Friday, April 27, 2007

Acclimatation of US Peace Corps volunteers in rural Cambodia

U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Colin Doyle, 23, sits relaxing with his host family under their house at a village in Kampong Cham province, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 22, 2007. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Natalie Galiotto, 32, and in red shirt, eats dinner with her host family at a village in Kampong Cham province, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

From right to left, Cambodian instructor Mom Sam Ath teaches Cambodian language to four U.S. Peace Corps volunteers Felicidad Garcia, Kevin Kalhoefer, Sarah Norton and Conor Cronin, from right, greet their teacher by raising the palms together during their class at a village in Kampong Cham province, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 23, 2007. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Four U.S. Peace Corps volunteers and a Cambodian instructor attend a Cambodian language class under coconut trees in a village in Kampong Cham province, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, 23, 2007. Left to right are Natalie Galiotto, Joshua Root, Sarah Murray, Cambodian instructor Nen Sokha and Elizabeth Renner. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Sam Snyder, 24, manually pumps water from a well into a bucket to boil water for drinking in a village in Kampong Cham province, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 23, 2007. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Sam Snyder and other U.S. Peace Corps volunteers attend a cultural training class in Kampong Cham provincial town, 80 kilometers, 50 miles, east of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 22, 2007. Rural realities greeted 29 American volunteers, who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is really nice project to the explicitly interaction and communication with diverse culture.

Anonymous said...

I thought they were there to teach
English.

Anonymous said...

This is full of shits, real life in Cambodia is not like that. Go home, just go home, bloody yankees...

Anonymous said...

GRINGOS MONKEYS!

WHY NOT YOU TRY TO FOLLOW YOUR MASTER INSTEAD OF WRITING BEAST COMMENTS.... ?

Anonymous said...

Gringos monkeys, I am your brother...
Please don't get paranoid...

Anonymous said...

Ki-media mustn't publish any comment anti-khmer anymore.

Anonymous said...

The Vietcong don't like Uncle SAM in Cambodia!!!!It is too late now!!!The billion dollars oil business will only make Uncle SAM stay longer!!!ahahhahhah So I suggest all of you Vietcong need to make way!!!!!Make way now!!!!!

Once the first barrel of Cambodian oil is pumped and Cambodian politic will change forever!!!!!!!
AH HUN SEN need to watch his behind and hire more military and police to protect his fucken ass!!!!

The Vietcong is in no position to compete with Uncle SAM, China, Japan, Korea...

When dealing with the Vietcong there should be no attachment!!!!One of the Buddisht law said to be free from suffering there should be no attachment!!!!!It is the Vietcong who want to create all these political attachment and want to remind Cambodian people of how tricky and dishonest they are!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm all white people. I'm sure there a lot more than white enrolled in the US Peace Corp?

Anonymous said...

When foreigners like these trying to help poors Cambodian while rich and powerful Cambodians in power abuse the poors, it make you wonder if those Oknas has any morality or humanity.

Anonymous said...

9:10PM SOMEHOW PEOPLE WHO VOLONTEER FOR PEACE CORP ARE RICH KIDS. POOR KIDS NEED TO TAKE REAL JOB TO HELP THEIR FAMILY!

MOST RICH AND STABLE IN AMERICA ARE WHITE FOLK!

Anonymous said...

Those 20-25 yrs old kids need to learn a down to earth life lessions 101. Many kids in USA are spoiled rotten to the core with materials and money. Their brains are being bombarded by entertained media fever and ritalin.

Those kids are college graduates. My kids are, too and WE ARE NOT RICH AND WHITE. WE EARNED SUFFICIENT TO ENJOY LIFE DUE TO WE HAVE GOOD EDUCATION.

EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS AND COMFORTABLE LIFE IN AMERICA.

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE NOT RICH THAT WHY YOUR KID CAN NOT AFFORT TO JOINT THE PEACE CORP OLD MAN.

Anonymous said...

Flatly wrong.
My kid had been in Kenya and Tanzania for 2 years in Peace Corps, PAL. He learned a lot about life.

Anonymous said...

i did not realized there are so many stupid and ungreatful khmers out there. why are you hating on these volunteers who are trying to make your land a better place? you should be honored that these people gave up the lap of luxury to come to your homeland (that offers nothing to them in return)and make this attempt for a better world.The students that got accepted into the peace corp are not necessarily rich but are extremly smart. these people have a good heart. I am khmer.I volunteer. and I have been to Cambodia-not the most impressive place.My whole family got to the U.S because of the kindness through the volunteer work of a church.I volunteer because I want to give back that hope that was given to me and my family.If you can not see the work and the effort that these volunteers give,then you haters need to go and fuck youself!

Anonymous said...

Peace corp. is not here to teach
english as they have claimed. At
least we don't see shits. They are
here to fuck around and pretend
they are doing good deed for people
around the world. They are nothing
more than the US government
funding suckers and abusers.

crazyglue said...

Dear KI-Media friends et al,

Let's do it by asking each and everyone of us, friends and families and relatives to write/email to our scholars, doctors, lawyers, intellectuals and the like to, in turn, write/email to SAM RAINGSY, KEM SOKHA, RANARITH, THOMICO and other political figures to please set their personal interest asides and join in with one another to form one single democratic party to vote HUN SEN and his regime out of power in the general election of 2008.

Let's do it on a grand scale as this is may be our last chance to save our homeland and little of what we have left during this more than a three decade long of HUN SEN pro-viet regime control of CAMBODIA. Let's see that it happens and disseminated it on every Khmer site on the internet. Below is my email to Dr. Lao Mong Hay. Please help by writing yours right now. Thank you so very much for helping save Cambodia and ourselves.

