Day 4 – Week 2 – Monday 1st July
First day at work today. Up nice and early, and before going to the school, I cross a group of monks in traditional outfits, including one doing the morning prayer with a villager. I felt a bit out of place as they were doing it in the middle of the street as I came towards the campus.
I decide to go and wait for everyone on the chairs of the school, half an hour before I was due to arrive. Enough time to see the Coffee Shop open, the students to arrive and sing-along to their favourite American tunes. Always successful those US based singers…
After finishing my daily log for the blog, I went up to the office to meet my boss, so he could explain exactly what he expected of me over the course of the next six months. There are numerous missions for me which I am really excited about.
I will be part of the social team with three or four other Khmer colleagues depending on the month. We have files on all the families that are members of the school, whether its primary, pastry or the follow up program. The aim is not only to complete and put together these files in some form of database but is to analyse what are the real needs of the families, is there a common theme and ultimately how can we help them the most efficiently possible. To do this, I will be following one of my colleagues through the rural surroundings of the Bayon temples to meet the families, really take in their difficulties but still keeping an objective mind in order to really take a step back on everything and to analyse correctly. This will help setting up a form of report by the end of the year, and consequently my stay, in order to present to sponsors or other agencies which could help us and make it clear to everyone what are the needs of the families.
We will also be working with PSE, a large French NGO based in the Phnom Penh, who is doing a great job there but not so well here in Siem Reap. We will be merging in a sense the families that are located here under our umbrella in order to be more efficient and really help the families, which means I might end up working elsewhere and go to the capital more often than I thought.
There will be more added to the lists of missions I will be doing here but I also have to learn more about them and understand what I am doing on a day-to-day basis. So far, I have had a look at past reports and have found very interesting data which my sociology mind has really been trying to get around all day. 80% of ratio of population to employment? That’s 30% more than in France…
After trying out the canteen lunch, which consists of a lovely sauce on top of sticky rice, I also got the chance to try out one of the new additions to the vegetable garden menu, which I will discuss in a later post when I have visited it. This new addition was a cheap salad but with so many different yet fresh and tasty ingredients, accompanied with little slices of toast as you can see on the picture. Lovely, cheap and includes ingredients from the vegetable garden: what else can you ask for?
After translating the script for the presentation of the school all afternoon, we finished off the day with an alumni event. All five generations of graduates from the pastry school program were invited for a meet up event at the school where food and drinks were served. It was lovely to see 23 of the 40 odd students who had graduated show up. The years really mixed well and after a few speeches from various members of the staff and some food, they turned to the dancefloor for a couple hours. A first step towards bringing together every year past and present Ecole du Bayon students at an annual event.
A first successful day at work and very excited to get started, knowing the passes to get into the temples arrived and therefore on Tuesday I can go to the primary school!
Day 5 – Week 2 – Tuesday 2nd July 2019
Two chocolate croissants, the best in the city: the perfect way to start a big day. My first day out in the field. Off I went with the boss to the primary school, located within the Angkor temples area. After leaving the city at the back of a car, we go past large groups of tourists, street markets and elephants ready for the tourists as we approached the temples.
Buddhist statues stood tall on the gates that surrounded us, we could see the large temples from afar. Will definitely be back properly to walk around and take the right pictures, soaking in all the history of the area. A long road took us all the way to the Bayon School where a group of children were playing football outside.
My awe of this place was instant… The red and blue class buildings really stood out, the children of all ages were all in light blue sports tops with the Bayon logo proudly branded on them and a sincere smile on all their faces. I started a visit with the school manager and my boss, going from class to class to see inside. We didn’t bother them too much; the children were sitting their final exams in order to see if they have the level to move up a grade. The classes were cool and sure a bit dark but at least it wasn’t boiling inside the rooms and permitted the students to focus. The standout building for me is the library: decorated with painting directly on the walls, it really incited students to come to the library often to enjoy a book and some games with the very interesting teachers.
The primary school goes from Grades 1 to 6, which includes one year of Kindergarten to start with. They are all separated in different buildings but have a common canteen, the Cantine d’Elodie, where they can eat two meals a day: a full breakfast to get started with the day and be strong, and a complete and balanced lunch. This is crucial as they don’t get these meals at home most of the time. They have access to clean drinkable water, a nurse three times a week and to educational equipment in addition to the uniforms.
The school is a good chance for me to explain the salutations process here in Cambodia. Like in many Asian countries, physical contact is a bit taboo, and therefore you do not shake hands. You can give a light wave of the hand, but most of the time you will give a light nod of the head in sign of respect or do a prayer sign also out of respect. You can obviously combine both, but more importantly try adding a smile. Some smiles on the streets might be hypocritical but most of the time, the culture of smiling in this country is huge, however poor these people are.
