Final sessions and 'Au Revior'

Well the final day has come. As I sit enjoying a coffee in a corner cafe on this final afternoon, I find myself reflecting. The traffic of internationalists continue to ebb and flow through the main arteries of Siem Reap, converging at its heart - the 'Pub Street' precinct. At the corner of the street's western intersection, The hum of Tuk Tuks provides the back beat to the afternoon's soundtrack, the melody peaking at times with the call of, 'Hey, Tuk Tuk?' from the drivers attempting to solicit passengers, at times with gusto and at other times half-hearted, their voices portraying disinterest as if a mechanised button had been pushed which, at the sight of a tourist, plays the monotonous recorded message, 'You want Tuk Tuk?'. The backbeat synthesises seamlessly with the differing dialects of passers by, contributing to the thrum as afternoon gives way to evening.

I cast my mind back through the events of the past weeks here, the teaching, the projects, and the trips to the rural and impoverished Siem Reap surrounds. My mind then arrives at the commitments made and the ideas for future work. 

I look forward to working with Togh Main and VDCA on future endeavours on return to Australia. Firstly, I plan to give VDCA an Australian fundraising contact. Australians interested in supporting VDCA are able to avoid administration costs and bank fees eating into their generous donations by using me as an intermediary; I will direct the financial contributions directly to Togh and the specific projects that people wish to support.

Secondly, working with Dy Malivann on the cultural exchange program, I look forward to fundraising from here for technical equipment needed to maintain the program, promoting amongst Australians and scheduling Australian volunteers to take part in the exchange via Skype.

And finally, I am really looking forward to exploring the opportunity to coordinate a Cambodian immersion program at SJFC that will allow students to actively engage with some if VDCA's projects. This, I believe, will balance students by giving them another perspective on happiness and an appreciating view of their own life by being exposed to a comparatively different degree of social development. Discussions have begun with administration, but there is still much to flesh out in the detail before the College will commit, I think. That said, an immersion program to Cambodia with contact with VDCA would add further depth to present cultural exchange and foster more meaningful communication and relationships between students across geographical and socio-cultural divides.

Now, to end. It has been a thoroughly thought provoking and rewarding experience personally and I believe that many others have benefited from this initiative; from Cambodian students receiving lessons in English and Information Communication Technology (ICT) within the cultural exchange project, teachers participating in ESL teacher training workshops, through to the awareness spread to you - the reader - of the wonderful work being done by VDCA in Siem Reap and at Anlung Pi. To VDCA's director Togh Main and his inspirational team, keep up the fantastic work you are doing in brightening the future of so many lives. To those who have been lovely enough to read my posts and contribute to this initiative in any way, I say a big thank you; I hope you can continue to support me in my support of VDCA into the future in any way you see fit. To my wonderful family for all their support and positivity at all times throughout this initiative, thank you and I love you! Au revoir Cambodia, until next time...

R

Program initiatives at the schools

I have been making some good progress running workshops with two schools here in Siem Reap for Cambodian teachers of ESL and exploring the opportunity for cultural exchange between St John Fisher College (my school back home) and Volunteer Development Cambodia Association (VDCA).  

Both schools I've been supporting are non government organisations working to provide predominantly English classes to children from disadvantaged backgrounds - but art, dance and computer studies are also offered. The schools' (VDCA and New Hope) work is two-fold:

1. They are attempting to 'take up the slack' in an education system that is very elitist by providing opportunities to children unable to access public education, and

2. They are offering additional skills to all local students for future employability here in Siem Reap, a city that relies heavily on the tourist industry.

I have been working at VDCA for the past few weeks with prospective teachers; they are past students who show aptitude and desire to teach now at the school. In the absence of formal training, in terms of lesson structure and teaching strategies, many of the teachers simply rely on what they have been exposed to by past teachers and the transient volunteer/traveller staff that aid in the classrooms. Therefore, we have been going through lesson structuring with particular foci for particular times within the lesson. I've also given them a list of teaching strategies and activities for each section of the lesson, which we have been work-shopping each day. This week will be the culmination of the past 2 weeks of work. I'm hoping to have them collaboratively plan and teach in the last couple of sessions this week using the structure and strategies examined so far. If they can use just one strategy to improve the delivery of their lessons by the time I leave, it will all be worthwhile, I guess.

