The Killing Fields

Since I found out that I would be going to live in Cambodia I have tried to educate myself on the atrocities which this country faced 30 years ago. I watched the film ‘The Killing Fields’, I read what numerous travel guidebooks had to say about it and have also read lots of books detailing first-hand accounts of the terror and unbelievably horrific events which swept over the country and affected every single person who lived here. I’m not the world’s greatest historian but I have just about managed to piece together the course of events which led up to Pol Pot’s reign over the country and what happened here as a result. I am not going to regurgitate a complete history lesson on my weblog, although I am going to add a list of the books I have read in case anyone wants to follow suit.

My last day in Phnom Penh was spent at one of the country’s Killing Fields – Choeung Ek. During the short reign of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979), about two million people died in Cambodia. Many of the dead ended up n various ‘killing fields’ that can be found scattered across the country. They were places of execution and dumping grounds for the dead bodies of men, women and children. Choeung Ek, just outside Phnom Penh is once such killing field where more than 17,000 were executed. I find it really hard to even imagine that number of people. Most of them will have suffered interrogation, torture and deprivation at the S-21 prison, Toul Sleng, which I visited about 6 weeks ago in Phnom Penh. Onno and I cycled about 8km from the centre of the city to visit what has now become a Memorial to the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. A large stupor containing the skulls of the unearthed dead stands as a memorial, their clothes washed and displayed at the base. We walked round the site, reading the information boards and trying to take in the fact that this strangely beautiful spot in the Cambodian countryside could be the scene of such evil.

What I fail to get my head around is how this horror was able to happen. It continues to shock, fascinate, disgust and amaze me. It is interesting hearing some very different responses to the recent arrests of some of the Khmer Rouge leaders and the upcoming trials. I am gradually understanding the Cambodian people more and more but no matter how many books I read or sites I visit, I will never even come close to understanding what they have been subject to.

Bonn Om Tuk, The Water Festival

What an absolutely amazing day! Phnom Penh has been getting busier all week in the build up to the Boat Race. The festival marks the occasion when the Tonle Sap returns to its normal directional flow. So much water falls and flows down the Mekong during the rainy season that when it reaches the Tonle Sap, it forces it to flow in the ‘wrong’ direction. To mark this geographical phenomenon, there is a huge festival and competition over three days between long boats from all over the country. The boats hold about 70 people who sit in pairs and paddle like mad. Well, that’s what the barang boat did – I’m sure the Khmers have a more technical term than that!

The VSO Boat Race Team 2007 were herded into trucks and driven down to the riverside in the morning where we were met with lots of laughter and surprised faces! Once some of the Khmer teams had sized up their opposition and decided we posed no real threat of doing very well in the competition, we got to watch some of the boats begin the race. The boats were all lined up at the bank and once loaded up with oarsmen, they would shuffle their way to the start with the boat they would be racing against. This was all whilst paddling upstream which was quite a tough job! The boats would then turn and the race would start. As we watched all this happen from the sidelines, I have to admit the thought of backing out did occur to more than a few of us. Our boat was closest to the bank (easy to board it) but seemed a long way from the start of the race in an impossible looking chaotic mess of long boats. The current on the river also looked like a challenge. Thankfully we were only entered in one race which was the race downstream but we would still need to paddle upstream and turn our boat round without capsizing! And the speed the Khmer boats travelled in the water was amazingly fast!

Anyway, our turn came and we managed to wheedle our boat out of the mess and up to the start and found our competitors. All the Khmers found it highly amusing that a very mixed group of barangs were going to attempt to compete in the race. Once on the water, we passed by lots of other boats waiting for their turn to race and the looks on their faces ranged between utter dumbfounded amazement and absolute hilarity! We also managed to turn our boat successfully and so the race began. The Khmer competitors sailed off with ease, grace and what looked like minimal effort while we puffed and panted our way down the river. Some of our team even stopped rowing for a cigarette break half way down the river and I must say I did put my oar down once or twice to snap a few photos. We managed to come 5th in a race between just 2 boats as we were overtaken by 3 boats from races which started after ours. (I must point out and draw your attention to the fact here that WE DID NOT SINK and for that I feel quite proud. I later found out that a Khmer boat some races behind us had sunk to the bottom of the river!) On the way back to park the boat, we rowed past the crowds of Khmers, barangs, VSO supporters and tourists watching from the banks of the river, past the Royal

Palace where later that afternoon the King of Cambodia would watch the races (he managed to miss ours!) and past other Khmer teams who had finished their races. It was such a fantastic experience and we were clapped and cheered and laughed at in equal measures!

