Flip the Coin

Our little slice
The Cambodians we are working with, who hopefully will run the program next year are a mixed bunch. One jumps into new things quickly and is keen to try new ideas, another needs a bit of a push, the third has gone elsewhere; who knows where. We are mentoring them, they are implementing. Every day they pick up an idea and try it the next day. Invariably, their implementation is better than ours, but they do need us for the ideas. We are stuck on the question of whether any of this makes any difference, whether it is passed on, whether we are just building a culture of dependence. It is fingers crossed.

Cambodia has a few national talents. It seems everyone in Cambodia can do these three things: memorising, drawing and singing. These are not things that the are a little bit good at. These are talents far beyond what you would think humanly possible. They give word perfect oral presentations without notes, they recall all the details of every text ( they do not necessarily process the meaning, but they have it word perfect) and the most gorgeous illustrations I have ever seen. Not some Cambodians: ALL Cambodians.

Cambodian poetry is ALWAYS sung or chanted standing up, sometimes as a chorus. Gen and I have been encouraging them. It is the most beautiful thing. Some songs are stirring, most are soothing. I fall into a rapture when they do it. We keep asking for more.

The flip side
In a rural school, the teacher might not show up or might come late. same for the kids. Can you blame them? There are no resources, no pens, paper or floor, sometimes no walls, certainly very few if any books, only a little chalk and an old blackboard, perhaps desks, no electricity, no outside source of knowledge except some families might have a television or radio, almost no support, hole in the ground for a toilet, no art materials, no parents who are literate; just teachers who are as broke and poor as the students. Few people from charity groups go out to the rural schools because it is just so hard, and the rural schools do not want people coming to gawk unless they are going to help.

Just when you thought things could not get worse, we were told today about the conditions of the hospitals. Burned babies left screaming and untreated because no one could pay the doctor, women dying in childbirth is common, the conditions are just so sad.