Director of CCF is ABC's Person of the Week

Scott Neeson, who founded and runs Cambodian Children's Fund, was named "Person of the Week" by ABC News on Nov 28th. Although Scott told me he would prefer for the media to focus on the center and the children, it is nonetheless a good story.

Check out this short video:
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=6025169&page=1

No Golden Arches Here

How is this possible? How can it be? We have failed to bring the Good News to entire country??

Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have found a country that *gasp* has NO McDonalds. NO Starbucks. NO Dunkin' Donuts. NO 7 Eleven.

Not a single recognizable chain throughout this entire nation??? Actually, there is one KFC (Khmer Fried Chicken?) that opened earlier this year in Phnom Penh. I've not visited yet but I hear it's like a real restaurant and, apparently, the best place to work in town.

But seriously, no McDonalds??? It's not that I'm craving a Big Mac -- because after my weekend of expelling EVERYTHING in my body from both ends -- I'm not eager to eat anything that doesn't resemble a dry, plain piece of bread.

But it's the prinicple of the matter. I've been to other places in the world far from the United States of Consumerism and no matter how remote or unfamiliar, you could always rely on at least one pair of gleaming yellow arches.

Israel: McDonalds (of course, no cheeseburgers since that would be unkosher)
Mexico: many, many Mickey-Dee's - sometimes with jalapenos
Hong Kong: offering child-sized sweet pudding/potato/milk thingee
Honduras: Golden Arches, plus Pizza Hut, and the ever-present Dunkin' Donuts
Canada (Toronto): I can't recall but I'm sure they had one!

What is the deal? Anyone who reads this, (bless you, you must either be my mom or not have an exciting life), please sound off. What other countries have you been to that did not have McDonalds?

The Mundane Becomes Exciting?

***explicit content. do not read while eating. :)****

Naomi was right. Living abroad DOES make the mundane, everyday, humdrum activities of life interesting. For instance, a simple trip down a few blocks to my guesthouse would have been a snooze in LA. (Maybe. Depends on what part of LA.) But in Phnom Penh, it was a crazy experience that led to a great story!

Another example: using the "toilet." Bathrooms here might contain either
1. a "Western toilet"
2. same toilet with toilet paper
3. same toilet with toilet paper to be used and thrown away, NOT flushed
4. same toilet with toilet paper AND a bum-gun (flexible bidet)
5. NONE of the above
6. ALL of the above
7. a combination of one or more of the above

For today, I am going to focus on option #5. I've known about "squatter" toilets for some time, ever since my roommate went to China one summer, but I have successfully avoided using one up until this stage of my life.

{For those of you unfamiliar with playing catcher while using the loo, a squatter toilet is basically a hole in the ground where you do your business.)

Yesterday, there was no avoiding it. I HAD to go. You KNOW I tried to hold it... but nature was calling. Oh, was it calling.

I was at CCF's community center building near the trashdump -- fairly modern, simple facilities except for the whole restroom situation.

I took a deep breath, repeated that "When in Rome" garbage, and went in to survey the conditions.

Dark. Damp. Ants everywhere. A porcelain-lined hole on a ledge about 2 feet from the ground. A square pit of some sort. A green plastic pot. (Oh man, I NEED to put a picture here!) I'd sort of listened to the children doing their business and after the inevitable tinkle or grunting (#1 or #2), I always heard scooping and pouring of water.

So I was seriously doing the pee-pee dance, hopping from foot to foot, while I contemplated how to use this thing.



Oh shoot... I have to run.... more on this later.... :) Or maybe not.. maybe best to imagination.

Loving the small moments

I feel like I spend 99% of my time doing 3 things (usually simultaneously): walking/wandering down crowded streets, sweating profusely, and killing time. I was supposed to begin teaching my class on the 17th -- but the organization I am working with is not ready for me to do that yet. I feel frustrated because I came here to WORK -- not wile away my time by loitering in various cafes across this city.

BUT I think I've learned that sometimes the moments of "doing nothing" can still be quite rewarding.

Wednesday: I visited 2 different facilities: the community center (CCF5) next to the trashdump, and CCF #6 - the organization's newest facility. CCF 5 currently hosts about 60 children in daycare during the day while their parents work as garbage pickers in the dump. CCF6 is a new co-ed residence and primary school located near the dump community. I spent the afternoon there and saw potential opportunity for me to help in the creation of their English and Social Studies curriculum! :)

Thursday: I was supposed to spend the day at the daycare. However, after MUCH waiting around in the city, FINALLY transportation was arranged for me to go to the center.... but when I arrived, the children were just beginning their daily 2 hour nap (along with their teachers!). So again, I had NOTHING to do.