After visiting the school and taking a few pictures for the blog, I sat around to take in the atmosphere and watch the kids try out the new uniforms. They are being by two mothers of current students, for which they are paid for and are given the materials needed. We went to both homes in order to check on the advancement of the uniforms. The first home was a little rudimental but rather better than I expected to find homes in this kind of poverty. It consisted in two ‘huts’ with good solid roofs, included a television and well-built beds. A new-born child was being rocked in a hammock. From what I saw, there were 3 or 4 children living that roof, in addition to two adults. The mother had worked really well on the uniforms, was on track to produce 5 pieces (either skirt, trousers, shorts or tops) per day in order to meet the numbers expected to start the year academic year.
We then went with the technician to the other home, where the sowing machine had broken down. It was repaired very quickly which permitted us to have a good chat with the mother. We discussed expenses in electricity, which she tried convincing us that the rates had risen since she started the job a few days ago. This would seem logical in the sense that she is using more electricity to produce the uniforms; however, the electricity bill was taken up on the 26th June, which was only a day or two after the start of the process. The bill had only risen by 7.000 riels compared to her usual bill, which is barely 1.75$ more and doesn’t seem to show that strong correlation. We still paid her most of her bill, in advance of her salary, to keep her motivated to continue making the uniforms and try and make up for lost time while the machine was broken.
It was an interesting experience to have a first look into the families and their environment. While we did not really address the poverty of the families or their general situation, which is what I will be working on, it was a good start to immerse myself into their lives, to see for myself the poverty and the individual situations. I will be working with the social worker of the school on visiting families tomorrow afternoon to look into the individual situations of the new applicants, in order to choose which ones can come into the school. I will be working closely with this social worker as I mentioned yesterday to develop individual files and really grasp the issues the families are facing and how can we help them.
Spent the afternoon at the coffee shop, interacting with the clients and talking about the Bayon School. Went out for a delicious Greek dinner, yes, I know, traditional here. And off to bed for a new day, a day where I will be teaching English to the pastry school students as well as visiting a few families in the afternoon to get started on my project.
Day 6 – Week 2 – Wednesday 3rd July 2019
Starting off the day with English lessons, it was a chance firstly to interact properly with the pastry school students but also really assess the level. I was there to help them out to prepare for their job interviews next month, whether its preparing for their self-presentation, questions related to what they can cook or why they would like to work for this kitchen or hotel. I had two small groups of six students and I really tried helping them psychologically. Most of them have a very good level in English, so it is more a question of being confident and putting out there what you want to say in the correct way. It was an incredible experience as I really got to know more about them, they got to know more about me and more importantly, I feel like the lesson really helped them with believing in themselves.
I then went to the primary school in order to meet up with the social worker to go out into the village for the family visits. This is my chance to tell you about our local Uber; it’s called PassApp, works similarly to Uber with geolocalisation and numerous drivers. You set your point of departure, but as most people here cannot read, most of the time it is easier to not set your point of arrival and just guide them to where you want to go. Unless I am mistaken, all payments are done by cash, although you still get a receipt on your email. It is very cheap: you can drive for 25 minutes and only pay 2$. It is also the leader of transport in the country, with regular tuk-tuks being the only serious opposition. Grab took over Uber in Cambodia recently but PassApp is everywhere and really works very well. It has its downfalls, such as drivers going in the wrong direction to come pick you up, or simply not showing up. In this occasion we took a regular tuk-tuk on the street and made him wait for 3 hours at the school while my friend watched the end of year exams and did the family visits.
The family visits, similarly to what we do for the follow up program after the end of primary school, has for objective to check up on the families and see if their level of income has gone up or down or if additional issues have deteriorated their situation. They all have children in our school and sometimes it is our chance to see the siblings who are applying to be part of the school for the next year.
We went to visit 5 families, the first one just to drop off food to support them, and the other four for the annual visit. The families had various issues, from losing a source of income to sicknesses. The level of income was so variable, from tuk-tuk drivers not having any customers due to low season, to the duck they were getting eggs from to sell at the market dying. Three of the four families had a new-born child who was less than 9 months old, in addition to a minimum of two siblings. The situations are very difficult for the families, they barely survive with sometimes loan from the village, their cousins or banks. Having us in support is crucial to them: by having one or more of the children in our system, we can help them get out slowly from poverty once the children get a job. However, we want to go further than that and having these annual check-ups helps us see if there are common problems to the families, which we can then present to various sponsors and NGOs who can then help them. Clean water, housing or support for medication are some of the issues we might face with these families.
With the visits completed, we went back to the pastry school before going out for dinner and some drinks. A much-needed sleep awaited me back home after a difficult day from an emotional perspective.
