Recycable materials for a CCH sculpture

On Sunday I ran a workshop at CCH to create a sculpture for the forthcoming jewellery auction.

The idea was to create a piece from recyclable goods. The purpose of the sculpture is for people at the auction to donate their spare change towards CCH. 100 riel notes here are worth about 4 cents and so amount just like 1p and 2p coins in the UK.

I've got lots of 100 and 50 riel notes to get rid of and I'm sure many expats have a lot of them hanging around - So, the idea is that they intertwine/weave them into the sculpture. This also highlights how, although we may think of the notes as nothing, children at the dump will work hard for 100 riel (2 aluminium cans = 100 riel).

The kids had a lot of fun weaving, cutting and gluing. Then they got the idea of making clothes from the plastic and bracelets from the wool and had a lot of fun with that too!

A beautiful purple outfit!

A new arrival on the right handside was very enthusiastic despite the fact that she only arrived 2 days ago. She is from a province and had no one to look after her.

Jewellery

On 18 March I have helped organised a fundraiser for CCH - The children's shelter. Please visit www.jewellery-auction.blogspot.com and please make a bid on one of these FANTASTIC one off pieces of jewellery with semi precious stones.

A weekend away

Me, the children and the Lions of Shihanoukville

At the weekend we took the ten children from the Smile Project to the beach. It was never going to be easy given how things here are generally run.

We had arranged the driver and the ten children. They had been briefed on what they needed to bring and at what time they need to be ready. Would things run smoothly - unlikely?!

6.45am on Saturday morning we made our way to CDCC (one of the shelters) to pick up the first lot of children. The first battle was to be with the mini bus driver who had unilaterally decided that he would now be bringing us home at 9am on Sunday rather than the 2pm we had originally agreed upon. Apparently it was for a "meeting" in Phnom Penh... Yeah mate, sure thing, a meeting of minibus drivers, in Cambodia....on a Sunday- These conventions must happen all the time. OK enough sarcasm - More like he had a second job on!

After negotiating a deal (price reduction to come back at 9am) we were on our way to CCH to pick up the remaining children. Surprisingly they were ready and even one of the children who had told us he couldn't come (5 minutes before we were due to depart) suddenly was available. We also had a Khmer teacher come with us which was a bit of a surprise but she was lovely and it was good to have an adult who spoke Khmer!!

We left shortly after the driver had loaded his various "jobs on the side"into the minibus. We were carrying an assortment of vehicle spare parts which we annoyingly dropped off on the way at various points. About 4-5 hours later we made it to Sihanoukville and the beach.

The children wanted to stop and pray for a safe journey at this half way point full of pagodas

We were staying in Youth Hostel style accommodation at the Don Bosco Youth House. Don Bosco is a Catholic set up that trains young people in the hospitality industry. They have training hotels and our accommodation was annexed to the hotel. Separate dormitories for boys and girls (of course). The rooms were just boxes with thin mattresses on the floor. They were OK but I was glad I had got a silk sleeping bag with me though as the other option was just a blanket put directly on to the mattress....

Then we went to the market to get a supply of food to eat at the beach. The older children and I went with the teacher into the market whilst the boys got drinks. Our mission was to buy prawns, and lots of them.

The market in Sihanoukville is surprisingly clean (must be the concrete floor) and all of the fish stalls were great. The prawns can be huge and I saw some amazing pieces of what I think were tuna. However, it quickly became clear that none of us knew how to tell a fresh prawn... I took the executive decision that "the whiter/clearer it was the better" for an uncooked one at least(!) and we proceeded on that basis. We wandered around looking and then chose a stall where the price was good enough, the prawns big enough and the owner friendly enough. 1kg of fresh prawns was about $7. We got a couple of kilos and then had to find a place to cook them....

The cooking stall

One of the children told me that a small child (wearing a school uniform) had just offered to cook them for us.... I was surprised - he seemed young to be cooking but then someone explained that he meant his Mum would do it (phew!).

