we live in all we seek

23 March 2009

A Trip To Prey Veng Province

[daniel using his moto skills to drive us through rice fields]

A few weeks ago we headed out to Prey Veng province to visit some of MCC's more rural work sites. The trip was fascinating on several levels. It was great to see what development work MCC is doing outside of Phnom Penh, but it was also shocking to see some of the rural poverty that exists in the countryside.

[children collecting dung to use as fuel]

There are estimates that half of Cambodia's rural poor lives on less than 45 cents a day. And more than the poverty, what I found haunting was the apparent lack of opportunity for the rural farmers, and especially for their children. And at the same time, it is in this context that the work of MCC and its local partners becomes so inspiring and hope-filled. We visited a meeting of a small community bank, villagers coming together to save and to give each other small loans for small scale business ventures.

We attended a meeting of local farmers listening to a trained veterinarian speaking about caring for their animals and protecting against bird flu.

We visited a high school that is teaching students agricultural techniques to address food insecurity issues.

We met a family living in poverty, who with the help of MCC, is learning to raise & sell chickens.

And we saw some rice field irrigation projects.

In the midst of our journeys here, we are often reminded that we are haves, while so many around us are have nots. And that we are haves in ways that run so much deeper than the size of our bank accounts-in having lived lives free from violence & war & the trauma of genocide & sexual abuse & discrimination; in having families that have always loved and supported us; in the education we received; & in the opportunities we have had to travel & learn & experience life from so many different places.

and it does not make any sense.

i keep remembering (& praying) the words of the poem "listen" by w.s. merwin

with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings...
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

4 March 2009

the wheels on the bus...

...go round and round.

Last weekend we had the good fortune of going for a short trip out to Prey Veng Province to visit the work sites of some of our MCC colleagues. One of the more interesting parts of the trip was the bus trip there.

In what appears to be typical Cambodian fashion, this bus trip was about as chaotic as can be imagined. The way these bus companies work is that all the buses going to the same location leave from the same place, from where they have to compete with each other for the same passengers. It's every bus for herself. So as soon as a person carying a backpack gets within sight, they are descended upon by half a dozen bus attendants trying to make their best arguments for hopping on their bus. A particularly persuasive argument involves having your bags taken from you and placed on a bus for you. This really narrows your options down to hoping on the bus that already has your bags. It makes the decision much easier.

I tried to give my bags to the lady that said her bus was leaving in 10 minutes. It was later explained to me that what she meant was "our bus leaves as soon as there is no more room for anything in or on it. But if you would like to hear that our bus is the type of bus that leaves soon I don't mind telling you this". Oh cultural misunderstandings!

These buses make money by compensating for unreasonably low fares with unreasonable amounts of stuff to transport. About two hours later our bus was still sitting there waiting for more passengers to take up the last conceivable places for people to sit. When the seats are full, they simply put stools in the aisles.

At its peak, the bus had packed 34 people into the 15 passenger seats, not to mention bags of straws, flour, cooking oil, metal wire, and other miscellaneous goods meticulously packed under and between the seats. The best part is that since it took us so long to hit the road, by the time we got going we had to stop, before even getting outside of Phnom Penh city limits, so that everyone could buy bread!

[on the bus we listened to a great Classic Rock Liberation podcast, made by our brother-in-law Chris Lopez]

20 February 2009

The Talstras Speak Cambodian

[warning: the post is not for the faint of heart, perhaps only true amandaniel fans will be interested in watching our rudimentary khmei small talk skills!]

daniel & i have been studying khmei, the cambodian language, for the past three months. here are videos of us conversing in khmei with our teacher, socheat, on the rooftop of the MCC office.

(i've included a translation of our conversation below)

Daniel speaks Khmei

Socheat: Hello, Daniel.

Daniel: Hello.

S: Daniel, are you happy & well?

D: Yes, I am happy & well. And you?

S: Yes, I am happy & well. Are you busy today?

D: Yes, I am busy today, as usual.

S: What will you do today?

D: Today I will study the Khmei language, work on the computer, and work at the university.

S: This morning, what time did you wake up?

D: This morning I woke up at 7 or 7:30.

S: This morning, what did you eat?

D: I ate a banana, bread, and water.

S: Where?

D: At my house.

S: Good, very good. After we study, where will you go?

D: I will stay here, at the MCC office, downstairs.

S: Good, very good.

Amanda speaks Khmei

Daniel: Ok, 1,2,3.

Socheat: 1,2,3. Hello, Amanda.

Amanda: Hello, Socheat.

S: Amanda, are you happy & well?

A: Yes, I am happy & well. And you?

S: Yes, I am happy & well. Amanda, are you busy today?

A: Today I am not busy.

S: Where did you go last night?

[Loud noises from the house next door]

A: Last night we went to our friend’s house. Their names are David & Holly and we ate together. It is close to your house, Socheat.

S: What did you eat?

A: We ate rice & vegetables & pizza (Italian food), & chocolate cake.

S: Last night what time did you go to sleep?

A: Last night I went to sleep at 11:00.

S: What time did you wake up this morning?

A: This morning I woke up at 7:30. And you?

S: I woke up at 5am. I wake up at 5am everyday.

16 February 2009

we're on our way

[photos taken from the back of a moto with our new mp3 player/super mario handheld video game/camera phone - a fake sony we bought for $20 at a local market!]

8 February 2009

i'll take that to go

on the whole, i've found the coffee here in cambodia to be terrible.

however, all is not lost! cambodia has a wonderful tradition of drinking iced coffee with lots of sweetened condensed milk to mask the taste of the terrible coffee.

cambodia also lacks "to-go cups", so a "to-go coffee" here comes in a bag with a straw.

for the low price of $0.35 these treats are hard to resist!