Monday, December 21, 2009

December 17, 2009: Our final day.

Our final day of work: This morning we returned to the homes where we are building septic systems. The toilet has been installed at the first house and the latrine is nearly ready to use. It has two water storage tanks built of brick, one for “flushing” and one for “showers” (by water scoop). By the time the team left for lunch, plastering was under way and the roof had to be installed.. At the second house, work was completed on the exterior wall, and at the third house, Tommy, Denver and Karen went back to square one, helping to dig a hole for the septic system. Karen also was invited to help the mom separate twigs and other small inedible bits from rice spread on a bamboo mat.
 

Because there was limited space and work to be done, two separate groups were able to check out Chamcar Bei village and visit with the shopkeepers. Tommy’s group talked to the owner of the motorcycle shop, who is university educated and speaks excellent English. He has been operating his shop in Chamcar Bei for two years. Heather bought a karaoke CD. The cover looks like a soap opera picture. Most of the karaoke songs here seem to be about heartbreak (some human conditions are universal). A number of us, including Heather, Karen, Adele, Tommy, Gabby, and Kayla took off their shoes (as a sign of respect) and gave cash offerings to two passing monks, who gave each of us a blessing. Tommy says the monks wished us safe travels and blessed our worthy deeds. We were humbled by the experience.
 

Jud, Brian, Bob, Cesar and Jen also visited town and were invited to play volleyball with some local teenagers. On the bus ride home each evening, we have noticed many young men playing volleyball in their yards. It was the first, but by no means the last, game of the day.
 

Susanne, who is a professional chef, stayed behind at The Vine this morning to help prepare our lunch. By request, she cooked brown, rather than white, rice. If you are going to visit Southeast Asia, it’s important to like rice. We also had a delicious green salad with Dijon dressing and chicken soup. It was a treat for Susanne to get back in a large kitchen.
We had a relaxing lunch, knowing that our afternoon would be spent buying crafts made by local women as part of the BABSEA community restoration project and playing with children at the school. At lunch, Celeste and Heather played Backgammon. Jen and Brian played Cranium, and most of the others did yoga with Julie, who runs a yoga studio back home.
 

After lunch, we visited the community center where women make jewelry and Christmas ornaments of coconut shells, straw baskets, and woven cloth goods such as purses, scarves and table runners. Proceeds go toward women’s economic ventures. Because of the hard times in this area, most of the women were not able to get an education; this project is designed to help them be self-sufficient and learn about operating a business. It was a good time to buy gifts and souvenirs while making a contribution (the Chamcar Bei version of an economic stimulus package). It seems odd to think that friends and family at home are doing their holiday shopping and attending seasonal social functions while we are in rural Cambodia building latrines.
 

Our next stop was the community garden where we planted seeds and seedlings last week and earlier this week. The seeds are just starting to sprout, which is satisfying to see after heavy digging and planting in the hot sun. The community garden is another Developing World Connections/ BABSEA-supported economic venture.
 

Our next stop was the school, where we were greeted by an enthusiastic class of kindergarteners. They are a very lively bunch! We played games with them and the hula hoops we brought from Phnom Penh were a particular hit. Julie is an expert hula-hooper and everyone was impressed with her tricks. Jud, Brian and Vy played a competitive game of basketball with some older children (about 11 or 12 years old) and their teacher (who was wearing a long skirt) until a snake crawled onto the hard dirt court. The children threw stones at the snake, but the game broke up anyway. By that time, a soccer match had started at the back of the school – BABSEA volunteers versus our group. Gabby, who plays soccer at home, was a standout, but the BABSEA team still beat our volunteer team, even though some of them were barefoot. We learned later that they play nearly every day after work. It was a hot, dusty, action-packed game. Adele, Cesar, Tommy, Kasper, Denver, Jen, Heather, Brian and Jud rounded out the team. The rest of us cheered them on.
 

After saying our goodbyes at the school, we stopped at the reservoir, where a number of went for a swim to cool off. Gabby was the first to jump in. Tommy, who used to teach gymnastics, did a handstand on the railing before plunging in. A lot of the local kids were there, too, since it’s a favorite watering hole.
 