Very sincerely yours,
Crazy Glue


Dear Dr. LAO Mong Hay,

I am writing to implore your understanding to write/email to SAM RAINGSY, KEM SOKHA, RANARITH, THOMICO and other KHMER political figures alike to please set their personal interest asides to join in and form ONE SIGNLE DEMOCRATIC party to vote HUN SEN and his regime out of CAMBODIA in the general elction of 2008 since this may be the only chance Camdodia has for her existence.

Very respectfully yours,
Crazy Glue

Anonymous said...

One more time, go home bloody yankees to where you belong...

Anonymous said...

No Cambodian people want to tell Uncle SAM to go home!

Uncle SAM had done alot for Cambodia so far including economic aid,promoting democratic institution, and telling the Vietcong to fuck off!!!!ahahhahh

The Vietcong need to understand that Uncle SAM is here to stay in Cambodia that is why American embassy in Cambodia is the biggest in Southeat Asia!!!ahahahhahhahh

One special request for Uncle SAM, I like to see Uncle SAM help rebuild Cambodian military into the most credible force that can stand against the Vietcong and the Thaicong in the near future!!!!!!!

I like to see more navy ships, submarines,aircraft fighters, missiles to be shipped to Cambodia in the near future and please don't worry about the money just pumped more oil to make the different!!!!ahahahahahhh

I like to see Cambodia have 2 million standing army just like North Korea in the near future!!!

Anonymous said...

Hope Peace Corps volunteer members ROMANIZE khmer language in order to easily launch on the internet (web) and for internationally use

Anonymous said...

for example : latin khmer leters
please visit http://khmer.cc/community/t.c?b=1&t=2595

Liam said...

Do not worry, Cambodia, daddy will take care of you. DADDY!!!!!!!!! You are my boy!

Anonymous said...

GO COLIN!!! how do i get in contact with him. lol hes an old internet friend WoW. if anyone who knows colins reads this. can you email me anyway to contact him. maybe some sort of address? TheHorniak@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

This is my second try to post a comment. I am the Aunt of one of these American Volunteers. I found this site and their picture purely by accident. I was amazed at the many negative comments posted about these volunteers. Please believe that my relative is NOT a spoiled, rick kid. They are from a family where everyone has to work, yet the parents of this individual gave selflessly of their child to go to a foreign country to help others. Somehow, they feel blessed that this child grew with such compassion. To think there are so many who hate Americans is a very sad experience. Believe it or not...we are not all Hollywood types. The greater majority of us are poor to middle-class, hard working people trying only to survive in a world that seems to be growing with more and more hate. Perhaps one of you could volunteer to come to our country to live with a "tpical" American family to see what life is really like here. We can only hope that someday all peoples of all countries will come to respect one another. We should all learn to look beyond the surface to find the real humanity of all societies. To my relative, I send all of my love. I wish you good health and pray for your safety. Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Waw... Was wandering on the net and found all those comments. Gosh, incredible how some people can have so much hate for others! Am no PCV, no american "bloody rich yankee" but am a volunteer in Cambodia tho and found all those comments awful...

Okay, face it you "anonymous" hater, you don't want any american wanker in your country but as I work there as well may I ask you something? What plans do you have to save your country? It's your full stupid right to hate them or me (am from this country that colonized south east asia far before american people!) for having invaded your country... We're not perfect, we are not sure we give the best education ever but for f***'s sake, we do our best, can you say the same?

I mean, whatever you say, your country has 400 NGOs, do you think they settled there just coz they didn't know where to go else? Why when I ask around "what are your plans for the future?", many khmer people reply " I want to work in a NGO coz it's very well paid!"... I am well paid indeed in comparison to the average salary PCV are not far from it!

I happened to meet some of them... No matter what I think from a personal point of view, they're here to help, and sorry lad but you gotta admit Cambodia needs people like them.

Do you think it's easy to land here? Do you think we don't know we are privileged when we see kids begging in the streets half naked? I never had to fight to get an education, always had a safe roof, a loving family and great friends and suddenly I settle in a place I know nothing of, where I am told that one of my workmates has to work to buy a member of her family back from a brothel, where others have to live at 8 in the same "room" in a small hut about to fall in the Tonle Sap...

If you have the feeling this is justice, okay, right, perfect! As for me, as for them, as for most khmer people I know this is not! If you believe you can find the right solution for your country and I come back in ten years and you managed to save it, okay, then, put all of us in a plane back home! But I guess it's easier to insult people than helping and doing what's worth for it!

Had you tried to meet them instead of blaming them, you'd know many of them thought of pleasing you and leaving the same way I thought of it as it's a hard place where to live in! Of course we are more lucky than you are coz it's for a short time... But believe me, as few people look like you and believe that, not only we are here to help but that cultural exchange is a great chance both for us and them! Dunno if they come from rich families or not, that's not the point... Do you think it's a great feeling when you're not rich in your home country to sense you have "I have dollars" tatooed on your skin? Do you think it's easy to get integrated in your country, to understand all its subtilities? Would you be ready to give more than two years of your life to come and help in poor suburbs in my country? Well sure you would as you seem to believe we all are swimming in bank notes at home... Sure you'd come, not sure you'd help!

Anonymous said...

Fellow Khmer,

My question is.. what are YOU doing for our country? Open up your mind, get an education, and then give that back to our people. It is the least you can do.

Always,

KhmerStudent

Unknown said...

I will be leaving for Cambodia in July as a Peace Corps volunteer. I am not rich nor am I white. I feel that ignorance and hate have motivated some of these comments and that they are just explicitly wrong. I hope in the future minds will change and people will truly see what Peace Corps volunteers intend to do.