March 2011



Another good use for rice sacks.



Sports Day.2011. Borkeo District

The first time 3-legged races were held in this province as far as we know



This is the school in the background - its a Lower Secondary School for grades 7-9

 Here are the pictures from Sports Day that I was unable to publish last month.
A big thank you to Clare? London VSO who has read this blog and sent David some sports equipment. Hope I am being a good girl with the accounts of life here in Cambodia and  writing  my monthly reports to everyone back home!

Jumping - it was too dangerous to attempt high or long jump - have you seen the ground and footwear worn?

March has been very eventful and sadly we missed the wedding of Anna, daughter of some very good friends Carol and Kenny. I have seen a few pictures and it seems they had a fabulous day.
Good luck and happiness in your new life Anna and Chris.

I have been to Phnom Penh for almost 2 weeks in March - firstly to an education meeting for all VSO volunteers and then for another 6 days of extensive language training which was very hard for me - some of our group were very good and to me they sound pretty fluent. I am still on 2/3/4 words in a sentence! I was brave enough this time to borrow a bicycle to get around so that I could shop, meet friends and sight see. The traffic is awful as I have remarked before there are no rules except for size, and a cycle comes last.
We were a brilliant group that arrived together in Sept and it was so good to catch up with all the news. We come from very different backgrounds, careers and ages but had great fun together.I am sure VSO realise that some life long friends will be made with this experience of in-country training for 7 weeks at the start of placements.
Our group all stayed in the accommodation above the programme office and it was decided that we would hold our own "Come Dine With Me" competition over 4 nights. We set a few rules such as $2 per person and cooking in pairs. The whole 4 nights of cooking and eating and scoring were filmed and Ingran a very talented film director is at this moment editing hours of film to produce a version we can show to all. So watch this space. Ingran by the way has a day job of being a paediatrician in Stung Treng Province. I won't tell you any more except to say my good friend from Yorkshire Kath, who is working with the Cambodian Midwives Ass. and I won on the final evening with our "dress up and eat posh food" do. Some complained we could not have made a 4 course meal for $2 per person but as we all know experience wins through!

Our other good news is that VSO and CARE have got together and found a brilliant job for Dave. He is now a proper recognised volunteer with an allowance. he works 3 days a week for CARE and 1 day a week in a school as an unpaid volunteer. Thank you VSO and CARE.
His project is to promote sport and in particular girls leadership through sport in 6 remote schools within the indigenous population. Some days he works in the CARE office and we go off in the mornings together on our motos with laptops in bags across our shoulders. What a difference a year can make to our lives.

At the end of March I held a 3 day workshop for 30 contract teachers - these are teachers who have completed only 3 years of school themselves!! Can you believe it? But there is such a shortage of teachers in this province and these are better than no teachers, actually they seem fairly dedicated compared with some of the qualified teachers I have met. This is hot, sweaty me presenting one of the teachers with a chalk board to use in the classroom. they were so pleased. There are 116 contract teachers in this province. They only get paid after one year and recieve may be $100.

This is the view from our balcony - each morning the monk and his caller come to ask for alms .About 7.30am.



Whilst I was in PP David attended the wedding of Paul from Australia to a Khymer girl. This picture is of April May a girl from the Phillipines who is working for Health Unlimited here in Ban Lung.

This is Narin my translator. He is building his own house and Dave has been helping him - last week they were concreting the base, all mixed by hand of course and no tools. We needed you Kenny!



Sports Day Press Report

Thsi is the press release fron the sports day which has been sent to the donors of VSO and CARE. We have loads of pictures but for some reason I cannot upload them. I think it must be the dust which is getting into everything after 4 months of no rain. David had a really good day and I was sorry I was not able to be there as had to travel to Phnom Penh in a hurry with tooth ache. Its OK now! A big thanks to Erin (VSO Canada) for all her ideas and help too.

February 21st 2011
Borkeo Lower Secondary School Sports Day. Ratanakiri Province.

