Khmer Boxing

The national election happened on Sunday and Hun Sen's ruling CPP party has remained in power.  There are widespread protests due to take place tomorrow. Think of us...

There is a lot of information on The Cambodia Daily newspaper website if you want to know more:

The Cambodia Daily

The dorm was pretty quiet.  The vast majority of the girls went home for the weekend to vote (the dormitory shut and there was limited security available).  Some were observers at voting stations.

They have a black finger from the indelible ink, the evidence that they have voted.  None of them want it to wash off.  For most, this is the first time they have been able to (try to) exercise the right to say who runs the country.  

I took the opportunity to visit Hong Kong to see my sister and her husband.  It was glorious playing golf, eating afternoon tea and sunbathing at the beach, a real break but also quite difficult to get your head around. 

Mala and Sampours

I got back this morning and the girls are all raring to go again!  It's 930pm and I've just finished a session with Sampours on her pronunciation and a session with Mala on her CV and cover letter.  

Mala is applying for a voluntary work experience type position in Acleda Bank.  

She was initially looking at a cleaning role at the bank and not in the customer service team on the basis that she did not have anything to wear and was nervous that her skin was too dark.  In spite of the fact that she's studying accounting at the university of management and has been awarded the scholarship to live at Harpswell.  

With a little encouragement she's now going for a customer service role which is fantastic! She's so sweet.  We've spent some time looking at the application form and requirements in terms of CV and cover letter so we will do some more work on it this week. 

Cooking classes


I've started cooking classes with the girls on an adhoc basis.  They are going nuts for it.  

So far we've made two lots of smoked salmon blinis, spaghetti carbonara (Steve Osborne Style), pancakes (they hate lemon and sugar and much prefer golden syrup), marshmallow rice crispy squares (I know. Not really cooking. More mixing), a rocket and parmesan salad, spaghetti amatriciana and we are due to have a go at bruschetta this week.



Culture Show

The Culture Show last Sunday was great. 

This is a video of one part with the girls performing a traditional Khmer fashion show...

Activities last week included...

...a group dance class at the Olympic Stadium for $.25 each. Beats gym membership in London.

...a cinema trip. This time to see Man of Steel.  Very good if you haven't been. It's the final trip. Everyone has had the chance to go once.

...Juliet and I took a bike ride into the countryside to see what we could find. Its really cheap and easy to do. Might be a good group activity, save that we have to avoid the land mines.

...a trip to watch live Khmer Boxing at CTN Studios. It's pretty rough, but free. Mostly the guys fighting are helped out by two mates who sponge them down with water mid fight and offer support and physio.  

You're right in there and we had to move a bit further back to avoid the blood.  Salin actually knew one of the boys from her province so we even got to say hello. So cool. The guys  just hop on their moto afterwards and carry on with life as usual.  No idea how they do it.

University Tour

Last week, Koeurn and Sampours kindly offered to show me and a group of about 20 children from an NGO called CCC around the campus of The Royal University of Phnom Penh.  

The children come from families where either one or both parents suffer from drug abuse, prostitution and/or are in prison.  It was a great experience for the children, they saw the library and heard about what life is like to study. One 13 year old boy tole me he wanted to be the president one day.  I told him to go for it.

It was great for Koeurn and Sampours to build experience presenting information. The kids loved them, of course.

This is Sodalin, Rachana, Cheata, Kimleang,  Vouththou, Soriya, Roith and Reaksa enjoying the culture show. 

Rach 

Hot Like Pepper - Sokun Kanha

Culture Show

We are having a culture show on Sunday!!!  

Lots of the girls from both dorms are performing (with support from the wonderful Leadership Residents).  We even have MCs and sound girls.  

The current line up consists of a traditional Khmer story, sketch from The Wizzard of Oz, apsara dancing, Khmer songs, a fashion show, tap dancing and a Bollywood dance. 

I'm singing a Khmer song called Hot Like Pepper by Sokun Kanha.  I'm terrible!!

Rakesmay is going to do my hair like this....

It's going to be awesome. Can't wait.

Elections

Hotting up here generally ahead of the general election on 28 July 2013. 

There was a prayer gathering yesterday outside the Royal Palace for peaceful elections.  You get t-shirts for pretty much everything in Cambodia. The peaceful protest t-shirts are a tasteful shade of green.

A few of the girls are helping with the process either as independent advisors or monitors.  

Cambodia Daily

Tonight is Siekmouy's turn to lead the Cambodia Daily class. 

