Regrouping

Meet and greet
August, like every other month, came and went in the blink of an eye … 

At Robert and Minette's for a delicious dinner

August was a month where we went to several dinner parties: at our landlords, three times, to meet and greet some of the new VSO – ICS leaders who now live below us and ,to bid farewell to the first group of ICS youth volunteers who worked in Education for 10 weeks, at Callums to celebrate the opening of his new little restaurant, and at Rob and Minette’s homes where we had yummy roast chicken with olives, roasted potatoes, several lemongrass mojitos and much more….    We also met up with the new VSO health volunteer, who has taken up the ‘Leaving Hygienically’ initiative, (in some targeted schools, and of course, will continue to collaborate with the communities, that two previous health volunteers worked at) for another year.  In terms of settling in our surroundings, I must say, that we have indeed settled in comfortably and quickly, regrouping with the Khmer, Expat communities and colleagues at work.    

Other news, on our arrival, we learned that Cambodia had won 15 medals at the Southeast Asia Games.  In 2023, Cambodia is gearing up to host the games here in their own country.  That is wonderful news!   In terms of health education in Cambodia, at the moment there is little to non in the elementary public schools, unless students are in private schools.  I remember as a child, how I dreaded the days I had to partake in phys.  Ed.   I didn’t realize then, how lucky I was, that I could take  a variety of sports at school.  What’s more, how  privilege  I was to complain about it.   However, more and more schools are seeing the value of health education and as a result, the ministry of education is  seriously thinking of doing something about it – they are thinking of  adding physical education in the extra curriculum activities that will be available every Thursday as part of the ‘teaching and learning subject’ during the next school year.   And here’s the proof – now Cambodia is taking small steps in the Cambodian sports world.

A real bargain:  On a different note, reversing the meter back to the early part of August.  Before we headed off to Mondolkiri, I took the liberty of getting my watch fixed, along with getting a new battery.  Off course, as to be expected, we were pointed to one of the many stalls outside the New Market in Phnom Penh to have it seen to.  The repairman casually took it apart, meticulously cleaned each piece, (all the while inspecting it and assessing the problem), continued to clean every bit of the watch with care, taking all the ‘red’ crud out that had accumulated over time between the rims of the watch, before assembling it - All for $2.00!  Off course, with the battery included - a real bargain indeed!  Now I have a new watch that works - at least for now :)    Also, whilst we were in Phnom Penh, we bought a cheap and cheery toaster oven for healthier delicious meals.

Savy / Sukhon:  Here on the ranch, here in MDK, the landlady / landlord were thrilled to see us - all smiles, hugs, with several pats on the back to ensure that we were ‘truly’ here.  lol Once in our apartment, before we had a chance to set our bags down, settle in, unpack … ,  the landlady, Savy and her helper, both with a mop in hand,  were soon in our apartment to open doors, windows, strip sheets off our bed, to take the mosquito net down and more.   Savy, as per usual, had orchestrated a ‘fun fair event’ and ordered her 'helper'  to do this and that - to wash our bedding for us and to basically take the household chores off our hands.   Soon, the ‘frantic’ mopping strokes began!  Savy and her helper began to mop the floors whilst we attempted to unpack.  Though we both asked to help, Savy wouldn't hear of it, she continued to madly mop the floors,  shook her head (to insinuate  a NO), waved a hand in the air, repeatedly saying  'ote panahia' - no problem.  Since Savy had persisted that  she and her helper wanted to take care of the house cleaning, that we were best to leave them to it.  However, all this proved a little bit too much for Kevin, who had temporarily left the apartment to get gas for the motor bike, and, to take it for a test ride to see if it was still in good working order.  On his return, the landlord, gave us, (Kevin and I) a tour of his little farm at the back of our apartment, to show us the little wooden frame house that was in the midst of being erected on his plot of land - the farm,  all the while snatching avocados and rambutans from his trees,  insisting that we should try them, even though, they were unripe. lol.    In the 2 years, we’ve lived here, Sukhon, the landlord, had  cleverly recycled his  wood; previously from their wooden home, (now replaced by a brick /concrete house), to a shed beside the motorbike garage and now to a small wooden building that was built in one week on the little farm.   

Elsewhere in Sen Monorom,  Callum announced that a Cambodian entrepreneur  planned to take over the new  'incomplete' Sovanikiri’s Guesthouse, because as it turned out, he and his wife didn’t have the money to cover the cost of the new building.   Instead, just down the road, a short walk from his old guest house/restaurant , they have just erected a new little restaurant together with a few modest guest rooms at the back of it, using the wood from the old Sovannikiri's guesthouse to build them – recycling wood is a common theme in Cambodia. 

August was a month that the grade 12 exams were held for the week of August 24 – 27. This time around the  students were closely monitored by high school teachers from different schools in Mondolkiri Province, instead  of being monitored by a group of teachers  who, last year, came from the capital city. 

As for work, public schools here have just closed for the summer/rainy season break and reopen in November.  On the contrary in Canada, the school term has just began ...  In terms of delivering workshops, my translator Savy - (male)  and I, are in the midst of translating the primary curriculum, (recently approved by the ministry), for during the months of September and October,  a small group of teachers and I can begin to develop and add simple resources that make sense to them, to add to the primary Khmer Language curriculum.   In terms of the reading workshop, we do indeed  have a green light, the partners have agreed to stay  in line with VSO's policy.  Therefore, we will go ahead and deliver several reading workshops for both teachers and directors during the teachers’ summer break/rainy season.  

More later … :)