Saturday 24th March

Khmer New Year is approaching and the teachers want to throw a party for the school children. There is no budget for this but I think its important for the school to be able to fund this activity. Mr Rekha put some estimates together and we are looking at about $100 so less than a dollar per child. I'll put the money up front but see if I can get a few friends to pledge some money to help out. If I can raise the $100 I'll also fund a special meal for the teachers after the party.

Khmer new year is a massive celebration here with everything closed for 5 days. This little girl really wants a party on the 8th April:



At school today we had some cows come to visit and I joined in a plastic animal throwing game but I still don't understand the rules.




I played "Sunshine on Leith" by The Proclaimers to some of older kids today. I think they enjoyed it, but I haven't yet explained the context. I also showed Mr Rekha the Hibs goals from the League Cup final - magic !



Went out to the waterfall on the Chou road for lunch. It was good. Little kids were diving in the water and spearing fish. They seemed to have good success. Which is more than I can say for my fishing efforts. This waterfall area is very popular with the Khmers, particularly during holidays. Sellers come by with all sorts of fresh fruit as you sit and eat by the river.

Thursday 22nd March

Meet Mr Kim.



Mr Kim is the nephew of one of the teachers at the school



It rained quite heavily for a time today and yesterday. The skies were earily lit up with lightning as I rode home in the dark yesterday. The rain is going to be very good for the Durian however and may mean we don't need to worry about them

Everyone next door is down with dengue fever but fortunately I'm unaffected. I guess I'll get it eventually.

This week we've visited the Provincial Training Centre in Kampot and the Women in Development Centre on the way to Kep. Both these organisations provide training to poor people in the area in skills such as weaving Kramar (traditional Khmer cloth in silk or cotton). We hope to promote some of their goods in the office when we get up and running.

Jos has published the latest Kampot Dar-laing - a regular news letter with project information supported by classified ads. We have a nice splash on the back page so hopefully this will generate some interest.

Tuesday 20th March

We finally get the internet connection set up in the office after a few false starts and we now have a nice little network with wireless and a couple of linux machines. I'm thinking of offering some computing courses and there is already some interest. Mostly people want to learn Word and Excel but I'm wondering if there might be interest in learning more fundamental computing skills. The electric supplies here are not earthed, and we need to use voltage regulators and UPS units. Small electric shocks become a fact of life.

Before school, we ride out to see the salt fields on the way to Kep. Salt water is pumped onto the fields and left to evaporate. The salt is then gathered up.






We are getting a bit worried about Mr Neil's Durian as the farmer thinks they are suffering from lack of water. The options seem to be to connect to a private water supply, or to clean out the little resevoir. The pump is working fine, but the water is quite muddy so he can't get a good flow. However he has managed to provide some water to them so we are OK for now.

Thursday 15th March

Yesterday a Japanese NGO organisation (Association of School Aid in Cambodia) came to visit and interviewed us extensively about the school. They seemed particularly interested in the Scholarship program and it is possible they might provide some partial funding. They propose a school visit at some point in the future as the next step.

Went for some supper at a Khmer restaurant in the Chumkriel area. We eat outside in little huts by the water.



Today I join a meeting of the recently set up Kampot Children's Fund. From the Charter, this is "A small fund, raised from private individuals, which aims to help disadvantaged children to complete their basic education." It's aim is to supplement the work done by projects and NGOs. Potentially this fund could help individual children to join the CLS scholarship program.

I volunteer to look into setting up the KCF website and also to distribute the postcards they have commissioned to the various outlets around Kampot.

Got a 2 dollar haircut earlier (I had to pay westerner price apparently because the barber got covered in fine blonde hair). Bizarrely, the younger kids in the first class today think I look like James Bond.

With the older group, I have to try to explain the difference between the Past Simple and the Present Perfect tense. I'm glad I did a bit of revision because I wouldn't have had a clue if you asked me yesterday. But the kids seem to understand the principle. There is only one past tense in Khmer so I imagine this is quite difficult for them.

Today I finally have lights in the push bike so I am finally mobile after dark. (It gets very dark here from around 7pm and my house is about 15 minutes ride out of town)

Do you think I look like James Bond with my new haircut ?

Tuesday 13th March

I decide to venture out onto the main road on the moto for the first time. Its a little scary at first but the road is fairly quiet and the first thing I want to learn is how to stop quickly from speed without skidding or crashing. For all the worriers out there I have a crash helmet and intend to use it.



After breakfast, I take a few pictures from around where I live. There is a little river hut at the end of the garden with hammocks and loungers. Here is the view across the river, and the neighbours place to the left:




Out front, the road is quiet with mostly local folk on bikes and mopeds going about their business. There is a farm across the road.





Tommorow we are meeting a Japanese chap who has expressed an interest in the school. Hopefully he will want to pledge some assistance. We don't yet know what his background is but think he is involved in a Japanese foundation that may have particular links to Cambodia.

Sunday 11th March

Yesterday I went shopping for essentials (mosquito coils, more sun cream, shirts and trousers and pyjamas). I also met the guys at the LGB and we discuss the future of the school, and I pick up the keys for the office. It seems the school is potentially in financial trouble and I will write more on this once I have analyzed the situation. The kind donation from SS in London and the money I have left over from the leaving gift that my work colleagues gave me will pay the teachers salaries for the next month at least. Here is a picture of the office:



The plan is to rename it Kampot Interactive. Mr Thy and I have a meeting tommorow to discuss further possibilities.

