Introducing soccer star Srey Nit!

It was a long shot.

On Monday, November 7, eleven year old Srey Nit left her family in Poipet to try out for the Girls National Under 13s football team. I picked her up from the one-bedroom house that she shares with her parents and her six brothers and sisters. Srey Nit set out for the five-day training camp carrying on small bag containing two T-shirts and two pairs of shorts.

She was the youngest, shortest and least-experienced person at the try outs!

I visited Srey Nit after the camp to hear more about her experience. The short answer: she loved it! She saw the beach for the first time and enjoyed swimming in the ocean every day. She met other girls who are passionate about football and who train regularly. She noticed that the National Under 13s Girls are several grades ahead of her at school and that they also study English and Computers outside of their public school studies. When I asked Srey Nit about her favourite part of the training, she said, "Playing football!"

The group practiced twice daily with their Swiss-born, Khmer-speaking coach, Sam Schweingruber. Sam praised Srey Nit for her positive attitude and her enthusiasm. "She was courageous," he said. "From the first day she was chatting and laughing with the other girls. She wasn't intimidated by them at all. In every session she participated well, even though she was obviously less skilled compared with the other players.

Srey Nit came back to Poipet with two new uniforms, two pair of shoes, socks and a sports bag. More importantly, she now has a glimpse of what is possible for her as an emerging athlete and as a student. She will being training with a local Under 13s boys team and get involved in the girls' development programs we have in Poipet. She will continue her education and keep studying English. I hope that next year Srey Nit can try out for another representative team.

It will still be a long short, but now we have a better idea of what she's aiming for!

Project Compassion

From Monday November 7, to Thursday November 10, thirteen volunteers from the US came to serve Poipet by offering a free medical clinic.

A Cambodian asked if we have these kinds of clinics in Australia? Not exactly. If the did, would I go? Would I get up early and give up half a day's work? Would I line up for hours outside to speak to a foreign doctor through a translator? Would I be happy with a written diagnosis in a language I didn't understand? Be content with some free medications that would last me a month or so? Probably not. But this isn't Australia. I'm convinced that a short medical clinic meets a felt need in Poipet.

In four days, the Project Compassion team saw over 1200 medical patients. Almost 1000 people received free glasses and 60 people had free dental treatment.

One of the highlights in translating was being the first person to tell a young woman that she and her husband are having a baby! She was pleased and I was delighted to be the messenger.

Part of the time I spent working in the pharmacy department. We gave out hundreds of packets of labeled antibiotics, ibuprofen, Tylenol, cough syrup, multivitamins, iron tablets, de-worming tablets and other less common forms of medication. Next to the 'tick-a-box' list of medications for the doctors to fill in was also a space marked 'other'. On day 2 I read the words 'flip-flops' scribbled in this section. I asked one of the Project Compassion volunteers and found a huge bag of 'other' goods such as shoes of all sizes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, stickers and other small, useful gifts. As I gave the rubber flip-flops to the woman in her seventies, I pointed out to her that the pink matched perfectly with the floral blouse she was wearing that day! The woman's face lit up like she'd just won first prize in a Melbourne Cup sweep! She said, "Are those for me?! But I already have a pair of shoes!" (Nevermind that they looked Pol Pot 1970s vintage...) I replied, "Yes, aunty, the doctor says these are for you. Now you have two pair of shoes!"

There were some more serious cases too... accidents, injuries and chronic illness. Lynn posted on her blog about meeting a woman who complained of exhaustion. She had fifteen children! Lynn reflected that there wasn't much she could do for the family. We gave iron tablets, vitamins and a bit of love.

One day the doctors simply didn't have enough time to meet with everyone who showed up. In the afternoon I was asked to help with a triage system. Our task was to talk with everyone, give most one of several kinds of simple medications that were taken from the pharmacy and refer a maximum of twenty patients to the doctors. It was hard to help people feel heard when our conversations were only about a minute long. I felt a bit helpless so I just told them: Thank you for coming today. Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry that this is all I can give you today. God bless you and your family. Surprisingly, the patients weren't angry or disappointed. They were thankful. For them, it was worth coming.

I was also involved in the prayer and counseling station. There were a few phrases that I repeated a hundred times: Let me tell you about the purpose of this team's visit. They are volunteers. They came because they love the Cambodian people. They came because they are Christians. The medicine and glasses we are giving out today are all free. They are a gift from the team and a gift from God. Sometimes I was compelled to stop my stream of words and pray for the people: May God bless you with healing and health. May God bless your family and your community. Again, it wasn't much. But the people seemed to be thankful to receive a bit of medical attention and a little bit of love.

