Day Two

So I guess I clicked the wrong button in in the previous post and it didn't get posted till today. I was guessing, everything was in Korean :-)

I'm not able to get a Cambodian phone number due to red tape here but will keep working on it. I'll try doing it the Balkan way. And next time remind me to make my own stamp and to bring lots of red ink. :-)

Here's an excerpt from an email to B:

Cambodia is hot and humid. (I know stating the obvious)

You know, I always thought myself a rather savvy traveller but once again I am reminded that I'm really not. :-) Its definitely the poorest place I've been to and certainly the least developed. I'm in the capital and it doesn't have many paved roads, mostly dirt track. Luckily for us we are here in the dry season, as apparently when it rains its not uncommon to have to wade through ankle-calf deep sewage to get around.

From the plane, Phonom Penh looks like its in a flat, broad plain, with hills out in the distance. Its at the confluence of three rivers, which luckily for me, brings a consistent breeze and helps keep a bit of heat off.

The city is a combination of ruinous french era colonial buildings and the attempts of the post Khmer rouge era to build new housing, which has failed. The NGO crowd is incredibly strong here, they are really the only westerns here, very few of the backpackers I saw in Thailand bound for the tourist sights. Apparently, we are staying in NGO land as well, close to UNESCO, the UN, World Bank, and dozens of independent organizations. The issues facing Cambodia are stark and seemingly endless.

We went yesterday to meet with a Marinol (spelling?) group that works with children who are HIV Positive, ages 2-14. They have all been orphaned, and until about 2 years ago, never reached their teens. The problems facing these groups are enormous as what do you do with 800 children once they are older? Bill Clinton apparently pledged to provide the meds for these kids until age 14 but how does a society much less an organization support them, both physically and socially beyond that?

Today we spent the morning at a fair to celebrate UN Human Rights day, and I got to see the type of works various groups work with. The amount of groups, plus the fact that they are all dealing with a range of issues is amazing. Lets make a small list; anti-corruption, sex workers, HIV/Aids, children's groups, poverty alleviation, farmers rights, trade unions, garment industry workers, refugees, the arts, reconciliation, UN tribunal, under age brothels and a ton of others. It amazing really.

When I spoke with Kevin from the Marinol group yesterday, he talked about how the Khmer Rouge Era touched everything and everyone. 90% of the artists we killed, 80% of the academics, they left nothing. People here are rebuilding from scratch. Trying to revive everything from basic social traditions, like dance and song traditions to the economy. Bosnia is farther along in its redevelopment from what I can tell and their war ended 10 years ago. The Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979.

The other amazing this is that apparently the non-profit crowd is making bank here. Some people are making in the 6 digits to be working here, and that seems so incredibly ridiculous to me. And anyone can come, so you have a hodge podge of organizations, from well funded legit ones to crazies who decided they want to move here and set up an NGO for whatever reasons. Not to say they people shouldn't be allowed, it just creates a bit of havoc you know.

I am excited to meet with the ones we have lined up for the class, we may even get to go to the dump and meet with people there who are working there! The orgs range from sex workers, to HIV/Aids to refugee and I don't know what else. Since I got here early, I've been hanging out with Tracy, our prof, and making the rounds meeting with some of the people we are going to meet later this week.

What else? The US dollar is king here, everything is in dollars and the only time I've used the riel is to pay the moto and tuk tuk drivers. Even in the grocery store, where everything is posted in dollars. Apparently the grocery store is also the place to be to change money, I heard most of the NGO folks get paid in $100 bills and head straight to the grocery to change them into smaller denominations. I was also wrong about there being no ATMs in Cambodia, there are now four in various parts of the city. :-)

Traffic is typical from what I remember in China, but far fewer cars. Crowded by moto drivers, tuk-tuks (a tuk-tuk is a moto hauled 4 person cart thing) and the occasional Lexus SUV (!!) and smaller sedans, all of them yelling at the same time. One thing I forgot about Asia is the lack of personal space in public spaces. I had a tiny thing about half my size nearly knock me over when I was trying (shouldn't have bothered) to line up to get a ticket stamped.

Tracy said that you fall into two categories after visiting Cambodia, you either love it or hate it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it :-) There's something refreshing about driving up a dirt potholed street with the whiffs of sulphur and trash assaulting your nostrils. :-)

Hope all is well @ home and the various other places you are!! (Esp you Mailians and Ethiopians!)

Love you all,
Natalia