Grand Prix

Being a volunteer and earning not much more than £150 per month does occasionally carry the odd perk. For example, some people with money and advantage sometimes take pity on the likes of me and this is exactly what happened this month.

Pam and her husband Tim are both Volunteer Professionals and Tim is lucky enough to have been born into the same family as his incredibly generous big brother John. For some reason Corine and I found ourselves invited to join almost the whole family at John’s apartment in Kuala Lumpur and accompany them with complimentary tickets to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix! Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth (although sometimes poor Corine struggles!) and even though we could barely name more than one current Formula 1 driver, we leapt at the chance of this once in a lifetime trip.

Honestly, this is the most flattering photo I have of Uncle Pam and Auntie Tim...

I found myself dredging up all sorts of racing car information that I didn’t know I possessed (well, I impressed Corine once or twice anyway!) and wasn’t sure if my small but surprising amount of knowledge was due to watching Days of Thunder umpteen times, being taken to watch banger cars with Dad when I was younger (its practically a poor man’s F1 you know!) or from being forced to watch hours of Formula 1 on a Sunday afternoon with Daniel during his F1 obsession years in the early 90s, despite my pleads to turn over the channel to the Eastenders omnibus of even the Little House on the Prarie. I learnt more too and surprised myself at how interesting I found it all.

Kuala Lumpur is fantastic. It is a small but perfectly formed city, so very clean and smart compared to anywhere in Cambodia and with all the delights of any developed country’s capital city: air-conditioned shopping malls, restaurants, bars and Marks and Spencers. There were down pours of rain on Saturday during our well-planned ‘walking round the city’ day and glorious sunshine on Race day. It might sound a bit weird, but I really enjoyed having a break from the poverty of Cambodia. KL is a hugely multi-cultural city with renowned food choices which we sampled as much as we could although I ate a lot of Western food I’d been missing as well! Mmmmmm - a sausage sandwich...Swamping the occasional historical colonial house here are many tall buildings in the city (something I’m not so used to now) so I ooh-ed and aah-ed at the Petronas Towers, climbed the Menara Tower and took lots of photos!!

The Menara Tower...

And the view from the top...Nightview of the Petronas Towers from our comfortable seats at Sky Bar...

Karaoke is quite huge in South-East Asia. Cambodians will never miss the opportunity of singing tunelessly down a passing microphone and much crooning can be heard from Karaoke bars which pop up all over the place. Malaysia seems no different in its love of singing lyrics over slightly dodgy if not nausea inducing music videos. John took the lot of us to a Karaoke rabbit warren below a multi-storey car park on Saturday night. I think it was Corine’s vision of hell. I though it was a perfect idea and I’m thinking of bringing the idea back to London, if it’s not there already. We were shown into our own sound-proofed room with a computerised song selection screen, our own en-suite toilet and a waiter! We proceeded to thoroughly enjoy desecrating numerous all-time favourite tunes at extremely loud volumes although Tim’s high pitched Bee Gees style of singing Michael Jackson’s Beat It was the last straw!

Apart from thoroughly enjoying constantly ribbing Tim throughout the whole weekend (well, don’t dish up what you can’t take!) this was my favourite joke of the weekend... Ferrari took a decision for the British GP to hire a couple of Scousers as pit crew members when they found out they could remove all 4 wheels in under 0.8 seconds. But to Jean Todt’s dismay, after 1.5 seconds, the car was resprayed and sold to McLaren... I think part of the reason I liked this joke so much could’ve been because I understood it! I learnt all the gossip and back-stabbing of last season’s F1, got sunburnt, discovered the wonder of earplugs (the noise was terrific!), and even sneaked onto the track and made it to the pits to see all the F1 cars after the race – did you know there are 150 diagnostic checks carried out after each race?! After dodging the Malaysian guard and getting onto the track, no-one else seemed to mind (we were practically invited into the pits!) so we made the most of snapping photographs of the cars, teams and of course ourselves!!

Oh yeah, and I think the red car won!

She barangs, She barangs!