Pursat River Run- one last pic!

I had to post this photo! Steve left his camera behind in Sri Lanka so he borrowed mine over the race weekend. He snapped this pic during the 5km race. Love it!

Pursat River Run- Sunday November 6, 2011

This year marked the fourth consecutive year that I've entered the 10km event at the Pursat River Run. The flat, scenic course and the opportunity to run with local Cambodians draws me back. I enjoy getting away for a weekend, catching up with seasoned runners and meeting new people who are interested in sport. This year one of my highlights was standing on the podium with Cambodian superstar runner Ly Nary! (I finished third.)

After the 10km, I begged a ride with a helpful race official and lined up for the 5km event. This time, as I ran with Sok Eang from Poipet, I was free to notice the spectators who lined the streets, the children who called out, "hello barang!" and to see the determined effort it takes runners to complete a distance event.

As we passed the 3km marker, I met a local Grade 8 student named Mom. She was running with a group of her friends but they were starting to tire. I said to them, "Little sisters, don't stop! Let's run slowly all together! Do you think you can do it?" They nodded in agreement. I ran with the teenagers. They sipped water from my bottle. I praised them and gently pushed them to continue. After the 5km race, Mom came over to our group of friends, pointed at me and told one of the guys, "She is the one who gave me courage!" When she went up to receive her prize, I chapped and cheered. Wow! Now that is a memory worth keeping!

Poipet Run Club sent a contingent of twelve runners. We trained for 10 weeks leading up to the event. This year seven people ran the 10km event and the remaining five completed the 5km. Four runners received a prize in the presentation ceremony (Boray, Tharith, Paul and Pip). One team member, Theary, also used the Run Club to find motivation for other life goals. He shared, "Running 10km seemed like an impossible goal. But I thought that if I can rise to the challenge of running 10km, I can pass Grade 12 this year." Having finished the 10km in 52:10, Theary has confidence that he can apply himself to his studies and pass the Grade exam.

Thanks to individuals and groups who have helped to sponsor a runner's prize this year and also to those who contribute to our sports programs in general. It's a joy to run with young people and see them find strength to succeed in the goals they set for themselves.

Pursat River Run Pics

The tuk tuk drivers

There are moments I get to be unreasonably generous with other people's money.

On Saturday, an American short-term team arranged for a 'fleet' of tuk tuks to take them around the Angkor Wat temple complex. Plans changed the night before, however, when some decided they wanted to hire bicycles instead. In addition, several visitors didn't want to go to Angkor Wat for the whole day. (The Siem Reap markets, restaurants and massage venues were also calling...) But the tuk tuks were already booked. So on Saturday morning we made a plan that the vehicles would be available to the American team members and to the Cambodian staff who were with us to take people anywhere they wanted to go from 8am until 3pm. The price was set at $13 per driver.

At 3pm I went to talk with the drivers and pay them. I was asked to help just in case there was any complaints or any last-minute haggling. However, I was in a good position because these Southern Californians tip generously. I talked with the tuk tuk drivers and asked them about their day. Some of them weren't so busy. On the other hand, one guy told me that he'd done lots of short trips and another said that he drove further usual. They were hoping that those who worked harder could get $15 for their efforts. After a full fifteen minutes or so of conversation, I thanked all of the drivers for their efforts.

I turned to one and said, "Uncle, you said your passengers wanted to travel a long distance today. Thank you for taking them." I gave him $20. I turned to another driver and said, "Little brother, you are the one who made many trips today. Correct?" I handed him $20. For the remaining five, I gave them each a twenty dollar bill.

It was a simple way to show that sometimes life isn't fair. It's better. There are moments when we don't get what we deserve. We receive more.

smooth

It's Friday. I'm sitting at my desk alone working quietly while the rest of the team has a day off. I wonder how if I'm doing ok at training our staff, letting them do their jobs and giving them time to rest? I hope so.

But what I do know is that they've worked overtime recently. (No extra pay and no complaints from anyone either....) While I was in Thailand, they coordinated the final three days of the Adults' Futsal tournament in Poipet. When I was swimming in the ocean, they were receiving a team of four guests from Australia.

The team had heard some of the buzz words like 'localisation' and 'empowerment'... so I trust that in their first stop in Cambodia they could see something of how this works out when the foreigners can't be in town and the Khmer step up, take over, make decisions and run the show. I asked Pern how he thought it all went? He summed it up in one word, "smooth". (Very cool!)