Youth Leadership Camp, Sihanonuk Ville, Cambodia

Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia - Where the Camp Took Place

6:30a.m.

An absolutely tranquil setting. A sunny blue sky above with birds chirping and singing their good morning tunes while soft ocean waves hitting against the rocks creating soothing sounds.

Sitting under a palm tree on a set of patio furniture craved out of the Cambodia hard wood, I am writing the last blog entry before I leave this beautiful resort town of Sihanouk Ville, a five hour car ride from Phnom Penh.

 Sihanouk Ville is like another world compared to the hustle and bustle of Cambodia's capital city.
It is a small, but very pretty, quiet, tourist town. There are a number of nice resort hotels built along the water and we chose to stay at the New Beach Hotel, not the most modern resort hotel, but the best price for its value. The Grace Church also rented the conference room for the youth leadership and children's camp here for the week, therefore, it has been very convenient for us.

Introducing the Youth Camp Leaders

We got here last Sunday evening, unloaded our luggage along with many props and gifts that we brought with us. We even had time to decorate the conference room, hang our wall murals and different posters turning this spacious room into a kid friendly and welcoming place.

We worked with over seventy youth leaders from five different local churches - one group of youth traveled over thirteen hours in a crammed church bus on bumpy roads to get to our camp site! By the time we got to the conference hall the first morning, all the youths, seventy five of them, were already there and started their songs and worship.The room was electrified, pumping with energy and emotions.

Youth Leading the Singing

The youths were singing in Khmer, naturally, we could not understand a word but we could feel the intense emotions in their singing. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in their beautiful angelic songs. Though I did not know the meaning of the songs, I felt their deep emotions. They were singing a prayer song for Cambodia. Their singing was sincere, inspiring and touching, an earnest prayer to God.

I thought I heard the Angles Sing at the Conference Hall

There was so much power, and emotions in every word the it touched the core of my heart. These young people love their country; they are the next

generation, the hope of Cambodia. Their love and earnest prayers for their county was obvious on their faces and every word they sang, they did it with their hearts and souls.

Tears streaming down my face; I started to pray for these youths and Cambodia. Knowing how much the country and its people have gone through in recent history, I have a great respect for the Cambodian people and their tolerance for life's mishaps and little inconveniences.

Dividing the Youths into Different Teams

The entire mission team from Canada was introduced to the youth leaders at the camp's first meeting and the youths were curious about our different background. I wish I had provided a couple of family pictures to the introduction ppt.

 The purpose of  this two day training camp was to provide some intensive training to the participants so that at the end of the leadership camp, the youths would be ready to assist and lead many of the activities for the two hundred kids taking place in the children's camp right after the training camp.

Pastor Teresa Leading a Workshop with a Translator

We had quite a tight schedule and there were many activities going on. Each of our mission team member was responsible for certain specific tasks at the training camp. There were numerous training sessions including leading songs, games, sports, using puppets to tell bible stories, making balloon animals to entertain kids, seminars and drama workshop etc. I was responsible for a workshop about  speaking with confidence in front of a large audience.

Youths were Eager to Learn & Participate

The participants were mostly senior high school and university students and they participated with enthusiasm and energy. They were polite, friendly, cheerful, helpful and anxious to learn as much from us as possible. These were a teacher's dream students and they were definitely a pleasure to teach.

Youths Practising What They have learned in Small Groups

We were all energized today and looking forward for the next few days working with the youths and kids at the camp.




R.T.
Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia
Nov. 2012

Getting Around in Cambodia

 If you want to travel from one city to the next, there are public buses that would take you to your destinations. However,  public transit buses are not available in the city of Phnom Penh.

In order to fill the needs of getting Cambodians from one place to the other in this city, there are many modes of private transportation from which one can choose.

One of which is a very popular three wheeled wagon like open air vehicles that are seen everywhere on the streets of Phnom Penh. Potential passengers can hail one anywhere on any street and the charge is very reasonable. It can sit four people easily with a minimum charge of 4000 Cambodia dollars = US $1.00.