The day wrapped up with a celebration dinner at the Kep Lodge restaurant. We were touched when Mr. Tiery and Vy thanked us for our contributions during the past two weeks. We would all love to work with them again. After dinner, each of us received an honorary award in keeping with our unique personality traits. It’s amazing how much you can learn about people in such a short time. The evening wrapped up with some dancing. Tomorrow, most of us will head back to Phnom Penh, then on to Siem Reap to see the temples. Jackie, Michele and Jud plan to stay on the coast for awhile longer. Jud will be continuing on to Thailand and possibly Myanmar.
 

We have formed a bond and it has been an amazing time for all of us.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

December 16, 2009: Saying Good Bye Soon

Today a few more members of our group succumbed to traveler’s ailments. The rest of us headed out to install septic systems. Once the holes are dug, it’s actually quite satisfying work. We all enjoy the meditative aspects of bricklaying. The downside is that there are only three trowels per site, and some of them are being used by Cambodian expert masons, so we have to take turns. For those of you who are from California, you will understand when we say it’s something akin to watching CalTrans workers on the freeway, or a joke that starts with the line, “How many volunteers does it take to build an outhouse?”
We tried to be productive by setting an example and picking up trash around the yard.

Jackie ran into a challenge when she needed to cut some bricks in half to fit an imperfect space. Seeing her attempt to break brick with an axe without cracking them into awkward shapes, a little girl in the family came along, took the axe from her and made a perfect cut. Brian mobilized a group of children to help carry bricks. His teammates report that he also slipped while working and put his hand right into a cow patty.

At one of the houses, there is a goat pen containing goats of all sizes and colors. There is nothing like the smell of goats in the morning! In the afternoon, the children take the goats out of the pen and herd them into the countryside to feed and stretch their legs. It’s fun to watch them trotting along. The other house has a very large and in charge pig rooting around. At a third house where we are to start work tomorrow there are two doe-faced cows tied up at the side of the house and an adorable speckled piglet running around.

Our hosts served us jack fruit and bananas and a third fruit the size of a kiwi but with a large seed and gooey white stuff inside (not all that popular). Jack fruit looks like a big honeydew melon with spikes on the skin. Inside it has compartments of fruit around a seed. It tastes a little like pineapple but has a rubbery texture. The bananas here are smaller than the ones we have at home and are a lot more flavorful. The bananas have seeds in them that are about the size of a pine nut.

We returned a bit earlier than usual to the hotel; most of us took a swim before heading out to dinner. Tomorrow is our last work day, so we are feeling a bit let down, knowing that members of our group will be going their separate ways and we will have to say goodbye soon.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

December 15, 2009: The Completion of the Very Tall House

This was a very eventful, educational and rewarding day for us.

In the morning, Team 1 enclosed a wall-less schoolroom with woven bamboo mats. Team 2 returned to the very tall house determined to finish their work there. There really was no other option; the wheels were already in motion for a housewarming party this evening.

It seemed as if Team 2 saved the hardest part for last. After completing all the thatching, they learned that long sticks had to be applied horizontally to the outside of the house to keep the thatch from blowing up in the wind and rain. This required working in tandem, with one partner pushing wire from inside the house to the outside of the house and the other partner grabbing the wire, wrapping it around a stick and pushing it back through to be tied off. This task took some of the morning and all afternoon to complete. In fact, the last wire was tied off just after Team 1 arrived for the party at 4:30 p.m.

At lunch, we learned from Sarah that Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia plans to sponsor a week-long village clean-up on the main street of Chamber Bei village next week. The village features a collection of dusty, open-air shops, including a butcher shop where the meat sits out in the sun all day, a general store, a fruit stand, and a motorcycle repair shop. BABSEA wants to encourage the shop owners to spruce up in order to attract more business. After lunch, a few members of Team 2 joined Team 1 to start building a septic system at the home of a family participating in BABSEA’s community restoration project. Unlike the two houses, this time we had a schematic drawing to follow. Ravi, who is in charge of health and sanitation for BABSEA in Chamcar Bei village, explained that about 100 families live in the immediate area and only 15 of them have latrines on their property. It costs about $170 to acquire materials for a septic system, plus labor, which is a prohibitive amount of money for the vast majority of families. Without a latrine, people have to relieve themselves outdoors. During the rainy season fecal material can spread into inhabited areas and spread dysentery and other diseases.

Ravi noted that one reason Chamber Bei is so poor is because fighting continued there much longer than it did in other parts of the country, making it difficult for aid to reach its inhabitants.

At the house where we are installing the septic system, the family has volunteered to help educate their neighbors about sound sanitation practices. Although they live in relatively poor conditions, they also have a water filtration system that removes more than 90 percent of disease-causing bacteria.

The septic system requires the installation of three to four concrete cylinders, laid on top of each other in hand-dug holes more than four-feet deep. Holes are drilled in the concrete and pipes are inserted through the holes and attached to the privy. The walls of the latrine are made of brick. The door is pre-fab, like something you might find at Home Depot. The roof is made of corrugated metal. It’s sensational.

We plan to install a second septic system at another home tomorrow. It takes a couple of days to complete the project; we plan to have both finished on Thursday.

The day ended with our housewarming celebration at the very tall house. Mr. Tiery entwined flowering vines that were hung across the threshold and each person who worked on the house, including the parents, children, grandma and all Team 2 members, each cut one strand of the vine with scissors. Then the family welcomed us into their new home. They served rice wine (which has a real kick!) and duck stew with morning glory. We brought an assortment of snacks and beverages. Many of the local men lounged on the big table that we helped construct. Many more children seemed to appear from nowhere to enjoy the treats.

The family made a point of thanking each one of us individually. Seeing their appreciative faces was so gratifying; we just wish we could have expressed how much we all got out of the experience. We left at sunset with bittersweet emotions, knowing we would not be returning again to the very tall house.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

December 14, 2009: The Humidity Creates Challenges

Chamroen and Rodelle went back to Siem Reap Sunday, so now our party is down to 18 people. Chambroen will be taking an English exam today and we all wish him well.
After a very relaxing weekend, we faced work Monday with a little less enthusiasm than usual. There was a thunderstorm during the night and the lightening was so bright it lit up the entire bay. In the morning we noticed how the intense humidity quickly sapped our energy. Team 2 set out to try to finish the tall house, while Team 1 worked in the community garden weeding, hoeing and planting.
 
As Team 2 approached the house, they could hear strange, discordant music floating in the air. There was a funeral taking place at the house closest to the one we are building, less than a quarter mile away. The music and funeral keening went on all morning. Even if we were able to finish the house on Monday, we felt it would be inappropriate to hold a housewarming party on the same day as the funeral. We expected to see signs of the body burning, but none of us noticed any smoke, so we are not sure exactly what transpired.
Team 2 worked hard all day on their house but was able to finish by the end of the day; we attribute the difficulty with finishing to the considerable size of this particular family’s Dream. The Crosby, Stills and Nash lyrics, “Our house is a very, very, very fine house," keeps running through our minds. We are now adding horizontal sticks to the sides to hold down the thatch. That requires climbing to the top of ladders and scaffold and sticking wires through the thatch. We also built a lattice as a decorative touch and hauled in dirt for the porch. The family is already sleeping in the unfinished house.
 
Team 1 cultivated a four-row planting plot with the big hoes in the morning. The woman who owns the plot is 35 and has five children; she and her husband already have a house, but have no way to earn a living, so their Family Dream is the garden plot. The woman was so at home working barefoot in the garden. It was as if she grew out of the Earth herself. The main job was to remove the weeds from the four beds and reshape them into two 2 large, wide beds.
 
The rain from the previous night ratcheted up the humidity, so it felt appreciably hotter working in the full sun. The infrequent breezes caused joyful expressions of relief. The work was not complicated, but it was challenging physically, especially because of the heat. After lunch, there were two more garden beds to reshape and then plant with spinach seeds.
 