Practicing the 3X Focussed Reading 

I ran a similar workshop at the rural village school 'New Hope' (approximately 25 minutes drive from Siem Reap) all morning last Sunday. The workshop went well. The school has only been running since 2009 and the teachers are not as proficient as those at VCDA. Therefore, I had to make alterations to the workshop and focus more on simple teaching strategies for younger students. For example, we practiced a Chinese whispers game for spelling and vocabulary building, which was received quite enthusiastically by the teachers.

Practicing the 'Chinese Whispers'activity

The teachers at New Hope

I then modelled it in a couple of the classes (I have been teaching in the mornings at this school until lunchtime and VDCA in the afternoons/evenings) over the past couple of days to show how it plays out in the context of a whole lesson. The kids loved it, albeit a little over excited at times, and fed off the competitive nature of the game whilst unbeknowingly practicing their spelling or a particular grammar structure. Another strategy that went across well was the focused reading exercises we practiced together. The teachers saw a lot of use in the 3X approach to reading that allowed for a particular focus each time before attempting to address global comprehension questions. If nothing else the workshop gave the teachers an idea on segmenting a lesson with some practical ideas to practice the language across all four macro skills - listening, speaking, writing and reading. 

New Hope donation needs

New Hope donation needs cont.

I will finish up my time with New Hope and VDCA Thursday. That said however, I really want to support both schools on return to Australia with sustained fundraising. After discussions with the director of New Hope, it seems they are in constant need of funds for various ongoing costs, but the primary concern is the land on which the school is built. Currently the school rents the land for approximately US$50 per month, but is hoping to purchase the land and become more secure if they can raise US$10,000. The various other costs can be seen here in the images left and right. One initiative the Director and I are looking to pursue is the selling of Cambodian bracelets to Australians. For $50 of material, the school can produce at least 100 bracelets. If I am able to sell them for $1 or $2 in Australia, it can at least double the investment. This might not sound like much in the Australian context, however if you look at the cost sheets above, $100 or $200 goes a long way for this school. Plus, the bracelet initiative gives the students a role in the fundraising process. If you by chance would like to support New Hope in any way, let me know and I will direct your funds straight to the source - free of administration costs associated with large charity organisations.

VDCA computer lab set up

In another project for VDCA I have been working closely with Dy Malivann, the art teacher that will take computer classes from next week. We have been going through the processes for creating a program that he will continue after I leave. In earlier discussions with the director of VDCA, Togh Main, we decided to begin an intercultural exchange program utilising the existing computers at the school. Using a very small portion of the fundraising that I brought over, we have repaired the existing five computers and purchased headphones and webcams. My only hope now is that the computers have enough processing power to support the program. 

The idea is to build on the existing Microsoft Office instruction conducted by Dy Malivann to include studies in Skype and Google (Gmail email, Web 2.0 tools - YouTube, Drive: Docs, Sheets, Presentation, etc.). We rolled the program out today with a brief meeting with the five top senior students and a 1 hour session creating Googlle accounts and introducing the students to and navigating them around email (Gmail). 

Tomorrow we plan to workshop Google Drive and Docs; discussing the capability to collaborate and communicate with students abroad on a single document. Then on Thursday we hope to create Skype accounts and run through the basics of making and receiving video calls for the purpose of intercultural communication. If time, I plan to discuss the possibilities of working within these platforms simultaneously for educational outcomes. Once versed in these, the hope is that students within the intercultural program will be able to communicate with Australian and other English speaking foreign students, which will be beneficial linguistically for the Cambodian students and socio-culturally for the foreign students. Following the sessions this week, the 5 students and Dy Malivann can continue after I leave until all senior students at the school are able to take part in the program if they choose. On return to Australia I plan to organise students and other volunteers that would like to take part in the program to schedule time weekly or fortnightly for an inter-cultural exchange with a Cambodian student from VDCA. If this sounds like something that you would like to be part of, please let me know and I will organise the contact email and Skype address between parties and a time mutually convenient. 

