Shocking and Sad--Cambodia Traffic Statistics (2010 WHO Report)

I've talked about my experiences as a passenger in Cambodia, both in cars and on motorcycles and tuk-tuks. I've even taken videos. This World Health Organization Report covers the statistics behind the personal experience.

Unsurprisingly, Cambodia is a country in which deaths and accidents may be underreported. The country is moving towards safer roads, but the safest check they have, according to the report, is that low-income countries (according to their classifications) are less endangered than middle-income countries. The statistics about car and motorcycle registration seem to support this; in a country of 14+ million people, 1,650,000 of them own registered vehicles of any kind.

An overwhelming 83% of vehicles owned by Cambodians are motorcycles. Yet, less than 10% of the population owns one. 11% of the population owns a motorized method of transportation. In the US, 83% of the population owns a vehicle--thanks to the multiple-car-per-family model.

It's now illegal to drive in Cambodia without a helmet if you are the driver. This new law has been implemented for road safety. That's great, but I saw a lot of people driving without a helmet, or taking it off when they figured they were 'safe'--on a backcountry road, close to home, etc etc. But it's the 'driver' part of the clause that's killer.

Most families cannot afford to buy helmets for all their users because five people can fit on a motorcycle. That's right; I've seen parents with three kids attached to them driving on unpaved, muddy, or chaotic roads, because that's the only way to get around. Cambodian families are very large; it's impractical to spend money on a helmet for each person. I saw ZERO children wearing helmets while riding as passengers on motorcycles. Small sample size. Anecdotal evidence.

9% of passengers wear helmets, the study says.

You, your spouse, a baby, a toddler, and a five or six year-old on a motorcycle. It's sobering, isn't it?

Day 5: Sorry for Party Rocking

Hello everyone! I've chosen to post a dual update, so I'll have a separate post about Saturday too. And...some student work to show you! But I don't want to spoil you all at once, so I'll have to parcel out one thing at a time...

-What happened to Sunday and Monday?

So much has gone on, and I'm under an imminent deadline, so my short explanation is: it's way too long to put into one post. Maybe even two or four posts. I'm not even sure Saturday is one post or two at this point.

I miss the Tango, so having a cat come and beg for food was almost nostalgic.

On Friday, I did my usual teaching. The students finished their projects (!!). I know it seems like they are progressing very slowly, but I have two goals: 1) to not disrupt their normal curriculum; and 2) to get them to think creatively, no matter how little they know. It doesn't take many words in a language to express oneself, no matter what you think. You're a function of your preferences and what you think is important. I also got to hand back papers. I had some serious dread about this since I had to call on students by name, and some of them have names like 'Sreynit' and 'Theung.' But, to be fair, this isn't Korea where all the students have names that are composites of two syllables, like 'Mi-ju' and 'Ju-yeong,' or Thailand where common names are so long that you'll need a Lonely Planet guide to take them in. Names like 'Davin' and 'Sophea' are fairly easy, no matter who you are.

I noticed that my issue some of the time was that I was putting the accent in the wrong place--that is to say, stressing the wrong part of the name--so 'Davin' is 'Dah-VIHN' whereas I think most native English-speakers would try 'DAV-in.' Khmer also has a problem with 'h,' which does not form a traditional 'ph' or 'th' sound. Equally confusing is 'R,' which is pronounced like 'ur' although the letter r usually sits in between English 'r' and 'l' and feeds the Asian stereotype of replacing one with the other. You say 'ra' while dropping your jaw and 'la' with your tongue up close to the curvature of the mouth; 'r' is the same sound, but your tongue moves straight out towards your teeth, kind of like a French 'r' but without the violent expulsion of air that accompanies a French 'r.'

Of course, my solution to knowing barely any Khmer thus far has been to widen my eyes and smile (automatic reaction, not fake). Since I came here, I've learned how to say 'two,' 'three,' and 'cilantro.' (NO, REALLY). So, add that to a very basic list of things, and...that's it. I feel embarrassed, but I haven't had any time to work on it since coming here given what else I've been up to.

Anyway, there's something viscerally wonderful about knowing how to say the names of one's students. Because they're already acclimated to the school year, there just wasn't any opportunity to do long introductions, and it wasn't really necessary. Classroom management and discipline, even by my co-teacher, is done by group, not by individual. Even calling on students is handled the same way. Plus, there's a focus on labels and functions, not on names, caused (probably) by the idea that Khmer names are difficult for foreigners. I had to learn my co-teacher's name by osmosis, because neither the director nor she chose to introduce herself that way. Yet, of course, everyone knows my name. Even if they're not pronouncing it correctly. Irony!*

Once I finish my graduate school work, I'm looking forward to busting out the world's worst Khmer and making everyone laugh. Maybe tonight I'll drag my book downstairs and question the hotel staff to death, because MWAHAHA they can't leave the hotel...

*On a side note about irony, my personal tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Scorpio, was shocked to learn on Saturday that I'm  not from the UK. I have an explanation for this: 1) I'm not in a country that cares very much for the letter 'r'; 2) When a majority of your conversations are conducted from a distance of four feet in heavy traffic or on the back of a moto, it's hard to be heard unless you enunciate. But you'll see actors and actresses betraying their roots when they shout or broadcast all the time, because it's hard to tap into your recesses and project like that without having an accent. So great, the one place I can unconsciously use the accent that I grew up with is in a country on the other side of the globe from my hometown. Also, I think being Korean and American at the same time confuses everyone here, though they certainly take it is stride and, unlike all the questioning I got in Korea, do understand the concept of 'adoption,' which prevents me in turn from having to masquerade as Japanese. Sometimes, of course, I don't offer that detail, and I imagine that in the other person's head they are imagining my perfectly happy, smiling, Korean-looking family smiling and looking happy and...you know what? I'm not going to ruin that for them.

Day Four - A Quick Post

I'm reaching the critical period on my own graduate school work, which has very definitely taken a backseat to what I'm doing here, but my day yesterday was amazing and I'll have super-awesome posts later to compensate!

Mr. Saveth and I continue to have dialogues about how to improve the school and extricate it from its current situation. The good news is that fabric came from the border for the vocational sewing program, so today I got to KNGO to hear the women happily working in the adjoining room. Also, KNGO has raised over $5000 thanks to its generous donors. I fear that people will think me a shill for donations, but the fact is that many people are too busy to find causes to donate to, so why not donate to something that a friend is supporting?

My day teaching was amazing and I received my first gifts from the students. The note reads, "I love teacher!" I also got a beautiful paper flower, proof that you can make something wonderful even from something as silly as flimsy Cambodian napkins.

I also got the advanced students to start writing creatively. This was a breakthrough much like the first English book reading from Tuesday, because many English learners in Asia do not get enough chances to write on their own. We wrote from a prompt, but I hope to encourage them to write and to continue to write. I am supposed to collect their work today, so we'll see how they do!

It's funny how many things are common to schools the world over. The teachers here are as serious about teaching as our own teachers, my former colleagues, in the schools in my hometown. They have varying strengths and weaknesses, too. But to see them in a meeting, even when I can't understand a word, discussing curricula and student performance, was to see the faces of the teachers in meetings around the world--a bit weary, a bit stony, a bit passionate, a bit intense.

Day Three - Today I Did Not Teach

Why not? Because I gave my time today assisting the Executive Director with planning KNGO's future. It's a happy coincidence that I'm here now, because even my rudimentary knowledge of nonprofits, grants, teaching curricula, and technology has been useful. I've committed to projects that terrify me, but the organization is fighting for its life, so why should I do any less than whatever I can? 

I'm happy to see that KNGO has already raised money via crowdfunding, but they need all the help they can get. I'm here. I'm working for the future. I'm drafting a curriculum template for proposals and working on grants and trying to pass on my knowledge so that KNGO can fold it into their daily practices before they know whether they can have daily practices. 

I wanted to teach. I missed the smiles and the giggles and the English recited at top volume. But we had an important meeting, and then I was responsible for working on some things.

On a lighter note, I wrote about my harrowing 'car ride' to Battambang from Phnom Penh two days ago. Walking around in traffic is just as exciting. I managed to snap a clip of my commute home:

And also of a tuk-tuk ride to school (tuk-tuks being a standard form of transportation here, especially for tourists):

Here's a picture from my daily commute:

I highly recommend Mr. Scorpio. He came with recommendations written on the ceiling of his tuk-tuk and the praise of the Royal Hotel manager.

If I'm brave tomorrow, I'll show you what it's like to walk around in a place without sidewalks where people drive like the roads have no rules...

Cambodia - Day Two

The Courtyard of Bospo Primary School

I write this post with a heavy heart, because I've learned that the organization where I'm teaching, KNGO Cambodia, which helps almost 450 children with English, computer skills, and vocational lessons, will close unless they receive funding.

Yesterday was my first 'true' day of teaching. After observing the children on Day One and realizing how much they are capable of that even their regular teacher does not realize, I was eager to begin implementing my own lessons. Children in this country learn by recitation, by memorization, and formula. There's nothing wrong with that, especially when learning a foreign language, but it doesn't engage one's creativity. The first two sections of my classes, the Level 1 learners, read their first book in English yesterday. I read it to them; we read it together out loud as I traced the words; we talked about vocabulary, with me miming meaning to them--it was exhilarating when they understood and shouted out the definition in Khmer--and we read together in translation.

The children were incredibly excited to even see a book, let alone think about reading one in English. They loved the pictures and the repetition, along with the building of meaning, allowed them to grasp the whole of the book and the individual sentences with which they had trouble. Today we will be working on making our own books. But my mind is racing with dread. I have pledged to help however I can, including advising KNGO to set up a crowdfunding campaign, and using my language skills to proofread, search for, and write grant proposals. But I'm not a grantwriter and I know that these things are difficult even for native speakers. No one has any training.

The leader of the organization, Mr Sun Saveth, who has been an excellent host to me, also sent out an email to all current and former volunteers, citing what he needed to continue running KNGO. Another suggestion that will hopefully reach many. I'm not sure how many children that I have been teaching will be turned away as the school makes sad and necessary cuts to its funding. I can't describe to you where children in this wonderful country can end up when the situation is dire for them; you've seen where children in our very safe first-world countries can end up...

I'm thinking about what I can do, and there are no clear answers. I'm only one person and I don't matter so much. But the school will be closing shortly if I can't help by coming up with some answers, so it's time for me to make some decisions.

Please, if you can help, here is the link to the campaign. It's not for me; it's for them. I will be fine no matter what...but they will not.

Cambodia – Day One

Almost twenty hours of flights, one twenty-four hour layover in Seoul, and a five-hour car ride later, I am here. My bed is a paradise, having gained the luxury of being weighed down by the time spent traversing the globe. My body feels rattled; a yoga episode in Phnom Penh only proved how broken down it was, and then I had a ride to Battambang that resembled nothing like a car ride.

People have been bombarding me with questions and good wishes, but I have wanted only sleep. The hours stretch out and then compress, and the Internet here is spotty—is that such a surprise in a country where you can buy a SIM card for $1? As I travel, I think about how unstoppable these people will be once they get good communications infrastructure, how a nation of people who all seem to know each other and who drive the way that birds migrate—noisily, in flocks, as they like, but always heading to the same places—will fare when they fully understand email.

A view of some houses as we go by

The school is in Bospo Village. A village isn’t what you or I think it is. It’s a winding labyrinth of dirt roads, one after another, too narrow to bring a car through for the most part. KNGO itself is an impressive structure, three white-stone rooms that sit side-by-side (this is not a country for hallways) and two outdoor classrooms that are ‘open air’…little more than a collection of benches and yard sale-esque tables, with no protection from the environment.

KNGO has an agreement with Bospo Village public school, a courtyard of rooms with hut-like roofs where children recite noisily what they have learned, each class out-shouting the others. I’m teaching with a kind teacher. Her first two classes are students that appear between the ages of eight and eleven; her second class between maybe eleven and thirteen, some of them already getting tall. Level 1 and Level 2, they are called. The students greet the teacher; they sit on benches made of rough wood that marginally resemble desks, and they take out their tiny little Asian notebooks and write. Today, I only observed. I think that is fair. Observed, helped, tried to persevere over the school’s standing-only toilet (failed miserably!), and plotted how to adapt my lessons to these children.

Sorry about the random water bottle!

Their English, while sounding suspiciously like Cambodian phonemes, is shockingly good. These children don’t have running toilets at their school, you see. Their cafeteria is an old lady with a bowl full of delicious Cambodian fruits and a hot-dog type stand. Most of them live nearby in houses smaller than your living rooms, with no windows or doors, only curtains for privacy. Maybe a back room that is more concealed from the elements and the neighbors. That’s not what pity is, though. That’s admiration.

I feel for them because they use these silly Oxford workbooks that have little to no comprehension of their world. They’re meant for Western children, or maybe for Koreans—they tell tales such as “Mrs. Smith can’t type” and “Mr. Roberts is an engineer”. Yet, most of these children can’t type. They don’t have multimedia classrooms. Their hands-on learning is basically having a foreigner come to recite the words to them, and show them how to form the ‘t’ on the ends of things, or the letter ‘z’. But somehow, they are learning English and some of them will go on to depend on it—in most cases, it could determine their lives.

Classes are small enough for a lot of individual attention, and the emphasis on notebook copying means that everyone has to produce writing, which alleviates a lot of the problems with, for instance, Korean public schools where the class sizes are too large for individual feedback or checks.

All in all, I’m happy to be here. I’m having a good time in between being very tired, and I’m looking forward to getting to teach today!

I leave Thursday!

People are surprised when I tell them that the flight from Korea to Phnom Penh is over five hours, and that, when heading east towards Korea, it's run as a red-eye. I don't think that people are uneducated when it comes to the size and scale of various world regions, but it's very possible to forget that there's so much distance between countries, and that hopping to 'Asia' and getting around would be like assuming that San Francisco is next to Baltimore...

I feel ready. I'm not finished; I have a million little tasks to complete and real-life obligations to fulfill before I leave, but I feel prepared to take in the long journey and come out on the other side. I'll be posting regular updates, and probably micro-updates on Twitter as well, so feel free to follow me @mspicone.

Review: The Killing Fields (1984)

"Here, only the silent survive."

After reading Haing Ngor's autobiography, I was ready to watch the 1984 film which made him a star and gave him a way to spread awareness for Cambodia.

The movie is not as dark as Survival in the Killing Fields. Ngor himself said that Dith Pran hadn't suffered the way he had, had escaped the pain of seeing his immediate family taken away from him or killed. Dith Pran's family did leave him, but it was in a helicopter to the safety of America. However, Ngor meant it when he said they were brothers at heart. Ngor was able to translate his suffering into Dith Pran's suffering in the movie, and later in life they shared the common goal of raising awareness of Cambodia.

But what the movie lacks in blackness is made up for in the menace of seeing the Khmer Rouge come to life on screen. Ngor's description of the forced march out from Phnom Penh and the terror of the violent, extreme ignorance of the Khmer Rouge reinforce the scenes in the movie. With the added knowledge from his words, I watched the procession and the hospital evacuation scenes with a heavy heart. I saw parts of the rest of the movie unwillingly; the tension and flow of the movie is just that good. Unfortunately, whenever I became convinced that something bad surely would happen, my feelings came true.

I was heartbroken by the end of the movie. I felt psychologically sapped. The fact that the movie has a happy ending did not make up for the hurts along the way, especially in the penultimate scene. It's a curious movie, put together with two dissonant stories--Sydney's in New York dealing with survivor's guilt, Pran's in the rural countryside doing backbreaking labor under the threat of death--but it works.