Our Fearless Leader, Tommy Marx, was ill today and had to spend the afternoon sleeping at The Vine. We are so used to him being such a bundle of energy, it was especially hard to see him suffer. He was really down for the count with stomach cramps for awhile there. Although he seemed much better by the time we picked him up at the end of the day, he was not back to 100 percent.

December 11, 2009: Dream Home #1 Done!

All 20 of us were able to work today.
 

Team 1 finished the house at Site 1 this afternoon. There was quite a celebration. Beer, sodas and snacks were served. We gave toothbrushes to the children and Vy explained how to use them. Some of the men had a lively game of hacky sack.

The new homeowners performed an impromptu ribbon-cutting ceremony orchestrated by our teammate, Chamroen. The hostess welcomed everyone into her home with the prayer-hand gesture and greeting used here and we each returned the courtesy before stepping over the threshold. Prayer hands under at the chin and a slight bow are a sign of respect and used as a substitute for a handshake.
 

Members of Team 1 report experiencing mixed emotions upon completing the house - happiness for the family who will live there and sadness that their job was done and they would be moving on to another project They all felt a strong sense of satisfaction that their efforts vastly improved living conditions for the family.

Meanwhile, at Site 2, work continued on the tall house. The roof was finished and corrugated metal sides were hammered on, so it looks quite a bit more substantial than it did a day ago. The back side of the house is thatch, which will have to be applied when we return on Monday. Gaps under the eaves above the corrugated iron also need to be filed in. Some of us would like to paint the metal, which apparently is recycled, but there is no money in the budget for paint. We also have to finish hauling dirt for the floor. It looks as if Party No. 2 will have to wait until Tuesday.

The weekend is coming up, and there is a lot of discussion about leisure activities in the area. Most of us plan to take the half-hour boat ride to Rabbit Island and some people plan to spend Saturday night there in rustic huts that dot the shoreline. Jud and Bob plan to visit Sihanookville with Cheryl, an Australian woman staying at our hotel, and Tommy is taking a small group to Kampot to get supplies. We all look forward to our two days of R&R.

Monday, December 14, 2009

December 10, 2009:Thatching the roofs

This is our second day of house-building. We are really starting to get the hang of it now. Framing at Site 1 was finished yesterday, but framing at Site 2 had to be completed this morning.

After framing, the roof is thatched. Then the walls and the floor are finished. For those readers who have never thatched a roof (which we presume is most of you), here is how it works: the layered straw is attached to a wooden rod about a yard long. Each piece has to overlap six inches to keep the rain out. The thatch has to be hoisted up onto the roof, where is it is hand-wired onto the cross beams. Aesthetically speaking, the appearance from below is quite pleasing. As one might imagine, a few of us had to get out of our comfort zones to climb the wooden frame walls and work on the rooftop (they say it’s best to face one’s fears). There is a great view of the countryside from up there.

One person has to stay on the ground to send up supplies by rope pulley, a forked stick or climb up and hand off to the thatcher. The supplier has to be able to respond quickly to requests such as “more wire,” “more thatch,” “camera,” “water,” and “shoes coming down.” Those who aren’t thatching have to tote dirt in wicker baskets for the floor, so as far as hard labor goes, thatching is preferred, even if one has a fear of heights.

We expect the Site 1 house to be finished tomorrow, but we will have to finish the Site 2 house on Monday. The Site 2 family’s Dream Home is a bit more ambitious than the Dream Home at Site 1.

Brian and Celeste, two of our Canadian teammates, have a unique perspective on both houses because they are filming at each site. Their objective is a time-lapse effect to show the houses progressing through various stages of construction from start to finish. The film will be used by Developing World Connections as part of an application for a $1 million media outreach project. Today Brian and Celeste hiked between the two building sites at least eight times, and they have helped out at each site, too, after setting up their equipment. They are really feeling the effects of the intense heat here and we really appreciate their efforts.

