Highlights - Working at Tiny Toones, meeting the charity Mea Kea. Lowlights - Leaving Cambodia
It's taken me quite a long time to get round to writing my final post, as the last week in Cambodia flew by and jet lag and returning to work in the UK have provided a challenging first week back. Still, I have the most fantastic memories that are going to spur me on to make a few changes to my life in the UK.
My final week in Cambodia was very busy as I had the opportunity to work with another NGO based in Phnom Penh- Tiny Toones. This is a fantastic charity that works with street kids, providing education but more unusually teaching them breakdancing and rap. I joined Rich, who'd been at the charity for 4 weeks, to pick up reviewing the policies and procedures document and over 2 days I restructured the document and started to update procedures. The charity was a wonderful place to work, a constant buzz of energy and noise, with children practising dance routines and reciting their A,B,C's; it was a real joy to be part of the NGO.
I also had the opportunity to meet up with another NGO called Meakea, who provide education and community development to a province around 50kms outside of Phnom Penh. It was great to learn about the NGO and I was able to get a good understanding of what their requirements were for a future volunteer. I just wished that I wasn't leaving the next day and that I could've started trying to help the charity!!
So, on the return to the UK, several people have asked me if I felt like I made a difference. The only answer I can give to this is that I hope so! In terms of effort I gave a 110% to the charity - I met the main objectives set for me by CCAF, and shared as much of my knowledge as I could with Leakhena, the Senior Bookkeeper. However, 5 weeks is such a short time that it's difficult not to feel frustrated and feel like more could be done. I think part of this was that the charity, for various reasons, had periods of time where I was unable to work with them and I found this disappointing. . On the plus side, the NGO and Leakhena said that they benefited from the time I spent with them so I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself!
I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Cambodia is the most wonderful country, with the kindest, warmest people I have ever met. The country definitely needs on going support to help it rebuild, after being shattered by the civil war, but it has a real sense of hope and determination that will see it succeed. I will continue to help the country through supporting the work of the NGO's that I have met and will, for sure, volunteer again.
So for now, I have to return to 'normality' but one day I will escape again to the sunshine, heat and noise of Phnom Penh and know that I have truly come home.
Sunday 27 February 2011
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Week 4 - It's the final countdown
Highlights: A visit to the charities beneficiaries, haggling in the market & a weekend diving trip. Lowlights: saying goodbye to CCAF & being abandonded by a taxi driver.
Monday morning, up bright and early to head down to Kampot with the CEO. Travelling through the countryside is always a joy in Cambodia as the many uses of a motorbike, never ceases to amaze me. They can be piled high with people, animals or goods for market. This mornings winning sight was a motorbike towing a large high sided pen, with 3 oxen inside!
On arrival at Banteay Meas province we went to one of the pre-schools run by CCAF, which provides eductation to 3 to 5 year olds. The pre-schools give access to education, to children who otherwise might not be able to attend early education, due to them being unable to travel long distances. The great idea behind the CCAF pre-school is that all that is needed is a teacher and some materials, to teach the children, with an actual school building being a bonus. The pre-school I visisted was held in the garden of the community chief, and it was a great setting, giving a real sense of community. Here, the children not only learn basics such as days, dates, weather & animals but learn to socialise with other children, learn about hygiene (hand washing and plate washing) and get health checks from the community doctor.
I was greeted with a song and smiles before the children settled down for a spot of rice and vegetables, as school had already finished for the day. Some of the children come from extremely poor backgrounds, living with their grandparents as their parents are forced to work away, often in Thailand, to provide money for their families. Therefore CCAF provide a nutritious meal for the children but sadly this can't be provided everyday due to funding constraints. They all seemed to enjoy their rice and afterwards all got up and washed their plates, and one little girl was responsible for sweeping the mats clean. After another sing-song the children then started to head off home.
