Chamcar Bei and the Kep area were either too old or too young. We had thought that the UWC movement was quite flexible regarding the upper age of applicants. It is now beyond appeal as there are over a hundred applicants that are within the required age group and many have already been turned away because they are not within the age bracket. The youth team students were extremely mature about it and did not let it get them down. They showed up for class the next day brimming with motivation as usual.
We had a very productive Friday this week! In the morning we taught Chakrya, a girl from the youth team who is a really excellent student but who can rarely attend our classes as the conflict with her unbelievably busy schedule! This week she watched Joss and I teaching a class and playing an educational game at the end. She was intrigued and asked if we could show her how to do it so she could play it with her students in the evening classes taught by the youth team. So on Friday morning we taught Chakrya a few games we use regularly and some other teaching methods we have learnt. This class could be a real breakthrough as Chakrya speaks very good English and has agreed to held us explain some of these games to the teachers. We also visited Kampot to observe a class at a school there for the hearing impared. The reason for this was that a parent from UWCSEA has been sponsoring one of the students there who is from Chamcar Bei and has received no information on his progress so we were asked to write a report. The school was really impressive and seemed very well run. The student in question was nothing short of inspiring. He is attending a school that is too far away for him to live with his f
amily and he is not only doing well academically but seems to be flourishing in general. He seems to have a great relationship with his fellow students and his teachers and is clearly a very happy person. He is really making the most of the opportunities he has been given. We gave him a ride home in our tuk-tuk so he could see his family over the weekend and during the whole journey he tried to communicate with us and teach us sign which seemed to be relatively successful. I feel like he got his points across anyway.Off to PP now for the five year scholarships - allegedly.
Byeeeeeee!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Week 19: All work and no play makes Chamcar Bei a dull place!
This morning we left the village in a tuk-tuk with Erin and headed for the office in Kep for the last time. Our main reason for coming – internet access – was pretty pointless because, as usual, the internet is broken. This will probably mean a trip to one of the guest houses later to use theirs. Nevertheless, when the office moves to the village on Tuesday we’ll have internet more often than we’ve had so far. There’s been quite a lot of excitement around CLC this week as the new office space is being prepared. It turns out that sliding down the mound of sand put down outside the building is a much better use for it than mixing it with cement for resurfacing the floor. I’m not sure how anyone working there will be able to concentrate with all the kids going insane at break time!
This week we planned to teach colours and shapes although, since we had a full week of teaching we assumed we’d probably be starting the next topic by the end of the week. The students obviously had other plans in mind. Sometimes at break time the kids like to take us by the arms, or any other limb they can grab, and lead us to the big tree by the gate to play games. On Monday we were a little confused when the procession led us past the tree, out of the school gates and left towards the reservoir. “Teacher, can you swim?” Next thing we knew, our two classes of kids were ripping off their shirts and shorts and jumping off the pier into the water. So much for colours and shapes but never mind – everyone was loving it. Of course word got round to the kids in Tom’s afternoon class who couldn’t miss out on the fun so they had their turn on Wednesday.
This week we planned to teach colours and shapes although, since we had a full week of teaching we assumed we’d probably be starting the next topic by the end of the week. The students obviously had other plans in mind. Sometimes at break time the kids like to take us by the arms, or any other limb they can grab, and lead us to the big tree by the gate to play games. On Monday we were a little confused when the procession led us past the tree, out of the school gates and left towards the reservoir. “Teacher, can you swim?” Next thing we knew, our two classes of kids were ripping off their shirts and shorts and jumping off the pier into the water. So much for colours and shapes but never mind – everyone was loving it. Of course word got round to the kids in Tom’s afternoon class who couldn’t miss out on the fun so they had their turn on Wednesday.
We brought the 100 plastic folders (bought in Phnom Penh over the weekend) to CLC on Tuesday and handed them out to the students who were very happy to receive them. Of course they all wanted to take them home but we explained to them that we’d give them to them when the school year is finished. It would have been better if we’d got round to buying them earlier but better late than never.
The Community Vocational Skills Centre English classes that I’ve been teaching have been a bit hectic this week. It’s supposed to be a class specifically for the CVTC producers but this week the majority of the students are the next generation of friends of last year’s “Coconut Project” 
class. I think they must be the sons of the farmers in the area and unfortunately they tend to be very rowdy and I reckon they only come so they can have a laugh at each other which is very off-putting for the CVTC ladies. Hopefully next week Theary can help to explain to them that if they want to learn English they should go to CLC.
