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Nun Yum!

By Jessica Wawrzyniak

November 1, 2009

It's difficult not to smile when you are in Cambodia. The only exceptions are the moments when you encounter the remnants of genocide and war: amputees, hundreds of hardworking homeless people in the streets all trying to make a living – but still can't afford a roof over their heads, very young children spending all day and night selling things instead of being in school, festering mountainous dumps where people scour for items that they can use or sell, animal cruelty, trash trash everywhere, burn victims, neglect of natural resources, neglect of humanity, people dying of illness, poverty, extreme poverty, and poverty of a level I didn't even know existed, HOWEVER in the face of all this, I have never walked down a street here and not gotten a smile from every single person who met my eye. These are an enduring people. An inspiring people. Because while the country itself has survived a wretched past, from which every single person is affected, the people charge forward and make no excuses. It is the potential that every individual has that is inspiring, for no one here feels that anyone owes them anything. They are willing to work their fingers to the bone if it means a better life for the people in this country. This is a place where the person who has nothing will give you the shirt off their back if they thought it would please you, and I'm not kidding. It is an overwhelming experience being here (which is probably why I haven't been able to write until now). 

 

From the moment I arrived until just yesterday, things have been Operation GOGOGO. Our schedule here was jam-packed with teaching and visiting and working and preparing for our classes and gathering materials. It has been a privilege working with the children and young adults here. Teaching English and photography has been an absolute joy, but even moreso are the learning experiences that I am going through myself. While here I have learned bits of Khmer (the language of Cambodians), as well as been taught the steps of traditional Khmer dances (including the fun-filled coconut dance), and I also spent an entire day visiting the various families and homes (some of which can barely be considered shacks) of my students. This experience was extremely humbling as we were welcomed with open arms by complete strangers. I am hesitant to get into all this too much because I'm not sure I would be able to stop writing if I started telling you about the project I am involved in here – so to spare you, I will just give you links to places you can get a bit more information on:

www.classactarts.org

and for some video and photo footage of what we've been up to check out Dave's page:

http://peiser.typepad.com/classact

 

We haven't been out and about in Phnom Penh all too much, and in just a few hours we'll be heading to Siem Reap to visit the great temple of Ankhor Wat. It's an 8 hour speedboat ride from here all along the rivers and lakes of the region. I'll be sure to include photos in the next email. 

 

But of course, no stint in Asia would be complete without a night of karaoke. CHECK. 

 

Personally, I would like to write more and overload you with my adventures here, but I get reprimanded when too hefty an email weighs in people's inboxes. I hope this one is enough to answer your questions and concerns for now. I wish you all well and hope to hear news of your respective parts of the universe soon. 

 

– Jessica

Ps. "Nun Yum", probably spelled horrifically wrong, means "smile!" in Khmer.
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Random Cambodia Video – Squeeky Boy!

Last Sunday we visited an NGO near the hotel in Phnom Penh called Aw-Kun (which means thank you in Khmer) to check out what they were doing for kids in Cambodia and also  because they served food and we were in search of lunch. I think it was the first time since we arrived that we ordered some non-asian food for lunch or dinner. Niels and Jessica got fish and chips. We also ordered a small pitcher of beer and a shake.

The restaurant that made the food was not actually on-premesis; it was down the street, and Aw-Kun had a deal where they received 10% of any food orders that came in. 

About 10 minutes after putting our order in, we saw the funniest thing – our waitress, sitting sideways as a passenger on a motorbike, with a pitcher of beer in one hand and mugs in the other! I was too surprised and slow to snap a picture or video of that, but I did record this video of a small boy who came by the restaurant with his mom and brother.

 

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The Teacher’s Life – Class-ACT Global Children’s Art Exchange in Cambodia

Jessica and Niels were in "Go Mode" from the time they landed in Cambodia with the photo portfolio project. Weekend days were exactly like during the week, visiting schools, families, prepping for classes, meeting with people. It didn't stop.

So when it was all over, one coud imagine they might be tired.

Here is a peaceful moment, post classes, when we finally got to relax back at the hotel.

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Public School in Cambodia is Different than in the USA

While there are many things that are different between going to public school in the US and Cambodia, there are a couple things that really caught our attention. I'll write about those in a second, but I have to mention that I am constantly learning new information, typically from people who don't speak English fluently, so sometimes the info has to be adjusted as we go along.

First, the school schedule is different. Here, there are two sessions per day, and children attend one of the two – either 7am-11am or 1pm-5pm. Classes are held 6 days per week, Monday thru Saturday. During the time of the day a child is not in school, they sometimes attend tutoring classes with a teacher, or they might be working. That includes small children who might be working. Sometimes children attend supplemental classes, for example to learn English. The school we are supporting provides supplemental classes in English, computers, art and dance.

The second difference has to do with cost. Though public schools in Cambodia are "free" to attend, it actually is required that children pay to attend. This is required because the teachers salaries are abysmal so the only way they can survive is to collect additional money. It might cost 12.5-25 cents per class for younger kids and more for older kids. This may not seem like a lot, but it is for a poor family living on $50 per month. 25 cents per day times 6 days per week for four weeks is $6. If you have three kids that's $18. A big chunk of your take home pay.

