2010 Southeast Asia Cambodia, Phnom Penh ,SCAO Orphanage

April 8th

Next morning after breakfast outside the guest house, the same tuktuk driver took us out through the very busy streets and back along the rive highway to the SCAO orphanage(http://savepoorchildreninasia.org/) again to a very warm reception and like and immediate welcome into a family home, which of course it is essentially. As we were a family I had the privilege of staying upstairs as well, and Noa the Israeli volunteers who had been there for a while gave up the bigger bed for us to share. The bathroom was ok with tiles, squat toilet and big earthenware pot of water from which you scoop a shower. So sleeping arrangements sorted, we had time to talk a bit with Mr. Samith and Srey lat before going across to take part in the next English lesson. Noa and the German couple Bernhard and Tina were there aling with Jeerome, a young Quebecois guy to help with the class. We had to introduce ourselves to the children and tell a little bit about ourselves, followed by the teachers then asking the children to ask us questions, or to answer questions the teachers asked them about what we had said.
There was an age range of around 6-12 years, but most of them seemed to have grasped English very well. It was only the shyness that seemed to hold some of them back a bit really. You could tell they were very capable immediately.The lesson proper then started with Bernhard and Tina continuing a theme of Anatomy, sticking to the basics of facial parts, arms, legs, chest, hands, feet, etc.
Some of Bernhard & Tina's pronunciation, and Noa and Jerome was quite funny. Mouth sounded like mouse for example, and of course Jerome dropped the beginning Hs as the French do. After some revision of anatomy, progressed to mainly some sentences with the words such as 'the ankle is between the foot and the knee'.

The teachers were humble enough to ask Eunmi and I for verification of grammar and spelling, recognizing they might not be 100% correct, but few were wrong anyway.
The mixture of students, boys and girls, were really enthusiastic, and really seemed to understand the benefit of these lessons.
After the lesson we went back to the orphanage, and enjoyed a nice lunch with the teachers and 'family'. Bernhard & Tina then did some physio sessions for the local people who had various stairs in joints and muscles.

Mt. Samith was treated for a sore shoulder and tightened up subpectoral muscle that apparently presents like a heart problem. No doubt a legacy of his very traumatic past where his entire family had fallen to the attrocities of the Khmer Rouge. He is only 36, but looks more like late 40s, a tell tale sign of a strain he'd been carrying for life. In a rare show of vanity he complained of a receding hair line, but countered with the fact he had good teeth. All this through a beaming smile and obvious ironic sense of humour. It's impossible not to warm to this man who seems to have an amazing affinity to everyone around him.

In later discussions with him, I was very struck by his humanity and understanding of the human condition. We talked a lot abut the endemic corruption within the fabric of Cambodian society, of course driven from above by the elite, but imbedded into all levels of officialdom, such as local authorities and police. Apparently as I found out later you even have to pay money to call the emergency services numbers, so of course nobody does. And in the event of a road accident for example, none involves the police if they can avoid it otherwise they got stuck with a levy, even the 'victim' of the situation. 

Essentially everyone feathering their own nest with very little care for the general welfare of the population, as could clearly be seen around the city and even more pronounced on the semi-rural outskirts where we were. The nearby village did have some signs of wealth with large houses and expensive cars, but you didn;t have to go very far down any back streets to see some pretty squalid living conditions and general signs of poverty. Sadly, it's a pretty common theme in many of the countries we've visited, like India, The Gambia and Tunisia to some extent.
It was nice that Mr. Samith seems to have very similar thinking in terms of what real power is. That changing peoples thinking, by showing an example of an alternative way through humanity and consideration and sharing love and resources is to everyone's benefit. This process doesn't require an coercion and is self regulating. You don't need a government to do this, and in fact, they will often be a hindrance to it because those in government feel it is a threat to their perceived authority, and potential to skim off a profit somewhere. This is common to all governments of the world of course. Probably no more so than in the West where the influence of multi-national corporations are so strong, having so much influence on state policy.
Later that night after spending a while closing the holes in the mosquito nets, we eventually managed a fairly fitful sleep. being so hot and despite a fan the mosquito net cuts down the airflow so it is quietly quite stifling especially with us all sharing a bed.