We watched some more of the races whilst sipping beer and eating chips on the balcony of the Foreign Correspondents Club and were later treated to an evening of fun at a rather nice restaurant! We also get to keep our T-shirt and hat team uniform. I am so chuffed to have had the opportunity to join in this amazing festival. I have read about it and seen pictures in many guidebooks but to actually participate was a real treat. It was great to see the city from the river and the atmosphere in the whole of Phnom Penh is fantastic. It all reminds me why I love big cities! It is really hard to select what to write about from the day as so much was going on. It actually feels like quite a surreal experience especially when we returned to the guesthouse to find people watching it all on TV. Our country director was interviewed by the BBC World News which was quite an unexpected surprise and one of the organisers was actually offered a bribe for us winning a race (which was obviously not taken up!)

I’ve loved being in Phnom Penh for a week. It’s been great to catch up with friends as well as meet a lot more of the volunteers who are in the country. I’ll return to Phnom Srok over the next few days and start work with my new translator assistant on Wednesday!

It’s a boy!

Friday 16th November

I've had quite an eventful week back in Phnom Srok. I have continued to expand my network by attending a Khmer wedding, returning to the evening English lessons I discovered last time and watching a talent contest at the local pagoda. I also met Panya Sor (wisdom power) who is my landlord’s new baby son!

I have twice walked up the road in the evening and attended English classes to much amusement of the children. They shout their questions at me in English and then repeat what I say to their teacher who helps them to translate. It is great to be in a classroom again and with kids who are very eager to learn. They are used to learning to read and write English but actually speaking it aloud to a real life English speaker is a real treat! It’s amazing how keen they are to ask me questions: ‘What time do you have breakfast?’ ‘where do you usually go on holiday?’ ‘what colour do you prefer?’ They also asked if I could sing, to which I answered yes (what else? I mean, I could’ve been in a band you know) and they swiftly gave me a round of applause and looked at me very expectantly. They actually wanted me to sing a song to them, in English, right there and then. Well, by this time the class had attracted quite a crowd and for the first time ever, I experienced a touch of stage fright! I racked my brain to think of a song which would appeal to my audience, stood up and burst into singing ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes!’ – with actions! I think they were suitably impressed although I must get used to the Khmer way of giving applause as they clap at the beginning of a performance rather than at the end. It gave my little rendition a slightly anti-climatic ending as there was quite a silence after I sung the final ‘toes’. Anyhow, we spent a while translating and in return for my song they taught me the Khmer words for those parts of the body (which I’ve promptly forgotton already!)

The children at the shop front are also becoming more used to a barang being around the place and less frightened of me. I have spent a couple of afternoons playing with the three boys. They are all between 2 and 4 years old, cousins of one another and very cute! They have taken to chanting what sounds like ‘Wonky Kong Wonky Kong’ whenever they see me which is in fact toddler speak for ‘Barang Chi Kong, Barang Chi Kong’. In English this means ‘White person rides a bike, White person rides a bike! And causes great hilarity to both the children and any adults who happen to be within earshot.

