England, particularly London, feels very much like a second home even though it was 12 years since I last stepped foot on her soil. My first encounter of the English last month involved two immigration officials stamping me in at Heathrow amidst feigned jealousy about my long holiday. How I have missed the British and … More Opportunity Knocks
Francois Bizot worked in Cambodia as a young Frenchman in the 1960s and 1970s. An ethnologist employed by the Angkor Conservation Office, he restored ceramics and bronzes from the temples and researched Buddhism. He lived in a village near Angkor Wat with his Cambodian partner and their infant daughter when, in 1971, he was captured … More The Gate
Although my European holiday is wonderful, I miss Cambodia very much. Everything I do here is coloured by questions as to whether this is the best use of my time and money. As one example of many, today the landmine victim who I support messaged me to say hello. He mentioned in his limited English … More Unfathomable
Sar Kheng has been the Minister of the Interior for Cambodia, and the Deputy Prime Minister, since his communist Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) lost the election in 1993. You did not mis-read that. I did say “lost”. At a cost of $2 billion to the international community via a heavy United Nations presence during 1992 … More Khmer Rouges Visits Australia
In the past year two different Spanish journalists passed through the TB Department in Kampong Cham, reporting in El Pais, one of Spain’s leading daily newspapers, about Medecins Sans Frontiere’s work. The earlier report dated 22 October 2014, “Cambodia Advances in the Fight Against Tuberculosis” by Ana Salva, is longer and more difficult to copy … More El Pais on Tuberculosis in Cambodia
Despite having worked with Tuberculosis for many years now, my world is very largely without Tuberculosis courtesy of the luck which I was born into. TB exists in Australia at an annual rate of between 5 and 6 cases for every 100,000 people. In 2013 Australia, with a population over 23,000, notified 1,256 cases of … More Worlds With, Worlds Without, Worlds Apart
The problem is all inside your head, she said to me The answer is easy, if you take it logically I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free There must be 50 ways to leave your lover ~ Paul Simon The market town of Skun in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia, is one … More Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover
Accurate statistics on disability in Cambodia are, as with most poor countries, unavailable. However, United Nations have estimated that Cambodia has one of the highest rates of disability in the developing world. Some reports suggest as many as 15% of the population have some form of disability. Estimates include around 50,000 landmine victims; 60,000 Polio … More On Disability and Departure
One of the leading practices of the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 was a program of racial “purification” which manifested as an assimilation policy with genocidal massacres. They began with the Vietnamese ethnic minorities, none of whom appear to have survived within Cambodia, as they were either murdered or fled into Vietnam, where … More On Difference
The bone on Dara’s amputated leg continues to grow, and will continue to grow into his early 20s. It pushes through the stump, eventually causing pain and becoming infected. Recently he has been in a lot of pain from a recurring infection. The repercussions of this include a lot of missed school, loss of appetite … More Cupcakes and Prosthetics
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