Holiday home...I think not!!

We eventually arrived at our destination after 7 long hours on our wee boat on which we had both breakfast and lunch while on the move.  It is amazing what the cook managed to make in such a small space as you can see from the photo below.

 On arrival it was obvious it was not quite what I had been led to believe.  I thought I was going to one of the better floating treatment stations, but no, we were at one of the more basic ones, no electricity, no running water and one squat toilet.  If you wanted to shower you flung a bucket of water over yourself.  But as I wasn’t sure if it was lake water or not, I just wasn’t going there.  The lake is very dark and murky looking.  Everything happens in or goes into the lake.  They wash themselves in it, they wash their babies in it, they wash their clothes in it, they wash their babies soiled nappies in it, they wash their dishes in it, but they also use it as a toilet, including when they have infectious vomiting and/or diarrhoea.  A lot of them have diarrhoea and they are in a constant cycle of infection.  The guys set up their clinic as soon as they got there, but we didn’t have many visitors. Apparently they were too busy making cheese from fish paste….I know, I did ask, but I have no idea what they meant either!!

The photo below shows the view from my holiday home...we appeared to be looking out on to some of the posher floating huts, or at least from that angle we were.  The other angle would show you the poor neighbours view!!

 

Despite the odds, I actually managed to sleep ok.  We decided to sleep outside on the decking areas (gosh doesn’t that sound posh…it’s not!), under our mosquito nets. I thought I might have been in for a night on the floorboards on a mat, but joy of joy they had camp beds.  Not padded but better than floorboards.  As there is no electricity and therefore nothing to do when it gets dark, we ate around five and then started setting up our bedding by 6.  As the night drew in (by that I mean 6.30 pm!), I began to put more clothes on than I had on during the day.  Long length trousers and top to cover as much skin as possible.  But as I fumbled around in my little mosquito net tent I was sweating loads and thought I would never sleep, but fortunately as the sun set the air did become cooler and almost bearable.  It was so noisy though, boats going past, people talking and shouting, strange clunks and bangs in the night. The resident cats squealing and fighting with each other.  It was a case of take a nytol, put the ipod speakers in the ears and hope for the best.  Thank goodness my kindle has a backlight on it, and I remembered to pack my head torch!!  I would have taken a picture of what it looked like when we had all our little mosquito tents set up, but that would have meant rowing out on to the river, which (1) I had nothing to row out in and (2) it was so not happening anyway!

Morning was a bit of a faff, involving lots of wipes and grappling to change clothes under a towel.  As soon as I woke I was dreaming of the long hot shower I will get when we get back to Siem Reap and I get to my 4 star hotel….so glad I booked it now!!  Although I also felt guilty and extravagent as I looked around my current surroundings.  My hotel bill for 6 nights would be more cash than they would have in a year for sure.

Breakfast was rice yet again, and either chicken wings or fish, just what you want for breakfast, none of this toast or cereal malarky (if only).  The fish I know was there for my benefit being the only non meat eater, but as it is fish from the lake I was beginning to struggle more and more to eat it.  Every time I look at the lake my stomach churns to think what is in it and what might be in those fish! I nibble on a few bits of fish out of politeness and force down several mouthfuls of the stodgy rice. Yummy!!!! I have brought some snacks and crisps with me otherwise this would be a good weight loss programme for the 3 days!!  By the time I get back to Siem Reap, I may not want to eat rice ever again!!

Clinic started early, people began arriving before 7.30 am.  I pop in and out to watch what is going on fascinated by the people.  I mainly listen in to Jameil, the volunteer doctor from the US as he needs Savvan the TLC nurse to translate for him, so I can undestand what is happening.  Lots of stomach ache and diarrhoea, one little girl seemed to have a potential heart problem and it was recommended they take her to a hospital to have her checked.  Whether that happens or not is anyones guess as the nearest free childrens hospital is the same 7 hour boat plus 1 hour road journey we have just made.  Another little boy they thought might have pneumonia, they were not sure but thought it best to treat him as if he did rather than not.  It will be another month before the clinic is back here!

There's no appointment system here, you row up in your wee boat, register ,as they do have records of past and new patients, then plonk yourself on the ground to wait to be called.

