It's now less than 3 weeks before I return to London. I am
absolutely astounded at how quickly this summer has gone by, and will certainly
be leaving Cambodia with a heavy heart.
Since the last post the bunk-beds have been delivered and
assembled, Joe and I buried our heads in the mammoth EU Proposal for 2 weeks (we nearly
didn't come out of it in one piece), HCC
is presenting at a Conference this week, I've found a translator to help me
conduct interviews and filter through other documents, John has arrived, and we
spent a lovely weekend in Siem Reap. Not
bad for a few weeks, eh?
The bunk beds went down a treat, and the HCC clients, staff,
John, and Joe and his visiting friends, spent roughly 2 days assembling 32 bunk
beds at the Shelter. It was a great day
of team work, sweat, (no tears), and accomplishment. You should have seen the look on our faces
when the delivery van arrived, 2 Khmer men jumped on top of the van and started
handing the different pieces of the beds over the balcony on the 1st
floor of the shelter building. The best
part was that everyone helped. The girls
were keen to jump in and start carrying parts here and there, and it actually
seemed as though everyone had a really fun day.
I'm not sure I can even fathom speaking about the EU
proposal…it was a bit of a beast. The
instruction manual alone was 20 pages and the final document itself felt more
like a book than an application. After
more than 2 weeks of hard work, Joe and I finally managed to complete the
proposal and were so relieved when we dropped it off that the only reasonable
thing to do was to sit and have a beer.
I believe the results of the funding will be revealed in September, so
cross your fingers for HCC.
Siem Reap is a definite MUST DO! It was one of the best weekends I have ever
had. John and I ventured onto the Mekong
Express Limousine Bus at 2:30pm for the 6 hour journey. 3.5 hours into the journey the bus totally broke
down. We had no idea at the time how
long we would be waiting, until about an hour later when we were told that a
bus from Siem Reap was being sent to pick us up. It could have been a horrible trip, but we
met some fantastic travelers on the bus (including an Australian beatboxer and
a lovely Khmer tour guide). Finally at
around 10:30-11pm we arrived in Siem Reap.
The next few days were spent cycling endlessly through ancient temples,
eating local delicacies (including snake and crocodile) and getting far too
much sun. I don't want to spoil the trip
for you by saying too much, but can only encourage you to do it. It is far too incredible to pass up.
So what will I do in the final 3 weeks in Phnom Penh? Well, I am finally starting to organise my
own research into reintegration programs for victims of Human Trafficking and
am looking to the future-UNODC maybe? There
is also Regent's to think about, and finding a flat in London (and hopefully
enjoying a roast dinner or two).
I know that the trip here isn't over yet, but I really feel
like I've nearly done all of what I came here to do, both professionally and
personally. There is still a lot of work
to be done in the next 2 weeks, but I think its better that way. As I've said before, my only sadness is that I
cannot stay a little bit longer.
I imagine there will be only one more post for this journey,
so thank you in advance for all of your support, kind words, and keen
interest.
X S