As for the psychological picture of the Khmer Rouge and their ideology, Ngor's comments in his autobiography resonated with me as I watched the movie. The chhlop, the little girl he describes as shy and sweet when not filming and utterly transformed in the movie, did indeed look chilling, almost soulless as she supervised the workers and picked out which ones to punish. People say that children are innocent, and she was, but innocent in its most evil form, like a being with no conscience. In fact, the movie's focus on children was not just a decision meant to tug at the heartstrings of American audiences, but a choice that showed all parts of their involvement, including the backwards Khmer Rouge boys who had never seen things the city people took for granted. A lot of the soldiers were very young, something that Ngor talks about, but seeing it on screen reinforced the truth. Every time a soldier walked by who appeared to be about ten or twelve, it was frightening.

There's a scene in the middle of the movie when Dith Pran is shirking work. He's looking at a group of children being 'educated.' There's a stick finger drawing of a family unit on a blackboard: mother, father, two children, all holding hands. The Khmer Rouge official calls on a little boy to come up to the blackboard. He crosses out the family and erases the parts of the fingers which are touching so that the children no longer hold hands with the parents. To me, this scene encapsulates everything about the Khmer Rouge. It's funny how two little gestures, often seen in elementary schools, making x's on what is bad or what doesn't belong and erasing a small portion of something on a blackboard or whiteboard with a finger, can portray such brutality. That's the power of film at work.

I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a very authentic portrait of what Cambodia must have been like in the late '70s that comes along with a story of a great friendship. The violence and tension are reminiscent of other '80s movies; it is rated R for a reason, and it depicts people of all ages in hospitals or as trauma victims, but it's not unbearable. The acting is superb. The shots of the countryside are beautiful, even in the midst of war. It's very clear about America's failures regarding Cambodia, which may not be to everyone's tastes, but I don't think it's advancing an anti-American sentiment, just as acknowledgement that we (as yes, we are capable of) made the wrong decision about how to advance the stability of the region.

It's available on Amazon Instant Video, and a 30th anniversary edition has been released in Blu-ray.

Review: Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor

A Wonderful Account of a Terrible Era

I don't want to spoil this wonderful book by Haing Ngor, who played the part of Dith Pran in the Killing Fields and won an Academy Award for his acting. But it has several points that make it a must-read for anyone who is interested in Cambodia, or even anyone who is interested in international affairs in general.

• It's written by someone who was a grown man at the time of the Khmer Rouge takeover. A lot of survivor's stories are written by people who were then children who did not understand the implications of what was going on. Children may have also suffered less personally, although, given that the genocide affected every family, most survivors did have their family brutally ripped from them.
• Haing Ngor, being a person of intelligence and consequence, has an engaging viewpoint and a wonderful tone. I would read a fictional account in his narrative voice, because he is a completely believable character. Even though terrible events swirl around him, he still has human faults. The writer he worked with has a foreword at the end of the book in which he describes working with Ngor. Their artistic vision and narration blend seamlessly.
• Haing Ngor continued to be a person of consequence for Cambodia, in ways both good and bad, after the Khmer Rouge years. Therefore his later life is as interesting as the earlier portions.
• The connections that Ngor has to his family, and the events which transpire around them, are comical, frustrating, tragic, and inspiring. It's pretty clear that the autobiography was not exaggerated for dramatic effect--it didn't need to be. I was engaged by Ngor's familial relationships and haunted by what he was haunted by, even if I didn't always agree with his actions or opinions.
• Ngor's descriptions of the suffering he endured were tasteful and honest. I did not feel that they were written because of catharsis, which is the case for many survivor stories. They also did not intend to shock the audience--in fact, Ngor always warns before the scenes in which he describes very unpleasant things. I don't know why someone would read a book about a survivor's experience and skip over these scenes, but I appreciated his warnings so that I could steel myself for what I knew would happen next.
• At the end of the book, Ngor describes his experiences filming the Killing Fields. This gives him and his audience a triumphal experience to relish after his suffering in Cambodia, and lends another aspect to the book. However, Ngor does a fantastic job of letting his readers know how his life experiences informed his acting. Thus it doesn't feel like a chintzy interlude, but a logical consequence of his earlier suffering.

All in all, it's the best survivor account I've ever read. It holds together as a literary work, and it involves a deeply flawed but very sympathetic hero. Go read it.

Current Financials 8/8

Here's a quick financial update:

Flights and hotels are all set! Visa has also been paid. It was more than anticipated but not by much.

Estimated Expenses

1) Ground transportation from Phnom Penh to Battambang, round trip=$110
2) Transport to and from school=$70
3) Estimated baggage fees* (It would cost over $200 to check a second bag on united for a round trip, and even more than that for the Korean-Phnom Penh part. I do not at this time plan to check a second bag (God help us all...)

If I did check one extra bag just going to Cambodia to deal with school supplies, it would cost $100 + $20/kg. Assuming I could keep it light (under 20 pounds), the total cost would be $280.

4) School Supplies=$250
5) Food/living expenses=$300

Total=$730
Total with light 2nd checked bag one way=$1010

As of right now, I have the following campaign funds:

Me: $540.49
GoFundMe: $201.42

Total: $741.91

I plan to use the scholarship money I receive to mop up any extra costs and pay for the hotel I am staying in in Korea, but I'm very thrilled at how much help I've received! My next steps: obtain some Khmer learning resources, start the visa application process, and start planning my syllabus!

