New homes...

The flat - Kitchen and living room

The Views from the balcony.....

Yesterday we moved into our new flat in Phnom Penh. The flat is small but has all of the western things needed to survive here – like a normal toilet, running hot water and the wiring is actually inside the walls (not hanging out like in some of the flats we saw). Actually the flat is quite beautiful in that it is nice and neutral, has added bonuses of a brand new washing machine and fridge (in fact the whole thing is new and we are the first to move in). It is located on the third floor so the balcony has great views: the independence monument, the biggest shopping centre in town, the parliament, a large temple and the hussle and bussle of a general Khmer street can be observed from the balcony/living room. The nice thing about the flat (as well as all of the above!) is that it is just outside, literally a street away, from the main expat area. This means we have all the comforts of western cafes/bars but without only ever seeing western people! Our neighbour is Khmer and all of the people on the street passing below are generally Khmer too which makes you feel that you are living in Cambodia rather than Bristol! There is a massive NGO contingent here and it is sometimes nice to escape it a bit even if it is just for a while.

Yesterday was spent finding the bits and pieces you need to fill a kitchen - all the things that Ikea would love to provide... Instead, our Ikea was “the Paragon centre”. The thought of bartering around the market in 35 degree heat was too much to bear and I was willing to pay the mark up for the joy of air conditioning of this western style mall. Unlike in the UK, no less than 7 people packed the purchases and 2 men pushed the trolleys to the tuk tuk outside – what great service! Now the flat is nearly complete!

Today I went with my TEFL teacher to the orphanage where I will be training and probably teaching afterwards as a volunteer. The orphanage is about a 15 minute ride away from the flat in an area which has the city dump – the Children’s Centre for Happiness. The children have been rescued from the dump where they would have otherwise lived, earning about 75 cents a day, collecting rubbish to sell to recyclers that line the streets to the dump. The dump itself is 4km square – it smokes constantly from the rubbish giving off methane in the heat. I can only imagine what life was like for these children before then were able to live at this centre. Suffice to say the dump is certainly not a nice place. I am told that one “trick” some people there do (in desperation I would say) is to wait until a tourist gets out of their car with a camera – the tourist starts taking pictures. Then as if by magic a person literally jumps out of the rubbish (it’s piled so high they can leap out of it) and grabs the camera/purse etc and then dives back into the rubbish. No person would be mad enough to follow then to give chase.

It’s tragic but some people can make more in the dump collecting rubbish than they would make in the fields in the provinces. What the children have been through already is awful – being sold by their family into slavery, having to sleep in sewage.... I hope that at the centre, as well as giving English lessons, I will also be able to give art lessons – that will be great fun! Today I was used as a human climbing frame by the children. Hot work giving “giraffe” and “piggy back” rides to more than one child at a time in the baking heat but also good fun!! I go back there after Khmer new year to see some teaching and start teaching myself. For now the lessons in class room theory continue...