Calamity Ruth

In the spirit of my New Year’s Resolution to update this blog more frequently, I am now posting about even the most mundane events in my life. Feel free to duck out now …

 

This week saw my first moto crash, after riding for six months. To be fair, the word crash is a massive exaggeration. It was a bump, an incident, pathetically anticlimactic and barely worth the 700 words I’ve managed to pull from a few seconds of drama. I’ll first of all say that I am 100% completely ok and that there is no need to worry. Now I’ll go on to set the scene.

 

I was driving along, as I do every day, through the ‘centre’ of Kampot. Full face helmet on, as always. I was even wearing long yoga pants (a skin-saver, it turns out). I indicated to turn into a junction and slowed down to wait for some passing traffic. I was almost in the centre of the road, pootling along at about 2mph. Once the way was clear, I turned, as my indicator suggested was my next planned manoeuvre. At that exact same moment, two young local lads zoomed by, catching my front tire as they overtook me. There was really nothing I could do to stop the inevitable. Hello road!

 

It didn’t even hurt. I was moving so slowly that the impact was negligible. As I looked up from my new position (horizontal on a warm and dusty road), I saw the two guys looking over their shoulder before speeding off. The next sight was my friend’s partner running across the road towards me. I don’t know many people in Kampot but I happened to have toppled over outside his place of work, for which I am grateful. He lifted the bike off me and walked me and it to the side of the road. By this time, the policemen in their newly erected police station (a shipping container painted white and blue), had noticed the ‘foreigner in trouble’ and decided to get involved. You never know when you’re going to receive a cash ‘thank you’, after all.

 

Holding my broken wing mirror and the end of my brake handle, I had to then explain to the overly concerned cops that the scratch on my leg had come not from the accident they had just witnessed but from the day before when I had somehow walked into my own desk. It’s a wonder I am still alive, to be fair.

 

Reassuring a few bystanders that I was ok, Erwan and I got my bike running again (apparently the poor machine was more shocked by the collision than I was and had temporarily stopped working). The cops faded away, realising there was no money to be made from this particular barang (white person) mishap. The reckless driver who hit me was long gone and, frankly, there was no reason to chase after him. In the grand scheme of things, it was a non-event.

 

As a side note, the only reason for my trip into town on that not-so-fateful day was to buy salad. Eating healthy almost killed me! Except I didn’t nearly die: that was just a statement for dramatic effect. Seriously, Mum and Dad, I’m fine.

 

The next morning, I dropped by my mechanic who reattached my wing mirror free of charge. I’ve decided to live with my snapped brake handle for a little longer as it still works perfectly well. My blue kneecap will be covered by long trousers or leggings for a few days.

 

That’s it. That is the story of my rite of passage: becoming a moto crash victim in Cambodia. Considering I’ve been here for three and a half years, the fact that I’ve never been robbed and, until this week, hadn’t been involved in any traffic collisions was something which made me rather unusual. Perhaps now I can truly be considered a local. When, in fact, I think I could more accurately be described as a careless barang who forgot to check her mirrors before turning. I should have known that indicating wasn’t enough!

 

Lesson learned, I’m back on the road. Getting back in the saddle wasn’t even a psychological hurdle. After all, I had salad ingredients to buy. And the cover image for this blog was taken after a 30km moto ride with my former flatmate, Fanny, to meet some climbing friends of hers. Confidence unaffected, I drive onwards.

Nugget’s a wannabe biker kitty!

Chapter Two – The Kampot Adventures

In less than two weeks, I will have been living in Cambodia for three years. Of course, my love affair with this wonderful, colourful, noisy, friendly, flawed yet utterly beautiful nation began over eleven years ago. For the past three years, I lived have in the bustling, busy, dirty, dusty and endlessly entertaining capital that is Phnom Penh. Until July 1^st 2017. Now, I am a Pot-Pat and I’m not talking about marijuana. I have moved to Kampot; my favourite place on earth.

 

Just a few minutes from my house

Firstly, I appreciate that considering this blog is supposed to keep friends and family updated on my life, I’m doing badly since it’s almost the second week in August. For those of you feeling out of the loop regarding my relocation, be comforted with the knowledge I Skyped my parents for the first time since June five days ago. That said, they knew all about the Pot-Plans.

 

Kampot is a town which has featured in more than a few of my past blogs (like this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one). It’s my favourite place in Cambodia and being the sort of person I am, I decided to make my dream a reality and just move here. Of course, I am lucky now to have a job which I can do from anywhere (writing for a digital marketing agency, in case anyone missed that). So back to Kampot. It’s small, it’s sleepy, it’s full of colonial architecture, it’s friendly, it’s right on the river, it’s 30 minutes from the coast, my new house is seconds from open countryside, and the place is packed with delectable eateries. Basically, it’s heaven on earth.

 

Sense from my balcony

My last blog was about the departure of my long-term flatmate and closest friend, Jordan. This shift in my life was one of the reasons behind my move. Admittedly, a life in Kampot had been on my mind for over a year so when Jordan announced her plans, it seemed as good a time as any to make the change. After three years and sixteen flatmates, many of who were fantastic and some of whom were … yeah, anyway, I decided I needed some time on my own. Well, with Nugget the cat, of course. And for one weekend, I was accompanied by my stellar moving crew (Jess even stayed with me for a full week to help settle me in!)