On Monday evening we’d been invited by Phirom, one of our Youth Team friends, to his sister’s birthday party. We didn’t know his sister, let alone how old she was going to be and so we were quite surprised when we got there and found that there were over 200 people at his 9-year old sister’s birthday party. We saw quite a few of our Youth Team and BAB friends and met Phirom’s family. I think that by the end of the evening his dad had really taken a liking to us, to the extent that he insisted we should share a glass of rice wine with him and, as translated by Phirom, offered that we were welcome to take a bath and change our clothes if we liked. How very kind. Soon after we arrived it became pretty difficult to hear each other talking because the sound system was switched on playing all the latest Khmer hits. Throughout the evening the food on the table was continuously refilled – Tom and I imagined Phirom’s mum stirring the most enormous cauldron of pork stew in the kitchen because there was so much of it – and every time Phirom’s uncle walked past he motioned for us to eat more. The gifts table was absolutely laden by the time all the guests had arrived and was brought to the centre of the party area (set up outside Phirom’s uncle’s house) when it was time to cut the cake. The cake was surrounded by all the gifts on the table which were decorated with fairy lights so it looked like a pile of treasure. The birthday girl stood on a box in front of her cake and had changed into a red Chinese dress and had a huge party hat on. As Tom said, she looked like Mickey Mouse from Fantasia in the broomstick scene. It was incredible how patient she was as she had to stand there for ages while all the guests were ushered around so they were standing in rings around the table with the immediate family (and us) sitting in chairs at the front. With the display, the guests and the microphone finally in place the cake cutting “ritual” began. After many good wishes everyone sang Happy Birthday in Khmer backed up by a strange recording of it on the karaoke machine. Then the immediate family members came up one by one to be fed a spoonful of cake by the birthday girl – although they could only eat it after the uncle/cousin on the microphone had counted to three, which was of course made into a hilarious spiel. After this had been done Tom and I had to wish her well and give her a kiss. When the cake ritual was finally over it was time for the dancing and of course everyone thought it was very funny when Tom and I joined in and tried some Khmer dancing with them.
Back at the Red House we’re about to have a new neighbour – our project manager Sara is hoping to move into the Little Red House across the lily pond when the office moves to Chamcar Bei. She stayed at the Red House with us on Wednesday night and we had a very intense game of Monopoly (which Tom won as usual) and ate Rotterdametjes – Dutch sausages which Sara brought from Holland. It really will be sooo awful to have her living so close by ;)
And now for the most exciting news this week: we had RAAAIIIIINNN!
Week 18: Phnom Penh and back
01/02/2009
Hello! This blog is late because we spent most of the weekend in Phnom Pe
nh, as it turns out, for no reason! We thought we were going to help out with the 5- year scholarships to UWC but, literally as we walked through the door into the office, we bumped into Sineng who told us that he just recieved an email saying the interviews have been postponed again. So we spent a fairly unproductive weekend in P.P. where we posted so many photos to the blog and Facebook that I had no time to write this! (Joss says I forgot but I know better) Go and have a look at our Facebook profiles, think about how slow the internet in the office is and see who you believe!
Hello! This blog is late because we spent most of the weekend in Phnom Pe
nh, as it turns out, for no reason! We thought we were going to help out with the 5- year scholarships to UWC but, literally as we walked through the door into the office, we bumped into Sineng who told us that he just recieved an email saying the interviews have been postponed again. So we spent a fairly unproductive weekend in P.P. where we posted so many photos to the blog and Facebook that I had no time to write this! (Joss says I forgot but I know better) Go and have a look at our Facebook profiles, think about how slow the internet in the office is and see who you believe! This week we were teaching 'routines' and recapping 'time and date'. This was a pretty fun subject to teach as we had tasks, such as making individual paper clocks with split pins, which the kids really got into. We also learnt a few more unique Cambodian playground games. One of the favourites involves everybody standing in a circle around a big tree
holding hands while one person is blindfolded and spun around inside the circle. The blindfolded person has to grab somebody and, by feeling the person's face, decide who it is. It is of course very easy to figure out when you have grabbed the only person who's knees are at head height so I spent a lot of time blindfolded. Another great game is one where the kids sit in a circle as they would in duck-duck-spider except the person tapping heads has a dish cloth which they subtly hand to one of the people in the circle. The person who has been given the dish cloth is then entitled to whip the person sitting on their right until the victim has completed one lap around the circle and made it back to his or her seat. This game is at its best when the person delivering the dish cloth does so with the utmost discretion and everybody but the victim notices. Thankfully all the older children are very mature and keep these games light-hearted and they never seem to get out of hand! We also played a variation of cat and mouse in which a mouse, Tom, eluded a cat, Joss, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.
