February 21, 2015: Sad Farewell

Thursday was a quieter day around each project site with finishing touches (install toilet, fishing concrete, roof and doors) being complete by Mr. Son and ourselves.

Following a few photo ops, hugs and thanks we were off to lunch and then to a local school (Our School) located in Chamcar Bei where a school tour awaited. At the school we also provided donation of school supplies, books and tooth brushes. Additional donations of clothing were donated to EC for distribution to families in need at a later date. Funds were also provided to purchase filters for school water filtration systems.

Friday, we say good by tongue Spring Valley Resort (our home for the last two weeks) and begin our trip back to Phnom Penh.  Our lunch today was at "Friends Romdeng" restaurant where everyone was treated to tarantula (even a live one).

Where have the last two weeks gone? This is my third International Volunteer Experience (IVE) with DWC and first as a team leader. Without question, the last day is the most difficult. It is a time to reflect on the activities of past two weeks and to know that our contribution may be small in scope but huge in the hearts of those we have connected with. 

As we depart on extended vacation, or for home, we will carry in our hearts those experiences, memories and friendships, to be shared with family and friends (at home), reflected upon and cherished for a long time.  Equitable Cambodia (specifically Vy) is instrumental in ensuring the success of both our experience and also project completion. Maintaining communication lines between the DWC Team, contractors and families and ensuring all in country arrangements are in order. Vy, thank you so much. Lastly, I would like to thank our team:

• Tom, Bill and Evey (Kamloops, BC)
• Lindy (Prince George, BC) 
• Lynda, my sister (Nanaimo, BC). 
• Betty (Toronto, Ont.) 
• Liz (Clearwater, BC) 
• Jeries and Chelsea (Newmarket, Ont.)

Your desire and passion to help others has made this possible. I am truly grateful to have shared this IVE with you. A special thank you to all of you.

Don Brimacombe
DWC Volunteer Team Leader
Cambodia: February 2015

February 10, 2015: Focused On The Task At Hand

Arriving at the worksite, the water had been drained and prepared for the inlet and outlet walls. There was a different feel around the project today...focused. Fairly quiet around each site as everyone was busy with task at hand. Today was also a special day in honour of Larry Steele, Lindy's beloved husband who passed recently. We all shared in Lindy's heartfelt blessing and dedicated this site in Larry's name. We are a team of eleven.

After lunch, brick laying continued followed with application of a finishing coat of cement to walls.

Again, a well deserved swim at Kep Beach greeted everyone after a good days work.

Don Brimacombe
DWC Volunteer Team Leader
Cambodia: February 2015

January 29, 2015: Reflections on Lessons Learned

Today I really learned what solidarity is.  It is being a friend and not a savior; working side by side to improve our world.  It really hit me today that just because I am privileged, in every way possible, does not mean that I am better or above anyone, anywhere.  Seeing the workplace, the market, and the school - seeing how they were all part of the global community - really changed my perspective.  Today is the most meaningful day of my life because I have realized that I have come to love the people I have been alongside for the past few days so much that leaving them makes me really sad.  But, leaving has also given me a purpose to come back!

Mariana Salazar
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January 29, 2015.  

January 28, 2015: Creating Lasting Change

Today was our last day at the work site in Kep.  I worked mostly by laying bricks and cementing down things.  Quite an adventure, I'd have to say!  I worked closely with a local that I nicknamed "The Laughing Man" because he laughed constantly and was smiling every second that he could.  I want to be the type of person that deserves a nickname like that.  The laughing man taught me about being the best kind of person in the world by doing nothing but being himself.  I am so glad I went on this trip because now I will never be a tourist again.  People go on vacation, do their thing, see some sights, eat some food, and then leave.  The city and country go on like they were never there.  The work we have done makes a change.  It will help people for years to come.  Kep district will remember DWC.

Julia Giraudi
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January 28, 2015

January 28: Living on a Dollar

Today, I woke up, had breakfast, and then the kids who were working on the latrines got to go to the market.  Many people in Cambodia live on less than a dollar a day.  My group was given one dollar in the market to buy food for two meals.  The market was extremely different from all the grocery stores and markets in Canada.  All the food was fresh and there were even live chickens.  The market was crowded with little huts of Cambodians selling food.  Flies were everywhere, swarming over the raw meat.  It was interesting to see how different our culture is from Cambodian culture.

Trying to buy food at the market with only one dollar was very hard!!  Things were expensive.  We tried bargaining with the women but they couldn't understand us.  It was challenging.  Half way through the market, I began to think about the people in Cambodia that actually live on a dollar a day.  It made me sad, especially when I realized how hard it really is to do.  This was an experience I will never forget.

Alexandria Collymore
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January 28, 2015.

January 28, 2015: Smile and the World Smiles Back!

Today I woke up and my whole body was sore from the work I did the day before.  The group started to build a watergate in a rural place in Kep.  It is amazing to see the difference with only 20 minutes of driving how we can go from a tourist area to a non-paved road with tattered houses; the difference really hit us all greatly.  The reality about the level of poverty in the world is something that those from Canada are not usually exposed to, but from this experience we can see how the majority of the world lives their lives. 

 
From working in the rural area I was able to interact with local people living in the area.  I've never regretted something in my life so much as not learning the language of Khmer.  The language barrier is such a big thing that I never noticed before, but being here, I feel sad that I couldn't communicate properly.  Although we cannot understand one another, the people here are so nice and welcoming that we just get by with gestures or actions.  When the locals, including the kids and adults, smile, I can't do anything but smile back because their smiles are so beautiful and warm.  All of the people here are happy and nothing how I expected them to be.  Just being with them and interacting with them has been a life changing experience.  My whole perspective on life has changed in a matter of days, and I want to change as a person but there is so much to take in right now that I am only confused. 

Momo Sakudo
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January 28, 2015.

January 27, 2015: If you can't beat the heat...join 'em!

Today was a hot day in my books.  Drenched in sweat and sunburned like crazy, I finally experienced a "slightly warm" day in Cambodia.  At the worksite today I met Tim.  He teaches English at the school and is great at speaking it.  He wants me to come back tomorrow and teach him all the English slang words I know.  Throughout the day, I waved and smiled at every person I drove past or walked past.  What truly made me amazed was how every person, young or old, smiled and waved back.  It didn't matter what conditions they were in, they gave a genuine smile and welcomed you.  I guess the only person that didn't wave back was the young boy that shook his bum at us and laughed as we drove past.  He was very pleased with himself!

The day was long but gratifying because I made real connections and the work I did is for a great cause.  Tim quizzed us on our voting system but he dodged our comments about his own government with an embarrassed laugh.  It will be interesting going forward to see the political views of Cambodian people.

Christopher Kearney
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia. January 27, 20105.

January 27, 2015: The Kindest Side of Humanity

I just want to start off by saying that the people are amazing in this country.  While we work on the projects, the people just showed us the kindest side of humanity I have ever seen.  Whenever you try to say a word in Khmer, their faces light up and they love that you're trying to speak to them.  The projects we are here to work on are to build 2 bathroom/latrines and 2 water gates.  I love working on these projects because they will actually have an impact on the farmers in the area in a positive way.  So many people's lives will be changed forever!

