Some Pictures

These are the two little boys from our home stay family playing with the bats and balls note their house is on the right.The family of 7 lived in a traditional rural wooden house on stilts with the cows (and motor bike ) underneath. The little calf in the picture seems to be enjoying the game too.
  

This is me before the dreaded lurgy I am much thinner now! in front of the mighty Mekong River

"Fever Floods and First Days"

"Sus a day" all my chums "soc sa bye tei"? well the language training is over and we are being launched into the great Cambodian public with the sounds of K'mai ringing in our ears I was secretly hoping that I would miraculously develop a gift for learning languages but sadly it was not to be I got the grammar and all that stuff in one respect K'mai is easy in that there are no tenses but a lot of words to the untrained ear sound alike and it is hard to differentiate but at the end of the day it was my memory which let me down as I struggled to remember all the words but I will keep trying
At the end of language training we went straight into home stay which was a 24 hour stay in a small village 45 km's from Kampong Cham although a bit apprehensive about this as sleeping outdoors or above cattle on a piece of rush matting has never been quite my thing never the less I was quite looking forward to it. I rather rashly said before I came out that I wanted to try every thing that was on offer but fete would have it that I was not to experience the home stay as the night before I was struck down with fever joint pains and other symptoms not mentionable in polite company so I was left in the hotel.
My room mate Vicky from the Philippines had to brave this alone taking with her all the things i had bought for the family which included bats and balls for the children biscuits and a jar of sweets.Vicky brought back some photos of the boys playing with the bats etc she said that they were thrilled with these but had to be taught how to play with them as they had never had them before their dad was particularly pleased so that made me feel a bit better I will try to post the photo's at a later date.
Because of my illness my return to PP was delayed and that meant I was way behind with moving into my new apartment I had just two days to buy enough stuff to get me up and running including basics like sheets towels cutlery et al as the apartment had non of these things quite a feat I can tell you particularly on wobbly legs!!Any way my new friend Chris came to my rescue she let me stay at her place so I didn't have to go back to VSO Joy and had some home comforts including baked beans I was in heaven  but I digress by Saturday and with Chris's help I had moved in and I love it
Yesterday was my first day at work getting to work was one of my biggest challenges as despite practising my bicycle riding skills in Kampong Cham I am still not confident enough to cycle around the city it may come in time but it is mad here on the roads and at present I just can't so I have arranged with one of the guards at VSO Saskya who doubles as a moto driver to pick me up both ways day two and its working well so far! he drives slowly and carefully.
My first day was memorable the office is situated at the Ministry for Health which lets CMA have a room in the basement which it shares with the fledgling Cambodian Midwives Council administration officer. The office was an absolute tip very dirty with rubbish everywhere so that was my first task to give it a tidy up as best i could.
The President a practising midwife in PP came in during the afternoon but my translator did not turn up so it was difficult to communicate (I learned afterwards that he does not work Mondays) which is helpful as that is the day she comes in however we got through she has set up a meeting on Thursday afternoon with the rest of the exec committee so that will be good and I can start to look at what needs to be done to strengthen the organisation so that it can improve midwifery practice and promote the profession there is a lot of empirical evidence to suggest that where there are strong professional associations standards improve and maternal and neonatal mortality rates improve
And the Floods well I woke up this morning to see my street under 4' of water!! how am I going to get to work this morning I thought no traffic was getting through but within half an hour it was clear now that's clever and that's Cambodia!!!    

Pictures of our boat trip

The villagers came out to talk with us about their lives we were very keen to try out our new language skills below ae some of the wonderful statues we saw at the "resort"



This is the village school the carts are removed before school starts



The bottom picture shows one of the many working house boats on the Mekong River

This is our boat and captain!

Another Great Day Out

On Saturday we had a day off school as it was Pchum Ben and so Thea organised another "Day Out" This time 11 of us set sail with the help of our trusty guide Gideon and his other brother friend whose name unfortunately has escaped me know to us as captain
It was a traditional long boat used to carry both cargo and people with an enclosed part and rush matting seating area at the rear  (first class). The boys of course chose to sit aloft the vessel until it became too hot and then they joined the cissies and had a snooze!
Our first port of call was to an l island inhabited by a small community of about 150 people of whom 25 were children they must have known we were coming as most of them were on the shore to welcome us the incentive to stay could have been the goodies we took with us as small gifts.
We had a short walk to the village most of the buildings were very simple wood and rush constructions on stilts which are traditional and very functional as protection from the river and rains In the past during the rainy season the villagers have to leave and take shelter in Kampong Cham until the floods have subsided however this year this has not happened the rains are very late and also the Chinese have been building dams on the Mekong which may also be having an impact.
The village elder was very pleased to tell us a little about their way of life and asked us to share it with others. The community has received help from The World Food Programme and there was lots of evidence of cultivation on the island with most homes having their own plant nurseries or as we would call them in the UK allotments. There seemed to be good grazing for the cattle which looked the healthiest cattle I have seen in Cambodia to date.
The village had a small elementary school which has one teacher the older children travel to the mainland to school they are currently trying to get enough money to build a new school which is in stilts but so far this is only partially constructed
The children were very lively and chatted away to us and in our very rudimentary kamai we were able to communicate.
Although clearly very poor with not a toy in sight they seemed healthy and happy.
After the village we continued up river to the Kampong Cham equivalent of Blackpool Pleasure Beach well not quite!
The "resort" as it is known is set around the temple we had to climb a very impressive 201 step staircase to reach it I was one of the last to get to the top as you can imagine!
After paying a $2 entrance fee ( a small fortune for poor volunteers) we had our pick nick with all 11 of us sharing what we had even branstone pickle
After that we wandered around the resort with Gideon giving us a commentary There were wonderful views from the top right across the Mekong and beyond there was also the remains of a 6th century wat   as well as the more modern versions.
After this we returned to the boat and enjoyed a leisurely trip back home having had another "great day out"
How I am going to miss all my pals when we go our separate ways in one weeks time
   

PChum Ben Festival

At the risk of looking as If I am having too much of a good time for a hard up overworked and deprived volunteer I just have to tell you about the last two days which once again have been full of rich experiences and a mix of emotions.
Firstly over the past few days Cambodia has been celebrating one of its many traditional Buddhist festivals namely Pchum Ben very briefly this is a time when families come together so all the city workers return home to the provinces and celebrate and remember their ancestors. This centres around the temples where people take food in abundance and it is offerred up to their ancestors through the monks and then to the people including all the poor from around the district the festival lasts for days and for many this is the time when they have enough to eat.
We were invited to attend the temple nearest to our school last Friday our teacher Dara explained that the ceremony was to celebrate the life of Buddha and how he became "The Enlightened One" after travelling for 40 years to try to discover the meaning of life and why people got sick etc he had been born a prince so did not need to encounter as much personal hardship and danger as he did on his travels eventually he came to rest under a Banyan Tree which is why you will always find one growing near a Buddhist temple any way I digress we were invited to partake of the feast although we all felt a bit uncomfortable about taking food that could have gone to poor people we were assured that this was a great honour.The monks ate first as they have to eat before noon and then we were invited to eat.
Our table was laden with different types of curry and vegetarian dishes  and there was a pot of rice that would have fed an army.The whole experience was very humbling particularly when the chief monk helped to serve us.He was a delightful man dressed only in his orange robes he had a big toothy smile and twinkly eyes.It was another experience that I will never forget   

House Hunting in Phnom Penh

I  was warned by a very good pal not to rush into finding accomodation in PP I now know how very wise that advice was.
VSO is a great help in many ways and recommends an estate agent who takes you around to view propeties  in Cambodia you don't go armed with a bunch of glossy brochures you hop on the back of a motor scooter and get shown all the properties no one else wants.
Yes... you heard correctly I had to hop on the back of a motor scooter I have never been so frightened in my life my legs were shaking so much the bike was bumping down the road however I soon got used to it after my ninth viewing !! I was jumping on and off like a young skcoprill.
Most  of the  properties I saw were dire some were very dirty smelly down dark alley ways or over noisy barsone was at the top of perpendicular stairway and worse still several had onle a spiral staircase as the only means of access.There does not seem to be any regard for any kind of fire or building regulations.
Then my luck changed my buddy recommended another estate agent and the first place he showed me was completely different it was in a popular tourist st above an art shop and is opposite PP's national museum which has the most beautiful ornate roof one of the few buildings to survive the ravages of war and Pol Pot. If I stand on tip toe I can see the Mekong river and also the top of the Royal Palace an added bonus is that there are some nice places to eat nearby.
The apartment is on the first floor so hopefully that will deter rodents and comprises a large kitchen area though completely bare except for a fridge and a double gas burner a large bedroom and lounge plus bathroom so not a palace but light and airy.The landlord who seems like a very nice man has agreed to give it a fresh coat of paint and get me a desk plus chair and a sofa so I should be very comfortable there.
The agent told me that he had another "single" Engish speaking lady client in the same block so I will seek her out when I have moved in.I get the keys on the 20th
Picture to follow when I am back in PP..................Kath
PS Thanks to all who have made comments on my blog reading them is almost as exciting as getting a letter!!!!     

Back in Phnom Penh for Placement Week

Last week I had to leave most of my new pals and sleepy peaceful Kampong Cham to return to the noise and chaos of Phnom Penh (PP) for my placement week on arrival the bus was mobbed by hundred's of tuk tuk drivers clamouring for our business and they had to be kept back by a security guy from the bus station who resorted to using a big stick somewhat alarming! and when I say bus station I use the term advisedly as it is just the corner of a very busy st. Public transport in Cambodia is not a high priority eventually I arrived somewhat dishevelled but unscathed at VSO's programme office where I stayed for the week.
The overall purpose of the week was to be introduced to my new work colleagues and for me I had a handover from Susan a volunteer who has been caretaking my post at the Cambodian Midwives Association (CMA) for the last few months and to find somewhere to live more of that later!
Looking smart for work was my first challenge how does one achieve this in 35+o heat and 80% + humidity? answers on a postcard please
I did my best to make a good first impression on my first day I went to see the President of CMA at her workplace which is a hospital for women and children built by the Japanese known locally as the Japanese hospital. It was very clean and clinical in the bits that I saw although there was no time to look around on this occasion. On first meeting I was very impressed with my new boss she was very welcoming and very committed to strengthening the CMA and the role of midwives
I will be sharing an office with the fledgling organisation CMC which is The Cambodian Midwives Council recently formed to bring in statutory regulation and registration of midwives so it is a time of great change for the profession but I hope that the two organisations can find common areas where we can work togetherEvery one I met last week including two very important people 
from The United Nations NGO UNFPA who are the main/only external source of funding for CMA  were extremely helpful so I am feeling very positive about things.
They say timing is every thing and less than two weeks from my start date CMA has organised a 3 day conference for 70 members to review how the organisation works and how it can be strengthened my job is to facilitate this and train at least 7 people to lead group work so if any one out there has any simple techniques that I could use let me know!!!!
My other big task last week was to find accommodation in PP simple you might think not so more of that tomorrow...............................................