MY amazing moving crew

 

I am now living like a queen in a beautiful three-bedroom house with Nugget in an eco-village, populated with long-time Pot-Pats. Seriously, people refer to themselves as that here. One bedroom doubles as an office and every Saturday is cleaning day. It’s like I’m an adult; rather disconcerting if I do say so myself. I’ve even learnt how to drive a moto; something I had been putting off doing in the city and am now discovering is not only easy but great fun and gives me the freedom to go off exploring the beautiful countryside whenever I like.

Exploring on the moto

Nugget is loving her new life down here too. After two years as an indoor cat with the occasional escape attempt, she is now free to roam around in the quiet, safe, community garden, populated by mango trees and chickens. The latter of which scare her, by the way. She rarely strays far and has learnt to jump back into the safety of the house through the open window whenever next door’s puppy, Toby, appears to ‘play’.

Outside Nugget

 

I plan to stay in Kampot for at least a year, with sporadic trips up to Phnom Penh required for work and social occasions. I’ve already been back once and admit it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience. I hadn’t realised how much I loved and had missed country living; the clean air, the slower pace of life, the peace and quiet. Now Phnom Penh just seems nosier, busier and dirtier than ever before. It was a relief to return to my little mansion (oxymoronic but accurate), close the door against the torrential monsoon rains (which Kampot is sadly suffering through the past few weeks due to the massive mountain between me and the ocean) and be alone.

 

I’m a social person but solitude is my closest friend right now. I need some time. I need to recuperate, recover, recharge. Phnom Penh took a lot out of me. It was a lot of fun, of course, but it was also a lot of drinking, a lot of near-death traffic experiences, a lot of dust and dirt and, sadly, a lot of goodbyes. The last one was the worse and I’m not ready to begin making new friends just yet. For now, a few months, perhaps, I need some me time. Well, me and Nugget time. I’m writing more than ever before (although admittedly not for this blog – sorry!), I’m eating healthily, I’m not drinking, I’m reading more books. I’m happy, frankly.

 

So, Kampot, thank you for giving me a new lease of life. I’m so glad I decided to move here and become a Pot-Pat. Here’s to the next twelve months of countryside adventures and rural delights.

 

Oh, and anyone who wants to come and visit, I have two spare bedrooms! Must like cats.

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Happy Hanoi Birthday

After an unacceptably long time, I’m back! Apologies about the radio silence but as my job now requires me to write 20+ blogs per week, I struggle to motivate myself to create for Lemon in Cambodia. However, it appears Lemon in Vietnam had me inspired.

It was my birthday last week and this celebration, combined with the imminent departure of my closest flatmate and friend, Jordan, inspired a week long trip to Vietnam. Although Cambodia’s neighbour, I confess I have only spent two long weekends in this country so far: one in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009 and one on the island of Phu Quoc in 2015. I have just returned from an eight-day trip to the north of this sickle-shaped country with a few tales of our adventures and more than a few photographs.

We flew to Hanoi from Siem Reap because Phnom Penh’s fancy new ‘international’ airport is still struggling with some basic amenities, such as flights to nearby countries. Our first night in a hostel reminding both Jordan and myself how much we hate backpackers. After our noisy roommates left early in the morning, we took a little longer getting ready and it was nearing midday when we finally ventured out onto the streets. This is the point at which we realised Hanoi was hotter than Phnom Penh and instantly regretted our laziness. We walked around the Old Quarters of this beautiful, interesting and busy city in 40+ degrees Celsius and were forced to take refuge in the Vietnamese Women’s Museum and St Joseph’s Cathedral along with several, less culturally significant cafes. Hanoi is a fun city to explore, despite the oppressive heat, and the streets are dotted with little pagodas, cyclo drivers complete with VietCong hats and food sellers.

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The next day we embarked on the main trip of our holiday: Halong Bay. We’d chosen to go with a slightly more expensive tour company to avoid the backpackers and ended up on Rosa Cruise with the tagline “Romance, Roses and Love”. Luckily few people had taken that seriously and we weren’t surrounded by couples for the entire time. Halong Bay is incredible. It’s one of those awe-inspiring places you just look at and ask ‘how?’ These mega limestone rocks jut dramatically out of the blue-green water with a truly prehistoric feel. Our boat was delightful with a cute little cabin, lounge area where we were fed copious amounts of food three times a day and a large sun terrace from which you could watch the scenery glide by.

