is it possible to continuously change as a person?

Siem Reap = See 'em Weap

I had no idea what to expect upon arriving in this small city of only 100,000 - which most likely doesn't account for all the children and entire families living on the streets, new-comers every day. Tourists usually arrive by plane, get shuttled to their hotel, go to the Anchor Wat for at least one day, get shuttled back to their hotel, leave the following day. The Wat will certainly crumble one of these days due to the high traffic on its delicate and ancient grounds: the supporting water underneath is dissapearing everyday. There is nothing being done to stop this trend (I'm not sure what could be done) and so one day there will be no more Anchor Wat. So "come see it while you still can" is the attitude of many visitors... Siem Reap is under crazy construction of immense hotels that cater to the high season of tourists. There is a street dubbed "Bar Street" and it is just that. This is the street where many of the street kids hang out; rather, this is where many of the street kids live.

But first...

The Village People

Upon our arrival to Siem Reap, we met Leigh for the first time: she is one of the founders of the NGO Future Cambodia Fund. She has begun work in a floating village just outside the city. The village is home to 6000 people, many of which aren't khmer but vietnamese and cham (Islamic) so they are the bottom of the barrel kind of people, so to speak. They live on canals off the river Tonle Sap which is a confluent of the Mekong... this is the only river in the world that reverses its flow during the rainy season (yet there are no scientists here studying why this is so, and hardly anybody knows in the first place). Leigh and a swedish man named Christian are working with the Health Clinic - a small shack with mediocre supplies, 2 rooms, 1 doctor - of the village to improve their water first and foremost so that they have clean water to nurture their sick with. Carly works with water so they planned to work together... the water is absolutely the most discusting muck I have ever seen: full of shit, piss, oil, gas, animal waste, garbage and whatever else you can think of. People bath their children in it, drink from it, cook with it! So you can imagine how starting by improving the health clinic's water would prove to be first priority. We met with the Chief of the village and discussed what is important to the village, clean water was numero uno. We tested water in the canal outside the clinic, then took a boat and tested the water in the middle of the lake and discovered that the latter was much better and could be filtered and cleaned with ease; the former however, needed some heavey duty filtering machine - something FCF anticipated and had already begun research on biosand filters and the like. We tested the wells from which they got their water for drinking and discovered arsenic in it. It's so crazy how we take these things for granted... It was so interesting to see all this planning, communicating, caring, working WITH the villagers and not just going in their and telling them what we think they need. FCF is holding a health clinic there on February 2nd (at which I will be volunteering) with a group of canadians to teach about proper hygene practices especially for the children.

the Street Kids

That night we went out Bar Street and got a first-hand experience of the children on this street. What Leigh and Christian do in this city is absolutely amazing and the closest thing to altruism I've known. We sat out in front of a bar - owned by a hefty and caring american who also does much work in Siem Reap and runs a camp back in Vermont - and the children would just scream with glee at seeing Leigh and Christian, come running over for hugs and kisses and to tell about their day. They work so closely with them and know many of them so well, know their family, know their situation. Many of the kids are extremely screwed up... for instance: one kid was beaten so bady by his mother that his eye is permanently damaged, his sister is chained up outside their "home" and they are both forced to sniff glue, and their infant sister has HIV and the mother was letting her die by not feeding her... she was unconscious when found. The mother cut her leg, didn't take care of it and so it got infected to the point of amputation but still she didn't care to seek medical attention thinking maybe she'd be able to make more money if she were disabled. When forced to go, she was there for a week and the little boy was never happier since he wasn't being beaten nor was he stoned. Crap like this are the stories of these little children... When we were there that night, these kids didn't try to steal from us or get money from us cuz they know Leigh and Christian are there to help them and they trust in that... it's about the only thing they can trust in. They jumped up on our backs, told us our names, tried to talk elnglish with us... such a heartwarming feeling. So Leigh and Christian have been working together on setting up a vocational training centre to get them off the streets for a little while each day, teach them some tangible skills they can use and earn a living with, through FCF. There is a Street Kids' Clinic being held this Sunday at which I will also be volunteering.

I don't know exactly what else I'll be doing during my time in Siem Reap before I come home, but Leigh will help me and put me to work somehow. Another thing she does is networks with all the smaller NGOs and does volunteer placement, so maybe I'll do some english teaching? whatever I can, really.

For today:

Well, I'm going to the Phnom Penh Landfill this afternoon. This is where families live and work, searching for the plastic people throw out cuz it's worth money. I have seen this place in a promotional video for Humans Being (another NGO Carly was involved with) and was touched deeply just by that viewing... now I'll be there, right in the thick of it. I can only imagine what I'll have to say about it in my next blog. Until then, take care and think of me and send me love over the miles, OK? I need it right now. I am on the brink of insanity...