Voice from Cambodia: News from the Project by Marilyn K.

Posted by: | Posted on: December 12, 2011

A mushroom house has also been started. The aim is to be able to sell mushrooms to some of the hotels in town.The dark, musty hut is filled with containers that are kept moist. So far production is in its infancy, though some of the mushrooms have been used in our lunches.(Photos 779, 781 )

Hi All,
The floods seem to have receded and ,from all reports, I am glad I was not here for them. The thought of wading knee deep in water of dubious quality makes me feel quite squeamish. We have had a few heavy downpours since. The potholes in the road quickly fill with red, muddy water and the surface above water becomes slick and slippery. It seems that the earth cannot absorb any more water, but I also know that the composition of the soil is heavily clay and water is not easily absorbed in clay. Quite a few of the volunteers have arrived at the project with red mud all over them after coming off their bicycles. Meanwhile I continue to go by tuk-tuk and arrive unmuddied, but having had my free tuk-tuk massage as we negotiate the potholes and other hazards(chickens, ducks, dogs and vehicles) on the road.(Photo 652)
Road repairs are generally undertaken by women who squat at the roadside using mallets to break up the larger rocks and then place them by hand to create an uneven surface, which hopefully will be graded and tarmacked at some point.(Photo 701)

The project continues with its weaving products….some with traditional rattan and some with water hyacinth. (Photo 711)
A mushroom house has also been started. The aim is to be able to sell mushrooms to some of the hotels in town.The dark, musty hut is filled with containers that are kept moist. So far production is in its infancy, though some of the mushrooms have been used in our lunches.(Photos 779, 781 )

The children often bring in exotic bugs that they have found in the hopes of hearing me scream….they should know better by now, but they live in hope and I get to see some fascinating bugs….certainly a lot bigger than most in Canada.(Photo 748)

Tooth decay is a huge problem with the kids and they are encouraged to brush each day. It is sad to see their beautiful smiles marred by black cavities.(Photo 42)

I have been teaching with the older students since I arrived. Loung (my Khmer teaching partner) was moved up to this class and it is always a pleasure to work with him. And some of my students from the Tigers and Rhinos class have now become  “the big kids” and moved in to this class. It’s great to see how they have progressed over the three year period.

I have been teaching a unit on Simple Machines….supported by the book that Kelly Kieran’s class wrote. It has been a challenge to devise hands-on experiences for the students, but at the same time, I’m amazed at how you can rig up inclined planes, etc. with very little in the way of sophisticated materials. We’ve been using a chunk of wood for the load and dangling a plastic bag to which we add chunks of gravel as the force/effort. Not exacting science , but the results have been good enough to demonstrate the principles and even elegant enough to graph the results.(Photos 22,23 ). The kids love making the predictions about how many pieces of gravel it will take to move the load. I have a sneaking suspicion that they would place side bets on the predictions given half a chance.
I spent the morning at the market finding nuts and bolts to attach gears and finding plastic baskets with the right sized mesh to attach them to……the Khmer remained unfazed as a crazy barang attached plastic gears to different containers and they worked well enough to be able to demonstrate gear ratio to the kids(Photos 752,754)


Empathy for the Children at the Rubbish Dump of Siem Reap by CAN

Posted by: | Posted on: December 8, 2011

Op-Ed: Can Cambodia

Dear Members;

In order to celebrate the New Year 2012, the Cambodian Academic Network (CAN) wish to contribute some gifts to the poor children surviving by the rubbish dump in Siem Reap. Please joint us, if you wish to bring some hope and smile to those children. Every cent and your participation are priceless for them. For more information, please contact Sophan Seng <info@sophanseng.info> or Chanroeun Pa <chanroeunkh@gmail.com>.

Children are important citizens in a society. There are many children groups in Cambodia are considered desperate and vulnerable such as rubbish dump children, street children, children of the prisoners, orphan children, disable children, neglected children and poor family children living in remote areas etc.

Beside of focusing on contribution of academic resources, desperate and vulnerable children are also a concern of CAN.

This time, CAN would like to share some gifts with children at the rubbish dump in Siem Reap recently broadcasted by ABC on photos taken by Omar Havana and we also celebrate the New Year 2012 together. Your participation  and contribution are priceless for them.

Sincerely,


Life in a Cambodian rubbish dump

Posted by: | Posted on: November 30, 2011

While Cambodia is notorious for its current prestige of success by just comparing to the horrible KR regime, another corner of Cambodian life is living in the dump near the prestigious Angkor Wat monument. Peace without justice is a fake peace. Peace without social equality is a murderous one…Sophoan

Updated November 11, 2011 19:12:39

Map: Cambodia

Just 30 kilometres from Cambodia’s world famous Angkor temples is an astounding sight tourists don’t see.

Tucked away from foreign eyes on the outskirts of Siem Reap is a community of about 500 people who live – or survive – in a rubbish dump.

Spanish photojournalist Omar Havana spent seven months from October 2010 to April 2011 getting to know the people at the dump and documenting their lives.

He says what he saw was was “from another world”, but that the people are happy.

Here Havana shares his photos and stories with ABC News Online.

One day in Cambodia a boy told me he had been living for many years in the rubbish dumps. I tried hard to get permission to visit them but I didn’t, so I made the decision to go without permission. What I saw there was from another world.

In total there are about 500 people working there, most of whom also live, sleep, eat and drink there. After working for several months in the dumps I even saw a child birth.

With 34 per cent of the total population living on less than $1 a day, those in the dumps, at least they can find food and shelter. They earn about 35 cents per day for 14 hours’ work.

Villagers salute Chea Dara

Posted by: | Posted on: November 28, 2011

Phnom Penh Post

  • Khouth Sophak Chakrya
  • Monday, 28 November 2011
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Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A monk sprinkles water over the body of Chea Dara, whose body was pulled from the Mekong hours earlier on Saturday in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district.

A mother whose family face eviction from their home at Boeung Kak lake was farewelled at a funeral on Saturday evening, hours after her body was found in the Mekong River.

Chea Dara’s body was identified by family members on Saturday in Samraong Thum commune, Kien Svay district, Kandal province, after three boys fishing in Samraong Thum commune earlier reported seeing a body floating there.

Chea Dara’s husband, Doeur Phou, told the Post on Thursday that his wife had jumped off the Chruoy Changva bridge because authorities had condemned their family to homelessness.
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