Rosa Cruise, Halong Bay

Halong Bay isn’t all about lying on top of a boat and getting a tan, however. We also went kayaking, during which Jordan and I discovered we work really well as a team but overestimated our energy levels and got immensely bored and tired on the paddle back to the boat. On that first day we visited a pearl farm which is far less interesting than it sounds and then watched the ‘sunset’. For some reason, our boat docked directly behind one of Halong Bay’s iconic formations. Beautiful, but inconvenient for sunset watching …

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Our second day saw us and a couple from Singapore join a new group of people (most on our boat only did the one-night cruise). This day was led by a completely hilarious Vietnamese guy who was absolutely mental. Lovely, but mental. We first went to a cave where I sliced my food open climbing over rocks, Jordan dropped and broke her sunglasses and I dropped and broke my camera. Good half hour. And I don’t even have any photos of the cave. I was subsequently reliant on my iPhone camera which is good but has nothing on my beloved, currently-being-fixed Lumix FZ150. From the hazardous cave we moved onto more kayaking. This time Jordan and I, along with a few other people, paddled into a little cove, got out and just went swimming for half an hour. Upon returning to the boat we decided to jump off the top deck. Turns out that isn’t allowed and we got thoroughly scolded in Vietnamese. Oops. The day was fun overall, however, and we even got serenaded by our tour guide which was one of the most awkward and hilarious experiences of my life.

We finished our day with a hike up one of the islands. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life and I was seriously regretting not taking a bottle of water or a cold beer up with me but the views were totally worth the near-death energy requirement. We finally got back to Rosa to watch the ‘sunset’ from behind yet another rock. The following day we went to the ‘Surprising Cave’, so called because you can’t tell it’s there … much like all caves. To be fair, it was massive had some great stalactites and stalagmites. However, the entire space was filled with other tourists and we were just part of an endless queue snaking our way through and back out into the sweltering heat.

That was the end of Halong Bay and we returned to Hanoi in the midst of a monsoon. It was still drizzling the following morning but we hired a moto to visit some of the further sights including the Hoa Lo Prison Museum and the Temple of Literature.

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That evening we rode over to Lotto Tower which is their equivalent of the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower. 65 storeys up and you find yourself with an incredible view of the city. They also have one of those glass floors which sticks out and after quite some time, I finally venture onto it. We then made our way to the rooftop bar and splashed the cash on a cocktail which we enjoyed overlooking the city at night. I considered it an early birthday present to myself.

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On my actual birthday we took a day trip to Tam Coc. I say day trip; for most westerners, a 3-hour bus ride each way would not be considered a day trip. When we finally arrived we visited the ancient capital city, where a man who couldn’t pronounce the word temples (temple-les) showed us round lots of temples(les). After lunch we went for a short cycle ride through some stunning scenery. At the end of the ride we climbed into some questionable metal boats and set off down a small waterway, being paddled along by a woman … using her feet! It started to rain but we donned our sexy ponchos and continued despite the lightening and the metal-boat-in-water combination. The trip took us through two caves which were fun but smelt like bats and then we turned around and headed back (but not before all of the women pulled from nowhere bags of crappy souveniers for us to buy). We cycled back to the bus and then returned to Hanoi. My birthday dinner at a delicious seafood restaurant was a present from Jordan. Mmmm, thank you!

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And that was it. Aside from walking around looking at art the following morning (and buying myself a beautiful piece for my new house – a subject for another blog), our time in Hanoi came to an end. I’m now back in Cambodia while Jordan continues to travel south, making her way to Ho Chi Minh City before returning to Phnom Penh. Here are a few more snaps of some of the food we ate during our adventures, including Hanoi’s famous egg coffee. Enjoy!

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That Time I Built A Library … With A Little Help

Well, 2017 began pretty fantastically for me. My charity built a library! Yes, an entire library. And all for just $1300. That includes construction, books, and the solar panel which allows the kids to, theoretically, have access 24/7 to their new education area. It amazes me how much further money can go in South East Asia and this project just goes to show that good, generous people are still on this planet. Sadly, they’re not pursuing a career in politics…

Back to that library, however. I travelled out on Friday to a village in Kampong Speu where Karuna Youth Cambodia, a fellow NGO, have a school. I had been a week earlier to drop off our latest volunteers, Emma and Reece, who are part way through a five week stint teaching at the school and living in the rainbow house. The day before I had received a shipment of 100 kg of books from England, which DHL had couriered door to door for free (seriously – you don’t ask, you don’t get). So I brought with me these books plus those donated by Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and one of SKOPE’s new supporters, Association of School Aid in Cambodia (ASAC). That evening, powered by beer, Emma, Reece and I coded about 400 English books. We did the other 200 the following evening!

Onto the build. Well, let’s be honest I’m not a builder but luckily some men in the village are. A father of some children at the school is a carpenter and he took the reins when it came to directing the construction process, particularly the wooden frame. About eight men worked tirelessly for two full days, completely voluntarily, and constructed our library. It’s only three metres square but that’s still quite a feat. Emma, Reece and I tried to help where we could but when it came to hammering with the flat end of an axe, we decided we’d rather not lose an ear.

That Sunday saw the arrival of some Sovann Komar kids, handpicked to be the ones who always get stuck in on projects with SKOPE. Because we really needed their help. The walls weren’t entirely up by the time they reached the school but we began painting anyway. Despite me telling them explicitly not to wear their nice clothes, many of them ended up shirtless and splattered in orange. I am still finding orange smears of paint on me and it’s been over a week since I left!