120 pupils enjoyed their first ever sports event on this hot, windy Monday morning.
10 volunteers from VSO and CARE arrived after a 30k motor-bike ride from the provincial capital of Ban Lung to help run the event and organise the races.
The students were aged between 9 and 24 and were a combination of boys and girls, day and boarding pupils and Khymer and indigenous people.
The sporting events began at 8am with the school dividing into 4 teams – blue, green, pink and yellow. The first event was 80m races quickly followed by a volleyball tournament. Other events included long jump, 3 legged race, sack race, throwing a boot the furthest. Plenty more running races were held throughout the morning.

The students had great fun and entered into the spirit of the occasion in a grand way. Yellow team were the overall winners and were presented with a identification ribbon for them to wear at school. However, all students who participated were given a small prize.
Grateful thanks to VSO for the resources and CARE for the prizes.

It has been a very busy month and I feel this week that at last I am working appropriately. I worked on a literacy strategy for grade 3 pupils this week and also organised and ran the first inspection of a school with 430 pupils aged 5 -9. It was really interesting and so different to Ofsted!! I learnt that it is a very important regulation in schools that all maps must be displayed on a north facing wall and that every school should have a map of Cambodia even though they might not have anything else. I have also put in a bid for some funding to train teachers who are not qualified properly. Here, if you have your grade 3(age 7-8) certificate you can teach! I have just heard my proposal has been accepted as long as everything is completed in 2 weeks before the end of the financial year. So lots to do.

Well, its nearly 8pm here on a Saturday evening after a very busy week. I have just practised making pancakes with rice flour and dried milk (thanks Cynthia) as we are having a pancake party on Tuesday evening. Can you imagine standing in the tiniest kitchen with a 2-ring calor-gas hob cooking pancakes in temps of 30+C? We ate as usual on the balcony watching the world go by and sharing the space with a family of lizards and geckos who live on the ceiling and behind shady spots such as the fridge. I can hear the big one making the loud noise - it sounds like the word gecko repeated. This morning we went out for coffee at our favourite place in town. Coffee and cake for two and all for $1.25 (under a pound).
 This week we have said goodbye to Erin from Canada who has been a good friend to us. I have travelled to some remote schools which I love doing - but this time there was a problem with my motor bike and we had to return to have it mended. Something wrong with the oil pump, I think - it was .instantly mended and had an oil change and all for $19. 

A very big thanks you to those of you who have sent parcels – they have been very gratefully received. I know more are on the way so we shall be looking out for them. David has just about enough equipment now to manage 3 days a week. The little treats have been so nice - please keep them coming if at all possible.


I am also sorry that I have been so lax in writing my blog but January has been really busy and I have had so many experiences it is impossible to write about them all – here’s a few of the exciting moments –

Christmas in Stung Treng

Lucy visiting for New Year

Going to S'reydens engagement party ( which began at 7.30am)

3 day Study tour with Khymer teachers to Kampong Cham

David starting a Frisbee Club at the stadium here in Ban Lung

Going to Siem Reap for a workshop for 3 days and taking 4 days to get there and back!

Holding a training day for School Directors on how to improve their management skills.

And finally, succumbing at last to the inevitable “tummy upset” but better now.

So, I shall say a little about one or two of the above.

Christmas was really nice to stay with friends, but as Christmas itself it felt so different we did not miss anything other than family and friends. On Christmas Day we went for a bicycle ride and to visit a silk worm factory which made the most beautiful silk garments. We also had lunch there and Dave had fish and chips. Or as the menu suggested fish and ships.

This is me on my way - 150k on dirt roads -we were filthy!
We had an amazing time with Lucy and Joe which went far too quickly. I learnt to carry her on the back of my motorbike . I never thought I would be taking my daughter out on a motorbike! However, after a few days she was on her own hired bike at the huge cost of $6 per day.

On the boat trip going to an indigenous village far away in the north of the province -a brilliant day.

Lucy drinking the iced coffee at the village shop while we waited till Joe had his puncture fixed.

