We've now been here for a week now... Slowly getting used to the Cambodian heat (it is HOT here, sorry to say this to all of you who are under a blanket of snow!) & the Cambodian pace of life.

The last week has been spent observing how best to utilise the time we are here... We visited a very remote village near the Thai-Cambodia border last Friday and saw them turn on their irrigation system for the first time.. Very appropriate as it was World Water Day! The village has been setting in place systems to be self supporting ... It is MILES & MILES from anywhere. But despite that, they have built a school on the site so education of the village children can take place ... Health/hygiene standards in the village? Hmmmmm....
We have also visited other rural villages nearer to Siem Reap where supposedly there is better access to the local health care centre.... But do people utilise the services? Questionable how many do this and if they do whether they receive what is required... The Bottle of Pills is seen as a cure all here ... Doesn't matter what is in the pills or for whom or for what they were intended, so kiddies take heart pills prescribed for adults, steroids are randomly given out from one relative to another... Traditional remedies are mixed with modern treatments... One is left thinking the human body really is incredible  that such misuse of medicine doesn't result in instant or near death!!


From the healthcare perspective, it has given me time to assess how best to utilise the short time I am here and my goal is to develop a sustainable basic health education programme for the villages.  With the help of another nurse who is volunteering at BFT & one of the BFT staff members we are devising a core set of health education programmes on things as simple as hand washing, safe use of water and basic hygiene skills.  I am very lucky to have a skilled artist with me ( my hubbie) who is making up a set of health education flash cards which we hope to use to get the villagers to identify a health problem and what would be the best way to treat it .. The goal is they identify the problem and the solution and we fill in the gaps.



Last Friday, we went to one of the very remote villages near the Thai - Cambodia border (ex Khmer Rouge stronghold). We witnessed them turning on their crop irrigation programme.. Very appropriate as it was World Water Day. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the village has a school.. Spent a very happy hour (albeit in the midday sun so somewhat taxing on the body's cooling system) playing What's The Time Mr Wolf with the children... Their squeals of laughter when I said " dinner time" and they all ran off in different directions was joy to the ears... Standards of hygiene in the village ? Interesting to say the least, but we sat down later with the mums and some of the kids and had a hand washing lesson... Once more greeted with peels of laughter.. Cleaning under the nails was an utterly new concept to them! In fact, hand hygiene of any kind was new to them!
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We spent the weekend visiting a town called Battanbang in the east of Cambodia (I think??) ... I take
my hat off to all the gap year kids who travel by bus as they explore the world... The bus trip there is NOT one I would want to repeat more than once... We had a bus driver who had his hand on the horn more than on the steering wheel... A supposedly 3 hour journey took closer to 6 hours!  You then arrive at your destination to be bombarded with Tuk Tuk drivers who want to take you every which way... Mercifully we realised in the nick of time that the guesthouse we had pre booked was opposite the bus station. But we are grateful to a local Tuk Tuk driver, Mr Nicky, who became our personal driver for what was left of the day we arrived and became our personal tour guide. We visited two amazing sites... Both OMG places... The first was one of the Killing Caves where the Khmer Rouge carried out some of their truly APPALLING atrocities.... This was a very hard place to be... From the top of the hill where the cave is situated, you look out over the Killing Fields... You start to realise how little we in the West really knew what happened during Pol Pot's era... I urge anyone reading this to learn all they can about that time and the years after... Only that way can one just begin to understand what these people have endured for year after year after year... 45% of the population are
under 25! You very rarely see an old person in Cambodia, and when you do, you can only wonder what they endured or which side they were on that they have survived.
The other OMG moment was seeing thousands upon thousands of bats fly out of a cave in same hill... They fly out at dusk, every night of the year and then fly back again at dawn... One is left with wondering whether in some way they are a representation of those who were killed in the nearby fields.
So, this week will see the first delivery of our sustainable health education project... Fingers crossed X
If anyone comes to Cambodia on holiday or a gap visit, please go to the rural villages. The people are LOVELY, their plight is heart breaking, but you will rarely receive a more heartfelt welcome.