We ate a delicious lunch cooked by the villagers and then headed down to a beautiful area of the village by the river where the Sovann Komar kids decided to go exploring upstream. Upon returning to the school, the kids were set to work clearing a newly acquired strip of land which KYC will build a volleyball court and football pitch on. Their earlier painting task wasn’t completed but the men were working on the roof with electric saws and we decided against jeopardising anyone’s life.

After the Sovann Komar children left, the roof quickly finished so Reece, Emma, myself and a load of the local children got stuck into painting and by sundown on Sunday evening, the library was up!

Sadly, I had to leave the next day to get back to Phnom Penh and work but thanks to the headteacher, Phearith, I was still able to keep up to date of all the happenings with his amazing videos. Which, naturally, I’ve turned into a story of the weekend, along with my own footage. Watch it here now! The following week saw a concrete floor poured and levelled, shelves built, walls decorated, and the solar panel fitted. As luck would have it, Reece is a fully qualified electrician so he was incredibly useful at this stage. Now, in typical Khmer logic style, we had chosen to construct the library under a tree to stop the building getting too hot during the dry season. But if the sun can’t get to the roof, it can’t get to the solar panel. Not to worry! Reece put it on the roof of the adjacent school building which is south facing and ran a wire the short distance across. Voila! Light!

I love all the work I do with SKOPE but this was by far and away the best project we have ever done. I don’t know if it’s because I love reading so much or because language and writing is so important to me personally but I am quite literally overcome with emotion when I see pictures and videos of what we’ve accomplished out in that tiny village. Those children now have the opportunity to truly learn. Their exposure levels to English went from one Doctor Seuss book and a few Khmer ones to 700 English language titles and 120 Khmer language books in the space of a week. And already it’s clear they’re hungry for knowledge. Thanks to Emma and Reece’s prolonged presence, as well, these children are not only picking up the language quickly but wanting to learn more, study harder and succeed in life. I hope with the support of KYC and SKOPE, they will!

Here’s another link to the video I made – can you tell I’m proud of it?

If you’re interested in donating to SKOPE’s next project, contact me at skopecambodia@gmail.com or leave a comment on this blog and I’ll get back to you. Alternatively you can visit the SKOPE website by clicking here.

Hurray for Library Books

SKOPE enjoyed another amazing donation day last weekend when we returned to Kampong Thom to a school I first visited in November 2015. We’ve already done a stationary handout and supplied sports equipment in March (read more about that awesome day here) but this time it was all about books. Library books to be precise.

Hurray for Library Books!

The school, located in the grounds of a pagoda, provides education to approximately 450 children from the surrounding farming communities. There was already a library onsite but the shelves were either sparse or stacked with English language books neither the students nor the teachers had any hope of reading. SKOPE decided to change that. We did a fundraiser in Phnom Penh in July, selling books to raise money for the library project, and it was so successful that the entire project was funded by this day so thank you so much to everyone who supported us.

Rachana reads to a local girl

The library books were purchased from Sipar, a local NGO and publishing house. Titles ranged from a Khmer translation of James and the Giant Peach to traditional Khmer folk tales to science books. Each one was given a code and covered in protective plastic. The school has a trained librarian too, so the books can be loaned out and kept track of just like any other library. A big thank you to Sipar for their work and support of this project.

Lionel works with two girls to read this book

As always, I was joined on the day by some of Sovann Komar’s children and staff. They were all absolutely phenomenal on this trip and really got stuck into the tasks I gave them. They all read with the local children, helping them out on difficult words and explaining the stories. It was magical to see and I am anticipating blossoming teaching careers in their future.

Maya definitely has a potential teaching career ahead of her!

We also donated two laptops, one to each school we’re affiliated with in Kampong Thom. These laptops were to be used by the school administration who are currently doing everything by hand. I’d had them loaded up with a Khmer keyboard so they could type and then Sam, Jack, and Colin, three boys from Sovann Komar, spent time with the headteachers showing them the basics of Microsoft Word and Excel. A huge thank you to my cousin, Stephanie, and her school in London who donated these laptops to SKOPE.

Our tech-savvy teens were more than happy to help explain to the local teachers 

When it was time for the children to go home for lunch, they were definitely reluctant to leave their newly stocked library. They loitered for a while, chatting with the Sovann Komar children and staff before finally cycling away towards their family farms. We stayed at the school to eat lunch before making the journey back to Phnom Penh, during which every single one of my helpers passed out in the van.

I know I often say how much I love my work but this trip was particularly special to me for two reasons. Firstly, I got to return to where this girl, Srey Nang, studies. After taking this photo of her in November last year, she sort of became the face of SKOPEs campaigns. It was therefore an honour to go back and photograph her with some library books, proving that we can indeed “be the change”.

Secondly, I love reading myself and I was overjoyed to see the same look of rapt attention on these kids’ faces as I’m sure I get at times. They were so enthusiastic, so well-behaved, and so eager to get stuck into the new books, ready to explore the worlds captured within their pages. Already I’m launching a second library project, and am considering making this one of SKOPE’s speciality project types as the benefits are just phenomenal. Books and reading open so many doors for us and I think it is an area we can really make a difference in, especially in rural Cambodia where access to literature is limited. So please check out our next library project plans here, and see how you can get involved.

