Another Castle

If I was a newspaper journalist, I'd title this one:

FAMILY GRIEF EVOKES NEIGHBOURHOOD COMPASSION

Last week in Poipet, Cambodia, a family of four received help from their neighbouring villagers to repair their home.

A month ago, a village leader called our NGO asking for assistance on behalf of a family in his village. We offer gifts of US$100 to local families who own their own house & land but whose houses do not provide adequate shelter. The family must be able to arrange labour to purchase the materials and do their own repairs.

Mrs JH, 59, was caring for her sick husband, 64 and two grandchildren, aged 3 and 2 with her daughter, aged 24. Their only regular household income was $2.50 each day from the daughter's sewing work.

When out staff went to visit in February, they found a small house that was falling apart. Built twelve years ago from sticks, bamboo, rubber, tin and straw, it was no longer able to provide protection from the wind and rain. We were willing to help the family but there was nobody who could do the actual repairs. Mrs JH could not think of anyone to contribute labour. When we asked some neighbours on her behalf, they all said, 'too busy'. We decided to wait a few weeks to see if JH could come up with a volunteer or two to help repair the house.

On March 10, we received a phone call to say that JH's husband had died unexpectedly. Relatives came back from working in Thailand. Immediately after the funeral, on Monday, March 12, our staff went to pay respects and to ask if there were any relatives willing to help repair the house. They agreed to do it.

Today we returned to see the house. Heng said that the house looked so different he drove straight past it! The neighbours and extended family had added to the $100 we gave in order to buy wood, rubber, bamboo, cement and tiles for construction. Last week the house was completely rebuilt. Having a concrete and tile floor, rather than the old raised bamboo platform, means that JH's daughter can now sew from home. She can assist more with household chores as well as continue to earn an income.

How did these sticks and tiles come together for JH? A village leader advocated on her behalf. The community pitched in when JH became a widow. And JH was responsible for the project, handing in proper receipts for the $100 gift through our NGO. One of our staff reflected that it's ok to wait for village members to help too, because 'through working together we see sustainable development'.

March 8 Tournament

On Tuesday March 6, our newest team member arrived from Australia for a one year stint. Two days later we had a public holiday for Women's Rights Day. As usual, this meant... a football tournament! Simon was up at 6am to help one of our staff members set up and prepare the fields. He kicked a ball around with some kids before the friendly games and even took a turn being referee for a game. I asked him how it was? He replied that it was difficult to ref without any local language, relying only on a whistle and hand signals. I thought about the challenge to communicate clearly through sport, even when we know the language. Sometimes the best we can hope for are gestures.

The football tournament was for Boys Under 11s and Girls Under 15s. The teams signed up before March 8 and almost all of the boys said they were 11 years old. However, on the day of play, Heng estimated that only 20% of the boys were 11 years and the rest were 12-15 years old! (Err..Is anyone listening? Nah- they just want to play!)

Heng spent hours preparing a schedule for the friendly matches. We were early but some of the teams were late! Were we flexible? Yes! But once again, we felt like silent refs waving in the air while a rowdy bunch of kids ruled the field!

There were 120 players who signed up so we bought enough snacks to share... except that around 20-30 extras showed up on the day. We shared the snacks as best we could and there were no complaints- but certainly no leftovers!

I was pleased that six out of the fourteen teams to sign up were girls teams. I see this as more than a gesture. Instead, I hope this shows a growing interest in girls' football in Poipet! (It has been a challenge to encourage girls to get involved.)

We saw girls playing against boys and boys cheering when girls scored a goal. I saw kids with smart uniforms and other teams without shoes. We saw new referees who stood not much taller than the players have a go at controlling the short, friendly match.

I'm not sure if there are clear messages here, but there are some cool gestures emerging.

