Happy Merry Christmas!

Season's Greetings and Merry Christmas! Or, as I heard several times over the past week, Happy Merry Christmas!

New friends at Christmas

My time working in Cambodia over Christmas got some coverage lately in the Post City Magazine. As it turns out, I did indeed

Putting one foot in front of the other

Today was my first sit down with the entire District Council (minus the Director and two Councillors) and I am happy with the result. Yay! I went in with low expectations and was happy to find that, although the conversation was dominated by one council member, almost everyone participated and gave some small contribution. I hope it sets the tone from here on out.

The District Councillors and I

Sa-aat na! Perceptions of beauty in Cambodia

Sa-aat. It means 'beautiful' or 'clean' in Khmer. When I go out, pretty much anywhere in Kratie and definitely when I walk alone in Phnom Penh, I hear the same thing: sa-aat!

In Kratie, the ladies in the market like to chat and are generally talking about you as you walk by. Sometimes they ask me how old I am, where my family is, and generally want to know my business. They like to comment on my clothes and generally say "Sa-aat, sa-aat na" to themselves, me, or each other. It's a little awkward but always friendly. I say 'awkun' (thank you) and scurry away, not quite sure that I should say awkun at all.

During my fieldwork in 2010 a lot of photos were taken

The women that say

A mouse in the house

Two blog posts in two days! Craziness! This is what happens when you're self-quarantined due to conjunctivitis. While I wait for my eye drops to arrive from Phnom Penh, I had a little visitor to deal with...

Yesterday afternoon, I chased a mouse around my house with a bowl. I tried to capture it, but the wily bugger got away. This was the second time yesterday there was a mouse in the basket in my shower. There is nothing for it to eat, no soap out or anything. It just likes sitting in my basket?

Later that night,

Let me catch my breath for a minute

What a month. I've been in Phnom Penh just as much as I've been in Kratie. And I've been sick again. It's time to go home to Kratie and get healthy!

I was in Phnom Penh for two meetings, one of which seemed to build my relationship with the District Council Chief, so it was a good week before I left for my much-needed break on Koh Rong. My fellow traveller Tracy (and fellow Canadian VSO volunteer) explains our trip well in her blog post. Despite the backpacker overload and stark reminders of the underbelly of tourism in Cambodia, I felt rejuvenated after my trip. Slightly sunburned but rejuvenated.

Then it was back to Kratie for a brief stint. My VA was really

Action plans, accountability, and an island

My program manager and others from the VSO Country Office in Cambodia are coming for a placement visit this week and I am preparing by putting together action plans for the next year. However, I still have to do a survey so that the District government can tell me what they want to do. What I have observed (and been asked to contribute by the governor and the NCDD staff) so far is that it's the 'technical' stuff that they are interested in - administrative tasks such as writing documents, putting together proposals. etc., in Khmer. This is all fine and good and I do see several ways in which I could be useful, but this is barely scratching the surface of good governance advising, in my opinion.

So, how can I ensure that they are also interested in leadership and accountability? It's such an intangible thing, these two topics. Which I suppose is why it's not something on the mind of the leaders in government here, and also why some rigorous Monitoring and Evaluation needs to be part of the agenda. The capacity for M&E, to 'criticize' leaders and hold them account, is something I fear is too far outside the box for Cambodians. At NCDD, one of their goals is to

Hierarchy much? Council of Ministers building, Phnom Penh

Meetings Gone Awry

As a continuation from my last post, the drama intensifies...

The most hilarious and horrible thing happened at a meeting last week. (Other than being asked to raise money to build a government building. Sheesh.) I got to see all the miscommunication in action. Meaning, there was a meeting with only three participants and they talked over each other, refused to listen, but then finally agreed upon the appropriate action. Three divisions of government authority in the District were represented: a Councillor from the District Council (the Director did not attend. again.); the Head of Administration in the District, and; the Second Deputy District Governor. Chairing the meeting was the NCDD Facilitator. My VA Virack and I were there to observe.

Another day, another meeting...

The entire agenda of the meeting was to discuss putting one new point on the agenda for the Monthly District Council Meeting. It took about two hours. What was the point

Presenting Problems without Solutions

Royal Arms of Cambodia

Last week I attended a meeting with the District Council. A majority of the Councillors attended but noticeably absent were the Director and the lone female Councillor. This special meeting was arranged by the NCDD (the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development) Facilitator who is responsible for development the capacity of 4 districts in Kratie province. Since I am only working with Chet Borei District he is eager for me to help him out. I plan to have him facilitate some sessions for me so hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement!