Victor Castro
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January, 27, 2015.

January 26, 2015: Arrival to Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh was nothing like anyone expected.  All the stores in the main area were all so Canadianized with English words.  We then later realized that kids are taught in school the English language.  It's very hard for people to find a job if they don't know how to speak English.  Yet it is so expensive to go to school for the children.  You're forced to buy the uniform, the supplies, snacks and on top of that, teachers make next to nothing so they make students pay for their textbooks and stuff.  You can't blame the teachers though because they do what they have to to pay the bills and support their families.   It hurts to see how happy everyone is when they have nothing.  But nothing is enough for them and that's what people don't realize.  We who live in Canada have everything compared to them.  We have no right to complain or be sad about what we don't have.  To wrap everything up from the first day, it was shocking.  I just hope that we can get a chance to find out more about the politics.

Kaitlin Mitchell and Yvonne Seles
DWC Volunteer Participants
Cambodia.  January, 2015.

July 10: Last Morning in Kep

I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, so that's how I got the blog posted from yesterday.  We'd planned to meet at 0630 to walk to the Crab Market, but none of the cadets showed up.  I told them the night before that that was no big deal and that I'd leave with whomever wanted to go at 0630.  It's about a 20 minute walk and when I got there, things were just setting up.  Fish were already grilling and vendors were cooking bowls of Khmer breakfast noodle soup.  Restaurants were sweeping out their front entry areas and cleaning up from last night's rain and wind.  It was low tide and about a dozen people were scavenging for crabs, snails, and the like in the tide pools, sand, and exposed rocks.  Crab pots were in and there had already arrived some bucket so live tiger shrimp and other varieties that were being picked through for size by the retailers.  I didn't stay long and paid $2 for a tuk-tuk ride back to the Beach House, arriving at about 0715.

By then, Dan was up and had ordered breakfast.  I ordered Khmer soup with prawns and went to the room to finish packing and get ready for the morning.  The girls came down and did the same thing, but none of the guys even showed up until Winston came down at 0755, followed by Luke, then Dylan.  They all skipped breakfast or had snacks in their rooms because we were supposed to leave at about 0800 as usual.  Vy was there and she outlined our plans again:  school visit with soccer game; visit women's vocational training center, the a final lunch at the Vine, back to the hotel, checkout at 1400 and then the drive to Phnom Penh.
The weather was excellent with finally some clearing and blue skies as we drove to "Our School," a small K-12 school near the Vine retreat that we'd driven by before Savorn (mentioned earlier) is an English teacher at the school and his wife is the librarian.  The school was originally run by an NGO and funded in large part by the Korean government, but has since been taken over by the local community.

We  learned when we arrived that today had been declared a national holiday by the king and the government and that school would not be in session.  However, many kids showed up anyway at the request of Savorn and the other teachers.  About 30 kids and several teachers greeted us when we arrived.  Savorn showed us around the peppercorn farm that he also manages which is located adjacent to the school.  He said that it had 1125 plants which produced between one-half and one kilo each per year.  He was very proud of the irrigation system that pumped water from a reservoir pond to a small water tower about four meters off the ground, then into the pepper plants.  They also had some pretty large cow manure piles that they used for fertilizer.  He said that as part of his job (his house was next door), he also managed a newly planted mango orchard that had 3000 trees on 10 hectares of land (almost 25 acres).  Savorn's house looked nice and modern compared to most in the area with a steel roof. It was obviously well-maintained.  He said that the community and school provided him with the house as a condition of employment.

From the peppercorn vines, we went back to the school and looked into the classrooms.  They were very basic, with minimal lighting.  They did, however, have a nice computer room with 15 new Toshiba laptops and it was clear from the posters and writing on the board that they were teaching spreadsheet use, some basic coding, and the use of other apps.  The entire school has nine teachers and its annual budget is $12K.  Yes, I said $12K.  That both impressed and saddened me at the same time.  Kids have to pay a small fee, equal to $0.50 per month from their families to attend, but everything else is free.

We then went to the soccer field for about 45 minutes of spirited, but rough (with loose rules) sport on the mostly dirt field.  All of the cadets played as did Dan, Savorn, and one of Savorn's friends.  About 20 kids played.  They split into two teams that were roughly boys versus girls, though Dan and Savorn played on the girl's side.  We had a lot of fun watching the game and everyone was sweating profusely within a few minutes.  The kids (mostly ages 6-12) had a blast and really showed a lot of spirit and enthusiasm.  The cadets ate it up, too.

After soccer, we moved to the front of one of the buildings and Dan sang some songs with his guitar.  We were trying to find some songs that everyone would enjoy (with some participation) and Hansena and Annie demonstrated and taught them to do the Hokey-Pokey.  The kids loved it, though they didn't get the right versus left thing entirely.  They all giggled and laughed when Hansena called them to put their "butt in" and their "butt out," then shake it all about.  I videoed the whole scene with my camera.  The kids like it so much that they did it again to huge applause.  They then sang one of their songs and we cheered.

Finally, it was time to go, so I pulled out some of our gifts.  I gave Savorn a USAFA pin for his lapel and then pulled out the gross (144) of USAFA emblazoned pencils that we'd brought with us from Colorado.  To my surprise, the kids all lined up--girls on one side, boys on the other--to receive their pencils.  I had more than enough for two each, so I gave them each two and they politely said "thank you" in English of "akun" in Khmer, each treating their new pencils like gold.  I gave the remaining pencils to Savorn as well as some foam rubber baseballs with USAFA logos, some lanyards, and other stuff.  The kids stayed in their lines and we did high-fives down the line with each cadet before regrettably saying "goodbye."
We next went to a vocational training center where local girls and women were learning to weave silk scarves by hand, make coconut shell jewelry, and other artisanal crafts.  This was an example of another NGO that had started a local training shop but had now given it over to operate as a real business.  We'd seen their products for sale in local hotel and really like it, so it was nice to be able to see the crafts being made an then purchase some more souvenirs at very good prices.

It was finally time for our last lunch at The Vine Retreat.  What a great, secluded guest house with just awesome food that we'd enjoyed for almost two weeks.  I probably gained weight on this trip and The Vine is the primary culprit.  We had another great squash soup as well as squid with fresh green peppercorns--both delicious as usual.  I gave one of my Tripadvisor "Excellent Service" pins to the woman who had been taking care of us during our visits.  This was clearly one of the highlights of the trip.

We all decided to just get back to the hotel as quickly as possible to rest, shower, and finish packing before the arduous and thrilling drive back to Phnom Penh.  Once there, we plan to go to Malis for dinner before Dan an Vy drop us off at the airport for a wonder 2320 departure to Seoul.  Here's the whole day's slideshow.

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 9: Another Rain Out

We woke up again to a driving rain storm and what seems like the real monsoon.  At breakfast, we discussed options including taking the time to visit some local schools or travel around the area to see more sights, but the rain was so heavy that Vy told us that the schools wouldn't even be in session because the kids all rode their bikes and scooters to school and the rain was too heavy for that.