Considering the reason for the extra charge it wouldn't seem so bad except for what the consequences are of not paying this daily "tuition" fee. The typical teacher, from what I've been told, will treat the non-paying students differently in class; ignored basically. And even worse, if a child has not paid, any tests they take result in bad grades, even if they are the smartest person in the class.

The director of the school we support told us a story today from his childhood. He was told by his teacher that when they have the next big test, it will be necessary for each student to bring in a present. His family was poor, and could not afford anything more for school, so for a couple months he saved up what he could. He knew he didn't have enough money to buy a the kind of gift his teacher would want, so he bought a less expensive present. When the time came to give the present to the teacher, he handed it her, she looked at it, and then pushed it back at him and told him to bring it home. this was a situation he has not forgotten about.

The whole "paying off" the teacher thing does well in educating the students about bribery, which is really unfortunate.

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The Photo Portfolio Project has been completed in Cambodia!

The title really tells it all. What a great time we have had bringing the project here.I will try to get comments from Niels and Jessica.

We actually completed this two days early due to a holiday that starts on Thursday. It's the King's birthday, and apparently it is quite a big bash. The shortening of classtime came as a surprise to us, but Niels and Jessica adjusted the schedule so that everythiing could be completed in the time we had.

Here's a link to some info about the holiday. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200310/30/eng20031030_127240.shtml

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I Just Saw an Elephant Walk by!

I woke up early Wednesday morning, which is actually normal for me no matter where I am,. though we were out late last night. But I haven't been sleeping as much since I've been here. After stumbling around a bit I realized I was up for real and needed some coffee. On other days there were some instant coffee packets in my room, but the maid did not replenish the supply, so I thought – well, let's go down to the lobby – maybe they'll have some! Not knowing whether this was a 24 hour serviced hotel, I wandered down to find the lobby quite dark. A gate was pulled across the hotel entrance and was locked, and some motorbikes were parked in the lobby. And, the two front desk clerks were sleeping in the chairs in the lobby!

My first thought was how I wasn't going to be having coffee anytime soon. I also thought how it seemed awful that these guys had to sleep in the lobby. I couldn't imagine that happening in the U.S., but actually this is quite common in Cambodia, from what I've been told. I've been told the tuk-tuk drivers sleep in  their tuk-tuks. Many people sleep on their motorbikes. And, there are many who live and sleep at the city dump. Sleeping in the lobby is obviously better than the dump.

So, I headed back up to my room without coffee, showered, shaved, no coffee. By the way, I have an amazing view out my hotel window – the Sap river meets the Mekong River that goes out to the Mekong Delta. And, I can watch the sun rise over this every day. Wow. I love it.

Checked email, no coffee.

Around 6:30 I decided to go next door for some coffee. And that's when I saw the elephant. I was sitting in a chair facing the street, under the fans (you have to sit under the fans – it's hot!) Sipping my coffee (Yayy!). Motorbikes going by. Tuk-tuks going by. People walking by. And an elephant walking by!! Was I in Jumanji?? It just leisurely walked by, in the street, with his walker holding a rope. I guess it was out for a stroll.

I researched this and apparently the elephant's name is Sam Bo and he lives at the Pagoda up the street.

 

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Cambodia Trip Update Sunday 10-25-09

Today we visited the homes of eight of the students who attend the school we sponsor in Phnom Penh. It really was an incredible experience. First of all, we expected to visit the homes with just us plus the director of the school but instead were an entourage including several teachers and around 20 enthusiastic students. It really was a blast for us spending all the time with everyone and almost unbelievable seeing the conditions in which these poor families live. The families welcomed us with open arms into their homes which were in many cases smaller than some bathrooms you find in houses in Southern California.

One family with a mother and two children had $40 per month coming in as income of which $25 per month goes toward the rent. The rest has to somehow cover everything else.

114_0383 Yesterday we visited the Stung Meanchey dump in Phnom Penh which until recently was covered by scavengers looking for bottles, cans and anything else of value, as well as families actually living on the dump. Children from114_0356 here are among those currently participating in our photo portfolio project.  Homes come right up to the edge of the dump where everyone was recently evicted to make way for a company that will be extracting methane from the site.

Below is a status report video from Jessica from a few days ago. After the weekend, we'll be back in the classes again on Monday morning.

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Tuk-Tuks and Motorbikes in Cambodia

One of the more interesting and noticeable things in Phnom Penh are the motorbikes and traffic in Motorbike1general. Motorbikes are the most common mode of travel on the streets. They're everywhere, weaving in and out of other vehicles and people, sometimes driving in the opposite direction of traffic or perpendicular to traffic. Pretty much anything goes, though there are a couple key rules – biggest vehicle wins, and the responsibility for avoiding accidents lies with the vehicle that is behind another vehicle. So if you are driving any vehicle, you don't worry at all about what is going on behind you – only Motorbike2 what's going on in front of you. Makes driving simpler, Motorbike3doesn't it? Also, as a pedestrian crossing traffic, if you've committed in your actions to moving forward you better keep moving, because the motorbikes and tuk-tuks and cars are going to go behind you – they are assuming you're not stopping. And don't ever back up while walking across the street.

Tuk-tuksOne of the main modes of hired transportation in Phnom Penh is the Tuk-Tuk. They are basically like taxis (there are traditional taxis also), but these are open-air and a motor bike or bicycle pulls it. They're really plentiful all over the city and pretty inexpensive for getting around.