hand me my sexy rain poncho while I hitch up my skirt...

OK, it is officially rain season. We had the biggest storm I have ever heard in my life last night, I was actually afraid at one point as lightning clapped around my house every five seconds, and now it has been pouring for the past two hours this afternoon. Massive lightning bolts, thunder.... I know the street my office is on is going to be flooded waist high.... the only thing left is for the power to go out.....

Oh my god.... it just did.... haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... talk about jinx yourself. I am absolutely telling the truth. I just wrote that sentence and thought, bad move Rhianna, and then, buzzzzzzzzz, lights out. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

OK. So much for me staying to finish the report I'm working on. And come to think of it, I can’t even post this now…… I can only stay as long as there is daylight and laptop battery now.

I will try and get some photos of the joy of the flooded streets sometime this week to show you what we now face every afternoon.

And can someone please let me know how to make a boat out of a rain jacket, pair of flip-flops, an iPod and 10,000 riel......

Bangkok wedding bells

On the 1st July I flew to Bangkok with a number of other Phnom Penhites to attend the truly memorable wedding of Michelle and Derick; the celebration of a gorgeous couple who have obviously found happiness and laughter with each other. The wedding, held in a traditional Thai house on the university campus where they met at during a Masters year, combined traditions from both Catholic and Jewish faiths and managed to withstand the obligatory monsoonal downpour. Michelle and Derick had members of their families from the Philippines and the USA present, along with friends from all over the world, including colleagues and friends from their current home, Cambodia.

It was a really memorable day, and weekend, which I feel very lucky to have been a part of.

(The Memphis Gang - Michelle, Derick, me, Reggie and Laurent)

My chic hair do, thanks to the lovely lady-boy hairdresser downstairs! Beaudiiiful

Laurent, Reggie and I pig-out at our fav Bangkok haunt, Food Loft at Central Chiltom

Dinner with Reggie and some of his Thai friends at Kuppa@Playground - a new concept space in Bangkok that has a collection of design stores (interiors, fashion, literature etc) + exhibition and instilation spaces + restaurants that include cooking demonstration spaces. Just across the border from Cambodia - feels like a world away.

Lampini Night Market - Rhianna was on the hunt for a last minute handbag bargin... Mullberry brown leather.... mission accomplished, and at half the original price, even Reg was impressed with my haggling!

Field Feet

I am aware that most of my posts are about extraordinary travel days, not about my normal life in Cambodia. Over the next few months I will try to put a few more stories and photos up of life, work and play here in Cambodia.... The sad fact is that most of us never remember to take the time to document our 'normal' days...

So, here's my first attempt at documenting 'Cambodia' as I find it..... starting with field work. Hopefully soon I will also be able to give you some insights into monsoon rain, markets, Phnom Penh night life etc…

In June I spent a few weeks in the field, in Prey Veng and Siem Reap. I went to our various project sites in these provinces to meet with the Buddhist Monks who work as on SCA's Orphans and Vulnerable Children project. At head office we are currently working on a number of new monitoring processes, and I was looking for some feedback on these systems from the Monks.

As with anyone I come across in Cambodia, the Monks are always craving to learn something new, so the first comment usually made about any new system is 'can I have training'... The work these Monks do in their communities is really outstanding in many cases. What they lack in resources or education, they more than make up for with enthusiasm and zeal. In Prey Veng I met a Monk in a very remote pagoda who had set up a group to protect a local forest, started a small community vegetable garden and set up a school for young children because the nearest government school was costing too much money for poor families. This school was in a hut on the pagoda grounds, with no desks, only a dirt floor. When I met the children they were very keen to ask me questions about where I come from (What food do you eat? How do you get there? etc), and to tell me about what they had been learning. With SCA's support to this pagoda, all the children recently received school kits, including bags, pencils and books, and shortly after our visit, had a delivery of desks.

Any orphans and vulnerable children in this community will also receive support from the SCA OVC Project, including food rations from WFP and protein food from the SCA project budget. Most importantly, the OVC project works with monks and community leaders to reduce discrimination towards HIV+ families and assists their children to attend school and access health services.

PREY VENG

While in Siem Reap my colleague Chanthea and I visited a Pagoda in a rural area of the province that is not part of our program. One of our partner Monks took us there, as he thought SCA may consider partnering with this pagoda in the future. He knew the head-Monk at this pagoda was interested in supporting children in his community and that there were many orphans and vulnerable children in the area. While visiting this pagoda, I met a young boy, Kot. He was in the pagoda grounds while we visited. He was suffering from a number of what appeared to be birth defects, including what was later diagnosed as a case of meningoencephalocele, or MEC.

In a future post I will write about Kot, his case, and how he is now accessing services at the Children’s Surgical Centre in Phnom Penh. His story is one that typifies the situation many marginalized, poor and isolated young people in Cambodia face. Although now, with many people’s support and involvement, he may be an example of what a positive change effective referrals and support can make.

While in Siem Reap I also had to opportunity to visit my favorite temple ‘Bang Mealea’ again. One of the Pagodas we support is near the temple, so on our lunch break our coordinator monk, Hai, took us for a visit. It was very special to visit this place with my colleagues. It is my favorite temple in Cambodia, and now I have been able to share the experience of being there with some of my favorite Cambodians!

A very hot, dusty and rewarding few weeks in the field. Out of the office, in our old Land Rover, seeing the difference our work makes.

SIEM REAP

(At School)

(Australia wins its first World Cup match, and Siem Reap goes wild... hummmmm... well, Anna and I did at least....)

(Bang Mealea, and lunch on the road home)