Update with Volunteer Dates!

I've started a new donation campaign on gofundme for people who didn't donate last time, and I've officially booked my flight!I'll be in Asia or travelling there and back from 9/18-10/8 of this year. Because I cut down the duration of my stay, I'm doing quite well budget-wise, but there's always extra, unforeseen expenses, and I'll have to travel on land from Phnom Penh to Battambang and back, so I am anticipating some budget items to cost more, some to cost less, and others to rear their ugly heads at the least ideal moment!

I've been selected to receive the Spirit of Goddard Scholarship because of my promotion of the college's mission statement. Although it will be awarded to me after I return from my trip, I plan to use the money to help defray the cost of the unforeseen or over-expensive budget items that I'm sure will arise. I'm very relieved to have this safety net and have sent out a grateful letter of appreciation to the donors.

I'm so happy that my dream of volunteering is coming true.

Review: Lonely Planet Cambodia

My copy of Lonely Planet Cambodia came in the mail today. It said it arrived yesterday but I couldn't find it anywhere. For a second I was worried about mail snatchers, but, seriously, who would go around doing such a thing in Boulder? Anyway, the book appeared today by our door in the usual Amazon order drop-off location, so maybe the tracker just couldn't tell what day it was.

The guidebook is everything that you would expect from a Lonely Planet. It's got travel by region since it covers an entire country rather than just a city, and it includes overviews on what to do, where to stay, where to shop and eat, and even some information about leisure activities. Everything from large chains to small, expat-run businesses make the cut, and it's well-researched by people who know Cambodia, inside and out. However, the culture, history, and information sections in this LP go above and beyond; there's a full overview of Cambodian history and a lot of cultural information that goes beyond Dos and Donts. I was very impressed (and LP is my go-to for guidebooks) by how thorough this guide was. However, that does make it quite heavy; at over three-hundred pages, it's also very bulky for a travel guide.

Since sections are organized by content, it's easy to find whatever you're looking for; I read the book cover-to-cover to get a feel for the entire guide. In my review of Responsible Travel Guide Cambodia, I noted that the book failed as both a travel guide and a comprehensive overview of Cambodia. Now, choosing between a book that's put on by a nonprofit and a LP series book is like choosing between shopping at your local mom-and-pop or at Walmart in some ways, but I can't recommend the former after having read the latter. The writers are well-aware of the special problems a traveler faces in Cambodia, and they have passed their knowledge on to a ignorant tourist in many ways that I found commendable:

• Ways that tourists get ripped off in various circumstances (border crossings especially; taxi fares, etc) and how to avoid them
• Knowledge that the sex trade in Cambodia runs rampant, and tips on how to avoid dicey establishments including massage parlors that offer 'special' services
• Reminders about pedophilia/illegal drugs/all the other things irresponsible and reprehensible tourists go to Asia to do
• Many, many, MANY warnings about landmines and how to avoid them, including very helpful tips on what to do if you find yourself or someone else stuck in a potential landmine-containing area. If you read this guide before you go to Cambodia and you blow yourself up anyway, you probably deserve it
• How to deal with children who are begging or selling items, and how to 'help' the people you see around you (some of this is general stuff, like, give food rather than money, but some is Cambodia-specific)
• A long list of nonprofits that take volunteers and/or help with further research on volunteer organizations, and a list of responsible shops and restaurants. The guide even proclaims its desire to list organizations that help disadvantaged Cambodians, which means it has the same goals as Responsible Travel Guide, but its execution and comprehensiveness are tons better
• Ways to interact with everyday Cambodians, such as homestays in remote areas, rare or dying crafts that you could purchase, and other tips to help direct money to honest, hard-working people rather than exploitative or underhanded ones

In short, if you are travelling to Cambodia, you need this guide. I don't care if you'll be staying in the luxury of Phnom Penh and never leaving the city--in fact, since Phnom Penh is known as a tourist destination, your chances of getting ripped off, stolen from, or encountering some unsavory people/practices is high. If you're coming to volunteer, I can't think of a better reference. And it does all the things a guidebook should.

One final note: the guidebook contains far more phrases than Responsible Travel Guide Cambodia, including some 'make it yourself' constructions, and a pronunciation guide to Khmer, making it an excellent resource for beginning Khmer students (there is a decided lack of textbooks and phrasebooks). Even Lonely Planet's phrasebook is for Southeast Asia, not just Cambodia itself. However, if you just need a bit of Khmer in a pinch to be understood or to be polite and learn a couple phrases, the guidebook is all you need.

Pros:

Excellent information, goes above and beyond a travel guide. Good detail about Cambodia's history, culture, people, and current problems; great compilation of activities, suggestions for what to do, and responsible travel hotels/stores/restaurants/tips.

Cons:

Very bulky and long, especially for an LP. Some people may not want to read so much in depth. Sometimes esoteric organization. Still not enough of a cuisine guide, more highlighting exotics than what you might eat every day. It may terrify 'ordinary' tourists with its frank admissions about Cambodia's sex trade, drug trade, awful state of the roads, child exploitation, etc (although I think an ordinary tourist might prefer to go somewhere else). If you're a worrywart, remember that it's better to know the possible worst than to travel in ignorance, and try not to lose sight of the phrase 'the possible worst.'