Day 7 – Week 2 – Thursday 4th July 2019
A more relaxing day was planned for today, with only lunch with the Ex-President of the NGO and a house party in the evening to look forward to. Can’t be busy every day. I did accompany my friend to get stickers printed for the new jam pots we were selling to various clients. That is also a part of the coffee shop: the corner store where we sell jam pots, cooking books, post cards and bread. This adds up with the regular orders from the menu for the coffee shop as well as the numerous clients who ask us to produce their pastry for their hotels or restaurants for example. This makes up for a budget which is then separated within the NGO but more importantly goes towards financing the free pastry school program. With the addition of a real bakery next year, the business will truly develop and will certainly bring in more and more funds in the months and years to come.
Currently in the rain season, the past few days not only have been extremely humid, but it has also rained a lot. The short trip to go for lunch was horrendous, we were completely soaked on the back of the motorbike, and the aircon inside the restaurant was not very welcome for sure. This season is supposed to last until September, with all the mosquitoes attacking us daily. The allergic reactions to these have hit me pretty badly for the past few days, making it difficult to walk around barefoot at the office like everyone else.
After a dinner at Greek restaurant, we went out for a quick drink next to the Angkor night market which I am eager to discover. A good night’s sleep to finish the week. Hoping for more full days in the days to come.
Day 8 – Week 2 – Friday 5th July 2019
Not much going on today, a single short meeting in the afternoon and one of the volunteer’s leaving party at night with a lovely cake, not much interested to tell you guys about unfortunately.
Will show you this lovely picture I took for the school’s Instagram story yesterday for the 4th July in the US. Introducing our very own lemon muffin.
Hopefully a busier weekend ahead.
Day 9 – Week 2 – Saturday 6th July 2019
A lovely lie in and a great brunch made the start of the day incredibly better than the end of the week. The rest of the day was relatively calm, included a few calls back home and a shopping trip down route 6, the main avenue. The Angkor Market is the cheapest (one of at least) shopping places for food in town. Yet, meals are so much cheaper in restaurants that on the long term it is probably cheaper to do take out and eat out every night than do food shopping and cook it yourself. Nothing more satisfying than eating your own made food, it’s like collecting the fruits of your labour.
I then went out with some of the colleagues, mostly people they knew which was nice to meet new people. They worked more in the hotel industry rather than NGOs which was a change for once. After a few drinks at one of the guys’ hotel, we took a PassApp to a gay club which was an interesting experience. Not necessarily how you would picture a gay club, but more like a bar with great music to dance to, fancy colours and happy people everywhere basically. The highlight of the evening was going to Pub Street, which as you can tell by its name, was full of pubs and clubs. Great music, cheap drinks and great people, although mostly tourists, still a fun experience.
Night ended in a rooftop bar, probably the most famous one in the French community. Had a great time and will definitely be looking forward to next Saturday. A long night sleep awaited me, with the plan to go explore the city the next day with some friends.
Day 10 – Week 2 – Sunday 7th July
Late rise after a long night out, and after a quick brunch, I went out to explore the city. Back to pub street where I was the night before to apply for a job at the Angkor What? Bar, but also a little tour in the southern part of the city. Taking in a maximum of the atmosphere of a hot Sunday morning.
I eventually left to the other side of the city to meet up with my friends to visit the war museum. At first, it looked a bit dodgy, it was in the middle of nowhere and just had two planes. Turns out, it was an old landmine field, where many died during the war. The tour guide was fascinating, his mother unfortunately died in the civil war that tore Cambodia apart in the 1970s.
After invasion from the Communist Vietnamese government, supported by the Communist Khmer Rouge party in Cambodia, people were asked to flee the capital of Phnom Penh, which became a ghost town, due to plausible bomb strikes from the United States. This was a huge lie and just led people to move out of the city, back to rural areas where there was no money or food. Many starved, others died of diseases and the rest were executed. If you didn’t comply with the Khmer Rouge regime, you were put into camps before being either shot, strangled, tortured or had your throat slit. The torture was horrible, very graphic even in descriptions used at the museum.
We got a few explanations of practices during this war, but also how landmines were made. The field was covered in tanks and had many small huts which gave explanations on the war. A war which not only saw a whole generation being wiped out, but particularly all the intellectuals which today could have helped rebuild Cambodia. Unfortunately, more than half of the current population is born after the end of the war in 1979, which sure gives a very young and dynamic population, but also means many departments in government for example is inexperienced and doesn’t have the necessary intellectual knowledge to want the best for the country. While it isn’t exactly corrupt like many African countries, it is not exactly a very functioning government either, still based a lot on the kings.
One of the main differences we made with Nazi Germany conflict and this one is that World War II was forgiven but not forgotten, while Cambodia tries to forget but will never forgive Vietnam for their actions. The war here is clearly not forgotten, still very recent, and in a way not completely over. After 1979, many died from hunger after being moved out from their areas, they died from the landmines as well which were eventually uncovered but there are still some present in the Northern part of the country. A truly cruel war which is unheard of in Western culture unlike the Vietnam or Korean War for example.
After a very interesting day of history, a quick dinner and a good night sleep to finish off the week. Tune in next week for more adventures.
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