Vy thought of buying tarps and using them to shield us from the rain and wind, so she called Mr Song and it looked like we had everything worked out.  We loaded up just before 0900 during what appeared to be a lull in the rain and everyone was pretty excited about the opportunity to get some work done.  However, about five minutes into our drive to the work site, the rain started up again in earnest and was coming down as hard or harder than ever.  We turned down the muddy road from Highway 33 and it was barely passable.  When we got to the front of the house that bordered our work, we saw that the pond we'd been crossing on a log was huge and the logs and bridge were invisible.  Vy, Dan, and Winston got out of the car to reconnoiter the situation, but it just looked hopeless.  We might've just waded across the pond, but the rain was falling so hard and the wind was so strong that no one thought the tarps would hold or be able to protect us and our work.  Sadly, we decided to turn back.

At the hotel, there was just not much to do except read, watch movies, and wait for lunch.  The rain never really stopped all day.  A little after noon, there was a short period of near clearing, so I walked about a mile to the crab market just to get some exercise.  I walked around the market area to see what was being sold and I purchased some packages of local peppercorns as gifts and souvenirs (white, red, and black).  The rained started to pick up then and I ducked into a restaurant for lunch just as another mini-typhoon wave of torrential rain hit the shoreline.

It seemed like the tarps and decking at the restaurant were going to blow in for a while, but the rain eventually let up as I finished a relatively quick lunch of grilled barracuda and rice with a big bottle of Angkor beer.  When I left, it was hardly raining and I managed to make it back to the hotel before it started again.

That's how the day went.  We'd have a short break,but you could just see the clouds building and another wave would sweep in.  Hansena and Luke took advantage of one short break to rent mountain bikes and tour the area a little, but they cam back soaked to the bone.  I hung out on the deck reading most of the afternoon, as did Dylan.

We talked about other activities, but not much was really possible.  Hansena brought up our desire to make sure that any unexpended funds from our trip (that we'd already paid to DWC) to to Equitable Cambodia to make sure the latrines were finished even if we couldn't do the work and Dan assured us that that would be the case.

Finally, at 1830, we returned to Holy Crab for another great dinner and talked about our chances of getting more work done tomorrow given the forecast (bad) and how we would handle our school visit on Friday (if it occurred at all) prior to the drive to Phnom Penh, dinner, and our departure from the airport to return home.

The cadets have kept a good attitude and managed to find productive ways to keep themselves busy during the breaks, but I can tell that it's wearing on them as it is me.
I did manage to take a few shots in the rain today, and here's the slide show:

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 7: Latrines Week Two--New Work Site

There was quite the thunderstorm here last night at about 0400 with torrential rain and lightning, but when we woke up the rain had stopped long before breakfast and it was breezy and noticeably cooler.

I woke up early and got some work done writing and working on photos and got a Facebook message from Annie that she wasn't feeling well.  I went next door to check on her and she was nauseous and had spent most of the night dizzy and in cold sweats.  She didn't have a noticeable fever, so I ruled out malaria and chalked it up to probably not taking yesterday's two plus hours on a rocking boat at sea too well.  She admitted that she hadn't probably had enough water, too, so I encouraged her to drink a full bottle and start working on another.  After a conference with Dan and Vy, we decided to leave Dan's cell phone with her and let her stay in the room and rest for the day.

We left the hotel on schedule and dropped by the local post office.  Hansena mailed a bunch of postcards and was a bit worried because she said that she had to lick all of the stamps.  Maybe not a good idea in Cambodia.  Oh well--we'll see if that gets her.

We next stopped at a "hardware store" and I bought two shovels for a total of $7.  These were medium-sized spades with handle grips that I thought would help us at the site since we didn't have very good shovels last week.

The drive to the new worksite was a little longer and we turned north off of the main road instead of south. Once onto the dirt road, we went about a half-mile into the countryside where we found the homes to be more spread out with rice paddies/fields separating all of them.  It was really beautiful and we liked the area immediately.

We got out of the car and walked across a palm tree log bridge that spanned a small pond and then shortly arrived at the first work site (photos here).  We dropped Team 2 there and they rejoined their team leader from last week who was already started digging the square trench for the foundation.  Team 1 walked about another 100m across a couple of rice fields to the second site that was next to a rather larger house with accompanying palm frond roof barn for the animals. The land around the house was much more spacious and open and we were shaded by coconut palms.

 

Jay was there and he and Mr Song had already dug the foundation and were pouring concrete over the granite boulders that they'd placed with sand in the foundation trenches.  We immediately started placing the first layer of bricks onto the foundation concrete following the guide lines and also started digging the septic pit.

Once again, we struck water before we made it much deeper than a meter, but that was proceeded by a lot of work cutting through palm roots to get to the base clay.  Winston was schooled by one of the ladies of the house (age 49) on the proper use of a hoe to dig a hole.  She was amazingly strong and effective and we were all humbled.  She MAY have weighed 110 lbs, but I doubt it.  Winston had another digging helper, too, whom we presumed was the man of the house, but that's still TBD since they speak no English and we speak very few Khmer words.  Once they got through the roots, the work went very fast, though, and by lunch time it was clear that we would have the concrete cylinders in place later in the day.

As we laid the bricks, mixed the concrete, and really got into a groove, we noticed that almost everyone around us was supporting the effort.  Little kids were delivering bricks and shoveling mortar into our buckets. The sisters that live in the house were helping dig holes, delivering fresh coconuts for refreshment, and doing as much as possible.  At our last site, I have to admit, it was frustrating to see the number of idle people doing nothing--at least at our latrine site, though Team 2 had a little more support on their side of the road.  Today, it was our team with the support and our work showed for it.

There was a lot going on at the farm, too.  Seven-day-old puppies were yipping in the wood and palm leaf cooking shed next to us and a couple of them tried to crawl out from underneath.  Chickens were constantly running around us and the kids were everywhere.  Still, despite the distractions, we were moving at a great pace and had more than seven rows of bricks laid with the door mounted and sand and rocks inside the latrine before lunch. (Photos here)

We drove to The Vines again for lunch and had their amazing Cambodian salad with peanuts again, along with a squash and chicken soup.  We decided to cut lunch short and get back to work earlier than usual since the weather was so good and we were being so productive.  We called Annie to check on her and she reported feeling quite a bit better, but we decided to let her rest through the afternoon and prep for work tomorrow if she continued to improve.
We were back from lunch before 1330 and spent the afternoon placing the cylinders and working hard on the bricks.  The ladies brought us rambutan fruit (like red, really spiny lichee nuts) and bananas (later) as well as sweet, iced Vietnamese-style coffee.  The weather continued to be nice, so we mixed batch after batch of concrete on the hard ground near the front of the house and the kids kept us going.  We had four bricklayers for most of the afternoon, except for mixing breaks and when we put the cylinders in.  By the time the afternoon was complete--and we worked until 1700--we had at least 18 rows of brick laid (over 6' high), the cylinders placed, and Jay was installing the concrete vent pieces.  (Photos here)

Vy came over and helped me chat with the family while I was laying the last couple of rows of bricks.  They explained that three sisters (ages from the late 40s to early 50s) lived there and in neighboring houses with all of their kids, Grandma lived next door butslept i nthe big house at night to protect her from "ghosts," and that the small baby was five months old.  I explained the composition of our group and our purpose and made it clear that we were in the US Air Force.  They were very happy to have us and kept thanking me over and over again.  I tried to convey how much we enjoyed the work and appreciated their support as we worked and their participation in the process.

