A new sport for me

This is how I picture a triathlete. I chose this photo (Chrissie Wellington = legend).. because it's a bit cooler than trying to explain what I looked like with a borrowed bike, sneakers, lycra shorts and a cotton tank top grinding up the hills of Phuket over the weekend!

I signed up for a training camp because I'm about to do my first triathlon at the end of November. Another triathlete asked me recently if my background was in swimming, biking or running? I honestly thought about it and then explained that I have a "willing to get off the couch" kind of a background more than anything. But already I love triathlon! Here's why:

1. It's fun! It's a different way to play. At the training camp we did ocean swimming, pool swimming, running drills, road running and lots of biking up and down hills. I loved every session... and the rest times of snacking, napping or having a beer at the beach were pretty awesome too.

2. It keeps me humble. Yes.. it was intimidating. I was more than a bit freaked out. Who is this chick from Poipet rocking up to Phuket with zero tri experience with a swimming costume she bought in 2004?! (Haha! True.) It's easy to think that some sports are only accessible to the rich who have time and money for expensive equipment, professional coaching and all the latest gadgets... but there are ways around these barriers. In tri, it is possible to participate with great athletes even though I will never compete against them. We all play in the same water, ride over the same hills and run the same course to finish. The pros (and probably any guy under the age of 60) just get to finish and take a rest a little earlier than I do! No worries! (I will update my swimsuit though...)

3. It is motivation to improve my fitness. This is an incentive to structure my exercise around this three-in-one sport. It's natural cross-training and that makes sense on days that I'm sick of running.

4. It helps my work. We have over a thousand people involved in different sports activities in Poipet. On November 20 we plan to kick off our Youth League for the 2011-2012 season. I'm always trying to motivate others to push past their fears, to get involved in sport in new ways and to stretch themselves beyond what they thought they were capable of doing. So I get to walk the talk because triathlon stretches me.. big time.

5. It's a great way to meet interesting people. At the training camp I discovered that nobody really cares if one of the group is a bit slower or faster. Nobody cares if someone has to modify a session because they can't do all the sets. Nobody cares when there are a few minutes that separate us at the end of a 2-hour mini-race. We chat together- sweaty, red-faced and grinning from the endorphin high!

How To Wash A Shirt

One of Sim's highlights for the week was to help a family she knows find temporary work washing clothes in Poipet. I asked Sim yesterday to explain what it takes to wash a shirt?

Firstly, you need to look at the shirt. Don't just start washing it straight away. Check the areas that are commonly dirty, such as the collar, the cuffs, the lower back section and underarms. Focus on these areas.

Then you wash the shirt. Most of the time you can use a brush, but it depends on the fabric. Some people think that just sitting on a low stool, brush in hand, surrounded by foamy water you look like you know what you're doing?! Nope! Use the brush but only when you need it!

Wash the shirt until it is clean. Then you need to rinse it two to three times until there is no trace of soap. Before you hang it to dry, shake it out... and make sure you hang it properly so the shirt doesn't wrinkle. Also, it is easier if you can hang the clothes near to where you wash them. You can waste a lot of time walking back and forth from where you are washing the clothes to the place you have to hang them.

It's quicker and easier to work in pairs. One washes the shirt while the other rinses and hangs.

The going rate is 1 Thai Baht per shirt. If two people are skilled and hard-working, they can earn 400-500 Baht for a full eight hours of work (approx US$13.30-$16.70 between two people). It's decent money... but don't forget that dirty clothes in Cambodia are not like dirty clothes in Australia! You go from the office to your car to your home. We step out of our houses into the mud!

It is important for Cambodians to know how to wash a shirt properly. If you only ever wash your own clothes, then I guess it doesn't matter so much. But if you ever want to work washing other people's clothes, you need to know how to do it correctly. My two older kids wash their clothes now. I think everyone should learn before they are ten years old. My mother taught me and I teach my kids.

The Usual

This morning after a usual Friday morning 6am run, I went to my regular coffee place and ordered 'the usual'. I have a few 'usuals'....

There's a Phnom Penh guesthouse I usually stay in for short trips to the Capital (and I'm often in the same room). There is the usual taxi driver who takes me and other passengers to Phnom Penh in the morning or back to Poipet at 2am. Apart from that, there are many more one-off, special, first time, last time, one-time-only, irregular, unplanned or unexpected types of events!

Here are a few photos from a mini football tournament that our team organised a couple of weeks ago at a Drug Detention Centre. (This was a first-time thing that might turn into a semi-regular activity!)

What about you? Do you have many 'usuals' in your weekly routine?

This weekend four Poipet runners from four countries on four different continents went to race in Thailand. Paul ran his first half marathon and Chris from Cambodia ran his first 10km. (This was also Chris' first trip outside of the country!) Both their times, therefore, were personal bests. Gretchen knocked a couple of minutes from her fastest 10km record. I was pleased to shave a few seconds from my 21.1km PB, despite the hilly course. (The trophy was a bonus!)

There were many inspiring runners to chat with after the race: I spoke to a 72-year-old Thai who was running her 148th marathon and a high school student who had to settle for fifth place in his age category in the 10km because the fastest guys ran 30 and 31 minutes! (Wow!)