Motor Up Bokor

I’ve always loved Kampot, as regular readers of my blog will know, so when I was invited to join a motorbike trip down to the province for the Buddhist festival, Pchum Ben, I could hardly say no, much to my parents’ horror (sorry parentals!) The roads in Cambodia aren’t exactly known for their impeccable safety record but I was riding with a Khmer friend who’s been driving motorbikes for half his life so I knew I was in safe hands.

There was a group of ten of us in total, riding down on six bikes: myself, Vanny, Emily, Veasna, Jacinta, Ehud, Jenna, Pov, Serai, and Yuri. The ride took about four hours, including a relaxed breakfast stop and the occasional break to ease our aching butts. We arrived completely unharmed, despite a slightly close call between my kneecap and a white van. But we made it: look!

And because the whole point of this holiday was motorbiking, after we settled into our accommodation we rode up to Ta Da Waterfall (yes, that is actually its name). A new attraction for tourists in Kampot, I’m sure this would have been an incredible site if half of Phnom Penh hadn’t decided to visit at the same time. We still had fun and the scenery was stunning but it was rather overcrowded. And the water was freezing cold!

The next day was the focal point of our trip: a drive up Bokor Mountain. This national park is one of Cambodia’s treasures and significant (Chinese) investment means the road up to the top is in great condition. We visited a second waterfall which was much quieter than the one from the previous day, thank goodness! And then, after literally driving through a cloud and getting rather wet, we arrived at the old casino, one of my favourite places in Cambodia. This old building was built by the French colonists but later used as a Khmer Rouge stronghold and stripped of its former glory. The result is an eery yet beautiful building, succumbing to the elements and perched on a cliff edge overlooking the sea. At least, it would be overlooking the sea if there hadn’t been a cloud there …

After meandering safely down Bokor’s jungle-covered sides, we headed to Kep, the small seaside town/province just half an hour from Kampot. Once again the beach was heaving with holidaying Khmers so our swim in the sea was undertaken semi-clothed (bikinis would have been wildly inappropriate). We then sat on the sand, played frisbee, and ate copious amounts of delicious squid. Kep is well known for its seafood so that evening saw feasts of crab, shrimp, and fish at one of the seafront restaurants. Crab is more hassle than it’s worth, in my opinion.

The following day it was back to Kampot for sunbathing, reading, and drinking coffee. Vanny and I went for a ride through the country and took in a little of the local lifestyle in the area, as well as visiting a pagoda. It was Pchum Ben, after all. The green of the paddy fields during the rainy season is just out of this world: it’s my favourite ever colour.

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Amazing as it was to be riding around for the entire weekend, Vanny and I decided against slogging back up the inevitably busy road on the final day of Pchum Ben. So we took the train. Yes, Cambodia now has a fully functioning railway. Ok, not fully functioning … it runs from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville via Takeo and Kampot. And it was over an hour later arriving. But strangely it got to Phnom Penh bang on time, passing completely stationary traffic jams, much to the amusement of the train passengers! The journey itself was fine: very Khmer (karaoke videos, loud music, children wandering up and down the aisle talking to strangers, people snacking on baby birds etc) but it was cheap and hassle-free. Oh yeah and for an extra five bucks we got the moto back too …

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All in all I had an awesome Pchum Ben, spending time with a great new group of people and seeing more of Cambodia than ever before from the saddle of a bike.

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Two NGOs and a Rainbow House

Last week I went on a two day trip to SKOPE’s newest partner school. Located in the heart of Kampong Speu Province, nestled amongst the trees, is Karuna Youth Cambodia. Founded in 2011 by their young director, Phearith, KYC is an NGO which focuses on community-based education projects. The village of Chherteal Chrum is unassuming and from the outside looks like any other rural Cambodian community. But the children here are luckier than most and six days a week 250 of them are able to attend free English and Computer Studies lessons at KYC.

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The school is small; just one classroom and a narrow corridor which acts as a computer lab. There’s also a small meeting room and performance area (Phearith is looking to begin a traditional arts education programme soon). The playground and surrounding greenery is beautiful and at the far end of the property stands the solar-powered Rainbow House, built to accommodate future volunteers, complete with bathroom, living area, television and mezzanine bedroom.

Look how cute it is! And I slept like a baby to boot.

My trip out to the village took three hours in a local bus-taxi. Usually there are upwards of twenty people crammed into a twelve-seater van but I was lucky. Just me and four Cambodian men. Oh, and a huge bag of alive crickets. The countryside in Cambodia is beautiful, especially in Kampong Speu which is home to the Aural mountain range, the largest in the country, so the drive was delightful. When I arrived at the edge of the village, a man took me by moto to the school where I met Phearith and got the tour of the complex. It is a little haven of comparative luxury; electricity, running water (sort of), English-speakers, and delicious Khmer food.