Until next time...
R

When opportunity knocks...

Few students in Cambodia receive sponsorship and even fewer are lucky enough to be directly sponsored. It is really comforting to know that those that have direct sponsors - not relying on the remaining funds after an aid organization's administration has taken their cut - like Sunitai (below) are using their opportunity to the fullest.

Sunitai is a remarkable 12 year old girl that I am teaching in the evenings. However, she attends three different schools everyday. Her first, in the morning, is the public state school, which we would expect to be free. But, as I have mentioned in past posts, state schooling comes at a cost through corruption at the teacher level; no student will progress without paying teachers off! Teachers are so poorly paid that they feel obliged to charge fees to pass students and, consequently, are undermining the integrity of the profession here and diminishing the effect that education has on the lives of young Cambodians. The second school is a free English language school she attends in the afternoon. Then, in the evening from 6pm to 7pm Sunitai comes to VDCA to better her English and study any other classes (art, computer instruction) she can access. 

Luckily for Sunitai, she is directly sponsored by a Canadian woman that she  endearingly calls 'aunty'. Sunitai informs me that she has been studying English since she was three years old at her father's request. Her father, a local Tuk Tuk driver in Siem Reap, would be lucky to earn US$100 a month and would probably not be able to support Sunitai's education without her Canadian aunty's gracious sponsorship. That said however, in conjunction with her sponsorship funding, it is through 12 year old Sunitai's perseverance, application and mature approach to her studies that she is creating a future for herself here amidst an environment that presents challenges to her learning daily. I find myself wondering though, would Sunitai too be apathetic to education as many Australian students are - students that on the whole never really go without or understand disadvantage - if she was not surrounded by adversity and enjoying an opportunity that few Cambodian children not born into wealth enjoy?

Until next time...

R

VDCA's Anlung Pi School and Community Project

The Volunteer Development Cambodia Association (VDCA) school, farm and community project at Anlung Pi is truly inspirational. In just under a year the VDCA Anlung Pi school project, just out of Siem Reap, has grown to include an organic and fully environmentally sustainable fish and rice farm, plus a nursery with six family dwellings for impoverished families. All projects are completely funded on donations and give families a brighter future in the absence of any government social support.

The school, free of charge and totally funded by donations organised by the Director Togh Main and his team, offer an education in English and Japanese language among other things. The classes supplement a corrupt education system where teachers, so poorly paid, are forced to charge fees to families to have their children take tests or classes from home. Many children boycott public school as they can't possibly afford to send their children and pay extra for the 'real' learning. Those that do go to public school for three hours each day are hardly receiving the adequate education sufficient for future success. 

The students that go to the VCDA school are children from the area, many of who have parents working at the local dump scavenging anything they can find to sell, such as old vegetable scraps to sell as pig food. On visiting the dump the conditions were appalling. The trucks come 15 times a day to drop their 'payload' while the dump dwellers await eagerly with their picks in hand ready to pounce in the garbage in hope of finding something profitable. The dump dwellers range in age from five years to ages too difficult to gauge when considering the years of hardship endured in this existence.

The dwellings that line the outskirts of the dump are of meagre construction. Most shanties are simply sticks holding up dry grass roofs. The structures look so feeble that they would surely need replacing most years after the monsoons have passed in November. Adding salt to the wound, luscious patties of rice belonging to wealthy landowners surround the dump and the scattering of shanties, adding further frustration to the dump dwellers existence by reminding them daily of the plentiful life beyond the confines of their world - the dump. They must bare the pain of watching harvests come and go while they scavenge through rubbish to put food in the stomachs of their families when they can. To raise a family under these conditions seem incomprehensible and give testament to the strength of the human spirit. Below I have filmed the filth in which these poor souls currently live, work and somehow maintain hope for a better future.