We then headed off to meet a family who were beneficiaries of chickens from CCAF and who now had a thriving chicken farm. In 18 months they had managed to increase their chicken stock to 60 from the original 6 provided by CCAF. They ate around 2 chickens per month and sold several, using the money to pay for their childrens education. The CEO told me, that some families have stocks as large as 200. It's safe to say that the chicken farms are proving a success!
For the remainder of the week, I was back in the office at Phnom Penh and this gave me an opportunity to start shaping the financial information required for programme reporting. Like most charities CCAF need financial reports by donor and also need them by programme. This means that the financial records need to be kept in such a way that all reporting requirements can be met from them. Working with Leakhena, we created a spreadsheet to record all costs, and finished off the programme budgets, progrramme cashflows and monthly programme reports work that we had started in week 2.
My main aim was to leave the charity with the basic tools, to focus their thoughts on the programmes they deliver and the costs associated with this, in order to help them plan for the longer term future of the charity. Given my short time with the charity, I feel like I have only been able to point them in a direction rather than start them on a road and therefore I leave the charity carrying a sense of unfinished business. There is plenty more work to be done - I only wish it could be me that stays to help the charity on their journey.
Late Friday afternoon we headed off for a spot of R&R in the middle of the ocean. We had booked a weekends diving trip from Sihanoukville and had a 5 hour boat trip to the island of Koh Tang first thing Saturday morning. The boat trip out didn't provide the hoped for R&R with rough seas leaving me a little green and breathing deeply and a very grey faced Rich alternating between lying down and leaping up, jack in a box style, to hurl his breakfast into the sea. However, once we got over all the swaying and sickness we had a great trip and enjoyed some interesting diving. At night the upstairs deck was converted into sleeping quarters and we fell asleep lulled by the sound of the ocean. Perfect!! I also took the opportunity to take an underwater photography course and now have my underwater papparazzi licence - so a successful weekend all round!
So, without further ado - here's a selection of the weeks photos...
Monday morning, up bright and early to head down to Kampot with the CEO. Travelling through the countryside is always a joy in Cambodia as the many uses of a motorbike, never ceases to amaze me. They can be piled high with people, animals or goods for market. This mornings winning sight was a motorbike towing a large high sided pen, with 3 oxen inside!
On arrival at Banteay Meas province we went to one of the pre-schools run by CCAF, which provides eductation to 3 to 5 year olds. The pre-schools give access to education, to children who otherwise might not be able to attend early education, due to them being unable to travel long distances. The great idea behind the CCAF pre-school is that all that is needed is a teacher and some materials, to teach the children, with an actual school building being a bonus. The pre-school I visisted was held in the garden of the community chief, and it was a great setting, giving a real sense of community. Here, the children not only learn basics such as days, dates, weather & animals but learn to socialise with other children, learn about hygiene (hand washing and plate washing) and get health checks from the community doctor.
I was greeted with a song and smiles before the children settled down for a spot of rice and vegetables, as school had already finished for the day. Some of the children come from extremely poor backgrounds, living with their grandparents as their parents are forced to work away, often in Thailand, to provide money for their families. Therefore CCAF provide a nutritious meal for the children but sadly this can't be provided everyday due to funding constraints. They all seemed to enjoy their rice and afterwards all got up and washed their plates, and one little girl was responsible for sweeping the mats clean. After another sing-song the children then started to head off home.
We then headed off to meet a family who were beneficiaries of chickens from CCAF and who now had a thriving chicken farm. In 18 months they had managed to increase their chicken stock to 60 from the original 6 provided by CCAF. They ate around 2 chickens per month and sold several, using the money to pay for their childrens education. The CEO told me, that some families have stocks as large as 200. It's safe to say that the chicken farms are proving a success!
For the remainder of the week, I was back in the office at Phnom Penh and this gave me an opportunity to start shaping the financial information required for programme reporting. Like most charities CCAF need financial reports by donor and also need them by programme. This means that the financial records need to be kept in such a way that all reporting requirements can be met from them. Working with Leakhena, we created a spreadsheet to record all costs, and finished off the programme budgets, progrramme cashflows and monthly programme reports work that we had started in week 2.