We left at about 1700 knowing that both groups had had a great day.  We were happy to be more in the country and around the rice fields and really like the families that we were helping.  Of course, I spent most of my break times taking photos of people and our work, so you can see those photos here.

When we returned to the hotel, Luke suggested an early dinner, meeting at 1800 to walk over to a French Bistro named "Brise de Kep."  Everyone showered and cleaned up quickly and Annie joined us, too, feeling much better and ready to work tomorrow.  We walked over and generally enjoyed the meal.  I ordered a tuna steak for $4 and it was overcooked, but Dylan had Magret de Canard and it was good, while Hansena had a good barracuda filet and Annie ate their version of a fried chicken breast.  To pass the time, we played cards (the France Family's official card game that we call SOYN).  It was a good time and it kept us busy and not complaining about the service all of the way through dessert--which was the best part of the meal.

We're looking forward to tomorrow and will finish the bricklaying in the morning and hopefully get most of all of the stucco done tomorrow afternoon.  We're feeling good about finishing on Thursday now.
Here's the slide show of all of the photos taken today:

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 6: R&R Day 2 - Boat Trip

Today, the cadets were allowed to sleep in and we didn't depart until 0900--my wife, Becky, can tell you how rare that is when traveling with me.  They all made it down to the van in time, though, but didn't order breakfast from the hotel.  I think they all made breakfast out of leftover snacks from yesterday's trip and Friday's party.

We'd arranged, with the help of Vy and the hotel, to rent a boat for the day including the the boat owner/driver and planned to visit two or more of the islands off of the coast of Kep.  We drove to the boat dock and were directed to the end of the pier where we met our typically long, skinny Mekong River-style boat that you see all over Southeast Asia. The engines are side-mounted diesel of gasoline motors that look like they've been stripped from a car or truck.  The propeller is attached axially at the end of a long shaft that extends from the engine by 8-10 feet and turns a two-blade propeller at a shallow angle.  Like the boats on Tonle Sap, the props have a lower protective framework to keep them out of the mud.

We loaded up without issue, put on our life jackets and left for the one-hour ride to Koh Pau and the fishing village there.  The seas were moderate and we rocked a bit, but no one got sick (even me) and we pulled into the little bay at about 1010.  Savorn, a Cambodian friend of Dan's, was with us.  He translated and told us all to be back at the boat by 1100. (Photos are here)

 

We waded ashore past an abandoned boat and along the garbage-lined shoreline past several ramshackle houses with palm frond roofs.  Dogs barked at us and kids scurried along as we passed, some of us looking for shells while I took photos of the boats in the bay and of the local residents.

We rounded the corner of the island and passed along an uninhabited section that was quite rocky.  After clearing this, we had a shortcut through the jungle and past some houses to the main area.  We saw a LOT of kids and I took photos.  They started following us and I took more photos.  They were all very friendly and obviously surprised to see us.  The cadets and I had a great time interacting with them.  They were just beautiful kids stuck in a very, very poor situation.  It was difficult not to feel pretty about their lot as we waved goodbye and left for Rabbit Island.  Here's an album of photos of the kids, plus another one showing other parts of the island.

 

Soon after the boat left Koh Pau, the wind picked up and the rain started.  Almost then entire 25 minute trip to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) was in rolling four-foot waves and a driving rain storm.  We covered what we could, but we all got soaked to the bone.  The rains stopped just a couple of minutes before we landed at the shore, though, and stayed nice throughout the rest of the day.

We left the boat and walked along a path to the south shore of the island that had dozens of thatch bungalows, a few outdoor restaurants, a nice beach, and plenty of hammocks.  We ordered lunch and found the service to be, once again, lacking.  Dylan finally got his food almost 90 minutes after he ordered it.  They said they'd run out of beef and needed to run to one of the other restaurants to get some.  We worried about the local canine population.

Finally, just before 1400, we were done with lunch.  I set a rendezvous time for 1600 at the boat and then allowed the cadets to do whatever they wanted along the beach.  Dylan joined me on a hike around the island on a path that was easy to follow but contained enough thorns to lacerate each of us pretty well, take my hat off of my head, and make for a lot of crouched walking.  Along the way we saw locals cultivating sea weed as well as several small fishing settlements and boats.  The hike was supposed to take us two to two-and-a-half hours, but we made it back in 75 minutes and were happy to have the time to order a beer and enjoy it on the beach before we left.  Annie and Hansena were catching some rays on the beach, while I think Luke and Winston napped in the hammocks.  We were all entertained by and Australian couple (we think they were Aussies) that were in their mid-50s, tattooed, over-weight, bikini'ed, and getting the sunburns of their lives while constantly drinking and smoking, standing in the waves.  It made me think of the US Gulf Coast...  I took no photos, fearing for my camera's well-being.

The trip back was again through fairly rough seas, but there was no rain (photos).  Dylan sat on the bow, which was probably drier than the mid-boat areas as the waves crashed over the sides.  We returned to the pier at about 1615 and were happily back at the hotel by 1630.  We set a meeting time for 1830 for dinner and everyone went to their rooms to dry out, clean up, and relax again--I worked on photos.

We went to dinner at 1830 to Holy Crab along the Crab Market area and (for once in Kep) were very impressed with the service--the food was excellent, too, and the prices quite nice.  There's a reason that it's the #1 ranked restaurant in Kep by Tripadvisor.  We talked a lot about photography at our end of the table.  The food exceeded expectations, too.
Tomorrow, we start a new pair of latrines in the same village but along a different road.  We're all looking forward to doing the project again with the knowledge that we've gained from the first week and are sure that things will go much more smoothly.  I'm planning to go to the local market and buy a couple of good, new shovels for the team and then donate them to Equitable Cambodia.  Winston's looking forward to more digging and I'm happy to make sure he's well-armed.

We should finish this pair on Thursday, then the plan is to meet at a local school on Friday and do a little more local touring before we board the minivan with our bags and drive to Phnom Penh.  Our flight leaves that evening, so it'll be a busy day.
Here's the slideshow from today:

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 5: R&R Day 1

The started with plans to leave at 0600 with our driver, Dee, and a guide that was to be provided by the hotel.  We would spend the day visiting Bokor Mountain for hiking and then go into Kampot and also visit some local caves.  All six of us were ready to go, but the driver couldn't find the guide, so Vy got involved with her mobile phone.  We were told that he was "on his way," but by 0630 no one had shown up, so we decided to just take off on our own with Dee.

I rode shotgun in the van and enjoyed taking photos out of the windows with my 70-200mm image stabilized lens.  The morning light and traffic gave me some pretty good shots given the circumstances.  You can check those out directly in this Facebook Album.

We arrived in Kampot at about 0715 and Dee drove us around a little bit to see the Durian Monument, the external views of the Central Market and also to see the new and old bridges.  We headed out from there a few minutes later, crossing the New Bridge on National Road 3 (two lanes, no centerline) towards Sihanoukville and Bokor.  The phone rang a few minutes later and it was Vy asking us to go back to Kampot because she had found a guide that could meet us at the Durian monument at 0800.  So, we turned around and were there by 0730.  Dee let us out of the van and we walked around a little bit.