Fish farm Project - pond

Fish Farm Project

However, VDCA is providing an opportunity for a better life for some dump dwellers through their agrarian and community building projects. The first is the rice and fish farm. The land has been donated lease free for trial and the fish have been bought using VDCA donations, and now number more than 10,000. These farms are set up organically to allow fish to swim within the paddies feeding and fertilising the rice at the same time. To avoid having to pay $15 a bag for fish food (a cost minimal and very affordable in most western countries), a free sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to the farming has been adopted. Village chickens are strategically housed in a structure that stands above a section of the fish pond allowing for their droppings to feed the fish and in turn fertilise the rice. Bugs are attracted with traps over the water's surface to further add the fish's food source. Donations are continuously being sought, not simply for the materials used in this project but also for the university education in sustainable agricultural studies for the Cambodians that are working this farm. These workers have the aspirations to teach others in the community in order to build capacity in the human capital of this village and offer an opportunity to break the generational cycle of poverty perpetuated in a life at the dump.

Dwelling for the Fish Farmer

Nursery and constructed dwellings to the left

Nursery

Another VDCA project at Anlung Pi designed to give assistance to the dump dwellers is the community building project. The project consists of a nursery and six potential dwellings for families to transition out of their dump shanties.

The six sponsored families are given free use of the dwellings for a contracted period of three years. In that time they are offered assistance to find more secure work or may receive a micro-loan to start a small business and begin a self-supported and safe life free of the dump. During this time, accommodation, the children's basic education and food are subsidized by VDCA.

Time to brush the children's teeth at the well

Construction on the other three dwellings

The construction of these dwellings are not yet complete and the nursery has only just opened, however there are already 60 children to fill the nursery rooms (during the hours that their parents scavenge at the dump) and a waiting list of families for the three year contract with the dwellings. The whole project - land and materials - has basically been financed by a wonderful couple from the United Kingdom who donated $40,000 to set the project up.

Within eight months the future of a handful of Cambodian families has been irreversibly altered. From dump dwellers and rubbish scavengers VDCA are giving Cambodians the opportunity and human right to strive for a better future, and offering that which most Australians and citizens of other modern democracies take for grated daily: their human dignity!

Until next time...

R

Push for Positive Political Change in Cambodia

On Human Rights Day here in Siem Reap opposition leader Sam Rainsy led thousands along the streets of Siem Reap in protest of the present governments lack of legitimacy, corruption and defiance of democratic processes. Grim faces of police lining street corners constrasted with the enthusiastic and optimistic expressions of the Cambodian public cheering as the procession weaved it's way through town.

The chants of "Change, change!" and "Step Down!" echoed through the streets of Siem Reap in protest of Prime Minister Hun Sen's vice-like grip on power for the past 30 years. Young and old Cambodians and Buddhist monks mounted in motorbikes added to the fray as Iwas doubled pillion following the crowd. 

The motorbikes streamed along behind the opposition leader. The Cambodian I spoke to said that they would continue to demonstrate until the peoples' desires are met. Allegations of governmental corruption, elitism, human rights abuses and election rigging have many Cambodians angered at their apparent impotence to democratically change the government. 

However, it seems to me that even when Cambodia goes to the polls again in five years, the problem will still exist: little chance of the election being any fairer than the most recent as the man at the top's lust for power seems not to be waining and his grip on Cambodian politics is as vice-like today as it was twenty years ago, according to many Cambodians and expatriots living in Siem Reap. And as much as these protests demonstrate publicly the social discontent with the present government, they are not bringing about political change when you look at the current prime minister's 30 year rule. They are however producing greater solidarity and resolve in their opposition to political continuity. 

Technology Never Ceases To Amaze Me

Technology never ceases to amaze me. Sitting in a century old French colonial cafe situated on the corner of a bustling intersection in Siem Reap, I was enjoying a local draught, watching the transactions of tourists and Khmer Tuk Tuk drivers hustling for a fair price for both parties. The December afternoon was balmy, but offers no hint of rain. The scent of drying squid from the Old Market across the road blends pungently with the exhaust fumes of numerous Tuk Tuks and small 150cc motorbikes wizzing by breaking the consistent chatter of vendors, street hawkers and tourists and giving crescendos to the drone-like soundtrack of the afteroon. 