We are talking about a recent employment fair organised by Japan to recruit Cambodians for Japanese companies in Phnom Penh.   She is going to present her evidence and information to the group via Powerpoint (for the first time) so that's fantastic.

Fun stuff

Off to see Despicable Me 2 at Legend Cinema shortly and we have more swimming on Sunday morning (I take five at a time with priority to those who haven't been with me before - it's very popular and good for them - lots can't actually swim so it's really lovely for them to have a go).

Running with me at 6am is proving very popular.  There's the same crowd every morning:

1 a guy with a MASSIVE dog (Dog Guy)

2 a guy with learning disabilities, no speech and limited movement who wears flip flops to exercise (Silent Guy)

3 a group of ladies who always ask how old I am and then giggle (Ladies Group)

4 Cool dudes doing "training" but mostly just posturing (The Dudes)

Jon and I bought Silent Guy trainers and socks yesterday and the girls and I gave them to him this morning.  He had the widest most genuine smile you've ever seen, there were lots of thumbs up!! It's amazing how much you can communicate with only limited Khmer (me) and not being able to speak (him).

How could I forget the monkeys!!! Here they are. Adorable. No mummy I didn't touch them...honest.

Still checking Daily Mail showbiz daily for any signs of the Kate and Wills Royal birth.  When is it going to happen!!?

Leadership Update

Vechou is applying for a Chevening Scholarship to study economics in London.

Vatey is applying for an internship with General Electric in Phnom Penh.

Panha has secured a teaching job (maths and English) which she is doing in addition to her university studies.

Pang has secured a part time job with a medical equipment/pharmacy company to support her studies.

We've organised for DC Cam (documentation centre of Cambodia) to come and show the Harpswell girls its brand new film called A River Changes Course. It analyzes economic development and globalization by following the lives of Cambodians in 3 different locations.  There is a young family in Ratanakiri, a Cham Muslim family in a floating village on the Tonle Sap, and a young girl who moves from her province to Phnom Penh to find work. 

Other than that I've got CVs, scholarship applications and interview preparation sessions coming out of my ears.  They're all working really hard. Post interview downloading is proving important too.

Learning curve

Only a couple of things in the last few days...

The vast majority of the students don't have bank accounts.  Their parents literally put $30 on a moto or with a relative coming to Phnom Penh who physically hands them their monthly allowance.  Jon should set up Metro Bank here...

Girls get a 50% reduction on university fees to encourage them to study.  Thiery is one of TWO girls on her engineering course.

There is a massive amount of bribery that goes on during High School.  All over Cambodia.  Almost all the girls have had to pay teachers a bribe at some point (one girl's teacher asked the entire class to pay up in order to pass).  

I had dinner with this lovely Christian family on Saturday evening.  The parents are Sokha and Lee Nam Soon.   Mum, Jon and me are going to sponsor the children's school education for this year.  It's a christian school which they hope will be less open to bribery and focus more on education. 

Bye for now.  

PS If you haven't already done so, you can sign up for email updates as and when I do a new post. Just put in your email address in the box on the right hand side of the Home page.

I'm updating every Thursday (not for any particular reason.  Just thought it might make the end of your busy weeks more enjoyable...).

New recruits and Spring News from Thailand

Looking for New Recruits in Kampot Province

Last week I joined Varony (Senior Manager at Harpswell), Rachana and Om Malis on the final stage of a 10 day trip across the cambodian countryside to interview 136 potential new Harpswell students.

It is a difficult job. There are only 19 places. Here are some pictures of the schools the students come from.  The students have a 15 minute interview and a 15 minute written test. Varony is now shortlisting.


Highlights this week:

1 Finding Wimbledon on the Star Sports Channel in the dorm. I stayed awake all night watching Murray.

2 The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).  Fascinating trials of senior Khmer Rouge officials.  Added bonus is that the Defence Counsel for one of those being prosecuted looks very much like Mr Darcy in the only true adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (produced by the BBC with Colin Firth of course).  Makes me want to sit there all day!

3 Taking the girls to see Phnom Penh Crown FC play its latest fixture at the Olympic Stadium.  Great crowd, roasted corn and pretty average football but thoroughly enjoyable.







4 The girls are amazing at hair braiding. Vechou needed a volunteer so I offered of course. She was amazing!  Photo below.




5  Running with Bopha. I went again this morning. We leave by 6am while its still cool and do laps of the road leading up to a beautiful Pagoda.


Por is FAMOUS!

Following on from Por's work with BBC Media Action to build a community hall in her province, another film crew have been in touch.  This time it was Spring News from Thailand and they came to the dorm!

