Free to Draw

The Interior Ministry ordered an art exhibition, on the eve of its opening in Phnom Penh Friday, to remove a number of drawings by young people depicting conditions inside prisons housing child inmates, an organiser confirmed.

The four pictures removed from the exhibition at the National Cultural Center were drawn by children between the ages of 13 and 17... One of the drawings removed from the exhibition, 'Experiences and Dreams by Children in Prison,' depicted a child being threatened by a man holding a stick. Another showed a child in handcuffs, and a third featured a guard entering a classroom holding handcuffs.

The Interior Minister had already removed other pictures deemed unsuitable for public consumption, including one drawn by a 15-year-old boy showing a youth being beaten by three policemen with the accompanying caption: 'If you do not confess, I will beat you.'

[Another drawing by a 13-year-old was accompanied by the caption] 'When I am in prison I don't want anyone to beat me.'

Extract from:
Young Inmates' Pictures Removed From Exhibit
By Fergal Quinn & Lam Bopha
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Nice work mate!

Ladies and gentlemen and whoever else reads this blog-

You may have heard the saying, "There is no success without a successor." Today I want to celebrate my good friend who is now leading the group of uni students at the dorm.

She is an independent thinker, a gifted teacher and a clear communicator. She has the heart of a servant-leader. I'm excited to see the growth in her even as she builds into the lives of others. It is a joy to meet with her every week over lunch and catch up on news. Thumbs up for 2-hour lunch breaks. Massive applause for my friend who is doing a fantastic job of leading, supporting and encouraging the crew on Street 315.

Keep going. Keep loving. Keep praying. (And may these few words fill your love tank today!)

Here's one short story about what has been going on at the dorm. (Posted at home of hope....see link on the right of this page - - > )

Thursday, September 6, 2007
NEW MEMBER
On Monday night, after the worship time together one of the girls ask me to give her life to the Lord. I really supprise with it we pray sing the songs and invite the Holy Spirit into her life and lead her. That's great we have one more member in our one family of Christ. Even i am a bit busy i know that i need to help her in this beginning life of God, but whatever i do hard is not so important than Jesus will does in her life. Anyway, i thankful God that we find the new child of God.

Why I'm Excited About Lettuce

This afternoon I went to Lucky supermarket to buy some roast chicken and other ingredients for salad. You know what really got me excited? Organic lettuce from Siem Reap, Cambodia, fresh sealed in a clean transparent plastic pouch. I was amazed! I prepared dinner and afterwards put the kettle on to make a pot of local brew coffee. Now it is 2am. It isn’t just the coffee keeping me awake. I just can’t stop thinking about the lettuce.

Let me start with two broad trends we see in Cambodia today. Number one, the economy is growing at a rate of 8-9% per year. Also, for the past two years Cambodia has had good harvest seasons. While there has been localised drought and flooding, most farmers have been able to feed their families. Overall economic growth and increasing food security is good. My question is - what next? What can a population of 14 million do in order to move beyond survival?

It is easy for the cynical foreigner living in the capital to say that the only changes likely are that the elite will continue to line their pockets at the expense of the poor. I see the conspicuous consumption of the rich in new opulent homes, luxury cars and immaculate clothes. I also hear and read the stories of the marginalised- teenagers taking drugs because it helps them forget about being hungry, youth becoming disillusioned when their education doesn’t lead to employment and parents losing their children because they can’t afford medical care.

Yet there are still positives. Cambodia is free from war and civil conflict, with no armed conflicts spilling over from bordering nations. The nation has a functioning government and is encouraging increasing opportunities for foreign investment. It has a sea port, a spread of natural resources and an emerging labour market. From this fertile ground there is potential for growth beyond survival. Tonight I saw it in Lucky supermarket.

I saw locally produced organic lettuce as well as other high quality food products such as ginger & lime jam, dried mango, tomato salsa, cashew nuts and guava juice. These goods are competitively priced and they taste great. Top marks. As I take a step back, I imagine all the resources involved in bringing the lettuce to me- the land, equipment, labour, packing materials, transport, infrastructure and so on. The chain seems fragile. A break in any one point damages the whole. However, the supply chain it is working for the rocket leaves.

