Trip Report – August 2016

As you may recall, the word I used to describe my last visit to Siem Reap was hot. In contrast, this time it is wet. The wet season is a very important time for the country because a good wet season is required to plant rice. Siem Reap was very wet but I was being told that it has not been like that across the whole country with rain being patchy elsewhere, however it was definitely wet where I was and my umbrella got a good work out on the trip, Nevertheless it was still very hot at times.

This is also the dangerous time for mosquito borne diseases such as dengue and malaria. There is so much stagnant water around that there are also plenty of mosquitoes. The day after I arrived it was clear that Chenn was not well and when I touched his forehead it alarmed me, I am not sure I have ever felt someone so hot. We called the doctor and he had some blood tests and was taken to the local clinic. He was put on a drip initially but was then transferred to hospital with what turned out to be Dengue Fever. The problem was that for 2 days I was told that he didn’t have Dengue (no one seemed to understand what I meant) but he had blood fever, which I have subsequently found out is what the locals call Dengue.

Chenn spent 3 days in hospital and even when he came home he was still walking around on a drip. By the time I left he was just about back to normal but Dengue can be very serious and we continue to try and keep stagnant water from lying around our property and have lots of coils and other ways of keeping mosquitoes from the house. It is almost impossible however, as they live in Cambodia and not everyone takes precautions.

Chenn was very distressed when he was sick and it was a reminder of the vulnerability of these young people. Chenn just turned 17 but he has always sought approval and attention. He has always craved the attention of male adults especially right from the day he arrived in late 2008, which probably has something to do with his life before that. When he was quite sick he was just like a little boy in many ways.

Thankfully Savoun is very aware of the health of the kids and I feel certain that Chenn would still have got very good care if I had not been there. Whilst this sort of care is expensive for most Cambodian families, in the context of our budget it is not. Chenn had 2 home visits from a doctor, he was on a drip at home and he spent 3 days in hospital and the total cost was USD93.

The kids were mostly on holidays. The High School kids won’t go back to school for another 6-7 weeks but they are having their maths tutoring every week day in the morning and English school in the evening. The primary school kids, of which there are 4, are already back at school and at their English class. It was also great to have Da and Proek visiting from Phnom Penh on their semester break. They are both studying business at PSE in Phnom Penh. Proek is in her first year and Da is just 18 months from finishing. Both are doing very well and love their course. Unfortunately Channa could not come from Phnom Penh this time but she didn’t come for a good reason. She has finished her Hospitality and Hotel Management course and was being interviewed for a job and also attending her graduation party. Channa has been accepted as a trainee in administration at Naga World Phnom Penh which is a gigantic hotel and entertainment complex (www.nagaworld.com ). Personally it is not a place I would stay at, but Channa is very excited to work there and to have been accepted after what was her first job interview.

On August 27th, Savoun and I also attended the graduation ceremony for Va at Haven training restaurant. Va will now do a 3 month internship at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Siem Reap and then enter the workforce, hopefully at the Park Hyatt, although there are no guarantees. Va has returned to live at the Imagine house which is one of the things that distinguishes us from other centres; Va just assumes he comes home after living with the other Haven trainees for a year.

So after another school year is over we have two of our young people entering the workforce well trained and qualified. That of course is one of our main aims, we want these young people to become self sufficient and live independently of Imagine.

It was great to be able to spend so much time with the kids because they were not at school as much as usual. I read with them all and was encouraged by some and disappointed by others. We have a few of them stagnating with their English but equally there are others who have moved forward very well. As an example, Chornn is now working from a book where he has to read 1-2 page texts about sometimes quiet complex topics and then answer a series of questions about the text. He also has to take phrases from the text and use them to construct sentences in another context. He did very well at that, but with Chornn the challenge is to get him as engaged in everything he does as he is in his English.

I also had to do my mandatory clean up push when I am there. They have no role models to be honest because properties and houses at the cleanliness level that we would consider normal are not normal in Cambodia. For instance I spent a few hours one morning helping them and showing them how clean their toilet and shower area should be and I bought household cleaners for them to use. They are very proud when they have done it, but it slips and needs constant reminding. I will be receiving photos of toilets every month for a while!

As we usually do when I am there, we had a party for birthdays. Chornn turned 19, Chenn 17 (on a day he was in hospital), Chantha 16 and Henn 13 all within 3 weeks of each other from mid August to early September. So we had 2 cakes and multiple “Happy Birthdays” sung to celebrate for all of them as well as a gigantic feed of what they now call “barbizza”, which is half the meal as a barbeque, which the boys want, and half pizza which is what the girls want. They love these parties and contact me before I arrive to make sure there is a reason to have a celebration. They are always accompanied with lots of Khmer music and karaoke.

I found out this time that the kids all use the terms “bong” and “oun” to refer to each other. Essentially they mean older and younger brother or sister. When I asked about it the answer they gave me was that even though they are mostly not siblings, because they live together in a community they are each other’s brothers and sisters. I thought it was wonderful and it really made me feel happy that they do that. In the future when they are all out in the community hopefully they will support each other and stay connected because of their shared bond. So many of these kids have grown up together and this is really the only family they have.

An example of how they care for each other was when Chenn was in hospital. They ran shifts of 2-3 at a time so that during the day and in the evening Chenn was never alone in the hospital, he always had at least a couple of the kids with him.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support and assist us.

Peter Joyce
Director

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