I’ve
found that as a volunteer, especially a long term one, your job is never what you think it’s going to be.
Finding where your job starts and ends, let alone when your day starts and ends
is tricky, especially when Cambodians start their 6 working day week, at
6:30/7am and have no problem ringing you at this time. I usually have a clear 9am rule!
2
weeks ago 2 new volunteers arrived and have had a bit of a bumpy road since
they arrived. I think Cambodia is a love it or hate it place and unfortunately
it can change by the day. Even I still have mixed feeling about this place.
They
arrived late in the day and when Kassia went to her room and turned on her
aircon it comes out with GRRRRR and then plop. Out of the aircon flies a fish, which
lands on her floor. She then has to figure out how to get it off the floor and
into er………the toilet? I found the whole thing quite amusing but have since
learnt that Kassia does not like any creepy crawlies or animals for that
matter, at all. She’s even tried to kill the gecko in her room. We still haven’t figured out how a fish
ended up in the aircon.
When
they arrived the city was flooded and it only got worse as the first week went
on. Flooding for a day is a little new and interesting but as day one was over
and the water got higher and dirtier they were about done. I think the only
reason they didn’t jack it in then was because they couldn’t get out of the
city.
On
their second day they decided to go for a walk around town to see what the place
was like. The water was knee deep by this point and was a very murky brown
colour. Mille came back home with the look of death on her face. “I hate this
place!” She’d fallen in a pothole and landed waist deep in the water. Not the
best introduction to volunteering or Cambodian life.
The
journey to work has been a bit of a difficult one since the floods started. We
drive down a road, which is surrounded by forest and has no streetlights, so at
night the only light is from the tuktuk. There
is a section of road, about 50m long, where the asphalt has ripped off the
road from the current caused by the flooding. We decided that rather than
battling through in the tuktuk we would get out of the tuktuk and walk over to
meet the tuktuk on the other side. We started walking, using only the light of our
phones, through floodwater and shingle and then Mille and Kassia start
screaming. I just assumed they were being a wee bit girlie and started
laughing. Mille was back in the tuktuk at lightning speed and Kassia was running
through. As I got in the tuktuk the diver was laughing. I sat down and when all
the laughing and screaming stopped they told me that they had seen a snake as
we were walking through. I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t have reacted the same
way as them if I’d seen it.
I’m
getting over my fear of snakes big time and have been pushed to the limit a few
times. I’ve had so many situations where I’ve had no choice. I’m by no means saying I like them and
would like to see them on a regular basis but I’m not so scared anymore.
When
I was in Kampong Cham I got chased by a guy with a snake wrapped around his arm
who thought it was funny to see how white I could get and clearly wanted to
learn a few choice words in the process.
I
was at a friends place the other day and his brother turns up with these bags
and shuffles round the back of the house. I asked what he had in the bags and
was met with the response “Cobra.” OH NO. 7 sacks with snakes in them!
The
brother was a fisherman/snake catcher and sells them at the market. They are
worth big bucks by Cambodian standards so the risk is worth it. They put the
snakes in the bags in the bathroom and they were wriggling round like mad. They
were pretty feisty. For some reason I had this uncharacteristic fascination with
seeing what was happening. Then I looked on the floor and there was something
moving. “What’s that?” “A turtle.” “What? They are endangered!” I think what
I’m learning here is that when we talk about things being worldwide restrictions
they are often only western world restrictions.
At
different times I’ve treated some of the kids for simple cuts and bruises,
which were not being treated at home. The kids at school asked if I was a Dr as
I put Savlon on an infection on their foot.
The
other day one wee girl I’ve been working with turns to some of us and tells us
she is unwell with womens problems and asks if we can give her something to
help.
It’s
so hard cos from what I’ve learnt on a cultural level I can’t do anything and
this would be crossing the line but then again they never talk about anything
like that so the line has already gone out the window. So when the culture goes
out the window what’s next? We decided that someone who spoke Khmer would talk
to her parents on the weekend when they saw them and tell them that she needed proper
medical treatment.
When
I saw the girl on the Monday I asked what happened with the parents at the
hospital and was told that their response was “I have no time to take her to
hospital. I have other kids to look after and have to work. If you want her to
go you take her.”
If
a child is asking you for basic medical treatment what would you do? How can I
say no? It’s even free for them.
I most certainly do not believe in rescuing people, more so now than
ever, and think everyone has the ability to work themselves out of poverty but
this was a child asking me to simply take her to the hospital for basic
medication cos her parents couldn’t be bothered to go. Surely it’s a right to
have treatment?
So
we asked the girl if she wanted me to take her to hospital and she jumped at
the opportunity to go. I made arrangements to meet her at the hospital the next
day and when I turned up at the hospital her mother was standing there with a
second child. She tried to dump a second child on me and told me she needed to
see the Dr too. The guard kindly translated which should have been “I’m not
their bloody mother or a babysitter. I agreed to take one not two. Grow up and
be a parent.” and she stayed for the next 4 hours as we went through the
hospital outpatient process.
As
I’m sitting there with this family waiting to be seen all the other parents
come over and ask who I am and why I’m there with Cambodian children. The
mother starts having a conversation with some of the women and one lady turns
to me and says “Big legs. Small middle” and shows me on her. She was surprised
I had a smaller waist than her and I said “No baby” and she responded with a
very inquisitive tone “No husband?” and I responded “Yes husband. No baby.” It’s
so much easier to just say yes as they don’t seem to get it if you say you’re
single or have a boyfriend at my age. Husband is just easier. As the woman translated about 10 women
went ”Ohhhhhhhhhhh.”
The
doctors were amazing and the hospital incredible. 1st World medicine
for a 3rd World country. The wee girl now has medication and I’ve
done all I can. The question now is whether they give it to her or sell it. The
latter is not so farfetched.
You
can only do so much for people and I may have done the wrong thing but I’d do
it over again in an instant.
I
wondered if we should be buying TVs for these people as a form of aid and birth
control. Maybe the boredom levels would drop, the educations levels increase
and the birth rate drop?
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