While we are building, we ponder the many cultural contrasts that are a source of fascination to us. Here are just a few examples:

• We are sitting on the roof of our house wiring thatch and the cell phone rings in our supervisor’s pocket.
• In this country where Buddhist shrines dot the landscape, there are Christmas trees at some of the hotels.
• There are no coins in circulation and the U.S. dollar is the currency of choice.
Change is made using riel on paper – it’s about 4,000 riel to $1 U.S.
• Our bus driver is on 24-hour call and sleeps in a hammock in the bus.
• People actually wave, smile and shout hello when we walk past.
• In the countryside, laundry is hung out to dry on fences lining the street, and rice is dried on tarps on the ground.
• Gas for motorcycles is dispensed out of Pepsi bottles.
It common to see three or four people on a small moto, including little children who sit wedged between the adults.
• While the people for whom we are building houses have very few creature comforts, they have friends and family close by watching out for them. The older ones take care of the younger ones, and vice versa.
• And, have you ever heard of Cambodian gelato? Well, it exists.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

December 8, 2009: Planting the Seeds: The Family Dream Project

December 8, 2009
 

Our group of 18 volunteers from Santa Barbara County, California, and Vancouver and Kamloops, Canada, arrived in Kep, Cambodia, December 7 after a jostling four-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh. Our group also includes one Cambodian participant, Chamroeum, from Siem Riep, and Kasper from Denmark. We are an eclectic group ranging in age from 14 to 70. This morning we were anxious to get our project started and gathered early in the lobby of our guest house before boarding the bus. Our first stop was a school in the village of Chamcar Bei, where we had an orientation session led by Sarah Dobbe, Chamcar Bei program manager. Sarah is from Holland and speaks six languages.

During the orientation, we learned that Developing World Connections (DWC) and Bridges Across Borders SOuth East Asia (BABSEA) first established a presence in Chamcar Bei in 2007 after doing a community needs assessment in 2006. There are about 800 families in the village and nearly 300 school enrollees. When the project started, there were approximately 580 families, so school enrollment also has swelled along with the need for assistance.

This part of southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand is infamous as a Khmer Rouge stronghold. Fighting finally ceased here in 1993 when the government promised land in exchange for a truce. While the region is now peaceful, the people here are still recovering from the trauma of the war years, making them prime candidates for the four pillars of Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia: education, health, livelihood and sustainability. While all the pillars are important, the most critical is sustainability, because the DWC/BABSEA project has a time limit of five years. Sarah told us the objective is to provide guidance and assistance, not encourage dependence.

After our orientation session, we split into teams and went through a “problem tree” exercise to learn more about the root causes of poverty and lack of education. The exercise helped us realize how inter-related and complex these problems are. While it was a bit overwhelming, we were advised that we can all make a difference, one project at a time. Following the Team exercise, we learned a few useful words and phrases in Khmer under the watchful eye of teacher Meas Theary.

The Family Dream project we are working on involves 26 poor families who are selected on the basis of established criteria. We start building two Dream Homes tomorrow –we are really excited to be able to create homes designed by the families who will be occupying them! An added dimension to our project is that is it being filmed as a promotional piece for DWC.

Today, after orientation and lunch, we planted two plots in the Chamcar Bei community garden. One group dug holes, filled them with manure, and planted eggplant seedlings. This brought a great deal of satisfaction to team members Bob, Jackie, Heather, Karen, Denver, Kasper, Michele, Rodelle and Jen because they got to work alongside the farmer who will be tending the crop. The farmer has six children and is a Family Dream participant. We were told that he can make more money selling the crop than working as a laborer and that our assistance enabled his children to remain in school for the day.

The other team, comprised of our Team Leader, Tommy Marx, and Participants Jud, Adele, Kayla, Julie, Gabby, Susanne, Brian, Celeste, Caesar and Chamroeum, planted radishes intended for sales to help sustain the entire community, including poor families who cannot afford to own their own land. These teammates are hoping the seeds with start to sprout before we leave for home December 18. We will be back at the garden next week to do some more planting and we plan to check on the progress then.

We are all in awe of the grace of the Cambodian people and the beauty of the landscape and look forward to continuing our work here.

Team Cambodia

December 2009

Group to Go to Cambodia in December 2009

The one of the last DWC Teams of 2009 will head out to Cambodia on December 5th. Following on the work done by the Men's Group in November they will continue to build Dream Homes for Cambodian families in the area of Kep.