Alison's Adventures in Cambodia

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Team development with VSO

VSO is very keen on getting volunteers to support each other, and to this end it organises regular workshops for us to share ideas and experiences. For me, it is great to be able to meet up with friends, talk English and spend a bit of time in Phnom Penh with its Western luxuries and air con! There are now more than 70 VSO volunteers in Cambodia, all working for one of three sector programmes: livelihoods, health or education. I am part of the livelihoods sector programme, which is divided into teams working for fisheries, forestry and the environment. At one livelihoods workshop, the fisheries and forestry teams were given the task of building as high a structure as possible with drinking straws. Here's a photo of the results: Fisheries 1, Forestry 0. Hoorah!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Luxury in Siem Reap

My parents have been visiting me in Cambodia, so this has given me a wonderful opportunity to experience some much-missed luxury in Siem Reap. Because it is near to the amazing Angkor Wat temple complex, Siem Reap has become a tourist town with new flashy hotels and expensive restaurants springing up all over the place. There is a glaring contrast between Siem Reap, with its manicured gardens and gastronomic menus, and the rest of the country, and most tourists do not get to see the real Cambodia. The prices in Siem Reap are up to ten times that of elsewhere, and this tourist money will only make rich people richer and poor people poorer. Inflated prices and begging are the norm here. Even in our posh hotel, children are dressed up to play musical instruments for tourists – easy money for the short term, but with no education this is a poor long term investment for them.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Unwelcome visitors

Last week I found a snake in my living room!! Fortunately, Rachel was with me at the time, so after a girlie shrieking fit, we set about getting rid of him with insect repellant and some hefty beating with a broom. I think it had slithered in underneath the doors at the front of the house, which have now been taped up to stop any more intruders. My total tally of scorpions in the house is currently standing at four. Needless to say, I always wear indoor shoes!!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Dirt

Cambodia is a really dirty place. Every day I fight a losing battle with dust in my house – this picture is just a sample of what I sweep from my floor. Dust gets absolutely everywhere, even though I try to keep the door closed all the time. The smells and dirt from the market nearby are revolting. There’s loads of rotting fruit, fish and veg on the ground, and in the wet season the ground will be like a sewer. In preparation, I have bought myself a pair of Wellingtons for wading through the market! People throw their degradable and non-biodegradable rubbish everywhere. Bigger rubbish is dumped in an area of the market where the street children pick through it, before it is taken away in a truck to be dumped somewhere else. In restaurants, diners throw bits of food and tissue paper on the floor. Grim!