I was waited on hand and foot by the family whose property borders the school. The women cooked incredible dishes for me throughout my time there and I was very impressed by their skills and hospitality despite them not speaking a word of English. The school ran until four in the afternoon at which point Phearith and I went for stroll around the village. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves here … Basically, it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

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That evening the villagers were all invited to join us at the school as a celebration. Whether it was because Phearith was taking his monthly visit to the site (he is based in Phnom Penh where KYC also operates) or because I was there remains unclear. But I’d like to think it was the latter. Of course dinner wasn’t on time so we wiled away the wait by singing karaoke (not me, don’t worry) and watching a zombie movie which had all the women who had already arrived screaming and the kids hiding behind their hands. Due to the fact that I was sleeping in a wooden house on my own at the end of a school garden in an unknown village, I opted to read on my phone rather than watch …

The following day I spent time with the school children who had come to study. The centre is open all the time and many came hours before their lessons to play with friends and hang out in a safe, clean space. I wandered around, chatted to a couple of them, and then settled down to read a Dr Seuss book to a group of students who were waiting for their class to begin. They were so engaged in it, despite not understanding a lot of the text and I suddenly remembered how much I enjoyed teaching.

The teachers at the school are past students who have studied in Phnom Penh on scholarships from KYC. Whilst their English is good, there is no substitute for native teaching and this is what KYC and SKOPE are partnering on. As of October 2016 we are launching a volunteer program. These volunteers will live on-site in the Rainbow House, be provided with free meals and teaching supplies, and get an incredible experience of life in Cambodian countryside. The program is free although if volunteers want to make a donation towards the school or to cover the costs of the food/housing, they may do so at their discretion. Transport to the site will be organised either by me or Phearith and I may even come with volunteers to settle them in (plus I loved in there and would happily go back any time).

Some of the children in Pre-School

Here I must point out that there has been a lot of press recently about the negative impacts of ‘volunteerism’. KYC and SKOPE are working together to ensure that any and all of the issues raised regarding volunteerism are addressed and eliminated. Both organisations believe in sustainable, community-based practices and we endeavour to do our best for the children we are working with. I will be writing a blog some time over the next few days on volunteerism, SKOPE, Cambodia, and my thoughts more generally.

If you’re interested in volunteering for KYC, please fill out the form below. Alternatively you may contact me (SKOPE@sovannkomar.org) or Phearith (kyclub.info@gmail.com).

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Bookworms

SKOPE (I) visited a couple of primary schools in Kampong Thom in November last year where several different projects were suggested to me. Our return trip in March saw us handing out exercise books and stationary to 900 students (amalgamated from two different schools). We also donated sports supplies and games. Now we’re heading back to complete the second request: a library.

I love to read. Always have. It comes in fits and spurts and sometimes I’ll go for months without reading anything. Other times I’ll become completely engrossed, moving seamlessly from one novel to another, devouring the words on the pages as fast as I can. So I was more than happy to put my effort and the finances of SKOPE behind a library project. The school in question has an onsite library and the only problem is the lack of books. Now, I’m no expert but books are a pretty fundamental part of creating a library.

A sad looking bookshelf in Kampong Thom

The school’s headteacher has arranged a timetable to ensure each of the school’s classes visit the library every week, exposing them as much as possible to reading and literature from an early age. The only problem is, the kids are bored. They’ve read all the books suitable for their age range, of which there were only ever a handful. How can we expect kids to become passionate about reading if we don’t have engaging texts for them to explore? Well, thanks to SKOPE, they soon will.

I held my first fundraiser in Cambodia to raise the money for this project. Whilst visiting my sister in Perth, Australia, last year, I had come across a gimmick in a bookshop I wanted to try out. It’s called Blind Date with a Book. The premise; the books are wrapped up so you can’t see what the title is and you choose what you want to buy based on limited summary points on the front of them. Fun, quirky, and unusual. Perfect.

Just a few of the books I wrapped to sell

It took ages to get the books ready but it was a lot of fun and a way of remembering back over the books I’d read over the past couple of years. Almost all the books we sold were one I’d accumulated during my time in Cambodia. Next we needed a venue. I asked permission from one of my favourite restaurants for me to hold the fundraising event one Saturday morning where I knew footfall would be high. Helped by Sovann Komar’s current intern, we set up our display and prepared for customers to arrive.

Ready for supporters

To be honest, I wasn’t exactly optimistic about raising a huge amount of money but I was blown away by the support I received. Although many of my friends here in the city also came along to support SKOPE, the vast majority of our customers were strangers who had seen our advertisement on Facebook. In fact, we almost ran out of books and were generously restocked by my friends Emily and Josh. Other buyers offered to donate their own books beforehand, should I want to do the same fundraiser in the future which was wonderful.

With the money raised, I went to visit the head offices of Sipar, a Khmer language book publisher. They had an eclectic mix of titles from my first words to a translation of Pippi Longstocking, non-fiction books about Cambodian history and traditional moral tales. I put in an order for 120 books and we’ll be delivering them some time in September or October!

