On Kronicle Extra....

How do you say “obstetrician” in Khmer?

Harvest and Feast in our front yard! (lots of photos)

 

Baptism

On Saturday three churches got together about an hour or so outside Phnom Penh to baptise about 24 people in a river (the Mekong I think). The church we just started going to went, but I wasn't feeling well. Soeun went though and here are some of his photos.

Above is a pile of noodle type things that go in a dish of food I really like. Its kind of like a salad, they often have it at weddings.
And here are some fish being grilled. Below is a photo of some boys using a banana tree as a boat! It had nothing to do with the church day out, Soeun just thought it was interesting.
Here is the table set for lunch.

And here are some of the people getting baptised!

Shower or Sarong?

I was talking to a Khmer girl about whether or not I would go with Soeun to visit a remote village. I'd like to see more of Cambodia but I think I'll find it hard, and as he is going with a team to do a job I'm worried I'll get in the way. I'm not sure if there are toilets and bathrooms there. I'm pretty sure that my back will be sore as the roads aren't paved, and I can't imagine how it will be after sleeping on a bamboo floor for four nights.

She used to live in a village when she was young, the jungle was her toilet and the river was her bathroom. I think also people wash by pouring water over them while wearing a sarong, so you can do it in your front yard rather than in a private room. She has since lived in a town so she is not used to doing that anymore. When she goes back to the village she finds it really hard.

She told me some Cambodians see expats here and wonder why they live in the way they do, with washing machines, hot water showers etc. She said some Cambodians think this isn't good. But from her experience (going back to the village) she said she knows that once you are used to something it is hard to live without it.

That reminded me of what Soeun said when he was living in Australia. Coming to Australia and seeing how easy life was like made him realise why it is hard for Australians to go and live in Cambodia. 

Wedding in Kampot province

On Saturday we went to a wedding far far away. Find out more here.

January 7th

On January 7th thirty years ago the Khmer Rouge regime officially ended.

It was the end of about 4 years of horror for Cambodia. (I mentioned the beginning of it here,

and the genocide museum here.)

It is a controversial holiday as the saviours of Cambodia were the Vietnamese thought of as

"traditional enemies"of Cambodia. In the lead up to Victory day there was a foiled bomb plot, 

talk of tighten security and various people giving their opinion about whether Cambodia 

should celebrate this day 

or not (Were Cambodians liberated from the Khmer Rouge or invaded by another power?), 

and a cartoon. Some photos from the days celebrations

are here: Celebration of Vietnamese Invasion and Occupation. And more about today here:

The Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975 and is accused of killing millions through overwork, execution or starvation before it was ousted by a Hanoi-backed military force in January 1979.

(the KI media site has more, I took the photo in R'kiri)

Aid money in Africa

I watched a BBC thing on aid to Africa. An African was looking at how aid money was being used and found it wasn't getting to where its supposed to be mostly because of corruption. You can read about it here.

Then recently I saw this 

As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God

Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset

Matthew Parris