A group of 29 volunteers teaching English in the countryside represents the first time the service organization has worked in the Southeast Asian country, once thought too dangerous.
Ker Munthit
Associated Press
KAMPONG CHAM, CAMBODIA - Munching on their first hamburgers in weeks, the Americans traded tales of mastering the Asian squat toilet and eating deep-fried tarantulas.
These were some of the rural realities that greeted 29 U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside.
It marks the 46-year-old Peace Corps' first program in the poor Southeast Asian country, which was bombed by American B-52s during the Vietnam War, ravaged by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s and further weakened by a civil war in the 1980s.
Political instability and security concerns kept the organization out of Cambodia until now, but both sides felt it was "the perfect time" to introduce the Peace Corps to the country as it strives to develop and expand its economy, said Van Nelson, the group's country director. The group's arrival makes Cambodia the 139th country where the service organization has worked.
The 13 men and 16 women, from New York, Wisconsin, Iowa and elsewhere, fanned out recently to villages in rural provinces after two months of training that introduced them to life in Cambodia -- where the average civil servant earns about $25 a month.
Roughly a third of Cambodia's 14 million people live below the national poverty line of 50 U.S. cents a day.
During an eight-week orientation period, each volunteer was lodged with a Cambodian family in Kampong Cham Province, 50 miles east of the capital, Phnom Penh, where they eased into their new culture and downsized lifestyle.
Used to driving cars on American freeways, they became accustomed to maneuvering bicycles along country roads.
They lived in shack-like wooden homes on stilts overlooking dry and empty rice fields and slept under mosquito nets to keep away the malaria-carrying mosquitoes that are a major killer in this country. They hand-pumped well water into buckets and boiled it for drinking, and many said for the first time in their lives they showered three times a day -- the only way to cool off from 100-degree (Fahrenheit) heat in the absence of air conditioning.
They did have some luxuries, such as dim lights at night powered by car batteries -- a rarity in rural areas.
"We have different routines now. We go to bed earlier and get up earlier. We wake up when the dogs wake up," said Sam Snyder, 24, from Buffalo, N.Y. He came with his wife, 22-year-old Kara, who said the couple wanted "to experience life outside the box."
Dogs weren't the only early risers. Colin Doyle, 23, from Baltimore, said he was awakened regularly by roosters.
"They crow at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m. Very annoying," he said at his temporary home in Kampong Cham before the group got posted around the country.
Over the course of two years, the volunteers are expected to teach English to about 60,000 Cambodians as part of efforts to increase job opportunities, particularly in the booming tourism industry, organizers said.
Tourism is one of the Cambodia's biggest money makers, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, mainly from the crowds of visitors who flock to the famed Angkor temples in the city of Siem Reap. The government is also developing some of the prime white-sand coastal areas in hopes of building Cambodia's image as a beach destination.
Peace Corps officials said they plan to increase the number of volunteers to Cambodia each year. The initial group ranged from young adults just out of college to a married couple in their 40s.
While the Peace Corps' image remains that of a youth service, the organization has been attracting more and more Americans like Mark Stilwell, a 46-year-old former computer network administrator from Denver. He and his 41-year-old wife, Kristine, a high school teacher, joined the organization because they wanted to travel but "in a way that is more than just tourism," he said.
Nelson said the Peace Corps has been attracting older volunteers and has found they bring special skills such as patience and "a different way of looking at the world than young volunteers."We find people coming to Peace Corps when they retire. They just realize that they're not getting any younger and that they should get out and see the world and expand their horizons," he said.
Young and middle-aged, the volunteers were equally bemused to learn how Americans are regarded by Cambodians. They shared impressions at a cultural training class, where a Cambodian instructor informed the group that Americans are generally viewed as selfish, materialistic, rich and casual about romantic relationships.
"Uh-uh, think again," said 21-year-old Molli Barker of Bettendorf, Iowa, triggering laughter from her colleagues.
Ker Munthit
Associated Press
KAMPONG CHAM, CAMBODIA - Munching on their first hamburgers in weeks, the Americans traded tales of mastering the Asian squat toilet and eating deep-fried tarantulas.
These were some of the rural realities that greeted 29 U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who left behind the comforts of home to teach English for two years in the Cambodian countryside.
It marks the 46-year-old Peace Corps' first program in the poor Southeast Asian country, which was bombed by American B-52s during the Vietnam War, ravaged by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s and further weakened by a civil war in the 1980s.