The office is on the river front near the main bridge. Here are some views up and down the street and across the river:





Today was a lazy day, and for the first time I got a really good sleep and woke up at 3pm. I cycle to town and catch up on emails at one of the internet cafes that have wireless access. So glad I took my iBook. The internet cafe is well set up and the connection is fairly good. It looks like it may be good enough for Skype conversation, but I don't have my iSight or headphones with me so I can't try it out.

I catch up with Jos next door in the evening and she gives me the minutes of the latest Kampot Childrens Fund meeting as well a proposal for Kampot Interactive and a position paper on the Chumkriel Language School.

Friday 9th March

I cycle into town and meet Mr Thy at the office. His lunchtime class is still going so I take a ride around Kampot and have a coffee at the Rusty Keyhole. It is good coffee! We moto out to Mr Neil's land with the petrol. Its a nice big plot by the river.

Mr Thy out at Mr Neils land:



We have a long debate with the local farmer about how to work the pump. I think we figure it out but there are a couple of things we're not sure about (there was no instruction manual) so we'll ask at the shop we bought it in. The farmer is looking after the land and asks for 6 dollars to buy bamboo cane to prop up the branches on certain fruit trees. These particular fruit (I can't recall the name) go for up to 3 dollars a go when they are ready so I'll make my money back when we take them to market.



There are also coconut trees



We head back into town for a staff meeting where I meet the teachers for the first time. They are Mr Sokal, Miss Chenda, Mr Umdard, Mr Saopon and Mr Rekha and they all seem very enthusiastic about their teaching roles.

Teachers:



We head off for the school. There are two evening sessions, one at 5.10pm and one at 6.10pm. Each teacher has a class of about 20 I think. I pop into each class and introduce myself. The kids ask me questions and in some classes I read sections of the study guide. I'm amazed by how well some of the younger kids speak. The older kids and the young monks are a bit more shy, but everyone is smiling.



So after almost a week in Cambodia I am smiling too - it feels somehow a privilege to be spending time in this amazing country.

Thursday 8th March

It rained heavily this morning, so the trees are not such a big emergency. I find out why it was a bad idea to wander around in bare feet - my feet have been eaten to bits by insects.

My Thy turns up as arranged and go into town to buy the pump. We stop by the office and discuss plans for the volunteer centre there. He has an English class during lunch so he lends me his brothers push bike and we arrange to meet later. I get the keys for the moped. It's a Honda Dream 125 and one of the staff from next door shows me how to work it. I ride it up and down the drive and eventually land in the ditch. I'm not yet ready to take it out on the open road, but Mr Neil's push bike has a flat tyre. When Mr Thy returns, he takes the bike to a small repair shop on the way into town. They fix it for a dollar and I am now fully mobile. Tomorrow we are going to take petrol out to Mr Neil's land.

Wednesday 7th March

I wake up early and set about sorting out music. I manage to get iPod and iBook hooked up to the speaker system and its good to get some music going. I spend some time cleaning and dusting the house [in my bare feet - bad move] then I take a wander down town. About 5 minutes down the road a motodup guy offers me a ride and we negotiate 3000 Riel for the trip. He drops me off in the market What I need at this point in time is a hat and some sun block which I manage to find, then I wander down to the Little Garden Bar for some breakfast. Mr Thy turns up at the house in the afternoon and we chat about stuff. Mr Thy is the director of the Chumkriel Language School (http://www.chumkriellanguageschool.com) Mr Neil's trees are apparently suffering due to lack of rain so we arrange to meet the next day to buy a water pump and take it out there.

I pop next door for a beer before going to bed. It's someone's birthday and Hugh sets off some fireworks across the river. When he tries to set off four at the same time one fails to launch and explodes on the platform. Hugh is almost blown into the river but seems nonplussed.

Tuesday 6th March

Arrived Phnom Penh Monday - didn't sleep a wink on the plane. Thanks to S and M for the top tip on checking in online and getting seat 52J so at least I had some leg room. The flight took 3 hours longer than it should have due to a passenger taking ill while we were on the runway. I felt sorry for the folk who were onward bound for Sydney. I don't think they got the chance to even stretch their legs at Bangkok.

Since we were late, I had to leg it double quick to make the connecting flight to Phnom Penh, unfortunately my luggage didn't make the same haste so I arranged with my taxi driver to pick me up the next morning and take me via the airport and then on to Kampot. I was in too much of a daze to garner any sensible impressions of Phnom Penh. I didn't manage any sleep in the hotel that night either, but somehow I didn't feel tired.

Next day, my taxi driver, Somnang, picked me up as promised and took me out to the airport. Since we were early, he took me for a tour of the Phnom Penh University. Lot's of students all dressed very smart in white shirts and trousers, all looking generally happy to be there. My driver wants to go back to study (he did one year studying English, but cannot afford the fees). He wants me to fund him through the rest of the course.

So anyway, my luggage arrives as promised, but a whole can of shaving foam has exploded inside so the contents are a soapy mess. No big deal ! And now we head down Route # 3 towards Kampot. Bearing in mind I haven't slept for two days I am surprisingly alert.

We make it to Kampot in around 3 hours, and find the villas where I am to pick up the keys to the house I will live in. It's right next door, and they sell bottled water and meals. There is a really easy ambience about the place and I have a cold beer while waiting for the owner to wake up. Hugh appears after a while and we talk for a bit. Then I take the keys and explore my new place. Here's what it looks like:



And here's the view from the balcony: