All 80 girls on two buses, with 5 staff (which includes me somehow), 7 hours each way (with numerous toilet/snack stops), lots of karaoke, crisps, coca cola, insect snacks (comprising crickets, cockroaches, beetles and SPIDERS - no I didn't eat them) and moving about to adjust fans and aircon. Everyone was so excited. Lots of them had never been before.
It was a fantastic trip, one of the services stops was here. Utterly beautiful.
Shoes
Before we left Phnom Penh, the director of Harpswell, Alan, asked me to make sure that all the girls had sturdy shoes for walking and climbing around the temples. I sent a group email to tell everyone and said to come find me if there were problems.
23 out of the 46 students came to find me to say that they didn't have any form of walking shoe, trainers or plimsoles. One of the girl's only pair of shoes were the plastic flip flops she was wearing. It totally floored me. I subsequently spent the majority of Friday at the market with a small group of the students (and a long list of shoe sizes) and spent $206 on 23 pairs of trainers and socks. Works out at $8.90 per student.
When we got back, we dished out the new shoes to those that needed them. They were ever so grateful. You could really see it in the faces and by what they said in thanks. Two of the girls were overwhelmed. I completely lost it at that point and shooed them out of my room and sobbed.
Highlights of the last week include:
1 A misunderstanding about "fish cheese" (a Cambodian delicacy which they all eat). It is not cheese. It is dried, salted fish which is yummy but definitely not cheese and more like salted anchovies.
2 Boyfriend/girlfriend "play play" means pretend boyfriend and girlfriend. Alternative example being "I really like eating insects play play".
3 Numkong are wonderful doughnuts with palm sugar melted over the top with sesame seeds. Served at the markets in the morning (from 5am).
4 "Free Steam" - a term used a lot at the temples and means feeling very hot. So hot that you might be mistaken for being in a sauna. But you are outside. Which is free.
5 Fixing the electricity switchboard when my adaptor flew out of the plug socket.
6 Leaving the window open when it rains (we are in monsoon season so it soaked the mattress). Well done Rach.
7 Riding SIDESADDLE on the back of a moto while holding two bags, a coffee (they have a very cool place called Browns) and a large bunch of flowers for the dormitory. I am amazing.
Thank you
To all those who gave so generously to the fundraising pot. In addition to the new trainers and socks, we have been able to help the girls and Harpswell with the following:
1 A much needed film projector and tablet.
Varony (Senior Manager at The Harpswell Foundation) is responsible for traveling to and interviewing approximately 200 applicants from provinces all across Cambodia to fill 19 places next year. As well as trying to identify the brightest students, she has to ensure that the students are ready and capable of living and thriving at one of the two Harpswell dormitories. There are between 34 and 46 girls in each dorm and they live in close quarters with each other. Whilst luxurious by Cambodian standards, a lot of them are still very far from home and do not have family nearby or much financial support to help them integrate into their new environment in Phnom Penh.
Varony also has to communicate to the families of the girls that this is a real and legitimate opportunity for them. There are numerous horror stories of intelligent girls being convinced to leave home and move to Phnom Penh for the promise of education and a job, only to find that they are sold into a brothel or other forms of degrading treatment.
The tablet enables Varony to show the families and the potential students a video about The Harpswell Foundation and their incredible work.
2 Two shiny new fridges in the TT Dorm which the girls are all using and really appreciate. They love milk!
3 A large number of educational books.
Whilst there is a small library, the girl are studying serious topics at university including economics, pharmacology, agriculture, chemistry, midwifery, Khmer literature, mathematics, media management, food technology and chemical engineering, engineering, architecture and banking and finance. The universities are not well resourced and the internet will only tell you so much. I put up a notice asking if they needed any books for pleasure or work and within a few days had a full list of 21 books, all of which related directly to their studies. They couldn't believe we were willing to get them the resources they needed and we're so pleased.
4 Plae Pakaa - Cambodian Living Arts
We are also taking all 80 girls to their choice of theatre production at The National Museum as part of their Cambodian cultural education. It is all very well having incredibly bright students but they need to understand about their culture. I negotiated a price of $260 for all 80 students and 4 staff to attend the performance (it is usually $10 for tourists).
5 Epic in 3D
More just about having some fun. Vast majority do not have any money to do activities outside of the dormitory which can be tough when you work eat and sleep there all day and night every day of the week. Again some of them explained that they had never even been to the cinema, let alone one in 3D!!! Epic was a wonderful story of adventure. Well done Disney.
Work
Just to give you an idea. In addition to the job skills unit (including CV cover letters, interviews and ethics in the workplace) and leading Cambodia Daily discussions, I have helped:
Nat and Soriya with English reading (thank you BBC News website) and preparing for job interviews and applications
Sreypov reviewing her Cambodia Life Blog
Sodalin with English listening (Jane Austen Persuasion)..I had to stop after an hour so she could finish her exam prep but she didn't want to stop!
Vatey with her application to become an eco-leader as part of a short internship in Malaysia with an NGO
Vechou with English grammar exercises downloaded from IELTS/TOEFL
Tomorrow...
...is a big day. I am meeting the US ambassador at 9.30am, He is visiting the TT Dormitory and intends to speak to some of the students about their lives before Harpswell and what they intend to afterwards.
Salin (chemistry undergraduate at Royal University of Phnom Penh) has booked me in for a session from 730am to 8am to go through the short speech which she plans to give to the ambassador.
I am helping Lina (food tech and chemical engineering) between 8am and 9am with her online visa application for post graduate study in the USA next year.
After the ambassador's visit I will be helping the students prepare 6 short videos in response to questions posed by students at Missouri University about the Harpswell daily life and experience of studying in a developing country. It is part of a programme called The Cambodia Connection which aims to educate students about (and for them to share) their very different expectations and experiences of life and education.
From 8.45pm to 9.45pm I will be running a Cambodia Daily Newspaper discussion group. Last week's topics included the Phnom Penh land grabbing and associated protests (occurring in three central zones within Phnom Penh) and the reasons for Japan's recent financial support of Burma. The girls get points for contributing towards the discussion and debate...so I basically "encourage" (i.e. make) them all say something and then back up their reason for saying something. Two of the girls have, independently of each other, said how much they enjoy the way I run this class and that it pushes people to think about why they might ay something or have a point of view.
Have a really good week everyone. Next update in a few days.