Another highlight was coming back to Poipet to see five local Run Club guys coming back from an extra Sunday training session they scheduled by themselves. I look forward to seeing Poipet runners achieve more PBs in the upcoming races in Pursat and Siem Reap.

The Horse Wins!

Across Cambodia one of the challenges in delivering flood relief is how to get to the goods to the villages that are affected. Road testing the motor-bike powered three-wheeler vs the horse & cart, the sure winner for short journeys is certainly the horse! Low-tech... but very efficient.

Press Release

If this was the Poipet Post, the newspaper headline would read: Local Leaders Cooperate To Deliver Flood Relief.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, a church, a non-government organisation and a village leader worked together to deliver food relief to sixty three flood-affected families in Poipet.

Village Leader, Mr Ban Sovann, identified the most vulnerable people in his community, many of whom he had personally assisted to find temporary shelter last week. On Tuesday, Christian Care For Cambodia Poipet (CCFC Poipet) and Bible Life Church served with Mr Sovann to deliver 392kg of rice and 487 cans of fish to the 341 needy flood victims.

Across the country more than 200 people have drowned, over 1 million people have been affected by the floods and over 100 000 hectares of rice paddies have been damaged.

Day-workers in Poipet are also impacted by seasonal flooding. The construction industry slows, pulling hand carts across the border in the mud becomes more difficult and it is much harder to walk the flooded streets looking for rubbish that can be recycled. As tin roof shacks sink into the mud, life becomes a struggle to survive. Pastor Barnabas from Bible Life Church observed, "These people usually work for their daily needs. Now they can't work and they're hungry."

CCFC Poipet was pleased to work in partnership with the local church and to cooperate with the village leader. During the distribution, CCFC Poipet Office Manager, Mr Pov Sopern, addressed the recipients saying, "Please don't think of this as simply a few kilograms of rice and some cans of fish. Receive this as a gift of love and a gift from God."

The first distribution is complete, but CCFC Poipet Project Director, Pip Miner, maintains, "The flood season isn't over yet."

October

Run Run Run

Our group is getting ready for the Pursat River Run on November 6 (10k & 5k events). We've had two time trials with a total of 16 participants. There are an additional five more time trials scheduled for this month in order to get us race-ready. So we run, run, run even though October is also all about rain, rain, rain! (More about the this year's flood relief to come...)

Back To School

This is the first year since I've moved to Poipet that it's been dry enough for public schools to start back at the scheduled time of October 1. I see kids walking to school or riding new bicycles. They seem to wear their new uniforms with pride. I spoke with Titus this week about his experiences at school and his hopes for starting university on October 10.

My name is Titus and I am 20 years old. There are five people in my family; my mother, my older brother, my younger brother and my younger sister. (We don't have a father.) My mother and my older brother work for two separate NGOs in Poipet. Our combined family income is $330 per month.

When I was small, my mother was the principal of my primary school. I always got good marks and skipped a grade when I was young. I moved to a different school for Grade 7 and stayed at that same school until I finished Grade 12 in 2011. My best subjects in Grade 11 and 12 were Khmer, English, Geography and Social Studies. I wasn't so good at Maths.

My whole family became Christians in 2003.

When I first started High School, my older brother and I were the only Christians in our whole school. In Grade 9, I went to a conference about how to share the Gospel. I decided that I wanted to share faith with the people at my school. It wasn't easy at first. At school they teach Buddhism. One day, a teacher asked if anyone in the class was a Christian. It was difficult to stand up and say that I'm a Christian but I did acknowledge that I was a believer. Then the teacher asked me to explain Jesus' teaching, "If someone hits you on the cheek, you should turn the other cheek." I said that this was about not taking revenge, but being kind and gentle, even to your enemies. The teacher then asked, "Do you believe this?" I said, "Yes." Then they said that they were going to hit me in front of the class to test whether I really believed. Eventually, nobody dared hit me. But it was a difficult test. I felt humiliated but it also make me stronger in my convictions.

After a while, a small group of people in my school became Christians. Then some students who were already Christians changed schools to study at the same High School as me. Now I would say that there are about fifty students who believe. I have also shared faith with some teachers and invited them to church activities, such as Christmas outreach programs.

This year I will start a Bachelor of General Management at Build Bright University in Svai Sisophon. Before I decided to study there, I didn't know where I would stay. However, I found out about a small dormitory run by a church. There is a room for four students and we don't have to pay rent.. just electricity and utilities. They have some land and a small dam, so we can catch fish, plant vegetables or raise some animals (e.g. chickens). I don't have much experience in agriculture or gardening, but I hope I can learn some new skills from the other guys! Maybe the best thing about finding out about the dorm is that I now have friends in Sisophon. Actually, these guys have received my like a brother, not just a friend. If I wasn't a Christian, I wouldn't have these blessings. So I think that this is a huge gift from God!

I hope that in my first year of university I can focus on my studies and also share my faith. In the four years that it will take me to complete my degree, my goal is to see myself in the graduation cap and gown, receiving my certificate. I want to make my family and friends proud!

Cupcake & Curry

This sums up my holiday last week~ good food, great company, fun training sessions at the track, pool, gym and on the dry streets of Phnom Penh!