His Mum had a stall with the sole purpose of cooking people's purchases. We discussed what vegetables would go with the prawns and got some samphire for about a $1 and some fresh pepper for $0.50. The Mum then cooked it all up. Yum!

Meanwhile, one of the older girls and I went to buy cooked rice ($5 for 13 huge portions) and Cambodian fruit. The whole thing must have taken about 40 minutes so the people left in the minibus were baking by the time we got back. Hungry we all headed to the beach to feast on prawns before swimming - all of this for 13 people cost about $23.

Swimming of course took place fully clothed.

We managed to get all of the kids on to the banana boat. The H&S is non existent here so it did not matter that when we were ready to go on the boat rain was pelting, visibility virtually nil and thunder could be heard... It all added to the experience! I was genuinely scared due to risk of lightening.

You will see that I was then buried and made into a mermaid...

I am laughing but there is sand in my contact lens and I can't breathe due to compacted sand..!

We decided to take the kids to eat pizza for dinner as this is what they said they wanted to try (....most of them ate rice in the end at the pizza place!).

We got into the van to leave the hostel for dinner with our driver and realised there was a random bloke inside hiding from the guards. I wasn't surprised - these things happen in Cambodia! Turned out he was a friend of the driver escaping from the training hotel so he could go and drink beer with him.... Good job we had decided on a tuk tuk to bring us back.

The children loved the night walk we did on the beach - for some it was the first walk "for fun and in nice surroundings" they had done since arriving at the shelter - Walking is not much of an option in PP. Worryingly, some grains of sand glowed in the dark though - I am not aware of nuclear activity in Cambodia but still....

After a rough nights sleep, one child kept kicking me in her sleep and the floor was hard, the kids got up after a lazy start. Usually they are up at 4am and this was their inital plan. However, I was luckily and they slept in until 6am~and were immediately ready for the beach! After a Khmer breakfast of noodles and unidentifiable parts of pig we hit a different beach before heading home.

The driver was insistent we left at 8.30am but we held our ground. This, on reflection, was a mistake because he then drove like a bat out of hell until we changed drivers about an hour later. I thought I was going to die. Speaking of which I now know there is only 1 morgue in Cambodia with only 3 fridges which they turn off at night. Nice.

Apparently it is only necessary to stop at the line of pagodas on the way to Sihanoukville - I think it may have been more useful on the return journey. However, we lived and arrived back in PP with half an hour to spare before the "meeting".

The second beach - Otres

A new venture

Leaving Cambodia in April is going to be extremely difficult. We have adapted to life quite well here and most of the time have relished the experience. However, our links with Cambodia will not be broken - far from it. In fact we now have a new charity(!) that we have set up. We are currently doing research on the situation of children who live in prisons in Cambodia. The aim will be to establish a project that will provide these children with a safe and clean environment in which to live, free from violence, with access to education and to medical/social care. The project will be run by Cambodians but managed from the UK.

If you are a Facebook user you can join our group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51538083862&ref=nf

Kampot break

This week I had a break from school (half term) and so went back to one of my favourite places to visit in Cambodia - Kampot.

Kampot is a beautiful small town with lots of character and lovely old colonial buildings. My first impression of Kampot, nearly a year ago left me unimpressed but the charm of the town has grown on me and now I think it is great!

The old bridge in Kampot was bombed and so what remains is 3 different bridges all put together.

It rained! - The first rain since the end of the wet season sometime in October

The main reason to go was to try (again) to get up Bokor Mountain. Bokor is a National Park with a deserted old hill station built by the French including ruins of a casino and a church. A large chunk of Bokor has however been sold to a developer and for a while access has been refused to tourists.

Last time I visited Kampot it was still possible to walk up but as it was a two day hike I didn't fancy it... This time I was prepared to hike but now the developer's security guards have stopped people even walking up to visit the ruins. No doubt when its open again it will have turned into a tacky resort rather than an "abandoned hill station".