Final Verdict:

I'll be starting to make travel arrangements soon; I've heard from the school about some details of my teaching practicum and they're just waiting on me to set dates! I will also be planning my itinerary using my new guidebook and thinking about possible side trips and other fun stuff for this blog. I'm going to use the phrasebook section to kickstart my Khmer learning efforts, though I haven't decided on a definitive course of study yet.

The future seems wide open with possibilities! I'll be keeping the blog updated as I go along.

Review: Responsible Travel Guide Cambodia

I bought this book out of curiosity, because it's hard to find reliable Cambodia resources. My feelings are mixed, partly because the book itself is a kitchen-sink mixture of information about various aspects of Cambodia, its history, travel information, and nonprofit organizations.

It's available through the nonprofit that wrote it, Friendship With Cambodia, for $11.95 plus $3 s/h (the site says $14.95, but if you click the Paypal link it charges a lower price). You can read a sample here. Since the book is $14.05 currently via amazon, I encourage you to buy via the nonprofit's site. There are corrections and additions, current as of March 2014, available on the nonprofit site as well. This is very useful, since businesses in Cambodia can be fleeting and the problem with any travel guide is its relevance. Edit: It's also available as a $6 ebook from the main page of the site, not the book page, if you scroll down. Very confusing.

Who should read this book?

Anyone who is traveling to Cambodia, especially the main areas of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, and wants to spend their money responsibly either by shopping, dining, or staying in franchises that support Cambodia and whose money does not leave Cambodia. Anyone who wants a general overview of Cambodia the country, including travel information, timelines and history, and customs.

How useful is the information in the book?

As a travel guide, the book has a strange melange of information. I think it's worth knowing some decent places to spend money while in Cambodia. You may pay a higher price but you can feel good about where your money went. However, the book fails as a travel guide in two major areas. 

First, it doesn't include enough information about what to see in Cambodia. For instance, the Phnom Penh section highlights the "cultural treasures of the Royal Palace" and the "outstanding collection of ancient sculpture at the National Museum" (11). It includes a suggested three-day itinerary with bullet points such as "Visit the National Museum (ancient sculpture)" without saying anything more about the National Museum (11). For opening times, more details about its exhibits such as what famous/recommended pieces are in the museum or even what there is besides sculpture and more logistical information, you need to do further research. That's fine if you're planning a trip, but not so great if you are in Cambodia and chose to make this guide your only in-country resource.

Second, it is not comprehensive. You can, as long as you are willing to pay slightly more, get along only patronizing the recommended establishments in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, but I would have liked more comprehensive coverage of other regions or nods to other choices which, if not worthy of a 'responsible' label, would guarantee that a traveler could get along solely with this book.

As an informational resource about volunteering in Cambodia or making an altruistic impact, the book seems to have succeeded. Though I would have liked a list of organizations and tourist traps to avoid, they cover topics such as sex tourism, the exploitation of children, and reliable places to volunteer along with contact information and what type of volunteers the places need (including length of stay). Since Cambodian websites are sometimes untranslated, poorly-formatted, and full of uninformation, I'm very happy I bought the book.

As an informational resource about Cambodia, the book is a mixed bag. Basic information about customs and holidays lives side-by-side with a heart-wrenching 'sample' account of a survivor of the Pol Pot era. The food section is more an infographic than a real guide with names and recommendations, and given the difficulties of Cambodian script and the often vaguely-translated menus for tourists, a detailed menu guide would have been appreciated here. There's a basic section with a few Khmer phrases, but no guide as to pronunciation. In general, I would have liked the information included to be more focused, both on the travel aspects of the book and on the education about Cambodia. Most of the information isn't as good as what you would find in a Lonely Planet introduction, for instance. However, it is more comprehensive and focuses more on responsible tourism than a LP guide would.

The book also includes a bibliography of books about Cambodia, a good starting point for further reading.

Conclusion:

Any travel guide should include more details about food, places to stay, tourist attractions, and alternative options, especially in a country where public internet is tricky and expensive, and corruption runs rampant. The book is clearly the work of a team of amateurs; some of the sections seem included just because someone wanted to write them, and others could have used a critical eye to amend some of the glaring omissions or lack of specificity that plagues the guide. It's put out by an organization that deals intimately with Cambodia, not a worldwide organization that can't afford to check out Cambodia-specific venues, so its generality is disappointing.

Also, the guide does recommend some travel tour companies with Cambodian offices, but if you check out the Friendship with Cambodia website, you'll see that they run a tour of their own. I appreciate the parity in recommending other tours, but the book does serve to advertise the Friendship with Cambodia tour and encourage readers to donate to its programs and buy its book of Khmer Rouge survivor accounts (hence the sample excerpt). I would have preferred more information and less advertising, but I will probably buy and review their other book to support this worthy nonprofit.

Financial Update

Here's an update about finances, since we have new contribution information!
--------------------------------
Original Budget:

Flight $1800

Baggage Fee $150

Visa $25

Ground transportation $50

School Supplies $250

Living Expenses $900

Total: $3175

Funds:

Indiegogo $1723.36

Donations: $100

Total: $1823.36

--------------------------------

Deficit: $1351.64

My Contribution: $1250

So I'm still a bit in the red. However, I plan to see how much I can raise on my own! Here are some of the ways I plan to put money aside:

• Selling assets
• Grants and funding
• Odd jobs
• Saving each month (which I have already started)
• Birthday contributions
• Garage sale!