One of the cadets needed to find a bathroom, but he soon discovered that not all gas stations in Cambodia are really "rest stops."  So, we were on the search for a WC.  He tried a couple of guest houses, but they wouldn't let him in.  A few blocks down the road, we came up on the Kampot Pie and Ice Cream shop that we'd seen in an advertisement on our regional maps and found it open.  We ordered drinks (espresso for me, iced Vietnamese coffee for Annie and Dylan, and some fruit juices I think for the others while first Winston then others cycled through their bathroom.  The servers were very pleasant and asked us to come back later in the day for ice cream--which we did because they gave us two-for-one coupons for ice cream.  The espresso shot was only $1 and the same was true for the ice cream.

Back at the Durian Monument, we took more photos, but the guide never showed.  We waited until after 0830,but just left. We'd now wasted almost two hours of the morning.
The drive up to the top of Bokor Mountain was not unlike driving up to Olympic National Park in Washington--a long, winding road taking us from the shore to over 3,000 ft in altitude over about 20 miles (32 km).  Along the way, we saw a giant Buddhist statue that was partially covered in fog.  I was just happy that no one got car sick and we didn't have any head-on collisions with on-coming Vietnamese tour buses cutting the turns.

By the time we arrived at the summit, it was foggy, misting heavily and refreshingly cool.  We went past the new. modern casino to the "Old Casino" built during French Colonial times (1921) and long since abandoned and stripped of everything except maybe a few tiles.  The starkness of the stucco and architecture, along with water settled on many of the floors (even upstairs) made for some fun photography and the cadets enjoyed roaming around the haunted house.  We followed all good horror story laws, though, and didn't let anyone go off alone or run towards any screams.  We were also lucky that we got a clearing in the clouds for about two minutes, allowing us to take a few good exterior shots.

Apparently, Dee didn't want to take us to the other "ghost town"-like spots.  Communication was difficult as Dee knows only about 5 words in English.  I was texting questions and tour suggestions to Vy who was then texting or calling Dee to pass along that info.  Much was lost in translation.

From the Old Casino, we went to a beautiful Buddhist temple complex and monastery on a hill well above the modern casino.  Shrouded almost completely in mist while we were there, it reminded you of being much higher in the mountains as clouds raced up the cliffside from the valley below.  During the few clear moments, though, we could see all of the way to the beach and the Gulf of Thailand.  The cadet and I explored the entire area and even made it into the monk's area for their lunch to get a few photos.

From the temple, we went to the (supposedly) four-star New Casino to look around.  This was a large, Las Vegas Resort-sized complex with hundred of rooms in several buildings, bars, gaming areas, etc.  It was also almost completely empty.  We walked around in it almost like it was the Old Casino--only with uglier interior decorating and architecture.  It just reeked of the style of cheap, garish decor, lines, and design that I've seen so many time before in bad Chinese construction.  I took zero photos of it because it was just so ugly--and not even in the good, quirky way that makes for some good photos.  Ugh.  We were happy to leave.

From there, we'd hoped to be able to go see some local waterfalls, but all of my suggestions and map-pointing apparently did not impress Dee, so we headed down the mountain for lunch in Kampot, stopping along the way to get a panoramic photo.

We lunched in Kampot at the Rusty Keyhole on Vy's recommendation. She said that they had the best ribs in Cambodia. The placed looked good and had small pitchers of beer for $2.50 and reasonable prices, so we stopped in. The drinks were quite good,too, though the ribs were nothing special. Luke had a cheeseburger with egg on top and fries. Annie had pasta, Hansena and Dyland shared ribs, and Winston got some stir-fried squid dish. I ordered the daily special grilled barracuda. In what has become a common theme of restaurants in this area, everyone's food was served, but it took well over 30 minutes for my "special" to arrive. When it did, it was quite good, but knowing that it doesn't take long to grill a barracuda filet, they may well have gone across the street to the fish market to get my lunch.

After lunch, we decided to split into two groups and then meet back at the ice cream shop at 1500 and then at the Durian Monument to meet Dee at 1515.  Winston and Dylan came with me and we made our way to the Central Market, pricing scooters along the way and taking photos.  The market was pretty amazing and ALL locals.  We didn't see any souvenir or T-shirt shops here.  We did buy some durian fruit here and Winston was the brave man who tried it first, much to the viewing pleasure of the locals.  Kampot is the center of both the agricultural durian market and also for the production of peppercorns.  We saw lots of peppers (black, white, green, and red) and even some jars of pickled green peppercorns that we almost bought.

We all rendez-voused on time at the ice cream shop and passed around the tray of durian for the others to enjoy.  I'm no fan--primarily because of the muddy texture that is somewhere between a rotting avocado and pudding, all with a smell that would clear out a public bus (you can't eat them in public transpo in Singapore), and a bit of a sickly sweet taste.  Winston had another piece and I ate three chunks to help encourage the others.  Dylan, who'll eat almost anything that crawls or flies or can be found under a rock almost gagged on his and the other three cadets tried their best to choke down one segment, but couldn't quite finish their small bites.  Still, we'd all done our duty and tried the treasure of Kampot.

On our return, we turned left off of the National road towards Phnom Chhnork, a cave complex in the nearby hills that houses a Pre-Angkorian Hindu Cave Temple and an interesting rock formation at the entrance that looks like an elephant.  The admission cost was $1 apiece and we climbed the 203 stairs to the entrance accompanied by three ad hoc tour guides all about 13 or 14 years old.  They spoke excellent English and some French and asked the cadets with help on some idioms--though they knew quite a few.  (For example, when one of them asked me to climb/slide down into a steep, dark part of the cave and I said, "No way", he chimed in immediately with "Way!" I then taught him the phrase "November Foxtrot Whiskey," thus contributing to his cultural knowledge of the American military.

We took some photos near the entrance of the small temple and all went with the guides into the depths of the cavern except for Annie and me.  I used the time to take a panoramic shot of the view from the cave entrance.  They all emerged about 10 minutes later from another entrance down the mountain much to our relief.

From there, we walked back through the fertile and busy farmland about a half-mile to where Dee had parked the van. We crossed a two-log bridge over a canal and chatted more with the kids.  They said that they'd only been studying English for two years bu that their school was very good.

It rained lightly for most of the return to Kep.  After a shaky start, we'd had a good day and all of the cadets were happy to return at a reasonable hour.  We later met for dinner with Dan, his Cambodian friend, Savon, and Vy, discussing our plans for the next day (boat to Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) and Koh Por) and turning in early.  Here's the link to the entire slide-show from yesterday.

 All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 4: Fourth of July

Once again, I took a morning walk along the coastline, this time with Winston joining me. We were lucky enough to see a few fishing boats come into the shore and enjoyed seeing them unloading.  The rest of the walk was uneventful, though we had some great conversations on corruption, the future of Cambodia, etc.

Once the van picked us up, we stopped at a local beverage shop and bought four cases of drinks--two of beer and two of soft drinks--as well as some snacks and other goodies that we intended for later in the day when our work was complete.

