Susanne:
When deciding on the Habitat location, Thailand first came to mind due to the beaches, ongoing tsunami reconstruction and I guess the reputation Thailand carries as a travel place. When the trip was switched to Cambodia, which was also on the list of countries to visit after a potential Thailand build, I have to admit that I knew fairly little about Cambodia...besides some of the sad history. I am so glad that I had a chance over the last week (can`t believe that is all it`s been) to get to know Cambodia from a different angle and get to know these friendly, helpful and polite people.
Today was going to be a trip down history lane to explore the types of things we all likely remember from the Khmer Rouge regime.
We started our day with a quick stop at a rice store to get two big 50 kg bags of rice we were going to take to the children in the orphanage we would visit later today. Each bag will go a long way. we drove the 20 or so kilometers to Choeung Ek, the ``Killing Fields``. We had a guide who took us around and showed us many places which were the remains of this horrific site...anything from a truck stop where prisoners were first brought to a small prison to an area where teeth were found, bones, clothing, finally mass graves.....it is tough to describe the learning that takes place when a guide who likely lost relatives in this horrible fiasco back in the 70`s, takes you around and talks about the impact of this historic time on his land. 3 million of the then 8 million Cambodians were killed and mass graves were found all over the country. A monument with over 9000 skulls was built and all were analyzed carefully for age, sex, method of death if it can be determined etc. Very, very sad sight.
We then traveled on to visit the dump site from which the Habitat families moved which we built the houses for. There are nearby rental properties in very poor shape and we ended up taking a walk to also visit families who basically live on/amid the garbage and filth. The very first thing we saw when driving to the entrance were 4 cute barefoot Cambodian boys sitting on a dumpster carrying on with one another. They cheerfully posed for the camera in the now familiar ``v`` or victory pose and went on to mind their own business. We later saw them when we left dragging garbage bags behind them.....very, very sad. Other families we saw lived in horrendous conditions with homes lacking real walls,and being constantly exposed to the noise and smell of the garbage nearby. It sure was a humbling sight to see.
Then we went to an orphanage, the same one which put on the little show for us a few days ago. It was a rundown, smelly place with garbage in the court yeard, but we only noticed this later as we were welcomed with all children lined up on the sides clapping and guiding us to a little stage where they were going to perform some more dances for us. We watched them put on some traditional dances and they finished off with the little boys doing break dance and hip hop moves, it was pretty cool. Then we presented them with the bags of rice, gave another donation and the kids went off to eat. Once lunch was over for them, we had them line up on by one and gave out our remaining gifts. We had enough for all kids who were there: about 50 of them. It was like a little xmas party and lots of smiles all around.
But the place was very rundown....the kids looked healthy but facilities were not great. Apparently costs run at around $550 per month to run it and we were certainly hit up pretty strongly for further donations. I guess tourism is a business and fundraising source for them and the dancing and performing certainly fits into this. I think some of our team members found it difficult to see the kids live in these kinds of conditions...but as Chelsea said in an earlier post: better here than on the street.
We went to see the Russian Market which was great for souvenirs and we will return later when we have more time, we went to see the S21 Genocide Museum. It is an old high school which was converted to a prison where prisoners were tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields or into labour camps. You could still some some blood stains in old tiles, old cells and beds, foot chains where prisoners were tied together and finally: pictures. Pictures were taken of all prisoners where with arms behind their backs, women all had their hair cut short, gaunt faces and even some children. Hundreds and likely thousands of pictures. Then there were descriptions of the brutalities which occurred and hand drawn pictures and paintings depicting them. It is hard to imagine someone would even think of some of those things....truly awful. It is a quiet place with barbed wire on all walls and you see all tourists walking around quietly and solemnly.
Anyhow, it was a pretty disturbing afternoon, but important to see.
In the evening, we went on a boat ride on the Tonle Sap River for a few hours, had a nice buffet dinner on board and 60 cent Angkor beers....fun night to even out the day.
Some interesting facts:
-50 kg bag of rice: $26
-large Cadbury chocolate bar:$4.50
-wine: fairly expensive at around $12 per bottle at supermarket. Anything that has to be imported in is fairly expensive for these standards...other things are inexpensive
-amount of people struck by lightening since May of this year: 60. basically one person a day
-many homes have scarecrows leaned against a tree close to the road. supposed to scare off bad ghosts and keep the home safe
-milk is not often used here for coffee etc, but the milk powder is
-many dishes for breakfast which you would see for lunch or supper at home: fried noodles, stir fried vegatables, salad etc.
I miss yoghurt and skim milk but otherwise the food here is excellent!
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