With a small pang of quilt at my upcoming holiday to Malaysia, I decided to spend a weekend in Phnom Srok instead of making my usual trip to town. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, spent next to no money, learnt lots more about my work colleagues and the complexities of relationships, positions of power and politics. I also spent time with my landlady’s family in an attempt to get them to stop treating me like The Queen and a bit more like one of the family (not that that will ever be 100% successful).

On Saturday I got a shopping list from Ree in Khmer and trotted off to the market. After successfully recognising most of the things on the list and purchasing them I carried it all back to cook with Ree. Surprisingly no stall in the market had any limes (limes are used in loads of dishes and are always readily available, hence the surprise) but after wandering around for a bit saying ‘Where are all the limes? Don’t have limes!‘ in my best Khmer, someone took pity on me and found a yellowish old looking lime for me to take home! Sometimes it really helps to be a barang! Well, I couldn’t go back without one!

My search for a lime also helped distract me from the fact that I was carrying a live fish home in a small plastic bag. I’m not sure exactly at what point the fish lost consciousness but it may’ve been while it was being descaled. Or perhaps pain finally overwhelmed the fish’s small brain when a huge cleaver was used to slice open its stomach and force out its guts and egg sacks! Tasted good though!

The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent sat outside the shop front at the base of the guesthouse where I live. I caught up with world news reading my Guardian Weekly, solved the Sudoku and crosswords while watching my small world go by. It was bliss! As soon as my colleagues discovered I was in Phnom Srok for the weekend I got invited to the village ‘pub’ to drink beer. These opportunities are simply not to be missed. No, I’m not an alcoholic (yet), I mean that it is at these times I get to practise my Khmer, as I am without a translator at weekends, and I actually find out heaps more interesting things than during a normal day’s work. My deputy director is very good (and very patient) at talking to me in Khmer at a snail’s pace so I can understand him and there are always a high school teacher or two around wanting to practise their English. We ended up having a very bilingual conversation with me acting as a translator between teachers talking English and my Khmer-speaking colleagues. I have also prepared them all for the upcoming visit from my bong-srei (big sister!) although they are having difficulty pronouncing ‘Ruth’....

I learnt that there are changes on the horizon which may affect me and my work at the DOE. I discovered interesting political stuff which made me incredibly thankful that I was from England. Imagine having to buy your job? Or having to pay in order to get a promotion? Imagine being in fear of losing your job if your employers ever found out your political stance? Imagine being bought off because of your position and support for the opposition party or having bogus charges brought against you? Imagine how frustrating it must be to really want to help see your own country develop but at every turn you are faced by obstacles put there by your own government! Unbelievable!! And there’s a load more where that came from.

On Sunday I found Phnom Srok’s one and only Christian Church. I was late to the service (nothing new there!) and hoping to slip in the back of the 20-something congregation but no such luck. It is pretty impossible to do anything surreptitiously, much to my disappointment at times like these! So, seated at the front, I listened to the remainder of the service and afterwards was asked to stay and talk with the minister. Happy to oblige, I pulled up a chair and in a mixture of Khmer and English he asked me questions about my friends and family in the UK. After about three sentences it became starkly obvious that far from being interested in my spiritual welfare, he was much more interested in the fact that I had white skin and that by default probably had loads of money, or at least friends and family with loads of money! To cut a long, disappointing story short, he wanted to buy land for the church and a church building. Sometimes it sucks being a barang! I let him down as gently as I could and then headed to the lake for Sunday morning bacon ‘n’ eggs...

The following week finished very positively with an official visit from VSO staff from the Programme Office in Phnom Penh trekking up to Phnom Srok to see little old me!. The visit is supposed to take place 3 months into placement in order to review how things are going and check that I’m still sane. (I managed to hide the nervous twitch I’ve developed and I don’t think they noticed the cardboard cut-out characters that have moved into my spare room - sometimes I just need someone to talk to!). Prior to the visit, I reviewed my placement objectives with the DOE staff (after we found out what they were!) which turned out to be a really useful activity. The PO staff seemed quite impressed with how things were going in Phnom Srok, how relationships have developed, how I’m coping in a relatively rural and remote district and what has happened so far. It was quite a relief to hear I was on the right tracks as sometimes it’s hard to see what I’m doing here! I still don’t think I could clearly explain it to anyone!