I have taken it a number of times  with friends and paid only US$2.00 for a fairly good distance. It even comes with a rain fly in case of rain to protect the passengers.

Guys on  motorcycles to work stopped  for a coffee

Motor cycles are everywhere. In North America, practically every family owns a sedan. In Cambodia, the motor cycle replaces the sedan.  And why not?

Rush hour just outside of Phnom Penh

 The mileage is excellent! I have been told that one gallon of gas will last the family motorcycle a week's travel. Not bad at all!

If we all convert to driving motorcycles, just think about the oil and money we will save in a year. It will be good for our environment  and Greenpeace will thank us too!

Other modes of transportation abound such as bikes,  carts, trucks and  taxis.

If you've got to go to work, you 've got to get there.

This scene reminds me of a street scene I saw in Macau years ago.

Due to the dusty conditions of most roads in Cambodia, it will be wise to wear either a scarf or a mask when traveling on open vehicles.

During rush hour, some factories transport their workers using  company trucks such as this one.

In Cambodia, only the driver of the motorcycle is required to wear a helmet by law. Passengers are exempted from it.

For some motorists, especially those from the rural area, they seem to be unaware of the helmet law and often are riding their motorbikes without proper protection.

Unfortunately, there are many fatal accidents occurring on a daily basis.  About 1500- 2000 people die from motor accidents annually.

The Cambodia Government has recently launch a traffic safety campaign to increase its citizens' awareness of motor safety.

A creative method of transportation!

  
Hopefully, with increased level of awareness of vehicle safety, Cambodians will be able to reduce their accident fatalities and have safer journeys on the roads!



R.T.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Daughters of Cambodia - Light and Hope for Cambodia!

Daughters of Cambodia - A Place that Lifted My Spirit

Daughters of Cambodia  - Of all the places I have visited during my stay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this was the place that I enjoyed visiting the most and it lifted my spirit.











 Daughters of Cambodia is a place for young women rescued from the sex industry. The organization provides these abused women with love, support as well as training to help them gain employable skills so that they could start a new life for themselves.

Young women rescued are encouraged to develop their skills in the area of baking, sewing, spa services, cashier and retailing experiences.

The Daughters of Cambodia store is located in downtown Phnom Penh, right across from the palace.

It is a three story building with a main floor retail shop that sells clothing and costume jewellery items beautifully handmade by these women.

The jewelry items are modern and tastefully designed.

The shops also sells small and large fabric handbags dyed with natural colours such as berries.

I bought a well made fabric handbag at $28.00 and I know I will have a lot of mileage out of that sturdy handbag.

A Spa - Serves Female Customers Only

At the back of the retail store is a Spa that provides massage and manicure and pedicure services to female customers only.

On the day of our visit, we saw two white women having their manicure and pedicure done while a third was waiting. The price was very reasonable: U.S. $ 5.00 for each service. What a bargain price indeed!

One of the women providing a manicure service to a customer.

A male customer inquired at the counter about having his feet massaged but was politely informed that the Spa provides such services to female customers only. 

2nd Floor Video Room

On the second floor is a video room for educational purposes.  We were on a very tight schedule during that visit therefore we did not have time to sit down to view the video.

A cafe nestles on the third floor of the building with comfortable western style furniture.

There are two sets of patio furniture on a small but well shaded restaurant balcony for those who love the sun and heat.

Paintings Decorated the Wall of the Cafe

Patrons, mostly tourists and expatriate could order a home made delicious lunch, western style food at around ( US$ 5.00 - 7.00)  each plate or a coffee with delicate dessert pastry. at $2.00 each.

We all ordered a different lunch dish plus an ice cold smoothies made with fresh local fruits. Mine was a pineapple passion smoothies, delicious!

A Nice and Relaxing Environment to Enjoy a Coffee or Lunch

 The cafe is equipped with free wifi, where one could surf the net, work on whatever projects or choose  just to relax.