Por is doing an incredible job to promote her project and share news about the life of people in her village. I even got interviewed. Watch this space. Eek.

Dinna in Burma

Dinna leaves at the end of the month for an exchange programme with Burmese, Thai and Cambodian students which aims to promote joint working between the three nations.  There are currently a number of border disputes between various parts of these countries and this project aims to alleviate some of the tension. It's a 2 DAY bus ride to Burma. Flights are too expensive.

Reaksa and Soriya in Japan

Reaksa and Soriya are waiting to see if they have secured a place on another exchange programme this time to Japan.  

Dormitory Leadership Teams

Busy week here in the dormitory. This was a meeting to vote for the new team leaders for each dormitory (which includes an overall head, a head of accounting and head of discipline).  All good experience.

 Rach x

Sopanhchakpor and BBC Media Action

Highlights this week

Lychee taste amazing.  No one knows what an avocado is.

There are hot water showers at the swimming pool.

Numkong doughnuts (with melted palm sugar on top and sesame seeds) are still amazing.

Gym Bar shows Wimbledon AND the Lions Test Matches.

You can get an awesome manicure 5 minutes down the road for 5000 rial ($1.25).

UK Trade and Investment - I met with Jeffrey Lamb this week, head of UKTI to talk about ways in which he can help the students at Harpswell.

Free books - I bought some story books in Khmer and English and gave them to the little street children. Puss in Boots was the most popular!

Just for Fun

I have been trying to work out what cheap activities we can do next.  So many of them never leave the dorm simply because they don't have the money.

This weekend we went to the Plae Pakaa Theatre produced by The Cambodian Living Arts.  Friday night was the show Mak Therng (a Khmer story about a man and his wife who is stolen by the prince and his journey to win her back).  Saturday was The Passage of Life, a journey through a typical Khmer life and the way in which each life event is celebrated, from birth, coming of age, marriage and death. They loved it!

Next Saturday we are off to see Phnom Penh Crown FC play their next match at the Olympic Stadium.

Nat and Roith are looking into a Khmer Kick Boxing Match. SOOO excited.

Community Project Competition

I have asked the girls to come up with a project to win $200 and help their community (either in the provinces or Phnom Penh).  

It can relate to anything they want and four teams have so far talked to me about their proposals. They range from helping rural villagers set up businesses to grow produce, buying books and helping an orphanage.

Deadline is 31 July.

Update from the girls:

Bopha is off to Vietnam on a scholarship for one month from 10 July .  She will be continuing her study into the reasons why there is a lack of women studying mathematics at universities in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Por won $2,500 in a national competition for her project to build a youth centre in her village.  It is now build and BBC Media Action filmed it.  Link to it below and some pictures: 

Click here for information on Por's project
Vechou is doing really well with her English classes (we have two per week).  Pronunciation is progressing.  She is about to start an internship with Cambodia Cares.

Salin, Sampours, Keourn, Mala, Sereraith and Siekmouy have a class with me between 6 -7pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on listening, reading and writing skills.




Sodalin in a total Jane Austen convert.  She has read Pride and Prejudice and watched "Becoming Jane".  During our weekly session we watch clips from Persuasion and translate it. She is really getting the hang of reading between the lines.

We went swimming again this week and taught Sopheap how to swim and Sohim how to improve breaststroke technique! They did really well.

Masters in Economics at UCL or other London University 

Vechou is in her third year (with one more year to go until she finishes her undergrad degree in Economics).  Her dream is to study a Masters in Economic Policy in a London university.  Does anyone know how she could get a scholarship?? 

I know how to sort out her accommodation (there is a fantastic Housing Association in the UK called Zebra Housing Association which provides low cost housing for foreign students) and I may sponsor her myself in terms of living costs...but I need to get her on a course first!

She has a mum and dad in the provinces but they are quite old and her brother died a few years ago.  

She was selected for an interview with Harpswell by the director of her high school and asked to come to his office.  She was really scared because people only go to him when they are in trouble!  She was bright enough to be selected from a large number of applicants and joined Harpswell three years ago.  She wants to be able to help Cambodian businesses operate and run effectively to promote economic growth in Cambodia.  

She is very bright but a little shy and not very confident (which I am working on... :)).  She has great aspirations for Cambodia and a year in London would transform her life.  It would be a platform for her to really change the country when she came back. I would love to be able to surprise her with an offer of a place before I go.

There are now lots more photos in the Gallery and videos on the blog. Take a look!

Bye for now.  Enjoy WImbledon.

Rach x