The meeting was intended to bring together the Councillors to discuss the problems with their work. This is the fourth meeting of its kind and the Councillors were frustrated; they had already submitted their complaints at the last three meetings and nothing had been

Mosquitoes, lizards, and other creepy crawlers

I am really not squeamish when it comes to insects or other animals that scurry about unexpectedly. I suppose that comes from growing up on a farm where capturing garden spiders from their webs in clam shells and 'rescuing' baby mice from the barn was a childhood past time for my sister and I.

One huge spider in Japan

While living in Japan, I had some run-ins with spiders - or rather, mice with eight very long legs -
that left me a little shaken, sleep deprived and with a twitch in my eye. I think it is a primal reaction with spiders like that as I read somewhere that some spiders adapted their poison specifically to kill primates, so there's that. Thus far, there have been no sizeable spiders in this place to speak of - knock wood! (see end of post!) I did see an injured spider crossing the street in town and its body was half the size of a golf ball...so I know they're out there!

Anywho, whenever you're in a new place, squeamish or not, there are always adjustments to make when it comes to the other living things that you live with - willingly or otherwise. In other words, I've been taking some pictures and getting to know the local wildlife in my house in Kratie, Cambodia.

"When the decent people stay out of politics, they shouldn't be surprised when politics become indecent" (Friedrich Naumann)

My VA and I have had this discussion a couple of times already, and we've only been working together a few weeks. How do good, honest, hard-working people get into government? Or, more accurately, why? Why is it that local government authorities are so undervalued that they don't get paid enough to dedicate themselves to the public? In Cambodia, people like my VA have considered public service, but he can't afford to work honestly as a public servant (that means, not taking 'extras' and working other jobs instead of serving the pubic) and adequately support his family. This work attracts those who can afford not to work, those who are looking for the power, prestige, connections, and the extra money that may come on the side, as well as those few altruistic types that are truly looking to represent the public.

Dar Commune Office, Chetr Borei District

So, how does this affect me? Working with people who are, yes, dedicated to their work, but not really an advocate for those less fortunate, it can be difficult to convince them to let go and support the voices from below, as much as I try. I've heard a lot about the villagers being 'uneducated' 'dirty' and 'children'. The commonly held view and the perpetuated hierarchy in Cambodia emphasizes the parental role of the government. In my research conducted on land governance, the villagers were rejecting this paradigm, asking "how can they be our parent if they don't help us or listen to us?" The local authorities said

An Introduction

Most of you reading this know that I am an International Development Studies graduate. You likely also know that I wrote my thesis on land grabs and governance in Cambodia, undertaking field research in Cambodia with the help of Oxfam GB. Three years have passed and I've returned to this beautiful country to work with Cambodians via VSO and CUSO International as a Local Governance Advisor in Chetr Borei District, Kratie Province. There'll be many challenges establishing the good governance model for VSO Cambodia as one of only 5 volunteers in this new sector, and as the first volunteer in this placement. I think I'm up for it!

I hope this blog proves to be a positive reflection on challenges I encounter working and living in Cambodia, and will also document my growth as I better understand this complex country. With any luck, there will be some entertainment value to this blog as well; I am sure to write about living in Cambodia as a barang (foreigner) and all the cultural shocks and questions that arise.

The first question for me, as always, is: How do I begin?

So, work it is!

As those that have perused my pictures on Facebook know, I am office-less at my job here in Chetr Borei District. Before arriving in the country, my placement document did advise me that the district had a building without electricity, running water, or toilets about 14 km from town. I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived, but I've found that the Second Deputy Governor of the Chetr Borei District has provided her home as the headquarters for the Governor and his staff in Kratie town. A bonus for me is that this is about a 2 minute bicycle ride from my house. I've been working there for the past 2 weeks without a desk or overhead lighting, with intermittent access to the internet from her family's guesthouse next door, and with kids peaking over my shoulder to look at me typing on my laptop. This is not ideal. My Volunteer Assistant (VA) Virack isn't so thrilled with this set-up either, but we've got to be flexible.

The future home of Chetr Borei District authorities

 Another catch is that we are not in Chetr Borei District but in Kratie Town and Kratie District. I feel distanced from the community and know that citizen access to the District government is very limited. To get to the building in Chetr Borei where they hold meetings takes about 30 minutes from home on my Honda Dream. (Virack is driving me for now, until I get comfortable on my motorcycle. The rainy season has so far prevented me from getting out and practising.) They are building a new building and hope that it will be complete in 2014 but concerns have already been expressed over the lack of funds for utilities. Once the office is complete the Governor and Councillors will work together in the same location. I am sure the place will be ready to go by the time I'm ready to leave in June 2015...but best not to get my hopes up!