There was a lady sitting at the back hunching over her computer with a coffee on the table. She was there before we arrived and still there when we left. She looked pretty relaxed.


Since I have been in Cambodia, I have seen how both the rich and the poor live. The disparity is glaring. In a society that has gone through so much violence and devastation, it is taking a little while to recover. In the meantime, the poor and powerless, especially, women and children are the ones who suffer the most.

Someday, I wonder how much can I do to help this ravaged country and its innocent people. Visiting Daughters of Cambodia has given me hope and inspired me to do what little I could to help the people of this country. There are many NGO's here doing their parts to lend assistance. Regardless how little we can do, I do hope that I would be able to persuade my husband, family and friends so that we will be able to do volunteer tours and lend our hands in the near future!

R.T. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Nov. 23, 2012

The Darkest History in Cambodia

I have been in Cambodia for more than two weeks and I have been avoiding the topic or any visit to any places related to Cambodia's darkest days - the 1970's period.

The Killing Field, Cambodia

The civil wars took place between 1975 - 1979, and since April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh and drove the residents out of the city, about three million  Cambodians died ( about 1/3 of the population at that time).  When the Khmer Rogue was in power, many  innocent Cambodians were executed or murdered for no reason. Some Cambodians I met here still remembered these darkest days of their country. Many told me as long as the person was wearing glasses ( a sign of educated class), or if they held any professional jobs or were seen as intellectuals, they were arrested, detained and later killed while thousands upon thousands died from starvation as a result of this political persecution.

Our mission team visited the  S21 Museum – a Phnom Penh school that was turned into a place of tortured and prison for thousands of innocent victims. I did not go because I could not stomach images  and pictures of  violence and attacks on fellow human beings. I stayed at the church house.

However, I did go with my team members to the Killing field, about twenty km. out of Phnom Penh.

Killing Field - a Place to Remember the Victims

I was very reluctant to go as I hated the thought of watching any violent images. But I needed to go as this is one of the most tragic part of Cambodia’s history. As we have learned from the lost of Jewish lives during WWII, we need to remember these atrocities so that human beings would not repeat the same mistake again.

My team members and I took very few pictures at  both of these museums because of the unspeakable violence which took place there.  Nobody wanted to linger at these sites as we were keenly aware of the suffering and numerous lives lost there. We felt very sad and had sick feelings  and we asked ourselves these common questions:

How were men able to commit such atrocities against their own people, their own race? What compelled them to commit such horrible crimes against humanity? Were they not men with emotions and feelings? How could they stand sights of other human beings ‘suffering?

R.T. Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Nov, 2012

Obama's Visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Monday, November 19, 2012

Carol is very considerate of my needs to go for walk every day while I am staying in Phnom Penh. She walks with me nearly daily to the park by the river side at around 6a.m. If for some reason or other, she cannot do it, she would find someone to accompany me.

A Nice Place to Rest & Cool off After Our Morning Walk

This morning, Carol sent Sisto to walk with me. Because of the hectic week I have just had due to the school open house and the numerous message sharing at church, I decided to take a break today. I also gave the teachers a day off to rest. It was quite relaxing this morning as we did not have to hurry back to school. We finished our walk and went to a pretty classy restaurant for a dim sum breakfast by the river. There are a lot of foreign owned business catering to tourists and expensive tastes in Cambodia.

Delicious Dim Sum Dishes in Phnom Penh

 This is one of such restaurant. Unfortunately, the price on the menu is beyond the reach of most Cambodians.

Cambodia is blessed with a lot of natural beautiful scenery and resources. Fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables are abundant, tasty and selling at a fraction of what I am used to pay for at home. I am not normally a shrimp fan, but the shrimp dumplings were so fresh and delicious that I devoured two of them in no time. It was quite a treat for me to simply sit by the river, enjoy the peace and quiet for a change.

