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
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