Privacy is also a luxury as there are several patients being seen at one time in the clinic, and then you get eaves-droppers like me hanging around listening in and snapping your picture when you are at your worst!  Nonetheless, it is a good efficient system and the team work well to get through the patients as quickly as possible while giving them all the care they need. The team consisted of 2 doctors (one Cambodian and Jameil from the US), 2 nurses, a team leader and one person to register the patients as they arrive.  Most of them arrived clutching little cards in plastic bags, which was obviously their registration cards...the plastic bag being required for obvious reasons!!  Support staff included the boat man and the cook.

 

It goes quiet by 11 so we have an early lunch at 11.30.  Yes, you’ve guessed it, rice and fish.  But mainly rice for me!! Don’t get me wrong the food is delicious with some wonderful flavours, but there is only so much rice a girl can take and then there’s the issue of the river fish!!

This afternoon I have started to pace like a caged animal, well as much as you can pace in the limited confines available.  I have outdoor claustrophobia!  I feel trapped.  I can go from our floating building to our wee boat or the building next door, which is closed up and that is it! The thought of not being able to just wander off as I choose is driving me nuts.  I think about hijacking one of the patients boats and going for a paddle, but the risk of me tipping it over is high and although the lake is quite shallow at the moment, the thought of being in it sends shivers up my spine. And imagine if you swallowed some of it by accident....antibiotic emergeny I think!! 

I have a 7 hour boat journey back to civilisation, but I am counting the hours already.  What work I can do here is limited to reading TLS’s Financial Policy, not exactly riveting stuff!!  I have only a few hours battery power on my laptop so I have been preserving that as much as possible.  Oh to be able to go for a walk!!!

The adventure begins!

As I type this, in word,  we are chugging along in our wee boat to get to the floating village we will be working at for the next few days.  The boat is more basic than I expected, and yes, below is a picture of the plank I had to walk to get on it.  The Cambodians were bounding up and down it loading on our supplies, while I stood and stared in horror at the very narrow wobbly bits of wood and the very murky, dirty water below. Ok so not enough to drown in but I sure as hell would have been mucky!  I decided the best course of action was to let someone else take my stuff on board and for me to concentrate getting myself on board.  At that point I was shaken from my semi catatonic state and realised everyone else was trudging back and forth with supplies from the mini bus to the waters edge, while I stood there like the honoured guest doing nothing.  So I collected some water from the mini bus and carried it down….well that was all that was left.

I have also put some pictures in of the village we left from. I believe there are some opportunities to buy property at knock down prices over here if anyone is interested!!  The houses are built on stilts as the lake level rises almost up to the entrance level during the wet season.  It is coming towards the end of the dry season here so the lake is very low right now.

The good news is with some helping hands I made it on to the boat with no mishaps!  Breakfast was served prior to departure…a cheese roll for me! The regular trippers immediately got themselves settled on the floor, while the cook became a positive hive of activity in a very small space sorting out dishes, pots, pans cutlery and food.  Somehow I missed the fact that we were going to be on the boat for about 7 hours plus!  Aferall we are not talking luxury cruise liner here, even of the smaller version!!  I think perhaps my mind intentionally blanked it out in my determination to get the opportunity to go to the remote villages.

I sat out front on the boat to start with as we made our way up what was at first a fairly narrow river with land on either side.  Then slowly the river began to widen until it became difficult to see the land.  The first floating village began to appear in front of us in the distance.  I sat for ages looking round trying to take in the scene and assess how it made me feel.  Sitting on the stern of the boat I could feel the sun beating down on my head and back, and feel it’s early morning warmth as we got closer and closer to the rickety floating homes, but when I looked to my right there was nothing but grey.  I stared mesmerised, struggling to understand why there was such a vast bleak blanket of grey, while still feeling the warmth of the sun.  I looked up in the sky to check the sun really was still there above my head.  Looking back out at the grey it looked for all the world like the edge of the earth, where the sky disappears and drops down merging with the grey murk of the river.  The rays of the sun above my head refusing to penetrate as far as the bleak worlds end.  Looking from the floating homes then back out to the bleak, desolate, grey I felt this overwhelming feeling of isolation and sadness.  To be living day in day out on a wobbly makeshift home staring in to a void of nothingness, with no hope of ever escaping, must be soul destroying.  I so wanted to capture the picture, but I knew my basic point and shoot camera would not do it justice, so all I have are my words to try and convey how stark and hopeless it looked.  As the boat keeps chugging along, I wonder what other emotions I will feel over the next few days.  Although I know I will see smiley faces and friendly waves (I have had a few already) from the locals, who make do with their lot for it is all they have ever had, and all they will probably ever get!