I also recently met some of my blog readers! I bumped into Perry and Sarah from the UK at the Programme Office in Phnom Penh and after they found out I was Anna, I was quizzed about how I was feeling now, what happened to the dogs and whether I had found a new translator or not! It was so weird to be known so well by complete strangers! Lovely to know that they cared and were reading with such interest (thanks guys!) and I hope that meeting me hasn’t shattered your expectations! Anyway, for anyone else who is interested... yes, I am feeling fabulous again. I have accepted this is life for the next little while and as well as making some kind of difference for the better in this country, I’m going to try and enjoy every opportunity that comes my way!... The 5 puppies have become 3 much bigger puppies (2 were given away to families in Sisaphon) and are well on their way to becoming the same as the rest of the neighbourhood canines – sleepy or playful during the day and aggressive, hungry rulers of the streets at night. The mother dog is a very sorry looking bag of bones though... and yes, I have a new translator, Soroth, who started work this month. He has plenty of experience of working with NGOs in his home province of Oddor Meanchey and his English is very very good!

Pied de terre

Not quite satisfied with my humble rural residence in Phnom Srok, I have recently received the keys to a Pied de Terre in Sisaphon. I probably spend half my time there both for work purposes and as a weekend retreat. As much as I am loving Phnom Srok more and more as it feels increasingly like home, I do need to escape every so often in order to maintain my mental health! I enjoy catching up with using the internet, occasionally watch BBC World News and more occasionally watch a dodgy film from the 80s on HBO. Sisaphon doesn’t have much besides lots of dust but it does allow me to visit more restaurants than would be possible in Phnom Srok, drink gin and tonic and conduct conversations in English at a relatively normal speed. Corine’s placement in Malai didn’t work out as expected so she has moved into a huge house in town and very generously given me a set of keys to come and go as I like – well, until she discovers all my bad habits!

Security
It takes about half an hour to get into the house as there are a multitude of locks and keys to negotiate due to the slightly unusual layout of the abode. This makes one feel super safe although it’s a real pain in the neck if you need the toilet as soon as you get home (which I’ve noticed with annoying frequency!) or if you have locked up to go out only to realise you’ve left something on the kitchen table!

Wildlife
We have discovered that Corine is not the only full time resident at this address. Along with the expected geckos, Corine shares her house with some utterly huge spiders, a rather large and noisy lizard, some cockroaches and a bat! But they’re all very friendly when they’re disturbed by the odd human night wanderer on the way to the loo (I try my hardest to hold it till morning...!)

Neighbours
Corine’s neighbours are really friendly. There are some children who live opposite who always wave and say ‘hello’ over and over again as soon as you’re leaving or arriving at the gate. And next door there is an abattoir. Every evening at around 4 or 5 pm motos turn up with pigs strapped upside down to the back. Sometimes they have leafy branches covering their bare bellies to prevent sunburn! They usually give the odd squeal on arrival. We think they then have their last meal and get penned in for the night... until about 4 in the morning. Then, both Corine and I are awoken by the almighty death squeals of the pigs as they are killed, murdered, slaughtered! I’ve heard the saying ‘squealing like a stuck pig’ and now know exactly what that squeal sounds like. It’s horrible! Some pigs go more quietly than others, some sound like they are gurgling and drowning in their own blood, others sound like they need a few thuds on the head to finish them off, and others really don’t want to go at all. It is enough to turn a healthy meat lover into a strict vegetarian! And do you think there could be some psychological effect of waking up to the distressed squeal of a pig being murdered every morning?

Photos will make it here as soon as I can be bothered!

I've Made It!

Saturday 23rd February 2008

Well, apparently! 5 minutes of fame on Khmer TV - or perhaps slightly less than 5.