After keying in the code to connect to wifi (the free service of all cafés, restaurants and guesthouses big and small here in developing Siem Reap, which is either offered at a premium price or NOT AT ALL in similar 'developed' Australian establishments), it doesn't take long for my phone to ding signifying an incoming Skype call.

Cindy and the kids are on the other end of the video call and it's lovely to hear a familiar voice and see a familiar face. As the usual description of each other's daily events were being discussed, I'm interrupted by three Khmer children ranging from five through to ten years of age. The three children are hawking postcards and wristbands to tourists. On a previous day a young book vendor about 12 years old informed me that they often finish their half day of state schooling at lunchtime and spend the afternoon and evening selling their wares to tourists (in English) to support their family; a stark contrast to the afternoon of swimming, ballet dancing and general playing that Zara and Isabella enjoy daily. Instantly I had a thought and passed the Skype call (not the phone) to the three children to hawk their products to my girls in Australia. The smiles were electric on both sides of the connection as the pleasantries were exchanged before the need to make a sale kicked in for the Khmer kids. The transaction was completed, two bracelets were bought, an intercultural interaction was made and all parties left with more than what they initially expected. 

The power of technology never ceases to amaze me. In every way it empowers, transforms and enhances traditional means of communication, making the once incomprenhensible an often taken for granted part of our daily lives. Until next time...

R

Contact with the school

I made contact with the school today and went out to meet Togh Main (the Director) and his group of teachers. The trip out to the school in the early afternoon was cool. I rode pillion on a 150cc motorbike - helmet free, Khmer style - threading ourselves through the traffic and bumping along pot hole filled dirt roads until arriving at the school.

The complex would be no larger than a modern suburban block of land in Australia. It hosts five classrooms (roofed, but only semi-enclosed with lattice)...

...and an office with a library and 'computer room' attached, which line two of outer walls of of the compound. The centre space of the compound - about 10 X 5 metres - is a dirt area where the kids can play soccer and other outdoor games. They are building three more classrooms on the remaining side of compound, all thanks to generous donations.

I first found myself in the computer room. I was given the job of putting back together the two functioning computers that remain after the total five computers went under in the last monsoonal flood; an annual event for which they are trying to organise preventative flooding plans at present. I finally connected up the two working desktops and managed to get them running and connected to the internet. But there is still more to be done to clean up the room. Especially when you look at the electricity that runs under the benches and gets submerged in every flood! 

Later I helped out in one of the classes. Today I was just familiarising myself with the kids, teachers and processes, so I mostly observed after a brief introduction to the kids. It was great though! The students in this class ranged from eight through to eighteen. They all come to the school at the completion of their school day - if they receive state education and can afford the state school fees - and after their chores. Education in Cambodia is only run for half a day and the rate of enrolment drops from primary to secondary. USAID data shows that in 2011 primary enrollment reached 96% of the child population, but lower secondary school only hit 34% and upper secondary 21%. That said however, the kids are inquisitive, jovial, but attentive, and embrace the opportunity to learn English with raging enthusiasm - there is something to be said about the apathy of Australian students when contrasted with Khmer kids. They see English as the key to breaking the poverty cycle with added opportunity to obtain work in the increasing tourist industry here. Not only does the school offer classes in English, but it also offers futures to the students.

I went out for dinner with the school's founder and director Togh Main, his family and his adopted Australian mother Claire (the owner if the guesthouse I'm staying at). It was great to listen to Togh's innovative and compassionate ideas on how he is changing the lives of those Khmer kids that come to the school. In addition to the English classes, Togh obtains sponsors for students that finance their university degrees in their life beyond the school. His association has also created projects such as fish farms and rice paddies and he gives micro-loans to people to run the farms or other initiatives in order to earn an income and give them a future free of poverty. Another fantastic way in which he builds capacity in people is through his building project that focuses on providing free dwelling to the families of rural students for a period of three years while their children are at the school. During this time parents can focus on work prospects without worrying about the education, housing and feeding of their families. What a wonderfully ingenious method of building and spreading wealth. The other initiative that I particularly like is what I term a 'circle of productivity'. The students from the school are either employed by the school as teachers or at the Guesthouse as staff after the completion of their studies. This gives the students a place to apply and consolidate their education while learning other skills that will benefit them for future employment. The other benefit is that the workers are so gracious for their opportunity that they work so productively within the positions as if it were their family business. 