Political instability and security concerns kept the organization out of Cambodia until now, but both sides felt it was "the perfect time" to introduce the Peace Corps to the country as it strives to develop and expand its economy, said Van Nelson, the group's country director. The group's arrival makes Cambodia the 139th country where the service organization has worked.
The 13 men and 16 women, from New York, Wisconsin, Iowa and elsewhere, fanned out recently to villages in rural provinces after two months of training that introduced them to life in Cambodia -- where the average civil servant earns about $25 a month.
Roughly a third of Cambodia's 14 million people live below the national poverty line of 50 U.S. cents a day.
During an eight-week orientation period, each volunteer was lodged with a Cambodian family in Kampong Cham Province, 50 miles east of the capital, Phnom Penh, where they eased into their new culture and downsized lifestyle.
Used to driving cars on American freeways, they became accustomed to maneuvering bicycles along country roads.
They lived in shack-like wooden homes on stilts overlooking dry and empty rice fields and slept under mosquito nets to keep away the malaria-carrying mosquitoes that are a major killer in this country. They hand-pumped well water into buckets and boiled it for drinking, and many said for the first time in their lives they showered three times a day -- the only way to cool off from 100-degree (Fahrenheit) heat in the absence of air conditioning.
They did have some luxuries, such as dim lights at night powered by car batteries -- a rarity in rural areas.
"We have different routines now. We go to bed earlier and get up earlier. We wake up when the dogs wake up," said Sam Snyder, 24, from Buffalo, N.Y. He came with his wife, 22-year-old Kara, who said the couple wanted "to experience life outside the box."
Dogs weren't the only early risers. Colin Doyle, 23, from Baltimore, said he was awakened regularly by roosters.
"They crow at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m. Very annoying," he said at his temporary home in Kampong Cham before the group got posted around the country.
Over the course of two years, the volunteers are expected to teach English to about 60,000 Cambodians as part of efforts to increase job opportunities, particularly in the booming tourism industry, organizers said.
Tourism is one of the Cambodia's biggest money makers, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, mainly from the crowds of visitors who flock to the famed Angkor temples in the city of Siem Reap. The government is also developing some of the prime white-sand coastal areas in hopes of building Cambodia's image as a beach destination.
Peace Corps officials said they plan to increase the number of volunteers to Cambodia each year. The initial group ranged from young adults just out of college to a married couple in their 40s.
While the Peace Corps' image remains that of a youth service, the organization has been attracting more and more Americans like Mark Stilwell, a 46-year-old former computer network administrator from Denver. He and his 41-year-old wife, Kristine, a high school teacher, joined the organization because they wanted to travel but "in a way that is more than just tourism," he said.
Nelson said the Peace Corps has been attracting older volunteers and has found they bring special skills such as patience and "a different way of looking at the world than young volunteers."We find people coming to Peace Corps when they retire. They just realize that they're not getting any younger and that they should get out and see the world and expand their horizons," he said.
Young and middle-aged, the volunteers were equally bemused to learn how Americans are regarded by Cambodians. They shared impressions at a cultural training class, where a Cambodian instructor informed the group that Americans are generally viewed as selfish, materialistic, rich and casual about romantic relationships.
"Uh-uh, think again," said 21-year-old Molli Barker of Bettendorf, Iowa, triggering laughter from her colleagues.
7 comments:
Death to Amerika !
Can Hun Sen, Sok An, Cham Prasit etc.. and etc.. ask their children to experience this kind of lifestyle? Can were all bornt from their parents who have stolen National wealth and treasure, they cannot appreaciate these kind of life style. What they want to do is to roam the streets and all Karaoke bar.
To post10:10 AM,
Death to you. It seems as if you were one of the moron/devil who just get out hell and want to go back to hell again. You have no humanistic emotion.
Hey, where is the English classes?
All we see is people stuffing their
faces and fucking around. What's
going on here?
Hope Peace Corps volunteer members ROMANIZE khmer language in order to easily launch on the internet (web) and for internationally use
for example : latin khmer leters
please visit http://khmer.cc/community/t.c?b=1&t=2595
The old way of writing is more sexy and romantic than the ROMANIZE letter!!!!
If the Chinese and the Japanese can do it, I don't see why Cambodian can't do it!!!
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