Today my district's Office of Education was officially opened in a typically Khmer style ceremony. On the stage this time were very important people from the Provincial Office of Education, the District Governor of Phnom Srok, yours truly (but of course!) and a couple of my supporters (Pam and Corine).

I had been asked to make a speech, in advance this time, which was quite a luxury. Having advance notice meant that I could alledgedly prepare a coherent speech, however it also offered my nerves the chance to get very agitated - to the point where I had some very weird dreams about my teeth falling out the night before! I also managed to read my whole speech with my reading glasses on my head...

I spoke the first part of the speech down a dodgy microphone in Khmer to which my audience of teachers and school directors politely listened, pretended to understand and laughed (I wasn't even trying to be funny - I think it was embarrassed, nervous laughter on my behalf). Then I completed my token ramble about education, inclusion and embracing new ideas in English which Sarey translated. I kept it short and sweet(unlike my Khmer colleagues!) and after about 2 and a half hours of lengthy speeches, watching some traditional Apsara dancing, snipping a huge red ribbon and wandering into the new office as if it were the first time we had seen it, we all sat down and ate copious amounts of food!

Sadly, I'm getting used to eating and drinking at these functions whilst being watched by curious pairs of eyes. The same scruffy kids turn out to these events to scavenge and collect plastic bottles and tin cans to recycle for a few hundred Riel. I recognise some of the children as I've met them in the nearby schools. Some, I fear, dropped out of school long ago for a whole list of possible reasons and now help their families and work for their living. As they accept the weird looking barang living amongst them, I am accepting that the district I live in is poor and that this is a way of life for many. As soon as we left our table, the kids were around it like vultures, eating and drinking our leftovers.

Elbow Grease

I finally feel as though I’ve started something and done an honest day’s work! Phew! With fresh vigour and brimming with possibilities after the Model School visit in Kampong Cham and a feeling of relief that child-friendly schools actually exist in this country, I have been on somewhat of a mission to start the ball rolling in my district. It’s been a busy month for many school directors and teachers as well as my colleagues as many have been involved in training for the census collection which happens in March. However, I managed to find one teacher, a bit of a gem, a diamond in the rough, who was willing to let me loose in his classroom!

I’ve visited his school a number of times and noticed that he is what I would consider a child-friendly teacher! He acts like he actually enjoys his job, likes children, has the desks organised in groups and with very limited resources has tried to improve the environment for his Grade 1 class. And the children learn every day! through songs, games, actions, chanting, dancing! Oh how I miss being in my own classroom! He’s brilliant and he actually has fun with his class of scruffy kids and you can tell they really enjoy coming to school to learn – unlike some I observe who are almost asleep in their classes due to lacking motivation or working too hard out of school!

I showed the teacher and school director photographs of the Model School in Kampong Cham and talked to them about creating subject areas and organising resources and displays into these areas. The teacher already had many teaching aids he has made himself, from old cardboard boxes and the like, so it was just a case of removing the broken desks at the back of his classroom (many classrooms are also used as storerooms/dumping grounds!), sweeping up a bit and sorting out his resources. Easy! With a bit of elbow grease from all those involved! Of course, I involved the director of the school and a representative from the District Office of Education. Well, this has got to be sustainable afterall! My hope is that the ideas shared here will develop and spread. Schools here are organised in clusters of around 4 and they hold a meeting together once a month on a Thursday (in theory). The idea is that using resources, organising space into subject areas is something that more and more teachers will try out for themselves but I know from my own experience that these things can take an age to develop into the norm.