When we arrived in the village, we started work right away. Mark, who joined us yesterday and is interning with Equitable Cambodia, joined Winston and Dan, along with our homeowner in bailing out the septic cylinder area and then adding the second cylinder so that they extended a few inches above the ground.  The evening before, pipe had been run from the latrine to the tanks, so they were also able to install the lids to the tanks with cement.

Meanwhile, Annie and I were still stuccoing the interior walls and sealing the cistern compartment with pure cement.  We worked non-stop through the morning and got quite a bit done, including some patching of bridge work that I screwed up from the day before.  Jay was very patient, though, and let me do more and more of the actual skilled work.

On the other side, Team 2 looked to be well ahead of us, but they had lots of interior work to do, too.  Dylan was their stucco-master, and the others did a lot of work in that area, too.  They had their roof on and were just concentrating on sealing and stuccoing as were we.

By 1130, we were ready for lunch having worked just about three hours in the sun without let-up.  Winston was constantly mixing and shuttling mortar to us and as Jay finished each wall we helped him with some spot patching.  Dan was entertaining the kids when he wasn't mixing mortar with Winston or working on installing the septic cylinder lids.

Lunch at the Vines was again excellent, this time with an egg, spinach, and winter squash soup along with another chicken stir-fry concoction.  The cadets only had about 20 minutes to nap again, but I passed the time by finally remembering to bring my tablet so I could read.

In the afternoon, our roof was installed and we finished stuccoing the internal walls.  The roof kept the temperature down just a little bit in the latrine, but the lack of a breeze made up for that.  Mr. Sing worked most of the afternoon prepping and then installing our combo sit/squat toilet.  The design is such that there is no flush tank.  Instead, the cistern area will hold water that can then be used with a shower head to rinse the toilet after use with all of the contents flowing down through the toilet through PVC pipe to the septic cylinders.  We were happy to be the first to have our toilet installed as that marked the essential end to our work.  Jay and I still patched and finished a little and there are remaining steps to complete the whole thing (pour the final main floor coat of concrete, install a tank in the cistern area, and (we heard) tile the floor and some of the lower internal walls.  I wouldn't liked to do some tiling as that is something I actually know--oh well.

With the completion, the family where team two was working brought out snack for all of us.  The grandmother had these wonderful dumplings stuffed with coconut, peanuts, rice flour, and palm sugar wrapped in banana leaves and cooked until steaming hot (and safe).  We each at two of them I think--they were delicious.

Dylan was the last one working, sealing their cistern area with cement, but we began to gather around team two' project area.  When Dylan finally finished, we started our little party by spreading out plastic tarps on the ground and bringing the coolers and snacks for everyone.  We took photos in front of each latrine and then, with the help of Vy, I said a few words to the families about our Independence Day and how much we'd enjoyed working and helping the village.

The grandfather (age 53) of the home where Dylan, Hansena, and Luke were working then said a few words, too, and was quite sincere and moving.  He said that the village had never had foreigners come in and help them before--that they were thankful for our hard work and how friendly and enthusiastic we were.  Vy's translation of his words was that this "was an historic event" for the village and they were very, very thankful to all of us.  We were all quite moved by his words.

After this, we pulled out the drinks.  I toasted Jay, my mentor, and gave him a pair of Air Force Academy sunglasses.  The kids were having fun because they were all drinking Fanta and Sprite getting all hopped up on sugars that they probably didn't see very often.  Dan was corrupting them by showing them how to say "Ahhhhhhh!" with a big wide open mouth when they had finished a slurp. He also put his GoPro camera on one of the boys and promised to post on Youtube what the world looks like through the eyes of a Cambodian 4-year-old.
We stayed for some time drinking and eating, talking to each other with Vy's assistance. The village leader was there as were members of the extended families, all excited about our work and anxious to catch a glimpse of the latrine.

We left at about 1700 and drove back to the hotel. I had just enough time to process my photos and get ready for dinner.  At 1830, we left for dinner at the Kep Sailing Club along with Vy and Mark.

The view at the atmosphere was wonderful at the Sailing Club.  The food was quite good, too, after we worked through a minor glitch--they said, when we were placing our orders, that the kitchen was closed (at 1900?).  With some cajoling, Vy managed to get them reopened as quickly as possible and they finally agreed.

Great seafood and some fancy mixed drinks were available at the Sailing Club along with good seafood and the usual drinks.  The ocean breeze was enjoyed by all and we didn't leave until after 2100.  We'd like to go back on another day when the sunset is at its peak and may do that Saturday or Sunday.

Tomorrow, we're going touring again since the work doesn't recommence until Monday.  Our driver will be taking us to Bokor Mountain National Park to see some old ruins as well as to hike on their many trails. From their, we'll go to Kampot for lunch and then look into some of the local caves before returning for dinner.
Here are the slides from the day--enjoy!


All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

July 3: Day 4 - Still Not Done

Dylan joined me on my morning walk and we made it about 4 km down the road before the van caught up to us. We saw a lot of things along the road including many old, abandoned houses (some pretty big) and some new construction.

When we got to the work site, Team 1 got right to it with more stuccoing. We'd done three walls yesterday and needed to get another one done on the back side first. The fun part about this was that any step backward would put us right into the septic pit that was now full again. I tried to step on what looks like a bag of sand to get some leverage but then was comforted to realize that it was just a big bag of pig manure. Lovely. All over my shoes. Jay laughed. I laughed--the rinse them off in the dirty water that was next to the pig manure, too. I love my Gore-Tex lined Merrell hiking shoes.

Annie and I worked on the back wall while Dan and Winston were in charge of the mortar mixing and distribution. The other team was a little ahead of us and by lunch they'd stacked their second concrete cylinder and were starting to stucco inside as well as laying the brick on the inside for the flush water tank frame that would sit in the back left.

Annie and I made pretty quick work of the back wall and Jay started work on the finishing as well as working the corners of the building and laying the first rows of bricks inside for the toilet seat and the water tank frame. I felt pretty good because when he started to do the finish work on our wall, he asked for me to finish the bricks on the inside for him. Winston joined me and we got a few rows done before lunch inside the walls of the latrine with the sun beating down on us. I was just dripping sweat--enough to keep the mortar moist.

The time just flew this morning. We started by 0830 and I didn't even look up or take more than one sip of water for the next three hours before we left for lunch.

Lunch was again very good--we had a chicken green pepper stir-fry and a salad that we can only describe as Cambodian cole slaw. It's a wonderful mix of shredded young tamarind, carrots, green mango, peanuts, and a nice vinaigrette-like dressing. This was probably the fourth time we've had it at a restaurant and I think Hansena and I are particular fans of this. Lunch was shorter today, but a few of the cadets managed to get a short nap in before we returned.

While we were gone, Jay fixed a few of my bricks--I'd gone up too high on one side and he took the bricks down. He was working on those when we returned, so he asked Annie and me to begin stuccoing the interior. THAT was hot work, but we got a light, brief rain shower, so that helped cool it down a little. We finished two walls through the course of the afternoon and I finished the brick work, again with excellent support from Dan (who also did some stucco work) and Winston, whom we name "Sir Mix-a-Lot" for his skills in the mortar pit. The other team, with their flat open ground lacking booby-trapped bags of pig poop , banana breaks and other details that I'm not at all bitter about, were now well ahead of us. They didn't have as much brick work inside their latrine--presumably theirs is going to be a "squatter," while ours will be a high quality seat. Still, their pit was finished at the end of the day and they were close to finishing their stuccoing, too.