So, with Bokor being impossible the alternatives were lazing about with a book, cycling through the nearby villages and a sunset river cruise.

The cycling was great. The sun however was scorching. I have forgotten how fierce the Cambodian sun can be because its the start of the hot season again and also because when I'm in Phnom Penh you are never outside for a long period of time.

The roads were not too dusty thanks to the strange rain but it was hot and rough in parts.

Over 2 days we cycled over rocky roads and into Muslim Communities (known as Cham in Khmer). "Hellohowareyouwhatisyourname!" was called at least every 10 metres by kids and adults alike. Most Cambodians in the rural areas do not know what this even means so (in true teacher format) I try to throw back the answer in Khmer hoping they might start to understand what they are saying! After 3 hours this gets a little waring though.

One group of kids were particularly amusing though. About 10 children returning from school screamed in joy when they saw foreigners. I spoke to them in broken Khmer and they looked at me as though I was an alien - to the extent that I wondered whether they spoke Khmer at all! Eventually there was a break through and then my camera was an object of delight for them.

Tort Roop? [photograph?]

We then came to the end of the road. The trucks carrying stone up to the new resort came thundering past over a bridge that looked like it might break any moment. Rocks perched high on the trucks looked like they could just plop off any second and flatten anyone nearby. Returning the way we came we came back to the school kids again who ran with the bikes holding hands (try cycling with 10 kids all wanting to grab you).

A welcome drink at this oddly placed roadside stall with the trucks hurtling past - The driver was very busy staring at the white people but he managed to keep it on the road

Later the cruise up the river, through the fishing village to the ocean. In order to get onto the boat we had to climb down a make shift ladder (a piece of wood with a few nails) onto the boat (ominously partially filled with water) Our driver then nearly caused us to crash into a moored police boat - never a good idea. He did not appear to understand the dynamics of a rudder.

My confidence was not increased by the fact that 5 minutes into the journey he let out a sound that "said" - "ohhh - how could I have been so foolish as to forget to put on my helmet!"... and then he picked up his motorcycle helmet and put it on - Yes, he put it on, without a hint that it was more than a little odd, even though we were on a boat in the middle of a river. Ummmm - After so long here you do just generally stop asking yourself the question "why?" when you see something strange but sometimes you just can't help but wonder!!

Anyway, the fishing village was interesting and we went out to a sand bank in the ocean and had a paddle before returning for sundowners.

Now where did I put my helmet?

Fisherfolk

Our boat with Bokor in the distance

People watching

There is never a dull moment from our balcony.... I'll miss people watching when we return to the UK.


Balloon sellers


Delivery by Cyclo


Food sellers, plastic wares sellers, balloon sellers, school buses and unhatched ducking snack sellers (a popular snack..), the local shop - all at the same time. Other sellers include: bread man, CD man, feather duster man, coconut man...


Changing of the guards at our flat (about 6am) - The man on the bike has just finished the night shift


And the (almost) ever present moto men - There are 4 main guys.



Its started to heat up properly here and temperatures are now about 30 degrees. The hot season isn't supposed to start until March but it is so sticky and hot already. This week is half term at my new school so tomorrow the plan is to head out of town and escape the dust and heat. I'm looking forward to a holiday - afterall its been about 3 weeks since the last!

Valentine's Day hits Cambodia

In Phnom Penh street side stalls quickly appear from no where to cater for the "must have" of the day/week/month etc.

For example, when the police started to fine people for not wearing helmets many stall owners started to sell helmets and made a tidy profit as (nearly) everyone rushed to buy one. Some might think Valentine's day is a day of romance etc but here it seems to be the day to make a quick buck. On most streets there is a rose seller or two (...or ten) encouraging young Khmers to buy one for their sweethearts.

A large Khmer nightclub, called Rock, is also having a Valentine's special. You can take your date to the "night" club between 1pm and 6pm this afternoon and get two free soft drinks!!

Roses for sale by the side of one of the main roads