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to make up the difference, and I'll have more information soon about how to get a souvenir, how to contribute now that the campaign is over, and what my plans are! This is the beginning of an exciting time.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped out!

Donor Acknowledgements!

Hello everyone!

Here's the blog shout-out that I promised you. For those of you who chose to remain anonymous (even though I know who you are), if you want an acknowledgement just send me a message and let me know!

First, a fuzzy shout-out to my anonymous funders:

Family and friends, thank you all! I couldn't have done this without you. I'll be keeping in touch when it comes time to leave, and I appreciate what you've done, even if it's behind the scenes. People in <Aisthesis>, sorry about losing your GM for a couple of weeks and putting up with our officer corps running things, but let it be known that your suffering will be for a good cause!

Thanks to:
RBR
Grace
Harmony
Aunt Tess
Super-nova
Darren
My wonderful godparents
Uncle Rudy
Uncle Steve and Aunt Debbie, who chose to send checks rather than contribute on Indiegogo, adding to my campaign total after the fact!

And of course my parents and boyfriend, who have pledged their support to me and contributed in ways that go beyond donations.

Thanks to everyone who shared my link and put up with my social media spamming (sorry!).

*A special thanks to Daharel, who pestered the people around him tirelessly in support of my cause.*

For those of you who want a Cambodian souvenir, I'll be working out details in the upcoming months. Please follow my blog for details about trip planning, syllabus planning, and goodies!

And, we're done!

It's late, so this will be brief--but a huge thank you post is coming later, plus the blog acknowledgements for anyone who donated who chose to put their name on their donation.

After fees, my campaign raised $1784.51. (Edit: I forgot about Paypal fees on top of regular fees. The actual amount is $1723.86). I'm thrilled that we made it as far as we did. That puts the sum total of positive projected money at $3035 (Edit: $2974), if I throw in a contribution of $1250.49 (Edit: $2973.36) (I have some spare change somewhere, I'm sure).

Money: $2974
Estimated Cost: $3175

Total: -$201

As I said this weekend, a deficit is somewhat of a big deal, because making my portion of the bargain isn't a number I came up with spontaneously, but a monthly target. I plan to sell some assets and to work as much as I can given my schedule. However, I think everything will work out in the end. Either I will not end up bringing donations with me (I was planning on bringing a beat-up suitcase and leaving it there) or I'll bring a small bag's worth. It really depends on the cost of the lesson plan materials on my syllabus. But anyway, here's what having the money allows me to do:

1) Talk to the school and commit to dates. I'm so, so, so happy about this.
2) Start planning lessons based on what they expect me to do.
3) Figure out my end of the finances.

To everyone who wished me well, even if you didn't donate, you're the best. Thank you all so much. I'll be rolling out the red carpet for my donors in the coming days.

My Indiegogo Campaign Closes on 5/19/14

Hello everyone!

I'm so excited about the campaign contributions I've received so far, but my campaign is about to come to an end, and I need your help! Please like, share, and donate if you can. I've thought about my budget and put the conclusions below. If you don't want to read about the itemization and rationales, just skip to the summary section. Thanks for reading!

Current Budget
+
Indiegogo $1826-FEES=$1661
Expected Contribution $1250
Total +: $2911

-
Flight $1800
Baggage Fee $150
Visa $25
Ground transportation $50
School Supplies $250
Living Expenses $900
Total -: $3175

Total Difference:
-$264

So, I'm in the red. If I don't make my campaign goal, I get to keep the funds, but Indiegogo keeps 9% of the contributions instead of 4%. I knew that going in, but I decided to reach for the stars anyway.

Now, I know that some people may contribute to my campaign at a later date in a manner that doesn't involve fees. I would be very appreciative of that. $1250 is a stretch goal for me in terms of money to save up over the next few months, and I may have to push my travel time back a bit to help save over a longer period. When I outlined the budget on Indiegogo, I reached for the stars in terms of classroom materials and expected donations, whereas I went for almost the bare minimum when it comes to living expenses (I did opt for a place with hot water to live in, though). So the question would be, where to cut?

Sample Revised Budget
Flight $1800
Visa $25
Ground transportation $50

These three categories are set in stone, since I still need to get over there in order to teach.

Required Total: $1875

Baggage Fee $150
School Supplies $250
Living Expenses $900

Here's where things get tricky. I calculated living expenses for one month's worth of travel. Let's assume we're trying to keep that as long as we can, since length of stay > donations to school in this case.

I can pack the bare minimum, which means I won't be able to donate books and laptops to the school, but completely removes the baggage fee. I can also cut out the school donation, but I still need teaching supplies. Let's assume I can halve the supplies budget.

That leaves me at $1025, giving an overall expense of $2900 and making the campaign affordable.

If we go the other way and assume that I want to keep the donations, gifts, and VIP supplies, on the assumption that objects linger longer than presence, then I would have a starting cost of $400 plus living expenses. My total target is $1025, so I would have $625 to live on. When I calculated living expenses, I estimated $15/night for lodgings, and $15/day for food and transportation to and from the school, which is doable. How many days, then, could I afford to stay?