I was also bullied into participating in the elastic highjumps that you may have heard about. The kids were very impressed when I 
hurdled over the first few times. Unfortunately, we then started playing the version where you have to pull the rope down with one foot behind your head and flip over it. I wasn't quite as successfull with this.
Although it's unrelated to our gap year, I also found out this week that I have home-status at the University of Leeds which means I now have nothing to worry about except teaching! It also means the next 3 years of my life are planned out for me! Very strange!
It's a shame I don't have a lot to write about this week, but I happen to know a lot of interesting things will happen next week! (I can see the future) so Joss may have lots of interesting things to write about! Read her blog and find out more.
We also have a message for our frequent follower Denn: Joss is trying very hard to fix Tom and his poor grammar, but it's very hard, and agonizingly slow work! The only thing we can suggest until Joss has finished with her work is that you read alternate weeks so you don't have to suffer through Tom's writing! :)
On a more serious note, I would also like to post these links to information about the violent, forced eviction of Dey Krahom, one of the big slum areas in Phnom Penh - their land has been sold by the government to foreign property developers.
Multimedia show: http://ka-set.info/actualites/k7-media/cambodge-cambodia-dey-krohom-090124.html
More pictures on: http://johnvink.com/news/2009/01/24/thats-it/
Article (from Monday): http://cambodia.ka-set.info/
Khmer (also from Monday): http://khmer.ka-set.info/
Some of these pictures are not easy to look at but it's very important that people know what has happened in Dey Krohom.
Thats it for this week,
Tom Kemeny
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Week 17: ups and downs
After our first whole week back in Chamcar Bei it feels like we never left. It's been quite a busy week and has been full of ups and downs.
We went back to the village from Kep a bit earlier than we usually do last weekend so that we could enjoy having a few days of chilling out at the Red House before a full week of teaching. On 
Sunday we were reading in our hammocks when we got 2 unexpected visitors who didn't seem to be expecting us to be there either. Apparently, while Tom and I had been in Singapore, some one had broken into the kitchen twice over the weekends (while everyone was inKep) and stolen some food and knives. We still don't know who he/she/they were but by the way the two men sneakily crept up the stairs and their awkward reactions when they saw us, we have a hunch that it may have been them. After a while the guard showed up and chatted to them for a bit but when Paa came out of the kitchen, where she'd been resting, they set off pretty quickly.
Sunday we were reading in our hammocks when we got 2 unexpected visitors who didn't seem to be expecting us to be there either. Apparently, while Tom and I had been in Singapore, some one had broken into the kitchen twice over the weekends (while everyone was inKep) and stolen some food and knives. We still don't know who he/she/they were but by the way the two men sneakily crept up the stairs and their awkward reactions when they saw us, we have a hunch that it may have been them. After a while the guard showed up and chatted to them for a bit but when Paa came out of the kitchen, where she'd been resting, they set off pretty quickly. The house is also being taken over by a plague of biting ants, especially in the kitchen where a strange dance or jig has developed to prevent them from biting our feet. We've also seen a couple of little snakes around the house and by the wier so now we're doubly careful of where we put our feet down.
Last September we heard that there were plans to move the BAB office in Kep to Chamcar Bei in March or April this year. Having been in Cambodia for 3 months already we were pretty cynical as to whether that would ever happen, let alone in March. However, a
s of a couple of weeks ago, the BAB office in Kep now has a new project manager called Sara, from Holland, who has promised us that it will be moved on 9th February. Everyone agrees that we think decisions and plans will be made a lot faster from now on! I'm really glad that the office is moving to the village, mainly because it will mean that we won't have to drive the moto to Kep every weekend. I don't really mind driving there and have got quite used to driving the moto but neither of us trust the other people on the road very much. The number of road accidents we've heard about in Cambodia so far is incredible. This week there were two funerals in the village - both due to moto accidents and the victims were only 20 and 29 years old. It's not a very comforting thought...