I left my shoes outside and crept into one of the rooms - wall to wall babes. I slid down next to all the children asleep on woven mats. As soon as I crept in, 6 or 7 little ones peeked and saw me ---- and oh, the excitement! :) They were not allowed to come to me, so I waved excitedly and silently, then took out a book and pretended to read. I could not resist peeking and grinning at the munchkins still checking me out. (Who's the adult here??)

Sleeping children... the ones completely out and snuggling arms and legs intertwined... and the sneaky ones pinching their neighbors and playing with fuzz or candy wrappers or whatever they could find next to them.

The little guy next to me (who was the 1st child I bonded with the day before) kept playing with my toes. Aw... How cute is that??

Past, Present, and Future

***this post contains some graphic images****

Today I was excited to begin teaching my class! I've emailed CCF back and forth many times over the past several months, and we agreed my 6-week class would start on the 17th. But when I arrived at CCF today, the staff was so laidback they insisted I take the next couple of days to sightsee and relax before seeing the other CCF facilities and then begin teaching (MAYBE) next week! I tried to protest, saying I'd already been in Phnom Penh a couple days and I was ready to work.... but they wouldn't hear of it. Concepts like time and schedule seem very fluid & abstract in Cambodian culture, as far as I can see.

I guess I wanted this, right? Wasn't this the very attitude I found sadly lacking in Hong Kong?

But still, I am a little disappointed. I am going to take the time to explore a bit more, but my heart was ready to be with children today. That's why I'm here!

Well, after I left CCF, I went to Toul Sleng -- the genocide museum mentioned in my previous post. :) Toul Sleng represents the other reason I am here. It was in my Southeast Asian History class at UCLA (2001) that I first heard about the Khmer Rouge and Killing Fields genocide. Learning about that tragedy was what first peaked my interest in Cambodia.



Toul Sleng is a very sobering place. The Khmer Rouge was like the Nazi regime in that they kept meticulous records of their "project." So Toul Sleng is filled with artifacts & photographs of the dead and dying prisoners.



Pol Pot's crew documented their victims before and after torture.

The former classrooms turned prison cells/torture rooms



contain hundreds of horrifying photographs.



This woman is holding her baby.


There were countless photos of innocent children who were imprisoned, tortured, and later bludgeoned to death in the Killing Fields.



Toul Sleng is a chilling reminder of what humanity at its worst is capable of. I cannot comprehend how humans would do this to other humans -- no matter what their ideology! Shocking....

However, let us not deceive ourselves into thinking this is history. Similar events and cruelties are happening elsewhere in the world AT THIS MOMENT. What can we do to help?

Yesterday was my first day in Cambodia. I spent the day walking all over the city and exploring. I was also trying to work up the courage to ride the moto - which basically means you hop onto the back of a motorcycle "taxi." Cheap, fast, ubiquitous form of transport throughout the city. I'd already ridden a tuk-tuk --- seen below. (yes, I'm the tourist who took a photo of the back of her driver's head.)



After a long day - about 6pm, I noticed it was getting dark & beginning to sprinkle so although I was just a couple blocks away from my guesthouse, decided to take a moto since the streets were slippery & a bit sketchy in the dark.

I start walking, and immediately a moto pulls over, the kid asks me where I'm going. I tell him Boddhi Tree (my guesthouse) and to clarify, I added, "Toul Sleng." Toul Sleng is a very well-known landmark nearby. We're only down the street from my destination so I feel confident he knows where to go. Hahahaha

We negotiate a price. Rather, I show him the $ and he takes it. I hop on, gripping his shoulders. (This was my 2nd time EVER on the back of a motorcycle. My friends & family know how I always tell them about the dangers of bikes! But when in Rome...)

He zooms down the street, zigzagging, going up curbs. My bare legs narrowly brush by cars & other motos. Lanes & directionality of traffic seem entirely optional. Street lights mean next to nothing. When my driver makes a turn, (he was supposed to go straight the entire way!), I tap him on the shoulder -- not wanting to distract him from vigilant driving -- and remind him, "Toul Sleng." He repeats me over and over and giggles. I thought he was correcting or mocking my pronunciation.

But it quickly becomes clear he has NO idea where we are going. What was supposed to be a 3-minute straight shot from the main street drags on and he makes turn after turn. I tell him, I have map! But he says, Toul Sleng. Toul Sleng. He pulls over (presumably) to ask directions at least 5 times. One girl even drew a map! But still, the ride goes on.

He tries to negotiate a new price as he drives --- 200% more than I already paid him. I give up and tell him to take me back to Sihanouk - the main street where he picked me up. But I suspect he has no idea how to get there either.

