I think the last I wrote was from this café in Phnom Penh 2 months ago. It’s still hot and sticky so my position in front of the fan is a blessing. Seeing this is my last day here in Cambodia I thought I should do a rough summary to keep you up to date. Sihanoukville, the project and the people I met through this experience and travel, have been certainly an intense one. I was told when I first arrived, that this “paradise” had a strangle way of challenging people on many fronts and that people are often faced with themselves in very profound ways. Wow that was an understatement!
I lived in the most beautiful situation, over looking the whole bay, the highest position on the bay. I was the only one staying in the guest house for the last two months after my time in Vietnam. Very beautiful, but very alone. I had my paints, easel, my ukulele and my computer. Next door at Cloud Nine GH I developed a group of friends, where I spent most of my social time. Many hours were spent in contemplation staring at the horizon. I have never had so much time to do seemingly nothing. The mentoring program took a few hours every afternoon with two to three children in my studio working with oil paints and canvas. That was very rewarding.
As I have mentioned before Cambodia is a nation in recovery. It’s recent history and the huge gap between the rich and the poor is shocking to say the least. The rich get richer and the poor, more desperate. People are just surviving here. Many don’t.
A week ago two young girls drowned in front of a whole beach of people. Nobody except one or two “barang” (foreigners) jumped in to try and save them. No Cambodians (yes they can swim). After my friend missed finding the girls by only feet, he came from the surf without them…it was devastating to all that saw….yet within fifteen minutes two other young girls were joking with my friends about going for a swim now…devastating to the volunteers that were there. Another young man who was staying at cloud nine said that when all was lost he went to the jet ski owner to see if he could hire one to try and recover the bodies. He was told it would be $100!!!!! Shocking! Eventually one body was washed ashore and the other was found the next day in a fisherman’s net. He would not give the body to the mother unless she paid $300!!!!! ( an average cambodian’s wage is 25 to 70 dollars per month).
This is just one example how different things are here…survival: challenging on many fronts. Yet children are children, and people here also manage to be gracious and friendly, and hope always prevails where there is faith. Everywhere there is construction…building more and more Buddhists temples throughout the country. The Pol pot regime banned all religions other than allegiance to Ankor. So there is still a growing faith and hope for the future. People don’t like to dwell on the past or even talk about it.
I will write more about the children and how their life is different from our children’s in another letter…there is so much to say…so much learning and so much more awareness of how life is different outside our comfortable homes. We should all be so grateful for what we have. So many people all over the world live with “survival” as their motivation for living. We have so many choices about how we live our lives.
…..I am now in Vietnam again staying with my friend Inge. We are going away for the weekend with a group of expats for walking adventure…but from a beach resort…different from my usual adventure…but hey…what ever presents!
I spent a wonderful week with my sister gale..we travelled around the country side and were taken to a friends home village and had a rare insight into their lives here. We travelled and laughed and cried together..such good and sometime intense times, and I appreciated every second with her. So special, as we don't get to spend such times together usually. Thankyou gale! Perfect timing.
I will spend the next few weeks doing some more travel…will go on an “easy rider “ tour in the mountains, then on to stay with another friend in Hoi an, then back down to the delta region and then fly to Bangkok. After that I’m not sure what…but hope to see jeff, then I plan to do some courses…cooking, meditation, massage…what ever I feel drawn to. At the moment I’m thinking I will come home a bit earlier to travel down to Tassy in my little car packed up with camping gear and some painting and writing equipment…so will call into see as many people as I can. I’m still deciding what I will be doing next year, but that will come clearer as time rolls on.
At the moment I am trying to digest all that has happened in the passed few months and trying to remain positive and moving forward to enjoy the life I have been blessed with.