Some of Sipar’s fantastic range

Thanks once again to everyone who came along that day and supported us. Keep an eye out both on this blog and our Facebook page for any upcoming projects and fundraisers you might want to get involved in.

Playgrounds! Millbrook School and Sovann Komar build happiness with SKOPE

Sovann Komar and SKOPE recently played host to some students from Millbrook School, New York, who came over as part of an educational trip to get involved in our outreach programme. Which, naturally, meant I was running most of the weekend. There were eleven students and three teachers visiting to organise activities for and I think everything went smoothly. At least, by Cambodian standards. The theme for the overall weekend was: playgrounds!

My willing band of helpers on the first day

On Saturday the American students and some of our own kids worked really hard to recondition the existing playground in Sovann Komar Children’s Village. After eight years of enthusiastic playtimes, it was looking a little dilapidated. So we replaced the sandpit, painted the climbing frame, swing set, and seesaws, hung a new rope swing, and replaced the jumping tyres.

Have you ever tried to remove a tyre filled with concrete and anchored with an iron rod? No? It’s hard!

We put a fresh coat of paint on the climbing frame

It was all hands on deck for the new sand pit

We got new horse heads and seats for the seesaws and painted them

Everyone got stuck in and we were all covered in paint, sweat, sand, and mud by the end of it. But that doesn’t matter in Cambodia in July because there’s always a monsoon around the corner to wash it away. And what better way to experience the rainstorm than by playing a game of football (or soccer, for my American readers)! Those of us who preferred to stay dry (ish), helped with the construction of a giant banana boat.

Sunday was SKOPE’s latest project in Prey Veng province. It was much more ambitious than all of our previous ones combined. And by that, I mean we were doing multiple things, most of which required manual labour. Here was the schedule:

• Hand out stationary to every child (equipment donated by a very generous supporter from China and supplemented by the headteacher at Sovann Komar School)
• Plant trees
• Hand out water filters to each family
• Create a cement base for the new water well
• Build a playground

I was most involved in the first and last point as SKOPE fundraised to support those two endeavours. The trees and water well were supported by Sovann Komar itself, Panasasatra University of Cambodia, and donors from the United States. The water filters were donated by Millbrook School.

The new well looks great! Plus it provides safe drinking water for the students and surrounding community.

Now the children and their families can drink clean, safe water at home

The playground was an idea I had had a few months previously. It was a somewhat daunting task but with so much help from various men at Sovann Komar and the children themselves, it soon became viable. I held a design competition for the playground layout for the children at Sovann Komar, involving them in the structure from the start. The frame itself was built by me and my manly helpers and erected a couple of weeks before the official donation day. On the day itself, we had painted tyres to nail up for monkey bars, ropes to thread for a climbing ceiling, more tyres to tie together to make a climbing wall, and an amazing spiderweb design.

This aspect of the day took the most co-ordinator, the greatest number of people, and the most brain power. Seriously, knots are confusing. Luckily, one of the girls from Millbrook School was a former rock-climber and with her advice, several other students were able to create sturdy, safe connections. We also hung two tyre swings from trees which were inundated with children as soon as our workers were out of the trees above them.

Monkey Jack!

Complex spiderweb making

I’ve never seen so many children climbing on a structure before. As soon as we stepped away, they ran for it, scaling up to the top with ease, swinging on the ropes and clambering through tyres. It was one of the happiest sights of my life and one I will never forget. Also, the playground stayed standing so that was a win!

The completed structure!

Amazingly this held up fine!

Monkey bars or a place to nap? You decide!

Trying out the spider’s web

Monkeying around

In the evening of that night we sailed the banana boats we had made the night before and then had a feast of home-cooked Khmer food, slaved over all day by several of Sovann Komar’s mothers and employees. Then it was time for singing and dancing and generally having a great time. I was so impressed with the way the Sovann Komar children interacted with the Millbrook students. They were confident, friendly, and helpful and I hope they have formed long-lasting friendships. The goodbyes were tearful, let’s put it that way.

Monday morning was the end of Millbrook School’s trip but they had time to eat breakfast with my unusually shy Grade 5 class before teaching English. From origami to reading time, singing songs to conversation classes, Grades 1, 3, and 5 loved learning from our young volunteers.

Origami with Grade 1

After breakfast with Grade 5

And then they were off, continuing on their adventure through Cambodia before returning to New York later in the week. It was amazing to host these bright, funny, caring young people and I hope they had as good a time as we all did here. It was fantastic to meet every one of them (you, if you’re reading) and everyone hopes you come back to visit us again soon. Sovann Komar and SKOPE are very grateful for your time and energy and look forward to continuing our relationship in the future.

Oh and just in case you missed it, here’s the link to a video of our amazing weekend.

Farewell sunset of the Phnom Penh skyline

A Puppy, Plankton, and Peace

It’s public holiday season in Cambodia and last weekend saw a group of a baker’s dozen heading off to Koh Rong. This is an island off the coast of Sihanoukville which I’ve not visited since 2014 and it was high time I returned!