The answer is 20 days, so, with weekends, I would be able to teach for about two and a half weeks, but I would have to leave in the middle of a week.

Summary
What does that mean for you? It means that a donation of $30 adds an extra day to my trip, a donation of $150 guarantees I'll be able to collect items to donate and bring them safely with me to Cambodia, and a donation of $250 guarantees school supplies and a small donation to the school. Please do what you can. I appreciate it.

Campaign Update!

After a big push and some very generous donations, we're at the halfway mark for funding! Getting my volunteering project off the ground is looking more realistic by the day. I'm certainly excited to start making concrete plans. I would love to get fully funded, but I'm so thrilled at the response thus far. 

I'll be getting ready to make the final campaign push from the Starry Night Artist Retreat in New Mexico, including reaching out to people personally. Please donate or spread the word! 

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far!

I'm really happy with the campaign results, and I'm hoping that more people will take notice and donate! There's still 45 days remaining, so I'm optimistic that I can reach my goal. If I don't, all the donations I've received will still matter to me, and that's what's important.

I'll probably do all of the blog shout outs in one post, but if you have donated and you are looking for your shout out, I will notify you once it's done!

Wish me luck!

We're live!

Here's the link!

Please go check out my campaign and spread the word. I'm happy to answer any questions. I appreciate your time and donations!

The Face Behind the Blog (and My Credentials)

I figured I'd make a post about who I am and why I am qualified to volunteer in Cambodia before my campaign goes public, just so it's available on the site. I thought about putting a redacted CV up on indiegogo, but it'd basically be swaths of blacked-out text coupled with a line or two of description.

Think of this as a visually presented CV with annotations.

TESOL certificate with 40 hours of classroom time and 100 hours of teaching time, teaching license from the state of Massachusetts with high passes in my exams, Ivy League graduate with one-and-a-half master's degrees (still working on the second one). Lots of experience tutoring many subjects, summer camp experience, substitute teaching experience, and teaching abroad experience.

Youngest kids taught: kindergarten. I've taught the gamut from sweet to naughty. Some of my best moments have been spent at an activity table in a tiny chair, doing 'math' games.

Oldest kids taught: college. I had a teaching assistantship as part of master's degree #1.

Most challenging kids taught: I had a class of eighth graders who were running wild. The discipline was so bad that the 'nice' kids knew how much they could get away with, since the misbehavior level was so high. I learned a lot from them and managed to make peace with some of them, but it was a difficult long-term assignment.

Most wonderful kids taught: A special class in Korea consisting in kids who were basically fluent in English. Those kids and I had so much fun. I hope they learned something too.

Feelings about teaching: You have to make your own way as a teacher, and earn the kids' respect and friendship on your own terms. Behavior comes first, because they won't do anything for you if they don't want to and you let them get away with it. Then wonderful things will happen, for you and the kids. You have to be as open to learning as they are, and as energetic about the subject as you can be.

As a substitute, well, you can't move the world. But once you get to know the students, you're as responsible for their education as anyone else in the building. I worked long spans of weeks where I had a different set of classes every day, and I loved it. I felt like a mercenary, moving around and filling the holes as I was needed. But that's not the same as having your own class, and being able to grow and change with them. Having something constant to look forward to every day.

Feelings about traveling: I love to travel. It's difficult, because you're pulled out of your life, and you have to open yourself up to new experiences. I wouldn't be able to be on the road all the time, but I try my best when I'm going to not be disruptive, entitled, or disrespectful. I try not to act like a naive tourist. But I want to live through and in a country, and you can't do that if you're moaning about Starbucks.

Countries I've visited: USA, Canada, Caribbean Islands, South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Australia

First Post!

This blog is a companion site to my Indiegogo Campaign. I plan to volunteer at KNGO Cambodia for a period of one month or more (depending on funding).

I traveled to Cambodia as a tourist in the summer of 2008. I was shocked at the poor living conditions and obvious corruption and exploitation of the people in the country, as well as the fact that not all of the mines have been removed from the country's beautiful natural landscapes. You'll find a lot of expats who have nothing but contempt for people who are volunteering or want to 'save' Cambodia, and I agree that there's only so much that a limited-time volunteer can accomplish, and that change can't always be done by outsiders. But to me, this is about meeting and helping specific Cambodian children, and impacting their lives in a positive way. I know that a child's life can be saved by one day or one month, and that events from my childhood loom large to the adult I became. So, why not me? Why not Cambodia?

I took this picture on the road from Thailand to Angkor Wat. This picture, to me, embodies the state of Cambodia today. There's a sweet little girl, a bit shy, looking at the people on the road. She's holding a bag of grapes in her hand. She seems so tiny and vulnerable next to the motorcar, like it's something that doesn't quite fit her. I'm sorry that my camera back then was cheap and the resolution of my pictures is low. But to me, the underlying message of this picture can and should drive us to act, to help Cambodia become a better country responsibly and from within.

I won't be updating very frequently to start, but I will be keeping everyone informed of the results of my drive for funding and then, when I'm in Cambodia, updating almost daily with short anecdotes about my experiences and pictures. I also plan to use the blog to shout out to my donors and to coordinate donation incentives.

You can find the link to my Indiegogo campaign, once the campaign goes active, here. The campaign will go live on March 16, 2014 and I'll post an updated link at that point.