There must be other opportunities waiting to be grasped by small and medium sized enterprises to cater to the tourist industry, the growing middle class in Cambodia and potential overseas markets. How can these business opportunities make a positive impact on individuals, families and communities as well as bumping up national GNP stats? I’ll leave these dreams to others with the appropriate skills and passion. Meantime, I’ll keep eating salads....rejoicing over locally produced, organic lettuce!

Khmer Sor

I stopped by the dorm last night. I didn't have lots of time... had to leave at curfew when the front gate gets locked. But I did have a good time.

The coolest gift came from an unprepared, throw-away line in which one of the girls called me a Khmer Sor ("white Khmer"). I've never heard those two words put together before and don't expect to hear the phrase again... but this compliment is stashed in my memory bank!

Weekend Top 10

Every now and then I need to give myself a push to exercise again. There are heaps of reasons not to… (see list below) but I usually feel good afterwards. Recent rainy-season experiments have included doing Pilates in front of the DVD, skipping, swimming as well as dancing around the house and running up and down the stairs at home when my flatmates are out.

WEEKEND TOP 10
Excuses For Refusing To Exercise (take your pick!)

1. THE WEATHER. Too hot. Too cold. So much rain my moto engine got flooded 50 meters down the street.
2. I HATE GYMS. The gym is too far away. It is too expensive. There are too many mirrors. I think I’m allergic to the treadmill.
3. NO TIME. I have a job. I have a family. I have an appointment with All Saints on TV tonight.
4. HEALTH ISSUES. I’m sick. I was sick. I think I might be getting sick.
5. TOO PREGNANT. I’m due to give birth next week. Triplets.
6. NO STUFF. I don’t have the right shoes. I haven’t worn lycra since 1989. There’s nothing in the sports shop that makes my body look boodilicious.
7. TOO STUFFED. I just had a big meal and have to wait a minimum of 7 hours before exercising to let it digest. I had a few drinks after work. Cadbury called.
8. CULTURAL REASONS. I get heckled if I wear shorts outside. The only culturally appropriate time to exercise is the pre-dawn hour from 4:45-5:45am- I choose sleep.
9. TRAVEL. I’m on a plane to London. I’m on a 36 hour train ride in India. I spend 2 hours sitting on the bus to and from work.
10. NO NEED. I’m naturally skinny & hot. I eat whatever I like and never do anything more strenuous than strut around the city… so why bother?

Any others I've left out?

NLT

I really like the New Living Translation of the Bible. Quote for the day from the rant of a Psalmist-

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
(Psalm 13:3)

South East Seasons

I've read some Jane Austen & George Elliot recently but last weekend it was time to let my literary journey depart from English soil. I picked up Burmese Days by George Orwell for something closer to home. It was worth it just for his descriptions of the seasons.

Of the crescendo to the hot season that is April, he writes:

The heat rolled form the earth like the breath of an oven...The glare sent a weariness through one’s bones. There was something horrible in it- horrible to think of that blue, blinding sky, stretching one and on over Burma and India, over Siam, Cambodia and China, cloudless and interminable.

Wording the wet season, Orwell says:

Meanwhile, it was raining almost without cease. They sky was leaden, and innumerable whirling storms chased one another across the maiden like squadrons of cavalry. Burmans passed, under vast wooden hats in spite of which their bodies streamed water like the bronze gods in the fountains.


At the basic level, I'm living the cycles of a two-season land. If you've visited Cambodia, you'll know that the dry season is the appropriate period for a wedding. But if you've ever watched a Hindi film you'll know the wet season is the time for unexpected romance.

There is something that stirs in the when everything is turned upside-down. For example, an event as simple as getting home becomes a minor war against storms and flood. Think about it. In the South East, this is the month when the rakish office boy scampers home scowling, his thin skirt sticking to his narrow shoulders and his best leather shoes filled with water. In that same moment, the labourer, wearing nothing but a cloth wrapped around his waist, strides home with his face turned upward to the streaming sky, letting the tonic rain fall all over his chest.

Cars and clubs go some way in separating the rich and keeping their daily lives an envious mystery. Yet there are strange moments even in a groaning, materialistic city like this, when an ordinary young man, bronzed and buff, may turn a dozen heads.