 I really want to tell you about my bus trip to Siem Reap. I went with my VA Narin and the journey was not too bad as he acted as a buffer really. We had to spend the night in a guesthouse halfway and arrived in SR at mid afternoon the next day. However, the journey back I had to make by myself as he wanted to spend the weekend in SR. So here goes, I was told to wait outside the guesthouse at 7am and a minibus would take me to the bus station on the outskirts of SR. At 7.15 I was getting anxious as the bus was meant to leave at 7.30, so in faltering Khymer and lots of looking at my watch and pointing I explain. The boy picks up my bag and I follow him 500m down the road to a pick up point for the bus service. 2 people checked my ticket and told me to sit down. At 7.30 a mini bus stops and I am told to get on. The last man on has no seat -after checking tickets again I am told to get off! After a telephone call from the man who told me to sit, a mini bus arrives, I get on -we drive 500m to the corner and am told to get on the big bus which is late as its waiting for me! I then demand to sit in the seat I booked -seat 1. No luck so I go to the back crestfallen as my language was not understood this time. We set off and 10 mins later arrive at the big bus station in SR and I have to find the right one for my journey. Luck is with me as someone realises it might be me holding up the 7.30 to Kampong Cham and I get on the right bus and my seat is vacant. We set off at 8.55am and the bus is full.
The young man next to me is hot and sweaty and he sleeps on my shoulder all the way. the seat behind me is occupied by a grandmother, mother and her 3 children, in the seat opposite them  is an older man who gives himself a manicure and pedicure with nail clippers and the nails clipped off are flying over us all. The man sitting across the aisle insists on trying to practice his faltering English/French whilst wearing a hat, sunglasses and a mask ( very common here to keep out the dust). After an hour or so the air-con packs up and we drive along with the bus door open, forgot to tell you about the 3 men sitting in the steps by the bus door. It was so hot and dusty. When we arrived in Kampong Cham I had a cold shower for ages and then fell asleep. So no chance of getting up to no good whilst on my own!
The next day up again for the 7 hour mini-bus ride home, at least this was very uneventful.

12 Cambodian foods for Christmas

12 - spit-grilled bananas - or frogs whatever you fancy! I went for bananas,4-6 on a stick.

11-  cans of condensed milk - only good in iced coffee. I heard it described as "liquid crack".

10 - cans of Angkor beer -or Cheers - whatever you fancy as there is no other choice here

9 - foetus eggs - yes, you read that right, hatching out of the shell and onto your spoon as you eat, yum yum!

8 -  kilos of rice - enough to feed 2 people per week. Dave and I haven't managed that in 8 weeks.

7 - Deer - I think that is all that is left here in this town -have the rest been eaten?

6 - o'clock  in the evening- its dark and most people have eaten by now.

5 - my favourite fruits so far-mangosteen, rambutan, mango, longan and you are never more than 10m from a banana here.

4- the only places in town which serve "western food" in one way or another.

3 - SUPER markets in town - but not as we know them but one does have a chiller cabinet.

2 - hobs only on my gas cooker - boil rice and stir fry your veg.

1 - KFC in town!! Well, it serves sticky rice and fried chicken and its sooooooooooo good! And all for £1.

Where does the time go?

December. 



At last I begin to feel like I know what we are meant to be doing here. I have organised and run my first workshop. We have settled into our new home and made a wide variety of cosmopolitan friends and David has found work. Now I shall have to begin some housework as he has been brilliant until now and done it all. We have also had our first house guest- my sister Cynthia has been to stay for two weeks. So come on all friends, book those tickets and come and visit – its brilliant here!




Standing on the newly built bammboo bridge


We have begun to explore the area and there are some super waterfalls, Yak Loam(look up the lake on google) is wonderful and the swimming is just heavenly at lunchtime when the temp in the office gets to 32 +. David has borrowed a bicycle and been out far more than me at present.

Work for David began in earnest this week. He has 2 full days in Borkeo (about 35k on the road to Vietnam) teaching sport in a boarding school for indigenous children who have to live in school as they are bright but live too far away to walk every day. The dropout rate for these children is exceptionally high. The boarding house is funded by another NGO called CARE. He has a class of 30+ in the morning but 80+ in the afternoon.

 The school has never taught sport before and has no equipment at all. He has introduced extreme frisbee and badminton and football. But we only have the one frisbee we bought with us. So if anyone could possibly send him some equipment which is cheap to post –please do so. He needs some very light softballs, shuttlecocks, frisbeees, table tennis bats and balls and anything really…..