Welcome flags & banners are Everywhere

We walked back to the church house, and on the way, we came across people gathering and gawking on the streets and some reporters setting up their cameras along a major artery in downtown Phnom Phenh.

It was around 10a.m. in the morning and they were getting ready for Obama's visit. Obama made history in Cambodia - being the first U.S. president ever visited this country.

 Hotel Cambodia- Where Some World Leaders Stayed was Well Guarded

The preparations for Obama's visit had been going on for weeks. The government asked a number of schools ( a total of 17 schools) located along the route of where Obama would travel to shut down for a week. Few had complained.

Business and shops were asked to do the same thing on the day of the visit. Few seemed to have complained either. Even if they did, not much would be done anyway.

Soldiers with Machine Guns Stationed at Many Places

The security measures were tight as expected and some highways and roads were closed off to the public. Bus loads of soldiers with machine guns were bused into the city of Phnom Penh to increase the patrol of the city.

Sisto, my new local friend was afraid to go near the intersection where the soldiers were stationed. She didn't want to get in trouble. I was not afraid because we were not doing anything wrong, just looking and taking pictures. Why and what would they do to two old ladies? I wonder.

Traffic Jams were Everywhere. The Motorcycles were on the Sidewalk

 Traffic was diverted and it created huge traffic jams everywhere. But the Cambodians were taking this all in strides. Though many streets were crawling and going in snail pace, nobody lost any temper.

There were no screaming, yelling of profanity of any kind nor any signs of road rage. Everyone was patient, sharing the roads with each other. I really respect the Cambodians for that - they are always polite and being respectful of others.

I watched the arrival of Obama on TV with Sisto at Joe's house with his family. CNN was reporting Israel's bombing attack on the Gaza strip in length and we did not see any reporting of Obama there. But when we flipped to any Asian channels, there was almost a minute by minute coverage of this historical visit, especially in Burma and Cambodia. Obama was in Burma for six hours only before he landed in Cambodia, but the coverage was lengthy and detail. The Hong Kong Mandarin Channel did a lengthy and detail analysis of the president's visit and the impact it would have afterwards.

On the Cambodia channel, we saw the preparation for the arrival of the US plane and after a long wait, the appearance of Obama and Hilary waving at the top of the plane. The report went on for sometime, until we saw the two black limousines taking the president and  his entourage away. The TV screen showed the highways leading into Phnom Penh, the capital, totally deserted as the government had closed them off since 1p.m. this afternoon. Obama would not have seen too many people on the streets where he traveled in Cambodia.

Shortly after Obama went into Phnom Penh at around 5:30p.m. every house in our area experienced a power outage and the whole area went totally dark. It lasted unusually long this time - about an hour and half! However, power outage is a regular occurrence in Cambodia. Whenever I turn on the light in my bedroom or the kitchen light in there, I never am sure whether it will come on or not. Local residents tell me that it happens a lot but the power will usually resume in a few minutes. Not this time.

Our entire district just outside of Phnom Penh was without power from around 6:00p.m. - 7:30p.m. I guessed, the lights and air-conditioning at all the 5 star and major hotels were drawing power as the officials were preparing for the state dinner starting at 8p.m. this evening. The hotels where Obama and the other world leaders were staying must be supplied with electricity first before the average Cambodians could have their power supplied to make dinners. After all, this was an important evening for the country. 

From talking to my Cambodian friends, I have learned that they are happy about the U.S. president and Hilary's visit. They know that their country still owes U.S. a huge debt and their prime minister really wants  to have that debt forgiven.

 "There were many business, school and road closures. However, Cambodians would understand the inconveniences...." as reported in one of the local newspapers. Yes, the Cambodians have gone through a lot and they are used to hardship and inconveniences in their lives.

I wonder if my fellow North Americans would understand and put up with these little inconveniences? Toronto, Canada ( my home city ) is still dealing with the aftermath of what happened during the G20 summit riots that took place more than two years ago. Obviously, we have a lot to learn from the Cambodians when come to putting up with life's little inconveniences.

R.T.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia