Recovery Process

I read and read and read about the history of Cambodia before I came out here and I think it’s given me a little more understanding of the ideas the people I am working with have and why they react and/or think the way they do.

Some of you will know the history of Cambodia and Pol Pot but most of you will be my age so will not have heard about it in detail. In short, while he was in power anyone with any education, and form of knowledge or skill was killed. All foreigners were expelled from Cambodia, embassies closed, and any foreign economic or medical assistance was refused. The use of foreign languages was banned. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, radios and bicycles confiscated, and mail and telephone usage curtailed. Money was forbidden. All businesses were shuttered, religion banned, education halted, health care eliminated, and parental authority revoked. Therefore sealing Cambodia off from the outside world. An estimated 2 million people were killed. That’s about half the population of New Zealand!

If you want to know more, the following link is great. It sums Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge up in about 2mins. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm

Taking into account what was taken away from theses people, Cambodia and the Cambodians seem to be keen to move forward and leave their past behind, whilst not forgetting it. Some days this place feels like it’s changing by the day and then some days I’m quickly thrown back into the reality that there is a huge lack of knowledge and any ‘thinking outside the box’ is not going to happen any time soon. And I’m working in the village, 15km outside of Siem Reap, where more people have only been to the city a few times.

This can simply been seen at the markets where every second stall is selling the same goods. They do not see that if they sold the same trousers as the woman 2 stalls down but put pockets in them, that they would reach a different audience and would have a little more bargaining power, instead they are all in the weaker position of having to undercut each other.

With all medical professionals wiped out under the Khmer Rouge there is a huge lack of knowledge within the health sector and those that do possess some knowledge lack the resources to be able to do their job properly. They are doing the best they know how with the knowledge and resources they have. As a result of lack of knowledge of simple healthcare, Cambodia is one of the hardest hit aids countries with an estimated 100 new cases a day! Needles are reused, not sterilized and donated blood is rumoured to not be checked before being used. I’m sure the brothel outside my place is adding to the epidemic! I’ve heard a lot of the volunteers and tourists say “if I get sick, send me to Thailand. I’ll pay”

I am by no means doubting that these people need money. That is very clear! But it needs to go into the right hands and just handing over money will not allow the Cambodians to grow. They need that money to go hand in hand with skill and knowledge so that they can provide a better future for their children and their childrens children. However, this has to be done slowly and the people need it to be done gently so that they can learn and try things for themselves rather than having a westerner turn up, fix something and leave. This is being done all over the place and is by no means sustainable. What happens when that westerner leaves? What knowledge was passed on?

These are the issues I will be faced with everyday. As mentioned before, I’ve not really had any culture shock as such but the lack of knowledge is not something I could have prepared myself for. It’s totally caught me off guard and is something that comes up in the classroom all the time.  It’s important to bear in mind even if you manage to change one persons way of thinking and how they work, live, think etc. that person still has to live in the wider community where others do not think like that. This will be an issue I will face when we really start looking at the finances and what opportunities there are for trade.

The Principal of the schools was telling me about the history of the project and the issues they have faced to date and when I questioned him about some of the money and how long it was going to last, how long people had offered to support him with different bits and pieces his response was “Well you know I used to be a Buddhist Monk and we do not talk about money”. OH FUCK!! OK here we may struggle a little and how do I get him to change his attitude?  Roadblock number 1.