My main aim was to leave the charity with the basic tools, to focus their thoughts on the programmes they deliver and the costs associated with this, in order to help them plan for the longer term future of the charity. Given my short time with the charity, I feel like I have only been able to point them in a direction rather than start them on a road and therefore I leave the charity carrying a sense of unfinished business. There is plenty more work to be done - I only wish it could be me that stays to help the charity on their journey.
Late Friday afternoon we headed off for a spot of R&R in the middle of the ocean. We had booked a weekends diving trip from Sihanoukville and had a 5 hour boat trip to the island of Koh Tang first thing Saturday morning. The boat trip out didn't provide the hoped for R&R with rough seas leaving me a little green and breathing deeply and a very grey faced Rich alternating between lying down and leaping up, jack in a box style, to hurl his breakfast into the sea. However, once we got over all the swaying and sickness we had a great trip and enjoyed some interesting diving. At night the upstairs deck was converted into sleeping quarters and we fell asleep lulled by the sound of the ocean. Perfect!! I also took the opportunity to take an underwater photography course and now have my underwater papparazzi licence - so a successful weekend all round!
So, without further ado - here's a selection of the weeks photos...
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| Meeting the children |
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| Washing hands |
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| Eating lunch |
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| How tall am I? |
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| Chickens galore |
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| Ocean delights 1 |
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| Ocean delights 2 |
Monday 7 February 2011
Week 3 - All quiet on the Western front
Highlights - Celebrating Chinese New Year, answering the question of 'how many people can you fit in a tuk-tuk?' & the views from Udong. Lowlights - A very sore eye & running the gauntlet with a swarm of mosquitos outside our bedroom door.
The week did not get off to a good start, waking up with an eye that was swollen, half closed and constantly watering - bit of a lesson learnt there on the perils of wearing contact lenses in Cambodia! I was due to meet with the CEO that morning to visit the beneficiaries of the charity in Kampot but headed back to Phnom Penh to get my eye sorted out. Disappointing to miss out on the Kampot trip but necessary, and am pleased to say that a couple of days of drops and 'eye' was on the road to recovery...
It was the 3 day Chinese New Year year celebration, starting 2nd February and therefore the CCAF office was closed Wednesday to Friday. Tuesday at the office I worked with the Programmes Assistant, Dara to build up the history of CCAF - charting it's progress in donors and the successes of the Programmes. Since the charity started in 2007 they have helped in excess of 300 families with farming training and have increased pre schools from 4 to 18. The challenge now is around the long term sustainability of funding for the programmes and this is something which Channarith, the CEO, is seeking to address with the introduction of an Aquaponics farm. The intention being that the fish and vegetables produced in the farm can be sold and the proceeds used to help with funding the Programmes that CCAF deliver.
Wednesday through to Friday was put to good use, writing up reports and completing my objectives agreed for this assignment. I have to admit that it got pretty lonely for 3 days with no-one to speak to with just my i-pod for company. I knew I was begining to slightly lose the plot when I found myself dancing along to my i-pod and talking to a stuffed toy...
Wednesday evening we were invited to celebrate Chinese New Year at the home of the founder of Tiny Toones NGO, where Rich is volunteering. A memorable night ensued with me attempting to dance Khmer style (its all in the wrist action) and the Tiny Toones boys showing us how its done, busting a few break dancing moves! The journey to and from the party was interesting with 10 of us packed onto a tuk-tuk. At one point, we bumped our way along a dirt track aided only by the light from a mobile phone, with 2 of the boys jumping out every so often to stop the tuk-tuk tipping over on the really bumpy bits. On the way back into Phnom Penh around 1.30am the tuk-tuk started spluttering and stopped. Yes - we had run out of petrol. 3 of the boys pushed the tuk-tuk as we shouted encouragement from inside the vehicle - my excuse being that I had inappropriate footwear on to assist in the pushing activities...Then appearing like an oasis in a desert, we found someone who was awake, and willing to siphon petrol from their compressor and sell it to us. Drama over, the boys piled back into the tuk-tuk and we sped off towards home.
At the weekend we decided to stay in Phnom Penh. The plan had been to visit another province, Kampong Cham, but the logisitics of getting there for a weekend were proving problematic. Public travel around Cambodia is limited to bus or possibly taxi (only if you can find a taxi driver willing to go to your destination) and journeys take hours. So we decided to stay local and headed out by tuk-tuk to Udong which was the ancient capital of Cambodia. It was badly damaged by the Khmer Rouge but restoration has taken place so it is definitely worth the visit, even just for the views from the top.
So, I will endeavour to do more exciting things next week, given its my last full week in Cambodia (boo hoo), but for now a few pictures to share my memories.
The week did not get off to a good start, waking up with an eye that was swollen, half closed and constantly watering - bit of a lesson learnt there on the perils of wearing contact lenses in Cambodia! I was due to meet with the CEO that morning to visit the beneficiaries of the charity in Kampot but headed back to Phnom Penh to get my eye sorted out. Disappointing to miss out on the Kampot trip but necessary, and am pleased to say that a couple of days of drops and 'eye' was on the road to recovery...
It was the 3 day Chinese New Year year celebration, starting 2nd February and therefore the CCAF office was closed Wednesday to Friday. Tuesday at the office I worked with the Programmes Assistant, Dara to build up the history of CCAF - charting it's progress in donors and the successes of the Programmes. Since the charity started in 2007 they have helped in excess of 300 families with farming training and have increased pre schools from 4 to 18. The challenge now is around the long term sustainability of funding for the programmes and this is something which Channarith, the CEO, is seeking to address with the introduction of an Aquaponics farm. The intention being that the fish and vegetables produced in the farm can be sold and the proceeds used to help with funding the Programmes that CCAF deliver.
Wednesday through to Friday was put to good use, writing up reports and completing my objectives agreed for this assignment. I have to admit that it got pretty lonely for 3 days with no-one to speak to with just my i-pod for company. I knew I was begining to slightly lose the plot when I found myself dancing along to my i-pod and talking to a stuffed toy...
Wednesday evening we were invited to celebrate Chinese New Year at the home of the founder of Tiny Toones NGO, where Rich is volunteering. A memorable night ensued with me attempting to dance Khmer style (its all in the wrist action) and the Tiny Toones boys showing us how its done, busting a few break dancing moves! The journey to and from the party was interesting with 10 of us packed onto a tuk-tuk. At one point, we bumped our way along a dirt track aided only by the light from a mobile phone, with 2 of the boys jumping out every so often to stop the tuk-tuk tipping over on the really bumpy bits. On the way back into Phnom Penh around 1.30am the tuk-tuk started spluttering and stopped. Yes - we had run out of petrol. 3 of the boys pushed the tuk-tuk as we shouted encouragement from inside the vehicle - my excuse being that I had inappropriate footwear on to assist in the pushing activities...Then appearing like an oasis in a desert, we found someone who was awake, and willing to siphon petrol from their compressor and sell it to us. Drama over, the boys piled back into the tuk-tuk and we sped off towards home.
At the weekend we decided to stay in Phnom Penh. The plan had been to visit another province, Kampong Cham, but the logisitics of getting there for a weekend were proving problematic. Public travel around Cambodia is limited to bus or possibly taxi (only if you can find a taxi driver willing to go to your destination) and journeys take hours. So we decided to stay local and headed out by tuk-tuk to Udong which was the ancient capital of Cambodia. It was badly damaged by the Khmer Rouge but restoration has taken place so it is definitely worth the visit, even just for the views from the top.
So, I will endeavour to do more exciting things next week, given its my last full week in Cambodia (boo hoo), but for now a few pictures to share my memories.
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| Break dancing the night away |
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| Monks receiving their alms |
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| Udong |
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| Udong |
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| Udong |
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| View from Udong |
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| Anyone for a ride? |
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