Lazy Sunday

Today is the first day I haven't set the alarm since I left the UK.  Inevitabely I woke up early anyway but it was nice to be able to roll over, on my hard bed, and lumpy pillow, for a little while longer.  A nice leisurely breakfast, then off to one of the hotels to use their pool for $5.  I had a very relaxing time reading and enjoying some sunshine....that was until a family of 6 screaming chinese children arrived at the pool.  The fact that you don't even know what they are screaming and shouting about somehow does make it worse!!

Unfortunatly after the relaxation came the dreaded packing.  Room still looking a bit chaotic as I have to split the things I need for the lake from the things being stored in the office for a couple of nights and of course I still need some of it in the morning.  Trying to minimise what I take to the lake, but not easy for a girl that doesn't travel light!!

Dashing off out now for some dinner with two other volunteers over here.  Not the ideal night for me as I need to get up about 5 am, so it will be a well behaved night and hopefully not a late one for me.

We have electricity at our base on the lake but I don't think we will have the web, so look out for the pictures from Tonle Sap in a few days when I return.

All play and no work…but so tiring

Today is Saturday, so no work and all play.  I did have one room incident during the night on Friday.  Woke up to running water noises from the bathroom, which although it was 1.30 am I thought it best to investigate in case the place was being flooded.  Fortunately it wasn’t but the toilet cistern was not retaining water and wouldn’t flush.  So there I was in the middle of the night with the lid of the cistern off, poking around and waggling things like all good DIY people do!  Fortunately I managed to poke or waggle the correct bit and normal toilet service was resumed.  The skills you have to possess to volunteer abroad are innumerable!  So back to bed for a few more hours of sleep before getting up early, yet again, this time to go see the temples at Angkor Wat.

The temples are fantastic, such wonderful detail in some of the stonework depicting stories from the time they were built.  Sadly a lot of the stone Buddha’s and statues have no heads, a lot of them I think were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, where others were cut off by thieves and stolen to be sold in other countries.  However, wonderful as they are, there are so many of them, apparently spread over 25 miles,  and although I had the luxury of an air conditioned minibus between each temple, walking around them was exhausting.  So much so by the time we got to the most famous one, Angkor Wat itself, I don’t think I cared anymore!!! Sodath, my personal guide from the charity, was wilting quite a bit by then as well and complaining about the sun more than I was.  But then he had been up since 5 am to go to classes from 6 am to 7.30 am where he is doing civil engineering and he was going back to class again in the evening, and Sunday.  In fact he seems to do classes nearly every night and was excited about the fact he had none on Sunday afternoon.  You really need to work hard out here if you want to get a decent education.  So many people back home have it offered on a plate and just don’t even try!!

Despite my tiring day I still found the energy to go out on Saturday.  Very nice way to spend a Saturday night; a wander round the centre of Siem Reap, nice food, few glasses of wine, some healthy green tea to wash it down then off for a one hour foot massage.  Of course I should have gone straight back after the food massage, but one of the pubs was beckoning to me as I passed it tempting me in for that final glass of wine!! Then having realised I had acquired another mosquito bite and I had not brought my mosquito repellent out with me I decided to call it a night!!    

Week one draws to an end.....already!!

So I finally think I am getting somewhere and getting the hang of this, which is just as well, as week one is drawing to a close.  Unfortunately, the only reason I think I am getting the hang of it is because I am finding out what is not happening that should be happening, which is good for me, and lets me know I am here for a reason, but not so good for the Lake Clinic.  Initial views that all was well on the surface are not so when you delve deeper in to the actual processes.  As with all these small charities, there is lots of room for improvement, and fortunately lots of quick wins that can be put in place to strengthen their processes and controls.  Hopefully AfID will be sending out a second accountant quite soon, which will enable them to get the changes in place quite quickly.  Language continues to be a problem, so I have now taken to miming, but this has only served to confirm the fact that I should not give up my day job any time soon for a career on the stage!   Language aside, Chantha is good and has enough grasp of accountancy to understand the need for the changes and to implement them efficiently.   