Leaving at 3:30am, we’ve discovered, cuts the usual five hour road trip almost in half and we sped into a bleary-eyed Sihanoukville at 6:30 on Friday morning. Then we had a leisurely two and a half hours to wait before boarding out catamaran and speeding off to Koh Rong. Once we landed on the built-up, touristy beach, we grabbed a sugar cane juice before clambering ungainly into a far less stable, gaudily painted green and orange, water taxi. We were whisked, rocking and pitching, away to a quieter, more peaceful, and infinitely more beautiful Coconut Beach. Yes, there were lots of coconuts. Between us we had three bungalows perched right on the sandy shore.

I spent most of the rest of the time in the sea and on the beach. The water was crystal clear. So clear in fact that when I jumped off the pier and then lost my sunglasses, I could simply dive under, eyes stinging from the salty water and retrieve them with relatively little trouble. As a side note, I wouldn’t advise jumping from that pier when the tide is out. My second jump resulted in my shin colliding with a concrete girder I had failed to spot. But I’m fine!

After hours of swimming, frisbee and food, some of us walked over the hill to the small fishing village nestled in the cove on the other side. It was an adorable place and I briefly wondered whether I could justify setting up a SKOPE project there. For now, however, it seems a bit too remote!

We were accompanied on our trip by the young dog (for the purpose of the alliterative blog title, I’m considering her a puppy) who lives at our accommodation and she became a constant companion from that evening onwards. In fact, most of my photos of the holiday are of her! When we returned we were invited by some villagers to drink with them. Some spoke limited English but as the whiskey flowed, my Khmer improved remarkably and we all had a great time laughing together even if there was a language barrier.

Saturday saw a lazy morning after a somewhat inebriated night of games, chatting, midnight swimming and carrying various friends to bed (no names mentioned). There were two other accommodation sites on the beach: a pretentious, soulless hotel and another bungalow place, built into the cliff face. Rachel and I walked down to explore the latter on Saturday afternoon, particularly as we’d discovered our place was expecting a large group of Khmers and were going to be unable to cook for us. We were accompanied by the dog, naturally. This dog, whom we never actually named, also joined us in the sea. She swam out to us but then wanted to be held. She wasn’t small but she was so cute so I handed her off to Jordan and went to get my camera. Literal couple’s photoshoot!

There was some fishing action too. Whatever we caught (and by we I don’t mean me), the chef would grill for us. I think Nary had the most success. The crab in particular was delicious!

Sunsets are always hit or miss but we struck gold (purple and red) with the one we watched from the top of the hill. A group of us sat in complete silence, watching as the daylight slid from view and the sky was filled with the most beautiful colours.

That evening we mostly ate burgers which made a change from the delicious but sporadically served fried rice at our accommodation. I also got thrashed at chess by Eli before we all wandered back and the cards and booze came out again.

Time disappeared from us and the group gradually got smaller. Just after midnight, the owner of our place came over and asked those that remained if we wanted to see the phosphorescent plankton. Ok, he didn’t say that, he said “see plonkton?” The night before we had seen glimmers of light as we splashed in the water but knew the later it got, the brighter they shined. We were not disappointed.

As we waded out, clouds of light bloomed around our feet, tiny sparks of life glittering in the inky black water. Trailing your fingers through it made you feel magical, power emanating from a simple touch before fading once again into the darkness. They clung momentarily to our skin as we splashed each other with water, tiny pinpricks of light in the dark night. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I wish I could have taken a photo. The images will have to remain in my head, however, but I urge every one of you reading my blog to add this to your bucket list. You won’t regret it.

Sadly our phosphorescent fun was cut short by some loud, drunken Vietnamese boys returning from a night out on the main beach. Their boat beamed a neon green light over the whole area and the plankton faded from existence. They returned, of course, as the boat headed back out to sea but somehow the magic had gone.

On Sunday we returned the way we came. The swaying, unnerving little boat, a huge, steady catamaran (once everyone had finally located their return ticket – no names mentioned again), and then our Speedy Gonzales bus driver. We pulled into a dusky Phnom Penh, tired, sandy, sweaty, salty, but wonderfully relaxed and even a little bit tanned.

Cambodian long weekends are simply the best and I’m already looking forward to the next one … this coming weekend!

And finally, this blog is dedicated to Mrs Sheila Yale, a regular reader of Lemon in Cambodia and someone who has supported my adventures for many years. When I briefly connected to the Internet on Saturday evening, the sun setting steadily in front of me, I received a text from my mother informing me of her passing. Sheila loved to hear about my trips and we regularly wrote letters to one another. Whenever I was home, I’d visit to catch her up on my life and she’d do the same. It was an honour and a privilege to call such a loving, caring, and genuinely kind woman a friend. I will miss her greatly and sincerely hope she has found peace now she is reunited with her loving husband, Henry.

Left to Right: Vanny, Me, Tony, Varsha, Rachel, Eli, Phaline, Sophorn, Jordan

Goodbyes are always hard

Swimming puppy with Marion, Rachel, Jordan, and Varsha

Rachel and Puppy

Swinging fun

Sophorn and Puppy

One of Rachel’s own bucket list item I just helped to cross off her list!