Our first destination for the ships program is Cambodia. I met up with a fellow participant, Katey, and we departed from Newark. After a 20 hour flight, and a day layover in Malaysia we finally arrived Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A volunteer named Jee Won who was helping out the volunteer organization I'm working under was waiting for us at the airport. We hopped in a tuk tuk (a moter cycle with a cart in the back) and cruised over to hangout at a local church while we awaited the bus to Sihanoukville, the costal town where the Ship is docked. Jee Won told us a little about the recent troubled history of Cambodia . During the 70's, the totalitarian communist ruling party, Khmer Rouge was responsible for a genocide of 1.5 million Cambodians. In an effort to create an entirely agrarian based Communist society, city dwellers were forced to the country side in to slave labor. If anyone resisted they were executed immediately. The poor quality of the education system is a direct result of the fact that intellectuals and teachers were primary targets of these killings. There are very few people in Cambodia above the age of 30-a haunting reminder of the Khmer Rouge's "social engineering."As we awaited the bus, a small boy with a reflective pinny stoon by the side of the rode, hailing traffic. Jee Won told us that he was 14 and that he was helping with a parking garage. He looked barely 8 or 9. Many children in Cambodia do not go to school simply because they need to earn money to help themselves and/or their family survive. Teachers earn a mere $50 a month. And many times they don't show up at all to class.
When we arrived in the Phnom Penh airport I joked that we'd probably see a lot of chickens and cows running around loose on the streets. Sure enough, when the double decker bus arrived as the driver removed a disgruntled chicked from the baggage area and shoved it into a small compartment on the side of the bus. We all cracked up.
The ride to Sihanoukville was about four hours. Parts of it were really beautiful as wepassed beautiful rice patties and cloud covered hills in the background. We also passed dilapidated shanty towns with trash strewn about and emaciated cows walking along the side of the road.
As the bus approached the port town I could see the ship from afar. I was so excited-two days of travel and we were finally here! But we were quite there yet.
Crowds of tuk tuk drivers crowded around the bus. Were they waiting for relatives, other passangers? No. They were waiting for us gringos, in their eyes walking money bags. About 30 drivers crowded around Katie, myself and another ship crew member. We had a ride to the Doulos but that didn't matter. They wouldn't take no for an answer. For about 20 minutes they stood around us waiting for us to give in. The Ship driver showed up shortly thereafter.
After a short ride, we finally arrived in the port! Seeing the ship up close for the first time was so exciting. For months I had been seeing it in picutres but now it was the real deal. I was warmly greeted by other volunteers, given a brief tour of the ship and shown my cabin. My cabin mates come from Germany, Canada, Taiwan, Switzerland, Scotland and Malaysia. There 10 guys in my cabin smaller than most NY studios. Yikes! After stowing my stuff I was ready for the adventure ahead!
Sounds like hot racking from the enlisted ranks of the Navy.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in hearing how your perspective of life in the US compairs to life in Cambodia?
Will you get an apretiation of cultural structure and infrastructure and government day to day?
If you need a cyber medical consult you can message me through the metromedicaldirect.com
Be well.
Hey Ryan!
ReplyDeleteWish I were there. Love your blog. Great idea. Just read an interesting article in the Foreign Affairs journal about the current government of Cambodia. There is a lot of corruption and one of the reasons why some children don't attend school is because their families can't actually afford to bribe their teacher. Yes, you have to bribe your teacher if you want to get good grades. The majority of the population do not have more than a sixth grade education. If you happen to have a high school diploma every university and employer that you show it to will question authenticity of it. They will assume you bribed someone. Also, the majority of the teachers in the rural area do not have more than a 3rd grade education. I think another reason why the educational system is so deplorable is because its easier for the government to control and intimidate an uneducated population. For example, a real estate developer had his eye on some prime real estate in the city that was home to the uneducated poor. He bribed an official for titles to the land. In the middle of the night the police showed up, ordered the residents onto a bus and drove them outside the city limits and dumped them in a rice paddy with not so much as some water or tarp. The next morning the owner of the ride paddy awoke to discover 1000 people on his land. Also, the leader of the Khmer Rouge who had been hiding out in the jungle was quietly invited to return to civilization and given a house in a nice neighborhood overlooking a golf course. If you were to question any of the locals about the apparent hypocrisy of such an act they would look at you strangely as they are so accustomed to tolerating corruption. The author of this article said the government is destroying the country but the rest of the world doesn't seem aware of it. Well, I'm really glad that Mercy ship is there and that you are helping to educate the people by providing them with reading material. Keep us posted.
Mike gave us the link to your blog. Great reporting & great work you're doing over there Ryan. Keep it up! Cheers -Jim F
ReplyDelete