Then there is my new ‘bong srei’ (big sister). This very funny little lady (she’s only 32 years old!) talks very fast, is very amusing and has taken quite a liking to me. She started off staring at me and talking to me so quickly that I couldn’t catch a work of it. Then she would speak to the other Khmer people around her who would all belly laugh. At first I wasn’t sure whether she was being unkind or just having fun and she was a little bit scarey! However, it is now apparent that she has quite a fun personality and is quite a joker. Her and her husband live somewhere behind my house and bake bread every night to sell in the morning. You wouldn’t believe how pleased I was when I found this out as I was quite sure there was no alternative to eating rice three times a day! This week, the lady told me she liked me (phew!), asked how old I was and asked me if she could call me her little sister. Khmers usually don’t use their friend’s names to call them but instead they respectfully call everyone older brother, older sister or younger brother, younger sister depending on their ages. I was very touched by this! It is yet another incentive to stick at revising and learning more Khmer language so that I can understand more and join in more conversations. At the moment I’m still doing a lot of listening, smiling and nodding!

One wedding (so far) and a funeral

Thursday 15th November

In the space of a week I have experienced both a Khmer wedding and a Khmer funeral although I can’t say that I understand how either works yet! Both ceremonies appear to involve incredibly loud music pumped to the ears of all through loud speakers which usually starts somewhere between half past 4 and 6 o’clock in the morning! Both ceremonies also seem to last at least 2 days.

The funeral I observed from a far and really only experienced the mourning music. An elderly man died just up the road from my house so for two days after his death a huge awning was erected, food eaten and loud music and chanting amplified around the place. I did manage to tune out the music most of the time despite it being pretty relentless although I did use some choice words which I won’t repeat here when it woke me up at 5am for the third time. I can only describe the music as absolutely terrible. Most of it sounded like someone singing in a really high pitch whilst holding their nose, having something very painful done to their toenails and wearing very tight trousers all at the same time. And that was the more bearable. All was forgiven though when I watched the amazing procession of school children, friends and neighbours, monks, family and coffin march past. I surreptitiously took these photos from my balcony.

I have no idea whose wedding I turned up to today but I was definitely invited! I think the bride was related to someone who I work with but I don’t think I would recognise the bride if I ever met her again. In fact I have my doubts whether the groom was sure who he was stood next to for most of the day! The amount of make-up worn on her face was enough to make it hard to crack a smile or to keep her eyes open for long. We had evidently been invited to the second day of the celebrations (a bit like being invited to the evening ‘do’ of a Western wedding – the party!). The first day is a huge procession from the groom’s house to the bride’s house where another huge awning is erected. I’m not sure what happens in the actual ceremony but from seeing my landlord’s photo album this evening, I know that a lot of photos are taken.
It was a very interesting afternoon which became all the more interesting each time my glass was topped up with beer. Cambodians tend to raise a toast and say the Khmer equivalent of ‘Cheers’ everytime someone lifts their glass to drink! We herded into the awning and sat at a free table (no place names at this wedding!). As soon as the table was full the food arrived. I spied some sort of fried roll which went down a treat. Then as soon as we were half way through one course, another course would arrive. It was very good food on the whole (although I steered clear of the pig’s ear which came fried with cabbage) and I completely lost count of them. There seemed to be appetizer, then a mountain of something fried, then a-cook-it-yourself dish of beef and vegetables, then a whole chicken, then rice... and so the list went on! And all the time, wandering in between the tables are incredibly poor children collecting empty cans and bottles which they sell to recycle: 100 Riel for 2 cans (about 1p).
All the photos are a lovely rosey pink colour because we were in a lovely rosey pink coloured tent!

As well as courses, I also lost count of the number of beer cans which were poured into my glass and as a barang and the only female drinking alcohol (the Cambodian women seem to come, eat and leave whereas the men come, eat, drink, drink some more and then leave) I increasingly became the subject of some attention. I will profess to be able to drink far more alcohol than the average Cambodian man despite being somewhat out of practice; however I decided that this was neither the time nor the place to prove it. A fact that became all the more obvious when some of the wedding guests who, dare I say it had definitely had more than one too many, proceeded to try and persuade me to dance. Now in normal circumstances, I would not need much coercing to take my place on the dance floor but something told me that my ‘running man’ would not be appreciated in quite the same way as I’m used to. Thankfully I was accompanied by a translator who could assist me in making a hasty retreat. At the exit we thanked the bride and groom, handed them an envelope of money (the Khmers seem to prefer hard cash to a Debenhams or equivalent gift list), dodged a few more drunken dancers and sped home!

