Accident statistic

Statistically, it was bound to happen. I have been involved in a motorbike accident. I had hired a motorbike to visit Kep during the Khmer New Year holiday, and I collided with another bike on a dirt road. The other guy's fault, needless to say. I found myself lying on the ground wondering who I was, where I was and what I was doing - a very strange experience! VSO emergency support was brilliant. I was taken to a local hospital where I was met by two VSO translators, who sorted everything out for me and then arranged for me to go to Phnom Penh to get a check up at a clinic and to recuperate at the VSO accommodation. The main damage was to my left hand, which swelled up to twice its usual size and sustained a couple of cracks in the meta-carpels, so I now have to wear a hot and smelly plaster cast for three weeks. I had four stitches put in my upper lip, which puffed up to look like a duck's bill. After a few days rest in Phnom Penh I’ve returned to my life in Kampong Thom, but I’m still feeling a bit fragile. Getting dressed, opening jars and washing up are all very tricky, while washing my hair is impossible. On a brighter note, statistically I shouldn't have any more accidents now! P.S. Yes, I was wearing a helmet!

Water for the Poor

Readers of this blog may have been wondering what happened to all the money collected by Hastings and Rother PCT in December 2006 which was destined to buy wells in Cambodia. Good news: the money was added to by some further very generous donors, to make a grand total of $2100, which I have now given to Mr Kimchoeun, Director of CoDeC, the most trustworthy person in the whole of Cambodia! This has been enough to buy at least 7 wells for groups of households living in areas which have literally no water during the dry season. Mr KimChoeun took me to the target areas and we discussed the projects with the local people, who are, needless to say, DELIGHTED to be the beneficiaries of this aid. The wells are being built during the next few weeks, prior to the start of the rainy season.

In the photos you can see the state of the current drinking water - Mr KimChoeun has a stronger stomach than me! - and some villagers' previous attempts to dig their own wells in the porous sandy soil. One young boy got so excited that he started to dig the hole for his well within minutes of the end of the meeting with his family and neighbours! I will post a further report once all the wells are finshed and operational.

Barangs come out of the woodwork

Having been the only Barang in Kompong Thom for a while, suddenly there seem to be loads of us!! Unfortunately, most will only be living here for a few months, but the current count is 10: 2 Austrians, 1 German, 1 American, 2 Australians, 1 Belgian, 2 Dutch and 1 British (me!). To celebrate this significant development, I held a party .... the first of its kind in Kompong Thom, complete with music, lights, food and drink! Two of the group have a badminton court at their house, so there are plans to have regular Barang get-togethers on the badminton court – Europe vs. the Rest of the World!

Election fever

Today is Cambodia’s second ever Commune Council election day. Commune Councils make decisions affecting people at local Commune level, and are made up of elected members of the major political parties. CoDeC got involved in the run-up to the election, by organising candidate debates held in large Open Forums at three locations in Kompong Thom province, which were then broadcast on national radio stations. Prior to the Open Forums, we held meetings with the local communities to help them to prepare questions based on the issues most important to them to ask the candidates. At the beginning of each Forum, monks blessed the candidates and the debates were then strictly controlled by a neutral moderator. Democracy and free speech are still unfamiliar concepts in Cambodia, and these candidate debates were ground-breaking. Apart from our Open Forums, there has been a lot of political campaigning over the last two weeks. A huge cavalcade of trucks drove up and down the main streets on Friday to try to encourage people to vote for one of the parties. Polling closes at 3pm this afternoon, and the results will be posted on the doors of the polling stations one hour later. The British Embassy has encouraged foreigners to keep away from election events this weekend, although I don’t think there will be any trouble here in the Provinces.

It’s mango season

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

In the photo, the stall holder is having his lunch-time snooze. I usually have to wake someone up if I want to buy anything between 12 and 1.30 p.m.!