“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins
Bus ride from Phnom Penh-Siem Reap |
On an unrelated note: If you look to the left, there is a picture I took of a girl on the bus who rode the entire way--about 7 hours--with her sweater over her face. The reason for this was that the bus was shooting some black substance from the ventilation system and she obviously didn't want to breath it in. The substance was actually staining my clothes and I don't want to imagine what it may have been doing to my lungs (lol).
Driving to the villages |
It is quite common for them to still use animals for farm work as you can see in the background |
The first interview--Channat in light blue |
Case 1-Communication
Analysis
The first village (Siem Reap area) that we visited had just gone through a natural disaster that involved their entire crop being destroyed by an infestation. The villagers stated that this was the first time that such an event had taken place in that area. At this point, it had been 4 days since they become aware of this problem.
The farmer showing us his destroyed crops |
During the second interview with a totally different village about five minutes away--via moto--we informed them about events that had taken place in the previous village. They stated that they were unaware of such a tragedy which was interesting because the first village was aware of the problem 4 days prior. This shows lack of communication among the villages in the surrounding area—especially in issues deemed of importance such as food security.
When the first village was prompted with the question as to what they did to combat the infestation they claimed that they “prayed”. They felt that the infestation and pending demise of their entire crop was a sign from God and that they were being punished for some unduly acts. They spent the following days in prayer and soon gave up hope after the bugs spread and the crops diminished. At this point, I asked them if they had any sort of support for such cases and as it turned out, the commune council (local government) would have responded in a prompt and diligent manner to such a disaster—only if they would have acted and reached out to the commune council for support sooner.
The commune council would bring pesticide that would ultimately kill the infestation and save the community’s crops which would effectively prevented the problem. Instead, they never informed the commune council but rather felt that only God could solve the problem. They stated that they wouldn’t have a crop this year and as a result, they would have to migrate to the Thai-Cambodia border—this was their only option.
Interviewing the second village |
The second village, once informed of the problems that their neighbours were dealing with, didn’t seem too concerned. We informed them that it might be wise to contact their commune council and prepare for a similar infestation. As we talked more and more about the issue one of the five members present spoke up. She stated that she had heard from a friend about the problems that the village next door was facing but never thought to tell anyone in her own village. When asked why she couldn’t come up with a response.
Where the second interview took place |
Conclusion
It can be concluded that communication among the surrounding villages needs to improve. If they don’t have communication then problems such as the one above--that are quite avoidable--will become viral and thus, affect many more people’s lives than needed. If the first village would have “communicated” and contacted the commune council as soon as they noticed the first signs of the infestation they may have been able to save their crops and would have most likely prevented themselves from having to migrate to the Thai-Cambodia border where they will most likely be exploited in more ways than one.
This situation in the second village where the female whom chose not to bring this issue to the attention of her peers and family represents a problem. The community members need to assess these situations and ask themselves: Is this information important to my own and other’s well being? If the answer is yes, then they need to disseminate the information despite whether or not they will be taken seriously. Banteay Srei also needs to assess whether the reason for the woman not bringing the information to the community's attention has any link to her gender.
The house where the first interview took place |
They need to realize that by building a community who communicates effectively that they are essentially creating solidarity among the community members where each and everyone of them works as a team and looks out for their neighbour--exactly what could help push these communities out of poverty.