You're Hired!

Today was interview day for 3 Volunteer Assistant (VA) Jobs. Corine, Debbie and I are all in new districts and desperately need permanent assistants/translators to help us to do our jobs. It was quite a long day with a very full-on agenda. There were 7 applicants and although Debbie's had been decided already, the poor girl had to endure the whole interview day as well.

The job of a VA is a tough one. They obviously need to be able to speak/read/write/type really good English and Khmer as well as have an ounce or two of initiative and a big bundle of personality. I feel like its also really important to have a certain connection with your VA as you need to be able to trust that they are saying what you want them to say and tell you what you want them to tell you. It sounds so obvious but we have heard nightmare stories of some VAs having their own agendas and not translating accurately to higher powers, thus giving a very different slant on what the Volunteer might be saying.

Another obstacle is initiative. At school, Cambodians aren't generally encouraged to think for themselves or to question things. It is all very 'text book' learning and learning by rote. However, this is slowly changing and the younger applicants, although less experienced, tend to be more keen to express their opinions and are more enthusiastic about learning differently. They also want the experience of working for an NGO and improving their English so to have VSO on their CVs would be a great opportunity for their futures.

The interviews took place at the Teacher Training College in Sisaphon and consisted of introductions, a group task, a computer task, translating written English and Khmer and then an oral interview and role play. Poor things! It became apparent during the course of the day that only 2 applicants were applying for the job in Phnom Srok (my district) and when I enquired why this was so I found out that the job hadn't been advertised. These 2 men had applied on the off chance that I might need an assistant! And guess who were the absolute worst applicants? Just my luck!

However, the 2 strongest candidates (both quite young and inexperienced but full of enthusiasm, life and initiative and both with very good English) lived in Sisaphon but were willing to travel or move to our districts so were hired! Mine is called Sy Sareng and I'll post a photo as soon as I get one! Both Corine and I had big smiles on our faces by the end of the day! Phew! My only worry now is when I next meet the original Phnom Srok applicants in the district over breakfast or in the market!

Networking

Tuesday 6th November 2007

I have got the impression from VSO that all we new volunteers do for the first 6 months of our placement is network. During the training I have received so far, both in the UK and in-country, the importance of relationship building has been emphasised again and again. Well, I quite agree. There is little value in turning up in a placement and being too task-focussed. The main priority should be building trust, getting to know one another and networking. Bearing this in mind I have already got myself invited to a wedding, caused quite a stir in the market by trying to use my limited Khmer to buy food (I only wanted a small piece of beef but managed to attract about 20 people who watched me – and laughed at me – trying to communicate this to the lady with the beef!) and spent a whole afternoon at work chatting outside the office to the office staff trying to get invited out for dinner or for a fishing expedition.

So far I have tried to make sure I spend some of my time in the evenings at the shop front downstairs where so much seems to happen. Mr Banlie (my landlord) speaks a little English so we have had some interesting conversations in an English/Khmer language mixture. I have also started playing games with some of the kids – at first they were very afraid of me (and still are a little) but we have started to have some fun now! There are also two teenagers who hang around a lot and are learning English at school. They are also still very shy but some progress is made every day which is a good sign. Sigh (the 15 year old boy) keeps bringing his English school books to the shop front but runs away whenever I suggest we practice! – am I really that scary?! I have also said hello to the neighbours opposite the shop; a tailor and a lady who crushes dried chillies for a living!

And I ambushed another neighbour yesterday who teaches English in the evening to a group of high school children. I kept hearing random English words being chanted each evening so plucked up the courage to investigate and found a headmaster who teaches underneath his house each night. I said “hello” and one brave boy said “how are you”, I said “I’m fine” and repeated the question and was answered with a whole chorus of “I’M FINE”. I had to laugh – it was very funny!! I didn’t want to outstay my welcome so left the class to it but when the lesson was over they all cycled past the shop front shouting “hello!” at me. I met the teacher today at the District Education Office and spoke to him through my translator – apparently he only knows English up to Book 3 (of the Cambodian high school curriculum) so he asked me not to talk to him in English too much in front of the children! He did invite me back though and said the children really wanted me to stay and speak to them in English so I may’ve found some future evening entertainment.

