After a week of catching up with friends and family and seeing my brother safely (and happily) wed, it was strange to pack up my things and come back to Cambodia. My two worlds briefly collided, leaving me uncomfortably wedged between them. I realized how many things I take for granted in Canada (speaking in English, biking on nice roads and not getting hit, showering in hot water, drinking water straight from a tap, not being called “barang” everywhere I go…), but I was also struck by how attached I have grown to Cambodia and how difficult it will be to leave at the end of my internship. I had only been gone for 9 days, but upon my return I was eager to catch up with staff, the family I’m staying with, and the other interns.
There is a beauty and simplicity to life in Cambodia that I love, yet I am also shocked by the blatancy of disparity here. As a foreigner/”rich person,” I have access to world within the city that most Cambodians will never know; even as I write this, I am guiltily partaking in a western-priced coffee and free wifi at an air-conditioned café. Last weekend I took advantage of a seat sale to meet Andrea, Jeff, and Danielle in Bangkok. I will never forget the look of astonishment on my Cambodian friend’s face when she asked where I was going after work and I told her “knyom dau Thai!” She is the same age as me, believes in the same God, also just finished her science degree, and is working at the same organization; but while I was born into a life of relative wealth and opportunity, she had to fight to get to where she is now. While I explore as much of Cambodia and its surroundings as I can on weekends, she works a second job and has never left the country.
…So I continue to struggle with those difficult questions, but I am still having a wonderful time. And our weekend together in Bangkok was refreshing and fun, despite my guilty conscience! We were tourists for the weekend, visiting markets, eating delicious street food, riding a boat through winding canals, and looking at big shiny Buddhas. We had a few interesting experiences as well, including being scammed into visiting a silk shop and having an exfoliating massage performed on our feet by fish. Here’s proof of the latter. They really liked my feet.
…And back in my regular life, I’ve been working with the staff at AOC to make health promotions more interactive and engaging. Our last health promotion was a big success, with villagers actively participating and even writing down and presenting their ideas (a concept that is normal to us, but very intimidating to most of them).
We found that children could be very distracting during health meetings, so we decided to run a separate children’s program where the kids learn a little bit about hygiene and have to practice hand-washing before they get a snack. It went really well but finished before the adult programming was over…so I was in charge of the kids for the last half-hour or so.
Childcare is easy for a barang in Cambodia because the children are so intrigued by pale skin and horrendous accents that they do everything you say. They happily sat in a well-behaved, giggly huddle around me and answered my simple questions: what is your name? How many brothers and sisters do you have? How old are you? What games do you like to play? Etc.
But then one of the children noticed my camera, and it was all over. Next thing I knew, they were all clambering for me to take their pictures and show them on the screen. If this movie loads, you can get a feel for the attention I receive from children:
They were insane. Here’s what my friends on staff found when they came back at the end of the adult program:
While not feeling guilty or being piled on by Cambodian children, I’m staying busy: helping to collect and organize monitoring data, doing some nitrate/nitrite testing of filtered water, and writing a project proposal for a new water/sanitation project in northern Cambodia. It’s difficult to believe that I will be back in Canada for debriefing six weeks from today…and I’m doing my best to make the most of the time I have left.