I'd wondered throughout the process why we didn't lay down PVC pipe to connect the inside of the latrine to the outside pits--building around the piping and having it in place. I still don't know why we didn't do that because near the end of the day,with a beautifully stuccoed wall on the back side, Mr Sing pulled out a hammer and a chisel and smashed about a 4" hole in the side of the wall at its base, below the interior's sand and rock floor that had already been layed. After smashing through the stucco and brick, they went inside and dug up their sand and moved rocks to make channel from the hole. We left at about that time, but I'd bet that they're going to wedge PVC though the hole and run the line to the squatter, then patch it all back up. Mine is not to wonder why, mine is just to keep laying brick, stuccoing, and trying not to step into any more pig shit. Tomorrow, we SHOULD finish. If we do, we're planing to buy refreshment for all those from the village that helped with the work--and their families--then go out for a nice 4th of July dinner in town.
Have a look at some of the photos from today.

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014

June 30: First Day of Work

The USAFA volunteer team spent one week in Phnom Penh visiting cultural attractions and various military institutions. On June 28th they met with their team leader Dan Couture and volunteer coordinator Vy from host partner, Equitable Cambodia prior to arriving on the volunteer site.

We all met for breakfast at 0700 at the hotel and were on the road to the village of Oudong before 0800. IT was about a 20 minute drive through some very pretty countryside. Along the way, we stopped for a big jug of water with a spigot on it so that we could fill our water bottles throughout the day. We turned off the main road down a red dirt trail and into the village, arriving at about 0810 to meet Mr Senh (Sing) who is the local leader of the project. The village itself is very poor with very few improvements. There's a pump for ground water (non-potable) and several homes along the dirt road main street. Dogs were every where as well as cattle and preschool age children. Dan and Vy told us that we would divide up into two teams of four to do the work, so I picked a number between 1 and 100 and the losers were Dan, Annie, and Winston. Vy led the others across the narrow road to their project and we surveyed the two big piles of raw materials that were deposited by where the van stopped: small granite boulders (about a foot or so in size), a stack of bricks, a pile of sand, and four half-meter length concrete cylinders about a meter in diameter each (maybe a little less).

Mr Seng led us to the back yard area behind one home and we met a Cambodian guy that was leading this construction. He had staked out wand strung the outline of the latrine--it was to be about two meters square. Just inside the lines/wire, he was using a hoe to rip up the ground and dig a ditch about one foot deep and the width of the hoe (about 8"). Our first job was to haul all of the boulders back to the muddy yard, then haul the bricks and restack then, then carry buckets of sand and 50 kg bags of Portland cement. We then carried buckets of water back and mixed the sand and cement in an open pit next to our project.

The leader (actually a skilled worker) had, by this time, completed the foundation trench and was lining it with the large granite boulders. As the concrete was mixed, buckets full went into the trench on top of the rocks and he and Mr Senh used tampers to level the foundation.

Once that was done, the first bricks were laid and we joined in doing the same. About this time, Dan also started digging a big pit next to the latrine that would house the concrete cylinders (turned vertically).The original goal was to dig a two meter deep pit and then stack the cylinders on top of each other to make a two meter deep septic tank system.

Dan got to work as Annie and started laying brick and Winston helped with hauling and mixing more concrete. That was the division of labor for most of the day, though I did dig some in the pit--enough to realize that a flat front edge shovel wasn't going to the the job when we started hitting dense whitish-colored clay as well as some buried clothes and other trash. Did I say the ground was REALLY muddy, too?

We took short breaks for fresh coconut milk (a good benefit of the job, since they came directly from the trees around us and were cut by the neighbors) and some regular water as well as taking photos--Dan with his Nikon and me with my Canon and 16-35 f/2.8L II lens. Kids watched us and we learned a few words of Khmer There also short breaks as we were hit with intermittent rain showers much like the "pineapple rain" one sees in Hawaii.

The work went quickly, though, and Dan dug quite a bit. Winston was a machine in the hole, too, but we started running into water issues. The water table is just so high here that even at one meter depth in the rainy season we had water seeping in. Mr Senh and Vy quickly decided that we would be changing plans for the pits and decided to dig one meter deep, but put the cylinders stacked two high next two each other. The adjustments were made, we found a pointy-ended shovel and Winston went to work. Meanwhile, Annie and I were laying bricks and actually having a good time doing it.

Did I say it was muddy? We were all covered in mud from the knees down pretty quickly. We also noticed that our work was being carried out only 10 feet from the family's covered pig sty, so that added a little "atmosphere" to our work. (It was a healthy looking pig, too) It was clear that the "lawn/work area" was well fertilized, too, as the grass was growing quite well.

We worked until about 1130, doing much more than we or the project leaders thought we'd accomplish, then took a lunch break. We drove about 10 minutes away to a place call "The Vine," a combination bed and breakfast, restaurant, and peppercorn farm. Dan told us that it was owned by the head of Equitable Cambodia and they would provide our lunches in each of the weekdays that we worked. We took off our shoes at the door and climbed to a second floor deck that overlooked a pool below, the peppercorn fields, and the Cambodia countryside--it was beautiful and the breeze felt wonderful. We also took advantage of the facilities to do a little personal clean-up.

Lunch consisted of and excellent sour fish soup, rice, and something that was the Cambodian equivalent of Egg Foo Yung. All of it was good, accentuated by the hunger brought on by a very tiring morning. We lingered a little while, but we were back to the work site by about 1330 to get more done on the latrines.

Progress picked up in the afternoon and the walls of our latrine were getting high enough that we could work standing up. Also, our work leaders had earlier installed framed doors into each latrine and we were now bricking around those. The other team's latrine was going well, too, with Hansena doing much of the digging in the morning, followed later by Dylan and Luke, plus a few of the locals.

Back at our latrine, Winston was singing (and inventing) work songs to laugh about all of the muck he and Dan were digging out of the hole as they continued to make progress and get muddier and muddier. Our walls continued to get taller and we enjoyed the work. I found it very calming, structured, objective, and logical--like laying tile.

We had a few more rain showers, but not too much in the afternoon. We continually recharged the concrete/mortar pit by hauling more sand and water, but ultimately decided to call it quits for the day at about 1630. I took a set of "after" photos to document where we were for each project. The cylinders were set for Team 2, while we were close to doing so. The doors looked solid and both latrines had about the same total number of bricks laid. We wondered if by us leaving the real experts might actually get it done quicker than if were there and they had to take the time to fix our mistakes.

On the way back, we stopped at a small convenience store and the cadets bought soap for doing sink laundry and a few other sundries. Back the hotel, Luke, Winston, Annie, and Hansena immediately ran to the beach and umped into the water wearing their Equitable Cambodia shirts. They were having fun and they waved to Dylan an me as we watched from the balcony of the Beach House.