March 8 Tournament Pics

Sihanoukville

From March 9-11, I took a team of six guys to compete in bike and running races at the Cambodian beach-side city of Sihanoukville. On Saturday morning Pern competed in the 20km bike race, coming home strong in 10th position. Out of the five guys who ran the 10.5km race on Sunday, Boray was the first Poipet runner to cross the finish line in 7th place overall. Many of our guys improved on their previous 10km, even though this quarter marathon distance was a bit longer! I entered the 21km half marathon and was pleased to receive the silver medal.

Closer to home, Tharith was representing his school (and the Poipet Run Club!) in the Provincial School Boys 5km distance event. He won the race and next weekend will compete in the national school boys competition.

A highlight of the weekend was that it was the FIRST time for ANY of the guys to see the ocean! Apart from running and cycling, there was plenty of time to swim and play at the beach. It was a great gift to be able to share in their first ever experience of sand, salty water and gentle waves. As we left one of the runners said to the ocean, "See you... I don't know when.. but I'm happy to have seen you!"

The Beach!!

Half Marathon (21km)

Pern's 20km Bike Race

Poipet Runners in 10.5km race

XP? No thanks!

A group named Extreme Prophets (XP) have started to visit Poipet. I wish they wouldn't send teams. I'm usually an advocate for people coming short term or long term but in this case I say, 'Please don't come.'

The promo video concerns me (open page and scroll down). The opening sentence begins with the emotive but vague proposition, 'Sexual addiction is spreading in viral proportions globally and internet pornography is fueling it.' In the first minute, King uses the words: 'sex addicts', 'sex tourism', 'sex auctions', 'pedophiles', 'rape', 'drugged' and 'smuggled' thrown together in a way that suggests that she is going to talk about child sex trafficking but without much understanding of the issue at all.

The problem isn't clear and the proposed solution to build safe houses doesn't fit the problem. The Cambodian government wants to close orphanages. There is a move away from institutions to community based care for children in need. Why re-label the same orphanage idea as safe houses if the government doesn't want it? Secondly, these safe houses are also meant to be for children 'at risk'. What does this mean? I wonder if there are any children who are not, in some degree, 'at risk' simply by living in Poipet?

The XP team gives a long lists of dates and encourages people to come to visit for a week. I am concerned about the constant flow of Westerners seeing the same programs with the same people, walking the same streets, taking the same photos. The promo promises that in one week participants can 'care and rescue'. Really? A tourist who drops in for a few days without speaking the language, understanding the culture or having wrestled with the complicated issues of migration, trafficking and child protection is going to rescue Cambodian children? I doubt it.

I also wonder about the screening and training for people who sign up for these teams? I fear that these teams could do more harm than good.

XP: I appreciate your passion and your heart. However, please don't send your teams.

The laundry crisis

It was before the start of our usual work day. In our 'home upstairs, office downstairs' arrangement it was unusual for me to be approached in my bedroom at that time of the morning. However, two of our female team mates burst in saying, 'big sister..' and telling me about the latest problem that needed my urgent attention. I was standing in my pajamas, folding laundry.

I was happy in my pajamas. I was enjoying folding laundry and thinking about no greater problem that to which draw each item belonged. Their issue, however, was important so I said, 'I have to leave the house in just over twenty minutes. Can you give me ten minutes to sort out myself and my stuff... and I will come down?' The elder of the two quickly replied, 'Yes, you can get dressed, but I can deal with this...' (pointing to the pile of laundry and unmade bed in front of her).

I quickly changed and came up with three point plan to address this morning's latest crisis. Then I left town. Watching the rice fields speed past, I realised that sometimes I like folding laundry. I miss taking my moto to get washed, buying fresh food at the market and a bunch of other chores that I don't do these days because there are people to do them for me. They fix my stuff and I'm supposed to fix the problems. Sometimes laundry is easier.

with the peeps

Here's a snapshot of the kind of things that our staff get up to when I'm in the office. (Pern is chatting with a family in Dei Tmei village after the village leader called us to help them.)