Samrach's Profile

Samrach is 24 and has completed an IT degree at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. He has worked at RDIC since 2005 undertaking data management, Geographic Information System (GIS) data mapping, and being very hospitable and helpful to visiting volunteers! Samrach lives with his mum and 2 sisters (one older and one younger), Samrach’s older brother has taken the plunge and moved out on his own. Samrach grew up in Phnom Penh and his parents both came to PP in the early 1980s from the same small village in Kampot (to the south).

Samrach’s father died 6 years ago, he worked for the Cambodian Ministry of Employees, and his mum ran a canteen at the University until she retired in 2005. Samrach loves to communicate with people, have parties and exchange ideas and experiences with people of other cultures. He loves swimming and ping pong. In life, Samrach’s goal is to do the best he can. He wants to see people work together smoothly and cooperate no matter what their differences.

In August 2005, Samrach travelled to Japan for 2 months to take some short courses in management. Samrach loves the Japanese culture and hopes to visit again in 2008. He also hopes to go overseas to extend his studies with a Masters or PhD in GIS or international relations should he qualify for a scholarship. Samrach would love to return to Cambodia afterwards to share his new skills with his country.

Samrach sees the youth as Cambodia’s biggest asset. Its young population has the opportunity to develop strong values and a good work ethic. Samrach feels the next generation could learn to speak and inspire the community, to develop core management skills, and with strong moral values could end corruption in the country. Leaders for Samrach are those that serve people, not those that simply give orders. ‘If the young people learn to engage with other countries, they will learn a lot and develop broader views.’

Judy

A Khmer Wedding

Last week I had the honour of attending my first Khmer wedding. Ea Ponloeu and En Thyra of RDIC were being married in a combined Khmer and Christian ceremony at the Lucky Star Hotel in Phnom Penh (PP). A wedding in Cambodia is traditionally a multi day celebration. Our celebration, as with many these days, was streamlined to one big day of activities.

We began at 7.00am at the hotel. My fellow RDIC volunteers, Heather and Hanna, and I knew the time it would take to get ourselves into PP – 40 mins - was valuable beauty sleep time (it was for a wedding after all!) so we chose to stay at a guest house (ptea samnah) in PP overnight.

So…at 7.00am dressed modestly and without elaborate ornamentation as was custom, we prepared to participate in the Groom’s procession. Traditionally the procession ends up at the bride’s house, but in this modern Phnom Penh, we finished at the hotel venue.

We each carried gifts from the Groom (Ponloeu) to the Bride (Thyra). Gifts are provided in pairs – two dishes of oranges, two cakes, two pig hindquarters – to symbolise the couple. Rather like a Noah’s ark of food.

Thyra and her family met the procession at the door, and the happy couple entered the hotel together. Then followed the gift giving, the hair cutting, feet washing and the wrist binding ceremonies, highlighted with singing and stand-up comedy routines.

Thyra was required to change 3 times during the morning celebrations, which was spliced with both breakfast and lunch of beautiful Khmer food.

We were amazed by the colours, the detail of the gifts, the beautiful outfits, and the fortitude of Thyra throughout.

The afternoon break provided us time to relax and nap, and spend 2 hours in the salon with hair and makeup (nails having been attended to last night) the most grooming I have ever subjected myself to… which was remarkably painless and fun…though a little frightening at times.

When we reached the evening wedding reception at 5.00pm that evening we knew it had been worth the effort as all parties…female at least…. had gone out hard with beautiful hair, dresses and makeup. Khmer weddings, we are told, are a great place to find a spouse, so the normal rules of covering the shoulders, the knees, and wearing high cut tops are thrown out the window as eligible young women are permitted to strut their stuff.

I am not sure how many successful matches were made that evening, but it was certainly great fun to let loose a little and be treated to seven courses of fish, vegetables, curries and soups.

The happy couple though, were not yet allowed to relax. As part of the evening proceedings they processed in, participated in a number of games, cut the cake, and had the first dance. Then the floor was opened for all.

Khmer parties still focus on traditional Khmer dancing which involves a center piece, often an arrangement of flowers and in our case the wedding cake, around which dancers shuffle and groove in a single direction. We were treated to an excellent young band who brought a bit of base and electric guitar to the lightness of Khmer music. With lots of teachers – including to our delight Thyra herself in a gorgeous sparkling evening gown – we gave the dancing a whirl to the amusement of many.

For Ponloeu and Thyra it was straight back to work the following week. With deadlines for the RDIC film studio to meet, and villagers to inform about traditional medicine, Ponloeu and Thyra did not miss a second in getting back to where they are very much needed.

Judy – 20 November 2007

The Water Filter Manual

Another key task for me at RDI is to finalise, publish and promote a manual for RDI’s Ceramic Water Filter Program – a project initiated and developed by 2 previous EWB volunteers – Nick Harley and David Pointing. It will be a great publication which once finalised will assist those in other regions wishing to manufacture ceramic water filters. The Manual seeks to document the manufacturing processes, the equipment and materials, the quality assurance, education and distribution processes used for RDI’s ceramic water filters. It will be accompanied by instructional videos, and technical drawings of equipment (by Vanna – see photo in right column!)

The design of ceramic water filters is both simple and ingenious. Using a local source of dry clay, rice husks and laterite which are prepared into fine powders, a wet clay is produced and pressed into the shape of a flower pot (without the drainage holes). Once dried, fired (in the kiln) cooled, painted with silver nitrate solution and dried again, these filters have the ability to turn polluted surface water into a safe drinking water supply.