Pictures before:

Picture after;

We got invited to the school’s monthly Technical Thursday meeting but the school director who had obviously got some vigour and possibilities from our visit to his Grade 1 teacher. We were excited to learn that the focus for the meeting would be making resources. Fantastic! We spoke to the meeting room of teachers for a while about why and how resources and display can be used in classrooms to enhance learning and showed the group around the classroom we had all worked so hard on in the week – they were suitably impressed (I think!) and then it was the directors turn... disaster! The school Director told everyone to split into groups depending on what grade they taught and go away and make resources. Well, the teachers had no idea what to do and had nothing to do it with even if they did know. I could’ve cried! It was an absolute disaster! The teachers sat around the school grounds smoking and chatting all morning apart from a minority who could scrape together a piece of dusty paper or draw some pictures. (My Grade 1 teacher didn’t let me down however and dutifully worked with the other Grade 1 teachers from his cluster and made an alphabet game!) What topped it all off was at the end of the morning when the teachers all gave in the resources they had made to the school director. He meant to keep them and instructed everyone to make the resources again in order to use in the classroom!!!! Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Oh well! We made a difference to one teacher’s life and if others follow then all well and good! We also managed to take the Grade 1 teacher to see some up and coming model schools in a neighbouring district and he got straight back to his classroom to create more resources! Great stuff!

I have more plans round the corner too... after persuading my colleagues that staggering the monthly meetings schools have would be better for supporting, training and monitoring them, rather than absolutely every cluster in the district meeting on the last Thursday of the month, I now want to be involved in supporting, training and monitoring them... I’d like to get some Leadership and Management training (which already exists by the way!) to School Directors by ambushing their monthly meetings... and possibly repeat this for the DOE staff... take a group of teachers and staff ton a Study Tour to visit some local model schools in the province... and set up a committee of teachers to help spread the ‘Child-Friendly’ message... and go and watch the Formula 1 in Kuala Lumpa... and visit my friends in Battambang again... and get a puppy!

English Speakers Need Not Apply

Today was shortlisting day. Surprisingly I have received 8 applications for the job of my VA (Volunteer Assistant). What follows is a mere selection of quotations from the aforementioned cover letters and CVs...

"I wish to apply for any vacant post under your kind control in accordance with my experiences and qualification"

"I hope that the above position that I love I am given as soon as possible"

"I am pleased very much interested to participating with you as Full Time Assistant"

"I know your organisation is high standard profile and need high qualified staffs within core competency to promoting and improving within planning purpose in your industries"

"I look forward to talking and staying in contact with you in hopes that there may be an opportunity to join your body"

"I have had a lot of experience of teaching fields"

"I am anxious to discuss this opportunity with you further, with have no expectation on utilities"

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

I had recently reached a point of feeling quite miserable about being here in Cambodia. It was nothing I could put my finger on but probably a combination of a period of low self-esteem coupled with missing friends (who are becoming pregnant at a rate of 2 per month at the moment!!) and missing family.

During our in-country training we were warned that most of us would experience an emotional roller-coaster consisting of, enjoyment and immense happiness at the novelty of being in a wonderfully new country, depression as the novelty wore off, acceptance of how things are and then finally when you start enjoying yourself and feel like you're really making a difference it's time to go home!

Well, the novelty has definitely worn thin (if not off!). Sensing this, I have received numerous messages from friends in the UK, most of which have encouraged me to get over myself and keep my chin up, although not in those exact words. Mads even spent her normally very busy week nights penning a song in my honour in order to cheer me up. It worked!

Despite it not being her 'best work' (her words, not mine), she allowed me full permission to publish it on my blog for all to read, sing along to and enjoy...

I've written you this song to the tune of 'Don't worry be Happy' by Bill Withers (you can sing this to yourself in pop idol styleee!)

Here's a little song I wrote,
About a ginger friend on whom I dote,
She's ginger - well ginger.

She's really far away in a dust filled land,
And even though it's hot she's still not tanned,
But don't worry - white's healthy.

Remember everthing can't always got to plan,
But she'll persevere and things will turn out grand,
I'm not worried - she'll get there!

And when she leaves she'll leave behind,
A model school created from her mind,
So don't worry - be happy.

I can't wait to visit and join the fun,
And hear about all the things that she has done,
We're all proud - well proud.

So get all your troubles out of your head,
And remember these words that Bill Withers said,
Don't worry - be happy!!!

It worked... I'm well and truely cheered up! Thank you Mads!