Togh, a former monk, now derobed, is turning people's lives around in Siem Reap with nothing more than love and compassion fuelling an engine of innovative thinking. 

Until next time...

R

Arrival and Day 1 in Siem Reap

Arrival and Day 1 was pretty low key and relaxing. Most was spent refamiliarizing myself with the place.

Siem Reap really is a place of stark contrast. One example of this is definitely the socio-economics of the place: wealth comfortably abodes side-by-side with abject poverty. To illustrate, you will find a landmine victim walking on his thong-clad hands down the street whilst an Audi's horn beeps to alert him of its presence. Another example can be found in its history. The decaying remnants of Khmer antiquity blend with the shabby dignity of Cambodia's French colonial past, and provide impetus for a thriving tourist industry which creates much needed jobs. The flip side of this however, is the commercialisation of everything and everyone exploding out into the streets in all it's 'Western glory' as the past gives way to progress. It's like someone grabbing you by the head and saying, 'look at this, look at this before it's gone!' And in the next breath saying, 'wow, I'm loving these ridiculously cheap prices on everything, but I'm not paying 75c for a beer here when I can get it for 50c around the corner!' Or, the fact that after finishing your 50c beers, you are offered everything and anything (sex, drugs, other) as you meander back to the hotel. The reliance on the tourist dollar (and I mean the Dollar as nobody trades in the local currency) is huge and I find myself wondering whether the tourist dollar is improving Cambodia by providing much needed employment opportunities or compounding societal issues with moral degradation. Anyway, enough of the heavy stuff...

The breeze blowing on my face and the  blended scents of construction, rubbish, Khmer cooking and heat enveloped my senses on the trip from the airport. The Tuk Tuk ride was a welcomed breath of fresh air after spending a few hours in a compressed cabin thousands of metres above the ground.

After checking into the guesthouse in the centre of town... 

...and chilling a little, I unpacked and headed out for stroll, a bite and a quiet beer in the afternoon.

I chilled at a sidewalk cafe watching people go by, Skyping home and enjoying a quiet afternoon beer. It was interesting that in the middle of the throng of tourists and beggars I strike up a chat with a couple of executives from the capital starting an Audi dealership. Really? Audi in Cambodia? It was hard to believe there was even a market here. But the closer you look, the more you see the ever-increasing divide between the privileged and the not; the shame is that the socio-economic 'ceiling' is seemingly rising at a much faster rate than the 'floor'. The guys were lovely, Darren a 30ish Australian with plenty to say about everything and his companion from the UK. Together they have racked up 16 years living in Cambodia and only have positive stories to share - very nice to hear.

The 50c beers continued to come and the conversation moved from Audi's branding strategy in Cambodia to soccer and the Ashes. Time eventually came to a head and the bill read $6.50 - Vietnamese rice paper rolls and drinks... We said our farewells and I headed home. 

The night ended uneventfully despite propositions of sex and drugs in the 200 metre stroll back to the hotel. I wonder if the comparative price of sex and drugs in Cambodia mirrors the price of beer. Or does the residual 'take away' and consequent hospital bills bring it back to parity? Anyway, another day down and until the next time...

R

On route and over night in Guangzhou

On route and overnight in Guangzhou brought some interesting, unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable moments.

The flight was uneventful, spent reading and watching films to pass the nine hours; the conversation with my neighbour consisted mostly of snorts and snores. Oh, the occasional body language was shared - an elbow as his twitch gave momentary reprieve from his nasal communication. But all-in-all the trip was fine; landing in China at five in the evening ready to see the fruits of Australian 'hole digging' over the past decade.