The filters remove particles, bacteria and other organisms within the water, and the silver nitrate provides an additional dose of disinfectant to kill bacteria in the water. Ceramic water filters are well regarded around the world as providing an affordable, local solution to the requirements of communities to drink healthy and safe water where none is available from a public supply.

Often communities will drink directly from their water source – eg lakes, rivers, streams exposing themselves to bacteria, viruses and other parasites that cause water borne diseases that are rare in developed countries many with diarrhea symptoms very dangerous particularly to young children. Boiling of water is a safe method – if completed properly and water is stored safely , but it takes a significant amount of time and or money to fuel woodfires for the purpose.

Ceramic water filters treat the water with minimal effort and have low maintenance requirements. RDI manufactured 26,000 in 2006 and continues to provide them to communities through schools, community leaders and other non-government organisations (NGOs).

By producing a manual to describe the processes of getting ceramic water filters out into the community, RDI and EWB are extending greatly the opportunities for more regions to have access to ceramic water filters.

Judy

A day in the life...at least up until 9am

Up at 6.30am, already half an hour after the garment factory workers have rattled noisily past on crowded remorques and the dogs have started their morning chorus. Stretches and strengtheners (in case my physio reads this), then finalise material for the report writing class scheduled for 8.30am.

One of my key tasks here at RDI is to work with the staff to improve their English technical writing. I run a number of classes a week. 8am – 9am Tuesday is Grammar open to anyone with goals to develop their English writing skills and commitment to the class. We are aiming for tangible improvements weekly as we target specific grammatical problems I have identified through initial writing tasks. Ensuring everyone takes each step together – through attendance and study – is the tool I hope to use to see these step by step and permanent improvements.

As a native English speaker who went through school in the 1980’s and 90’s, I have been taught very little English grammar – it was simply not done at the time. So I spend of time now developing my own grammar skills. I have a great deal of help from connections at home – my mum and her friends all with ESL expertise, my Aunty Debbie a Librarian at University of Canberra, who all supplied and recommended the necessary resources, answered my questions, and supplied delicious lemon butter, and Patty who carried them all the way from home. It's great what people will do for you when you are so far from home! I am now rapidly learning my verb tenses, and all about prepositions, countable and uncountable nouns, and articles and promise to repay all those who helped with a verb conjugation (once I work out what that is!).

On Wednesdays 8am we have the Technical Writing Class. I focus on improving lab staff capabilities to analyse the data they produce through water sampling and pollutant testing, and to develop and write scientific papers in English and ultimately to undertake scientific research. The staff have all completed, or are completing university study in biochemistry, microbiology or engineering. Many wish to pursue postgraduate study which is really only possible overseas, and often in English….that’s where I come in.

I repeat these classes on Wednesday and Thursday evenings for two staff members who are at university during the day and who work at night, Friday morning is beginner English for 3 staff members who spend 4 days a week taking water samples, and Thursday mornings we are starting an additional class for general report writing – reports on project progress, proposal writing, etc. A crucial part of capacity building here at RDI is to improve the skills of staff to the point where they can take on additional responsibilities including report writing through improved skills in a variety of areas.

7.15am a very productive Skype call home to Todd, my position supervisor to discuss future strategies, networking with Cambodian colleagues, blog sites…

8.15am My favourite breakfast of milo dgo (milo with ice and sweetened condensed milk) and rice with bbq pork.

8.30 am Class postponed! Phew exhausted and it is not even 9am.

Judy – Thursday 1 November, 2007

Painting the Scene

Well I have certainly arrived! The first 6 weeks have been a swirl of activity and adjustment, and it is now that I provide a glimpse of what it is to be living and working in Preak Thom Village, Kean Svay Commune, Kandal Province, Cambodia.Resource Development International – Cambodia (RDIC) is my hosting organisation as I represent Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) on a 6 month placement to further develop some key engineering and capacity building projects.

I will take this opportunity of my first blog posting to give you a sense of my surroundings.I have the privilege to live and work in the Preak Thom Village about 40 minutes south-east of Phnom Penh just off the highway towards the Vietnam border. The village is what I imagine is fairly typical Cambodian – with a beautifully ornate Wat (Buddhist Temple), a haang cafe (coffee shop), a primary school, hundreds of free roaming dogs, some Brahman cows, and many muddy puddles.'

To further paint the scene, wet season is well upon us with heavy downpours daily filling the local wetlands, potholes, and many front yards – requiring locals to access their houses for a number of hours a day by boardwalks, boats, or through knee deep murky water. The rain keeps the temperature down though, and therefore everyone’s spirits high, and the tumultuous clouds are a photographer’s delight...and a learner’s inspiration.

We have just passed Bon Pchum Ben, a major Buddhist Festival requiring the offering of rice to deceased relatives. The food both encourages these deceased relatives to bring good luck to their descendants, and deters the wrath they would bestow should they find themselves without food. The festival goes for 15 days, and Buddhists are encouraged to come to the Wat each day at 4am with their offerings. They are invited by the loud drumming, chanting, and amplified music that blasts from the Wats in all directions. Preak Thom then is an early rising village, Buddhists, and non-Buddhists one and all!

Judy - 15 October 2007