We weren't going to dinner until 1830, so Dylan and I decided to try out the trail behind the hotel that led into the national forest. It was called the Stairway to Heaven and it had small yellow signs telling us the distance in meters to landmarks along the trail. We started at 1714 and decided to hike until 1725 and then turn around and return to clean up for dinner.

The trail started with about 100 stairs and then transitioned to a single track dirt trail that had about a dozen switchbacks through the jungle before arriving at a small Buddhist Temple on the side of the hill that overlooks Kep Beach and the water. It took us almost exactly 10 minutes to get to this point and we were encouraged by signs pointing out reasonable distances to the summit of the mountain and other landmarks. We'd climbed 129 meters in altitude (0ver 400 feet) and were again covered in sweat.

The hike down was quick and uneventful and we were both back in our rooms before 1740. I used the time to do sink/shower laundry, download files, and process some of them.

We departed the hotel with Vy and Dan at 1830 and went to out for seafood to a local place that had great grilled fish, shrimp, and squid, plus cheap beer, but horrible service. We enjoyed dinner, though, especially the fact that you could get about 12 BIG grilled shrimp for $5. We were back in the hotel by 2030.

I'd like to pick out a few photos to show here, but it's getting late and the easiest way to do this is to just link to the zenfolio gallery and slideshow, so here it is!

All the Best,

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: June 2014

June 6: Meeting the Team

The selection process for picking the cadets that would have the rare honor and privilege of traveling with me (or torture and woe, depending upon your perspective) was quite in-depth. I sent out invitations to hundreds of cadets across all majors and the trip was also publicized by the Academy's Int'l Programs office (DFIP). I received dozens of applications and narrowed the field down to about a dozen before conducting interviews. What do I look for in an interview? A sparkle in the eyes, curiosity, flexibility, and a desire to get outside of one's comfort zone to experience new things. I don't travel with picky eaters or people that like to sleep in and treat a once-in-a-lifetime adventure like it's "vacation." I don't need to travel with high-maintenance people that insist on things like clean, fresh clothes every day and 24/7 air-conditioning. And, frankly, I need people that I think can make good judgments, stay out of trouble, keep me out of trouble, are enthusiastic about making friends wherever they are. Having successfully led four other cadet trips (China, Rwanda/Uganda/Ethiopia, Trans-Siberian/Mongolian Railway, and an unofficial winter trip to the Baltic) with only minor casualties, I think I have some clue what makes a good traveler...

I think I've hit the jackpot with this year's travel group. Here's some info on each:

C1C Dylan Montana Juedeman is an Aeronautical Engineering major from Alamogordo, New Mexico with a variety of personal interests, including botany, entomology, geology, paleontology, and humanism. Actively involved in various clubs, he is the squadron commander of USAFA’s Arnold Air Society squadron, volunteers with the STEM club and at animal shelters, builds and flies RC planes with the Model Engineering Club, and has designed and built high-power rockets with the USAFA Rocket Society. C2C Juedeman strives to become a pilot for the Air Force, and travel the world to experience Earth’s diverse cultures and geography.

C2C Hansena R. Vangen is a small town farm girl from rural Wisconsin. She participated in sports and clubs in high school, milked cows on the weekend, graduated as valedictorian and then came to the Academy. Since being here, She has continued her love for music by playing the euphonium in Drum and Bugle Corps and participating in Blue Bards, earned her jump wings, learned how to ski, and ran the Falcon 50 Miler Ultra-Marathon. She is a Foreign Area Studies with a focus on Africa and wants to be an Intelligence officer after graduation.

C2C Anne Von Seggern hails from League City, TX. She moved 11 times in her life, including to SHAPE, Belgium and Heidelberg, Germany. This experience abroad provided her the opportunity to be immersed in different cultures and draw from new perspectives. In her travels, she learned to speak French, German, and Spanish. She is currently studying Russian at the Academy and is Political Science major with emphasis on international relations. She hopes to utilize her language skills in service to her nation as a United States Air Force officer.

C2C Lucas Stensberg is from the North Shore of Chicago and attended New Trier High School where he had a radio show with a friend and ran Track and Cross-Country. He is an active member of the cadet Freethinkers Club and enjoys playing team handball—a totally new sport for him. He also loves to go out snowboarding on the weekends. Lucas is a Geosciences major and hopes to go to pilot training after graduation.

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
June 2014

June 6: Getting ready for our 2014 USAFA trip

Our 2014 USAFA Cultural Immersion Trip to Cambodia is generously funded by an endowment made possible by the USAF Academy Class of 1981 (Second to None!). I originally submitted a proposal to take five cadets to Rwanda this summer, during which time we would study the region, the nation, the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 (and earlier incidents), and then work with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in a service role to learn more about he country and its people first-hand, as well as learn about the operation of NGOs in the developing world. Everything was set to go--we'd won the endorsement of the Class of '81 Selection Committee--but the US Embassy and Defense Attache's Office (DAO) in Kigali turned down our request for an official visit due to, in their words, political issues.

We quickly revectored our trip by contacting the NGO that we'd decided to work with (Developing World Connections). As it turns out, they have an operation in Cambodia as well as in several other nations, so I e-mailed the DAO in Cambodia and got a very warm welcome. In a matter of hours, they had tentatively approved our trip and we quickly changed our reading list's focus from East Africa to Southeast Asia.

Our cadets (more about them later) took all of this in stride and have done a lot of prep work since our early stumbles. We spent the Spring Semester reading about Cambodia, getting vaccinations, arranging flights, researching things to do and see in Cambodia, and acquainting ourselves with the on-site NGO with which we'll be working, Equitable Cambodia. We've also been communicating through our group Facebook Page and welcome all supporters of our trip to join us there to see our progress.

Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
June 2014

March 21: Celebrating the end of the project

We are now back in Phnom Penh after completing the last 2 latrines of the Kep project. It was an extremely hot week with the weather staying around 40-45 degrees Celsius.

The families we worked with were wonderful. One of the fathers was in a recent industrial accident and had a damaged hand. But he could still work as hard as us all with one hand. All except Don who was a working machine. Thank you Don.

We had to walk through a Buddhist monastery to reach the two sites. The monks were very accommodating and even invited us to lunch with them on one day. At one site, the neighbours had a wedding. Lots of color, music, food and people. The wedding takes place almost non-stop for two days.

We had a wind up celebration on Thursday with both families together at one site. The entire community came out to celebrate with around 45 people attending. Was a lot of fun and thanks to Vy, Lorene and Janet for keeping things somewhat organized as we handed out juice, pop and cookies. We are all proud of the looks of pride and excitement on the families faces as we drove away.

After the celebration, we went to a school and delivered books to the library and supplies to the school. Then we handed out wooden toy cars to the kindergarten class who wasted no time learning how to do demolition derby with them.

We also drove to the school where the water filtration system was built and took some pictures of the tower. Very impressive and well constructed. You could hear the excitement in the principals voice as he described how the system worked.

A big thank you to all who made the 2014 trip successful and fun. Vy (Princess) for always being available to help. Mr Dy ( our driver), the Anders for making us laugh while we worked, Tom for his advice, Beth (who expanded her world so much), Don for being a working machine, and Wade and Janet for keeping things in check.

Kep Water Project Team
Chamcar Bei, Cambodia: March 2014