Weekend in Phnom Srok

Sunday 4th November

I have discovered that not a lot happens in Phnom Srok, even at the weekend, so I have spent the weekend doing not a lot and really enjoying it! I’m sure the family think I am very bored but I keep reassuring them that I like listening to them speaking as I need to learn more Khmer! It’s also nice to finally have all my belongings in one place and some time to myself after the hectic last two months of In-Country Training. So this weekend I have enjoyed spending more time unpacking and reading through documents and paperwork related to my job. I also had another go at cooking Khmer style with Ree and have tried to practice my Khmer with some of the kids who hang around the shop downstairs.

I am really glad of where my accommodation is situated. I have the second floor of the guesthouse, of which the ground floor is a grocery shop. It is situated on the main road into the village just before the round-about so the shop is quite often a real hub of activity. An older lady actually owns the building and has a rather large number of daughters, one of which helps run the shop and is heavily pregnant and married to Mr Banlie, my landlord, another daughter (Ree, my cleaner/cook) is married to a teacher/mechanic and has 2 children, another is married to a truck-driver and has a couple of kids, and so the list goes on. There is nearly always some of the family congregated around the shop front as well as their customers who often stay for longer than just to pick up their shopping. It’s great as I’m getting to watch and listen to lots of Khmer conversations as well as trying to work out the family and neighbour politics.

I decided to use the weekend to explore the local area so I took my moto (The Dream) to the nearby lake. A damn was built to create this lake during the Khmer Rouge regime and around 10,000 people died making this damn. It is now a bird sanctuary and the reservoir is used to irrigate rice fields. I asked the landlord for directions last night and had a team of men helping to draw a map. It took ages as they argued over the position of the roads and the best route I should take but what a fine map of the area I now have! With the map in my pocket, I drove out to the lake, took some photos and drove a different way home. It was great to practice riding The Dream and also great to see a bit my surroundings! I’m getting used to the stares; even the dogs do a double take as I ride by! It might also be something to do with the fact that I wear a safety helmet which is quite a rare thing in the district.

First Day at Work

Friday 2nd November

My first day at work started with meeting Sokwin (my assistant/translator for a month) for breakfast at 7am. There are a few breakfast restaurants in the village and we ordered and ate noodles soup with pork meat and an iced coffee with milk. It is really important to ask for pork meat, as if just pork is asked for, you could find any part of the pig in your bowl! I do want to do things the Khmer way whenever possible but eating pig’s intestines for breakfast is where I draw the line! The coffee is gorgeous though! Milk isn’t easy to come by here and canned condensed milk is used because it’s so much easer to keep. My Deputy Director met us – I think it’s where he eats breakfast most mornings – and explained that he knew I had arrived yesterday but didn’t come and welcome me because he can’t speak English!

Started work at 7.30am and in the District Education Office I was shown to my desk and given the opportunity to meet the staff working in the office. We also had a meeting with a committee in charge of implementing the Child Friendly Schools initiative which I will have a lot to do with during my time here.

I really need to get used to the whole language and translation thing. If I ask a question, Sokwin then asks it and sometimes has to ask me another question to check his own understanding of what I mean, then he asks the question in Khmer, then the answer is given in Khmer, Sokwin has to understand what is being said and then work out how to say it back to me in English. He works so hard – what a tough job! I must admit though – sometimes this process takes so long that I am stifling yawns by the time the answer gets back to me in a form I understand. Sometimes, I have even forgotten what my original question was, or lost interest! It’s tough but I’m sure I will get used to it and hope that my own Khmer will improve so that I can follow conversations a little more as well. Sadly, Sokwin can’t take the job as my translator after the end of November so I have to interview for a new one next week. It’s such a shame as he is really experienced in the project I’ll be working on and is a really nice guy. Oh well, hopefully I’ll find another just as good and we’ll learn together.