Landing through the hazy orange glow of sunset in the engine room of modern Chinese progress - Guangzhou, I fumbled my way through the process of acquiring the 72 hour visa and stop-over accommodation. After clearing immigration, the instruction was to go down stairs to the 'Glass Room' - very mysterious - and 'wait' - very Chinese. I entered the room under the watchful eye of three middle-aged attendants busily stocking refreshments to allay the ever-increasing anxiety of the 50 or so tourists wondering when, where, how what and any other question the initial instruction didn't address.i scanned the room as I walked in wondering where to plant my tired butt - it's amazing how you look forward to sitting down seemingly exhausted after sitting down all day in a plane.

Pressing through the emotionless gazes of the many tired faces in the room , there was one welcoming smile. 21 year old Nicole had the carefree luster to strike up conversation with anyone rather than put up with awkward silence of a room full of strangers waiting for answers to the same questions. Nicole was a Phillipino-Briton, on route from Cambridge to her native home in the Phillipines indefinately. The bubbly conversation about nothing in particular was a welcomed break at the end of a day sitting side-by-side with the non-conversationalist 'Bob' (didn't really catch his name). Three hours chatter was broken by the call of the attendant at a little after 8:00pm and we were all shuffled out of the 'Glass Room', out of the airport and onto buses headed to differing hotels depending on destinations. A quick goodbye wave and Nicole's company was replaced by the more serious and unassumingly confident Lewis as we moved towards our respective buses. 

Law student at the University of Queensland, Lewis was another EurAsian companion; a Korean-Canadian from Vancouver, studying in Brisbane. Lewis and I struck up conversation on a plethora of subjects, one of which was his personal interest in refugee law and the current asylum seeker predicament in Australian in relative terms to Canada - interesting perspective. After killing the hour bus ride from the airport engrossed in conversation, we finally arrived after 9:00pm at the Dragon Lake Resort. Wow, the resort was 'European-style' and resembled a blend of the quaint antiquity expected in Tuscan towns with the planned precision, attention to symmetrical detail and permanence that is quinntessentially British in the University towns of Cambridge and Oxford. We were given our room keys and sent out into the 'town' to settle in. It was surreal; like walking through pleasantville in a dream. It's a town created to give Chinese the impression they are on the Continent without leaving China. We found our rooms and Lewis, Krishna (the third addition, a Canadian living Indian) and I decided to blow 'Pleasantville' in search of a little more of a Chinese experience.

We shared a taxi and found ourselves in the local hamlet, sitting in a restaurant being entertained by a wonderfully excitable Chinese family, each of who could not speak a word of English. We bumbled our way throug ordering and tucked into a feast that cost no more than a couple of burgers at McDonalds.

Here's Lewis giving it his best. Interestingly, they assumed Lewis could speak Chinese due to his Korean features. The food was great...

Chopped pork in ginger...                        Fish broth - quite oily. 

We also ate this chopped chicken dish, literally chicken fed on corn, cooked and the  chopped bones and all - nice, but strange once I found myself chewing on the head! We finished up, took a few snaps and said our goodbyes. We found a guy with a van and he offered to take us the 10minute drive back to the hotel for $AUS10. Then, off to bed as it was after midnight and we had already added two hours to our day with the time difference in China. Until next time...

R

SJFC Car Wash Fundraiser

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In the lead-up to the trip students pitched in to wash teacher cars to raise funds for a Cambodian school for disadvantaged children associated with the Volunteer Development Cambodia Association. The target was $AUD100 to buy 100 new text books for the Cambodian kids - things come cheaper in Cambodia! It was a fun affair with fantastic input from members of 11 Quinn among others.


The car wash ran through a lunch time. At first the list of cars seemed daunting when we looked at the group of few readying themselves to take up the sponges and chamois. However, as the lunch progressed, the list of able washers increased, much to the delight of the original few.

With the bell to end lunch came the final car to wash. And by now the numbers had dwindled down to the original few once more. The washers were wonderfully gracious in the giving of their time and the teachers were very supportive offering up their cars to be washed.

The students did a wonderful job of the cars; with comments from some staff members to the effect of, 'wow, my car hasn't shined like that in a while.' The car wash hit its target and then some. It raised approximately $150 - the text books covered and a little more to add to other funds I've raised to give to the school. Well done girls!