I woke up the first night absolutely drenched in sweat. I had yet become accustomed to the heat and soon realized that basically sleeping entirely naked was the only option (lol).
I got dressed and headed out to the dinning area for breakfast.
 |
| At the guest house where we eat |
I slammed back some noodles and headed for work. The way I would be getting to work would be via moto--like I explained earlier. The first couple times on the back of it, weaving in and out of traffic I found myself clenching the back of my seat as if I was holding on for dear life--well, in most ways I was (lol). After a couple weeks though, I found that my anxiety had been alleviated and I had quickly become accustomed to the Cambodian way. Driving in the wrong direction into oncoming traffic no longer surprised me but it was rather expected. It would take me about 15 minutes to get to work in the morning--arriving most days at around 8:30. The driver (whose name was Gian) would drop me off and I would give him 4000 Riel--1US dollar. He would be my driver most days which was nice because he knew exactly where I was going which made my mornings quite stress free. There would be days though that I would have to get a random moto driver to drive me home and those times were frustrating. I would explain the directions with a map AND in khmer (the local language) and some of them still wouldn't have an idea. A lot of them don't understand maps nor do they know the street names. Therefore, you have to pick out familiar landmarks and then try to navigate your way home from those yelling directions in their ear as you bounce around on the back of the moto (lol). There were a couple times in the beginning where I found myself lost for 2 hours or more. I didn't know exactly where I was going and neither did the moto driver. There are so many little stores and all the streets look exactly the same and in the beginning it is hard to pick out a specific land mark. So, without this landmark it is basically the blind leading the blind (lol). These times were interesting though as I would have feelings of adventure, frustration, fear, excitement, etc....my feelings were basically on overload during these moments. However, back to my work day.
 |
| Gian--my moto driver |
On my first day I sat down with the director of the organization that I would be volunteering with--her name was Panha. The office was located on the third floor of a four story building. The entire building was enclosed by a big steal fence and I would have to bang on it to get in. The door man--at least I am assuming he was the door man--would open up the door and great me with
"Chum reap suor /chumree-uhp soo-uh/" which is hello in Khmer. I would then take off my sandals because shoes aren't allowed inside. I got to the 3rd floor where they were located along with 2 little offices and a main conference type room. Panha was in one room and two other works in the other whom were responsible for the financial operations of the organization. The rest of the employees were located in Siem Reap and Battambang--two other cities in Cambodia. Siem Reap had 14 employees and Battambang about 10 or so. These were the people whom were responsible for going out to the villages and implementing the projects in the agreed upon locations. I would eventually spend some time out in the villages and see the projects but more on that later.
I introduced myself and then sat down with Panha for some orientation. She explained to me how the organization was structured and how they functioned and I quickly found myself bombarded with information and requested some time to look over some of the material that she had presented to me: yearly reviews, annual reports, donor list,etc. At this point I was still unsure as to what I would be doing exactly because my original placement had fallen through. I was suppose to be working with an environmental organization dealing with energy issues in the region but upon arrival, was informed that my placement had changed. I was now with an organization that focused in human rights and community development. I was originally disappointed but quickly came to realize that the experience would still be interesting and if this organization needed help then I was willing to offer my services in any way that I could. That was the problem though--they needed help but they weren't entirely sure in what aspect. The only thing they knew is that they needed help with editing their proposals that they would submit to donors requesting funding for their operations.
 |
| My work area |
As I read through the material I quickly came to realize that there should be some sort of volunteer package that I should be given upon arrival. There was a volunteer whom had worked at the organization previously to myself but there was no information about the work they had been doing, how long they stayed there, their experience, their recommendations..nothing! So, what I came to realize was my first project; I would document all the work I did while at the organization and learn exactly how the NGO working in community development functions. Where do they get funding? How do they gain credibility? Who is the organization made up of? What areas are their main focus? What areas do they want to get involved in? How do they push new projects and how do they decide what projects to implement and where? I had lots of these questions and basically only one person to answer them--Panha. Her English wasn't great but it was sufficient in answering my questions--although it did require some work. The problem here though is that I would have all these questions and instead of helping out with the organization I was spending time, and basically using resources, in trying to learn how it functions. If this were the process each time a new volunteer started at an organization they would basically be doing more harm than good--if they weren't staying long term that is. So, what I proposed is that I would work on this introductory report and then when the next volunteer started Panha wouldn't have to sit down and answer the same questions that the previous volunteer asked. Instead, the volunteer could read this introductory package answering most of the questions that they would have. After going through the package, they would then have a good understanding of the organization and a better idea as to where their services could be of use in the time frame that they had decided upon. She agreed that it was a good idea and I got started reading and learning the structure of the organization while documenting it on my computer. On top of this, the first thing I would be helping Panha with personally, would be proposal writing. We would seek out potential donors and write proposals and submit them requesting donor money. A lot of the donors would be charities from Europe and Australia. Basically, they collect the money and then we request some of it describing what our organization does. Then the charity decides if our operations and projects align with their charities target area. If so, and they feel that our organization possesses credibility, then they provide funding.
So the first day I had recognized a weakness in the organization in terms of utilizing volunteers and I had suggested a solution. First project--commence!
Here is my first photo album from Cambodia. It is a public photo album on facebook showing what it is like in Phnom Penh. Most pictures have comments and will supplement my blog post in understanding life there
Phnom Penh, Cambodia-Part 1 pictures
 |
| Looking out from the balcony at work |
0 comments:
Post a Comment