It's definitely the time of year for weddings and parties at the moment and in Chamcar Bei everyone loves a party. The only problem is that they last for 2 to 3 days and they like to build great big walls of speakers and blast music from them until 2 in the morning and then again from 5am until daybreak. Unfortunately sound travels extremely well in the area and a party 3km away can sound like it's just down the road.
Despite a slight lack of sleep, teaching has gone pretty well this week. Our afternoon schedules have changed a little. In the morning we still teach the kids at CLC, the teachers and the youth team. However, in the afternoon I'm now teaching one hour of CLC kids and then I go back to the CVTC to teach all the ladies who work there - the weaving, sewing and Funky Junk ladies as well as Coconut Project ladies. There are 35 of them so I teach half of them on Monday and Tuesday and half on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm starting right from ABC again because they can't speak any English at all. I think I'm really going to enjoy teaching them at the end of the day. The topic this week has been a recap of time as well as dates, seasons and birthdays. Unfortunately my class of intermedi
ate CLC students on Wednesday morning was extremely hectic - it was just one of those days where all the kids had waaaay too much energy and decided it was more fun to climb up the window grills and have a ride on the new mobile white-board than learn to tell the time. However, the beginner students are really enjoying the "letter of the week" activities. We've found worksheets which have traceable letters and pictures of words that begin with that letter. I'm also trying to teach them some new games which will help them to practice new vocab.
ate CLC students on Wednesday morning was extremely hectic - it was just one of those days where all the kids had waaaay too much energy and decided it was more fun to climb up the window grills and have a ride on the new mobile white-board than learn to tell the time. However, the beginner students are really enjoying the "letter of the week" activities. We've found worksheets which have traceable letters and pictures of words that begin with that letter. I'm also trying to teach them some new games which will help them to practice new vocab.We worked very hard with the Youth Team this week to help them fill out their scholarship application forms. We managed to get them sent off on time and now we have about a month until the selection process starts when they will have to go Phnom Penh for exams and interviews.
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Week 16: Back to Chamcar Bei
Hello!! I hope you are all having a happy New Year!
This week Joss and I arrived back in Chamcar Bei late on Tuesday afternoon. Coming back was an interesting experience as both Joss and I felt like our time in Cambodia was more like a vivid dream tha
n three months of our lives. Also, even although everything in Chamcar Bei is in exactly the same place as it was when we left, the whole village and the area surrounding it has now become a large dustbowl. All the vibrant shades of green that we wrote about in our first weeks here have faded into browns and yellows. I'd like to make it clear that this does not make the beautiful Chamcar Bei any less stunning and majestic, merely different. I think what makes this contrast even starker is the fact that we were not here to see the transformation occur. Oddly enough, although it's baking hot during the afternoons at the moment, the nights and mornings are far colder then they were last year. I think this is because the winds have gotten stronger and the sky is now cloudless. Another cosmetic change has occured at the CVTC as the wild grass around the Red House has been trimmed. This is apparently because Paa caught and killed a snake in the long grass there. This change is quite welcome though as it makes the Red House and the "banana plantation" we have cultivated seem even more homely.
When we arrived back in the village we went straight to school to drop off the costumes and toothbrushes donnated by various people affiliated with UWCSEA. As soon as we passed through the gates there was what literally sounded like the beginings of a riot from the main building. Before we were halfway down the drive we were being greeted with "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TEACHERRRRR!" by any kids who happened to
be outside. Just as I got to the door of the classroom I usually teach in the doors burst open and all of our kids poured out. The funny thing is that after the hugs and hellos all my kids started measuring themselves against me like they did when I first arrived in September. I think I'm the measuring stick for the class :) When we left CLC we had an entourage of 30 or so kids chasing our tuk-tuk down the road. Some of the more adventurous kids even climbed onto the skirtingboards of the tuk-tuk and got a ride to the market. Although this was fun, I was also quite scared one of them was going to get caught under the wheel. Thankfully, Bun Tien, our most reliable tuk-tuk driver, had the sense to drive very slowly until the kids stopped hanging on.
Over the next few days it was really nice to catch up with Biff, Erin and Paa at
the Red House and get two days of teaching in before coming back to Kep for internet access. Teaching has so far been pretty similar to where we left off last year, although I think the kids are so pleased to see us again that they are being even more well behaved than usual. We have also introduced a "letter of the week" system for the younger students which they seem to be enjoying. Joss will also be taking on a new class next week. The CVTC classes she will be teaching are women who are involved with Funky Junk, weaving, sewing and Econut, as opposed to the "coconut project" class which has been renamed the "village" class since hardly any of the students were actually involved with the CVTC projects.
When we were in Kep we caught up with some friends there like Marcel (from the Riel bar) and Stephan (from Botanica guest house). Stephan is going to Kampong Trach with his wife some time next week to finalize arrangements for the construction of the Chamcar Bie basketball court. At this point I would like to say a thanks to all of the people who donated money or equipment and a special thanks to our parents for putting together such a great fundraiser at UWC (especially Hilary and Gwen for putting in all those hours slaving over a hot oven!)
Until next week!
Tom
This week Joss and I arrived back in Chamcar Bei late on Tuesday afternoon. Coming back was an interesting experience as both Joss and I felt like our time in Cambodia was more like a vivid dream tha
n three months of our lives. Also, even although everything in Chamcar Bei is in exactly the same place as it was when we left, the whole village and the area surrounding it has now become a large dustbowl. All the vibrant shades of green that we wrote about in our first weeks here have faded into browns and yellows. I'd like to make it clear that this does not make the beautiful Chamcar Bei any less stunning and majestic, merely different. I think what makes this contrast even starker is the fact that we were not here to see the transformation occur. Oddly enough, although it's baking hot during the afternoons at the moment, the nights and mornings are far colder then they were last year. I think this is because the winds have gotten stronger and the sky is now cloudless. Another cosmetic change has occured at the CVTC as the wild grass around the Red House has been trimmed. This is apparently because Paa caught and killed a snake in the long grass there. This change is quite welcome though as it makes the Red House and the "banana plantation" we have cultivated seem even more homely.
When we arrived back in the village we went straight to school to drop off the costumes and toothbrushes donnated by various people affiliated with UWCSEA. As soon as we passed through the gates there was what literally sounded like the beginings of a riot from the main building. Before we were halfway down the drive we were being greeted with "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TEACHERRRRR!" by any kids who happened to
be outside. Just as I got to the door of the classroom I usually teach in the doors burst open and all of our kids poured out. The funny thing is that after the hugs and hellos all my kids started measuring themselves against me like they did when I first arrived in September. I think I'm the measuring stick for the class :) When we left CLC we had an entourage of 30 or so kids chasing our tuk-tuk down the road. Some of the more adventurous kids even climbed onto the skirtingboards of the tuk-tuk and got a ride to the market. Although this was fun, I was also quite scared one of them was going to get caught under the wheel. Thankfully, Bun Tien, our most reliable tuk-tuk driver, had the sense to drive very slowly until the kids stopped hanging on.Over the next few days it was really nice to catch up with Biff, Erin and Paa at
the Red House and get two days of teaching in before coming back to Kep for internet access. Teaching has so far been pretty similar to where we left off last year, although I think the kids are so pleased to see us again that they are being even more well behaved than usual. We have also introduced a "letter of the week" system for the younger students which they seem to be enjoying. Joss will also be taking on a new class next week. The CVTC classes she will be teaching are women who are involved with Funky Junk, weaving, sewing and Econut, as opposed to the "coconut project" class which has been renamed the "village" class since hardly any of the students were actually involved with the CVTC projects.When we were in Kep we caught up with some friends there like Marcel (from the Riel bar) and Stephan (from Botanica guest house). Stephan is going to Kampong Trach with his wife some time next week to finalize arrangements for the construction of the Chamcar Bie basketball court. At this point I would like to say a thanks to all of the people who donated money or equipment and a special thanks to our parents for putting together such a great fundraiser at UWC (especially Hilary and Gwen for putting in all those hours slaving over a hot oven!)
Until next week!
Tom
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Week 15: Back in Kampuchea once again!
After being back in Singapore for a month, our time in Cambodia had begun to feel like a dream to me. My photos became the family computer’s screensaver and every time I walked past the computer and saw images of our life in Chamcar Bei I couldn’t believe it was really us who’d been there. It was almost like I was looking into someone else’s life or like having been really engrossed in a good book.
I have to admit that I was a bit shell-shocked during the first week back in Singapore. In my week 13 blog I was reflecting on how peaceful it is when the working day is coming to an end at about 5pm throughout the village in Chamcar Bei. When I was back in Singapore I got on the bus to go to my yoga class. It was about 7pm so there were quite a lot of people on their way home from work. Or were they? Behind me there was a group of people still looking through their day’s paperwork and a lady next to me was still wired up to her mobile phone discussing a meeting for the next day. Even after my yoga class, when I was in the changing rooms, there was a lady from my class sitting on the bench, talking down her phone about a business deal. I have nothing against people working hard but there needs to be a time when you stop thinking about it!
Anyway, Tom and I have been back in Cambodia for one week now a
nd have slipped back into our Cambodian life as if we hadn’t left (although we’re still rebuilding our confidence with speaking Khmer). We decided to fly into Siem Reap first to spend 3 days looking around Angkor Wat which we both thought was just incredible. I really don’t know how to put the immensity and unbelievable amount of detail into words. Perhaps that’s why I took so many photos… I’m really glad 
we made the decision to spend some time at Angkor Wat because you can’t really think of Cambodia without thinking about Angkor Wat. It’s no surprise that it’s their national emblem and an icon which Cambodians are especially proud of.
On Friday we took a 6 hour bus ride from Siem Reap down to Phnom Penh where we spent the weekend in the unusually quiet BAB office. Tom and I are the only UWC volunteers to come back to Cambodia again so it was a bit strange arriving at the office without the rest of our “family” the
re. We were planning to stay for the week to help out with the 5-year UWC scholarship selection process but that’s been postponed for a few weeks because there were only 11 applicants – fewer than were expected. So instead we decided to take the 5 hour bus ride to Kep on Monday afternoon and that’s where we are now! And as soon as I’ve uploaded this blog we’ll be off in a tuk tuk to the Red House in Chamcar Bei – home sweet home!
I have to admit that I was a bit shell-shocked during the first week back in Singapore. In my week 13 blog I was reflecting on how peaceful it is when the working day is coming to an end at about 5pm throughout the village in Chamcar Bei. When I was back in Singapore I got on the bus to go to my yoga class. It was about 7pm so there were quite a lot of people on their way home from work. Or were they? Behind me there was a group of people still looking through their day’s paperwork and a lady next to me was still wired up to her mobile phone discussing a meeting for the next day. Even after my yoga class, when I was in the changing rooms, there was a lady from my class sitting on the bench, talking down her phone about a business deal. I have nothing against people working hard but there needs to be a time when you stop thinking about it!
Anyway, Tom and I have been back in Cambodia for one week now a
nd have slipped back into our Cambodian life as if we hadn’t left (although we’re still rebuilding our confidence with speaking Khmer). We decided to fly into Siem Reap first to spend 3 days looking around Angkor Wat which we both thought was just incredible. I really don’t know how to put the immensity and unbelievable amount of detail into words. Perhaps that’s why I took so many photos… I’m really glad 
we made the decision to spend some time at Angkor Wat because you can’t really think of Cambodia without thinking about Angkor Wat. It’s no surprise that it’s their national emblem and an icon which Cambodians are especially proud of.On Friday we took a 6 hour bus ride from Siem Reap down to Phnom Penh where we spent the weekend in the unusually quiet BAB office. Tom and I are the only UWC volunteers to come back to Cambodia again so it was a bit strange arriving at the office without the rest of our “family” the
re. We were planning to stay for the week to help out with the 5-year UWC scholarship selection process but that’s been postponed for a few weeks because there were only 11 applicants – fewer than were expected. So instead we decided to take the 5 hour bus ride to Kep on Monday afternoon and that’s where we are now! And as soon as I’ve uploaded this blog we’ll be off in a tuk tuk to the Red House in Chamcar Bei – home sweet home!
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