Of course the other thing that must happen is that the managers and directors need to pay more attention to the numbers, rather than holding an idea in their head of what they have to spend and what they need to spend it on.  But hey, how many times have I had that discussion with managers and directors in the huge global organisations I have worked for.  Why should NGO’s in the third

I am suddenly aware of how little time I have left to make an impact, especially as the work I can do will be limited when I am out on the lake itself.  But hey, I am only the advance party, and between me and the accountants that follow we will get this charity whipped in to financial shape and then all that needs to happen is for them to find some nice new big donors!  Which given that I have an e-mail from the Euro Lotto saying they have news for me about my ticket could be me!!  The lotto won’t let me log on from abroad (isn’t it scary how they can even tell where you are!!) so I have no idea what I have won, but I am not making any plans to spend my millions as likelihood is I have won something like £2.43!!  I can but dream until I get back to the UK!

It’s 3.30 pm here and as ever I am flagging in the heat!! No wonder they have siestas in hot countries!

Sightseeing tomorrow at Angkor, with my own special tour guide, Sothat from the charity.  Should be good.  Sunday I will try and chill, before packing to check out and head off to the lake. Packing, packing, packing, my life is ruled by packing!!  L

 

 

Never a dull morning!

It's funny how getting out of bed and ready for work in the morning is so uneventful back home, but in Cambodia, well there's always something to add variety to the day.

This morning I get up and stagger towards the toilet, only to find I can't get the toilet door open.  So I'm standing there pushing and shoving the door and wrestling with the door knob in my skimpy sleep wear.  I no doubt would have tried kicking the door but I had my legs crossed through most of this struggle so limiting the kicking opportunity.  Giving up I had to go and put on less skimpy clothes to go down to reception for help.  However, before I could get to reception I had to deal with the tricky problem of getting out the room.  The bolt that you can slide across for extra security was stuck.  But all was not lost, as I had sussed this one out during my battle to get out the room yesterday.  So I fetched my trusty tweezers, which have been used for many things on this visit, except their designed purpose of tweezing. So having prised open the lock I toddle down to reception for help.  Easily resolved as the door was locked from the inside and all that was required was a master key.  No not poltergeists, just the locking system in Cambodia!  So now the ablutions and day could begin.  Fortunately the stomach is settling down or this little incident could have had catastrophic consequences .....but you don't want to go there, especially if you are reading this before breakfast.

The next minor upset was the discovery of a large mosquito bite on my wrist, and I had been doing so well with only two small bites to date.  However, a worse discovery was yet to come as one of the little blighters had obviously taken a stroll across my forehead during the night, stopping off for several bites to eat on the way.  Come on guys, is nothing sacred in mosquito world?  Biting on the face is just not playing the game.  I look like I have an outbreak of acne, and to make matters worse Chantha has told me my face looks black today?  So I'm thinking, have I got lots of dust on it,  has my mascara run, but no she means I look tired and thinks I didn't sleep well.  But actually I slept sounder than most other nights....so clearly the stress of Cambodia has advanced the ageing process rapidly!  Just as well I am only here for a few weeks or I would come back looking like a 70 year old.  This is somewhat disappointing as prior to this they have been awash with comments about how young and beautiful I look (relative to my age of course) and what good skin I  have.  Maybe they were just trying to get on my good side earlier and now the truth is out!!  :-(

Finally, as after the bathroom drama, I was running later than normal, I took a tuk tuk to work.  As there is no street name where the office is (why would you want to bother!!!) I have to give them directions.  So when I shout to my driver that we need to go left at the next junction, he doesn't fully understand me, but they are very polite and obliging people, and he clearly does not want to offend, so he moves over from the right and starts driving up the left side of the road. While I am shouting no, no not yet, the road further up!!!  Argh!!  Maybe I should stick to walking.  Although the Cambodians think I am mad to do so and you very rarely see them walking here.  Which as I was thinking about it today, means there is no pedestrian power when it comes to the roads.  At the large junctions here they do actually have green men which come on.  This means nothing in Cambodia.  You still have to watch for the traffic as you cross and even if you go to step out, they won't stop just because the green man is on!!  Now if there was lots of people crossing they would have to, but when there is only one or two of you, you have no power!!  All power to the pedestrian I say!!!

Not able to post comments?  You should be able to now.  I discovered the setting was for registered users only, hence hardly any posts on my blog.  And there was me thinking no one loved me!!!  Hopefully it will work now, and feel free to post.....although maybe not really insulting ones!!