Our address is Janet /David Catchpole. VSO Programme Office. PO BOX 912

Phnom Penh Cambodia.

Once the post gets to PP a member of the VSO office collects it and puts it on a mini bus to here and the driver calls us to collect it to the VSO office here in Ban Lung. I have not heard of any going missing!!

This week he has also been in touch with a Korean nurse working in a school here in the town who would like to introduce sport – so 2 more afternoons are happening soon.

We were very excited to see my sister who arrive for 2 weeks at the end of November. We took her to visit the lake, of course, the lava field, the market is a tremendous experience and we have to go every day. She and David went off on cycle tours and she surprised me by hopping on the back of David’s moto very quickly. We left Ban Lung with her to go to Kampong Cham for 3 nights together and David was thrilled to realise the Bamboo Bridge was being built and was almost ready. This is apparently the last year as there will be a bridge built next year. When the water in the river is high locals rely on the ferry to cross to the islands in the Mekong. Now they have dropped and a bamboo bridge is built by hand every year. We were told cars can go across!! We left her there to visit PP for 2 nights and we came north again to home.

This week I held my first workshop for School Directors and 3 District Directors of Education. It was very daunting but I was prepared and they were all there at 7.30am. However, working through a translator is not that easy and they were so shy! Teachers in England never stop talking! Here, I could not get them to start, they were so anxious about saying the wrong answer; they would not answer at all. Eventually, I watered the programme down and we got through the day with some good results. I shall be very busy for the next 3 weeks as I promised to follow up with a visit to every school with a chat about their requirements for leadership and management skills. Not terribly high on their list as want they would really like is to be paid each month and on time.

This is Narin my VA-Volunteer assisstant. He is brilliant and literally a Mr Fixit. He has at least 4 different enterprises that I know as well as full time work with VSO.  Dont be surprised by the females present. These are the only 2 School  Directors I have met so far so I made sure they were both invited to attend.
Everybody here has at least 2 jobs, the second is usually their home farm. This has to supplement their salary. Corruption levels are also very high here, not quite the stories to broadcast here on my blog but I heard that many teachers had not been paid because someone else had received the money and used it to speculate on the soya bean harvest.

I am also supposed to work with the inspection team here in the province. This has not been possible so far as since September they have not received any budget – therefore no school inspections!

We have made many new friends here – Lucy also VSO in Education from the Philippines and her husband Yasir from Pakistan, Erin:VSO Secure Livelihoods –from Canada, Christina from Canada Education -but another NGO and her husband Boris from Uzbekistan. Ema from Spain(with dreadlocks down to her waist) working in Secure Livelihoods and Tania from Suffolk ( on the border with Essex) would you believe! Another VSO girl who is working in secure livelihoods and trying to keep the lake in the hands of the Tampoun people. The indigenous tribe who own the sacred land. There are also 2 more really nice Phillipino girls called April and Ginny who work for an NGO called Health Unlimited. They are all of course much younger than us but they do not seem to mind –perhaps they see us as surrogate parents!

On Saturday we went  to dinner at Lucy and Yasirs with Erin and her partner Jamie over from Australia but works in a gold mine in Eritrea. I had tried to make dessert for us all. I  prepared some dragon fruit and made coconut ice-cream. However, it did not want to set and was sweet coconut sauce I think. There are no milk products here at all but all the locals eat a lot of condensed milk ( not sure what in except exceptionally sweet coffee). So I bought fresh coconut milk from the market and freshly grated coconut and mixed it with the sweet milk and put it in the ice box to freeze. 5 hours later and no change.
Yesterday I organised a VSO+friends picnic and swim by the lake which was brilliant, except I chose the coldest day of the year and temp was only mid 20s!