Lunch time is from 11am till 2pm (the hottest part of the day) which is just enough time to get to the market, cook some food, have a kip and a shower and get back to work. Of course, I didn’t do all those things but that’s the theory! The afternoon at work is then from 2pm till 5pm, then there’s about an hour before it goes dark and bedtime is about 8 or 9 o’clock! We have made a plan for the remainder of the month so as well as interviewing a new translator/assistant, I will be visiting lots of schools and trying to get some idea of how schools in Cambodia work.

Arrival

Thursday 1st November

This morning I travelled the last leg of the journey to my new home! We loaded up the truck for the last time and I set off in the front seat with about 4 young Cambodians squashed in the back seat and at least 2 sat on top of by belongings on the back of the truck. The driver seemed like a lovely character, as well as being a very busy guy, and stopped a number of times to drop off or collect things before even leaving Sisaphon. At one point the impatient, but good humoured back seat passengers started beeping the horn when the driver had left the truck again and on his return told him that the barang had been beeping the horn! I worked all this out through body language, recognising a few words of Khmer and a bit of guess work. The driver looked at me very suspiciously out of the corner of his eye at which point I put my hands up and said “Ottei, Ot Khnom!” which I hoped meant “No, not me!” The back seat absolutely erupted in laughter as they mimicked my awful Khmer and the driver also joined in laughing!

The rest of the journey was incredibly bumpy and dusty. The road is possibly the only main road in Cambodia not to have been resurfaced, despite it being the main route from Thailand to Siam Reap and Angkor Wat and rumour has it that the airlines at Siam Reap actually pay the government not to resurface the road to encourage tourists to pay to fly the route instead! The driver pointed out some other barangs cycling the road, to which I replied that I didn’t know them and was followed by more raucous laughter from the back seat!

And then I arrived! I was shown to my new home (second floor of the village guesthouse, above a grocery shop – very handy!) and had loads of help unloading and unpacking. Ree (sister-in-law of landlord) has made herself my cleaner three times a week, will also do my washing if I want her to and is going to help teach me to cook Khmer food. She and other female members of the family helped make my bed, unpack my clothes and set up the kitchen. I was so grateful for the help because I was a bit overwhelmed and really didn’t know where to start!

Ree also took me straight to the market where we bought some food and returned to cook it together in my new kitchen! It was great! I am going to keep a cookery book of recipes so that I can hopefully make some myself in the future! I have to admit, we did not understand anything the other one was saying (even when I was trying out my best Khmer) but through sign language and guess work, we managed to successfully create a meal together!

False Start

Wednesday 31st October

Instead of leaving Phnom Penh yesterday as planned, I waved goodbye to the other volunteers and my belongings and stayed another night nursing a swollen ankle. Unfortunately for me, I had inadvertently infected a mosquito bite by scratching it a bit too violently. The infection made my ankle swell up to about three times its normal size, forcing me to seek medical help and consequently stay in Phnom Penh for a course of anti-biotic injections. I was really disappointed at the time and even cried a slight tantrum at the doctor with the French accent after she told me I wouldn’t be starting work as planned. However, being in Phnom Penh an extra 24 hours was really no great hardship and I got to say goodbye and see all the other volunteers off to their placements and do a bit more shopping!

This morning, I had my last injection and set off to Sisaphon in the North-West of Cambodia. Sisaphon is the provincial town of Banteay Meanchey. It is where a handful of VSO volunteers reside and my nearest large(ish) town. I travelled up via taxi with Dave and two young monks who shared the front seat. It was a fairly uneventful journey (Dave slept the whole way) and we made it to Jan’s, a current volunteer’s, house by the afternoon. Jan has worked as a volunteer in Sisaphon for 2 years in the Teacher Training College and has extended her placement by another 2 years as she likes it so much! Her neighbours on one side keep crocodiles in their back garden and on the other side pigs! Her garden is fantastic and has given me some inspiration for my roof terrace! It has a huge Cambodian landscape mural painted on the wall, a fish pond and loads of gorgeous plants and flowers. She put us up in her house and took us out for dinner at a karaoke restaurant with most of the members of the new Banteay Meanchey ‘team’!