Suddenly, neighborhood blackout... or torrential downpour? Not sure what came first. All I know is I find myself laughing out loud hysterically at how quickly I have ventured quite far from my comfort zone. I'm riding on the back of a MOTORCYCLE with a RECKLESS driver in the PITCH DARK (all the lights on the streets and buildings are out -- and of course this bike has no lights!!), in the POURING RAIN, and I'm completely lost. Lightning and thunder add to the excitement. I can't see a thing because the heavy rain is flying into my face. Within seconds, I'm completely soaked.

Suddenly, the bike sputters and lurches forward. Like a teenager driving a stick shift for the 1st time. Sputter, sputter. Jackrabbit starts and stops. Now THE DRIVER is the one laughing wildly. We're running out of gas. The traffic is gone - I don't know if other people have more sense than to be out in the rain, or if we've driven to the edge of town. But we are now alone.

Finally, the moto sputters and dies. I jump off. He wants more money. I feel bad but I cry through the pouring rain and thunder, "I have no idea where I am now!" I gesture with my hands to show the shortest-distance-between-2-points principle. "You go too far. In circles! I was close! I could have walked!" I pat him on the back, say thank you, and walk away. (I probably would have given him a few more riel but honestly, I was worried about opening my backpack & exposing my books and iPhone to further water damage. Selfish American, I know.)

I headed to the nearest lit building I could find - a sort of open-air restaurant. I am dripping wet and so I inch under the awning, not wanting to get everything wet. A group of tuk-tuk and moto drivers are sitting around a table. For ONCE, nobody offers to drive me. They actually avoid making eye contact.

A handful of scantily-dressed young women (working girls????) with heavy makeup are standing and staring at me. Only one ventures a nervous smile. Nobody offers to love me long time.

An older woman walks over and tries to help me figure out where I am going. God bless her! Meanwhile, I'm pulling a poncho out of my bag until I realize it's a little too late for that. I try to wrap it around my backpack. A man and two small children join the audience, standing and staring at me as though I might grow another head. I smile nervously, wonder if they can all see my nipples through my shirt, and say apologetically, "My first day here." The helpful woman chitchats with me, "Where you from, honey?" I am embarrassed to add to the dumb American stereotype but answered, "Los Angeles" before I thought of saying Canada. JK! :)

Finally the woman confers with one of the drivers and gives me walking directions. I'm actually not that far from my guesthouse. I wave goodbye to the frozen crowd and set off.

My flip-flops act as suction cups I wade ankle-deep through flooded, deserted streets. Why didn't I get those darn vaccinations?? As I plod along, I'm thinking this must be expat initiation or something. God pulled out all the stops.

And then... I turn the corner and look up through the rain to see Toul Sleng, glowing eerily. This was the landmark I'd been told was next to my guesthouse so I felt relieved - kind of. Toul Sleng was once a high school, until the Khmer Rouge turned it into Security Prison 21 (S-21) where they systematically tortured and killed thousands of men, women, and children in the 1970's. Today it is a genocide museum... considered by many to be haunted.

I'm not afraid of this place ... but it is decidedly quite creepy to encounter for the first time ALONE, in the DARK, in the STORM. Movie-quality stuff. I half-expected to hear screams or scratchings from the school buildings. I gazed at the razorwire and imagined for a moment the horrors that happened there... then shivered and hurried on.

A moment later, I was home. Whew! I guess it's official, I'm in Cambodia!

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was great. It was fun to see Patrick Nyugen from Mosaic - he was not only a very friendly face in a sea of strangers, he was also a very gracious host (with an incredible view!)

Hong Kong is very urban, VERY crowded, very fast-paced. I swear they don't put any benches anywhere in that city. I might be from LA but please, there is a REASON I live in Hermosa Beach!! I ain't no city girl, that's for sure. I must have Mom's Hawaiian spirit in me! :) Hong Kong is an island -- but I don't think anybody knows it!

I did find an oasis of peace on Lantau - a small neighboring island. When I stepped off the ferry, I encountered a sea of bicycles. The locals hopped on their bikes and rode off, leaving me with my first moment of silence. Ahhh....

I took a bus around the island to Ngong Ping to see world's largest sitting Buddha. (Apparently world's largest squating Buddha is elsewhere.) He was pretty impressive.



And then I spent HK$56 (about $7 US dollars) during sunset to ride the Ngong Ping 360 -- an ariel tram that seemed to stretch for miles. Awesome! You can see Giant Buddha in the distance over this man's shoulder.


Overall, my time in Hong Kong was fun... It was really interesting to see where Kelly & Chad & company grew up! But now I'm ready to move on to Phnom Penh....