Christmas here is non-existent but I came home last night after work to find David had erected a Christmas Tree with twinkly lights which we bought in PP in October and Cynthia had bought us some tinsel. The family below us were very amused! We have been invited for the weekend to Stung Treng a small town about 145k away on a dirt road which is busy as it leads to PP. However, I need to work on the 24th so we are planning to go on our motos after lunch on the 24th and return on the 26th. We shall stay with a Dutch couple Jan and Teah we met whilst doing our language training. It will be quite a challenge for me to drive that far in the red dirt and dust and to traverse the 36 bridges ( well, planks of wood). It has stopped raining only for a couple of weeks but already the dust swirls constantly and if there is a vehicle in front you cannot see for ages. We will be so dirty when we arrive.

Last night was very cold – the temperature dropped to below 20 for the first time and we were chilly in bed. Houses here are just made of wood planks with gaps, etc. so quite draughty. I wore pyjamas for the first time and felt like a local at last. Have I told you that many women wear pyjamas as day wear here. Here is a picture of a woman harvesting rice in her pyjamas.

Enough of us but before I sigh off if anyone is nice enough to send David some equipment please fill the gaps with some cotton wool balls, cheese sauce mix, ind cappuccino sachets or hot choc mixes and j cloths. I cannot find anything like j cloths to clean the house or wash dishes with. Anything easy to post would be a real treat.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Life settling into normality

Well, after 3 months we feel at last that we are settling down. I am getting to grips with the education system and have made my 3 month plan and am presently organising a workshop for Dec 16 for school leaders and Directors of Education in 3 provinces here. From the results I hope to be able to formulate my long term plan.
I have also agreed to go on a study tour in January to Siem Reap (it is really a tough call- but someone has to go)! This is to meet an Australian NGO team to see if they are prepared to help with training teachers back here in Ratanakiri. It is 3 days but will take 2 days travel each way as there is limited roads east to west. I have to travel south until I can cross the Mekong river which is 350k almost to Phnom Penh, then go west.
David is making inroads into working and is off again tomorrow to visit a boarding house for indigenous children who are bright but live too far from the high school to travel so one NGO is funding this project. He is planning to have at least 2 days work with teaching them sport and gardening. So fingers crossed it all goes to plan. Things just happen so slowly here.........
At the moment we have my sister Cynthia staying, she managed 3 flights and an 11 hour trip north on the mini-bus. So all of you reading this start saving those pennies.
There is NOTHING about Christmas here at all! Hurray! I am not missing all the hype and lead up to the big day, the only thing I shall miss of course is the excitement of seeing the family all together.

Work

I have 3 objectives to meet -
1. Provide training for child frriendly schools
2. Work with the Inspection team here in the province and provide training
3. Support the School directors with management training

So after 3 weeks what have I managed?
1.CFS training and such issues are unheard of here as you can see from this picture.  This was a celebration for World Teacher Day. What a good idea-why does'nt the UK celebrate this?

However, there was nothing friendly about the 3 1/2 hours these pupils stood in the sun and 30+ temps while the speeches were made.
Yesterday I met a school director who told me that in Sept he had 80 grade 1 (aged 6 ) children  start school with 1 teacher and 60% could not speak Khymer. There are 7 hill tribes here!

2 .I have not yet managed to meet with the inspection department as their office in the Ministry where I work is always locked. I have been told that the yearly budget for inspections which began in Sept has already been spent so they cannot do any more! Everyone here is also very busy with the soya bean harvest, another reason to stay at home.

3.There are 3 districts I shall be working in and it has taken me this long to meet the District Education Officers - many schools I visit are shut and the teachers have gone home. They get little pay and never on time and no-one keeps a check on absenteeism.
I want to do a workshop with them to find out what they perceive as the problems - but they will not come without being paid. VSO believe in sharing skills not paying for staff to attend training - if anyone pays it should be the Ministry. So an interesting challenge in the next few months.Although we are trying to get some funding from an Italian NGO which may make my work a little easier.

This is a school I visited at 10am in the morning, about 200 children from grade 1-4 and no teachers in sight. Lots of pigs, dogs, etc, and the children were very happy playing and chatting. Eventually, I found 2 teachers asleep (which people do a lot of here - a combination of the heat and mal-nutrition)  on a row of desks each inside one of the classrooms. When they woke they were not at all embarrassed. Just seemed pleased to see visitors.