The Hot Season has arrived in Cambodia and it’s a scorcher. Today will be 36C with 60% humidity and 0 chance of precipitation despite thick clouds weighing the sky down. That makes for a very sticky time and after a warm but comfortable couple of months, my Many Sweats have returned. The MSF “zero contract” … More Chickens on the Beach
As with all countries, Cambodia has it’s cultural norms which can sometimes be a bit foreign to the likes of me. On my first day in the country the Head of Mission in Phnom Penh, introducing me to various colleagues, explained that shaking hands is not the done thing here and to instead use the … More More Khmer Style
Something huge happened at Phter Koma Children’s Home today. A small brother and sister, both HIV+ and both from drastic circumstances, entered the home and will be spending their first nght with the other children. The house has been prepped, with children aware that their carers expect only kindness towards their new housemates, a new … More Khmer Style
Poverty and hardship are very visible aspects to Cambodian life. Yet, coming from a wealthy background as overseas travelers do, seeing skinny children or elderly people hunched over themselves, beat-up old modes of travel, overcrowded vehicles and banana leaf shacks on dusty old highways, we don’t necessarily equate these very interesting sights with a level … More A Rich Village Life
As a tourist in Cambodia you get a one month visa upon arrival, with the option to renew for another month before you are required to leave the country. My time to exit the country was due next week and this was playing on my mind. Then last week one of the orphans was summonsed … More Malaysian Musings
While it’s not health systems that save populations, but healthy and equitable economies allowing a decent standard of living for most if not all, I still like this quote by Dr Paul Farmer. He is the founder of Partners in Health (PIH), a Non-Government Organisation who work in the poorest parts of the world, having … More Falling Through Gaps
Chinese New Year is a fairly big celebration in Cambodia. The streets come alive with (illegal) fireworks which have frightened me out of my skin a number of times today. The funniest of which was as I was cycling down the street after this morning’s English class and a young boy stood in the road, … More The Year of the Sheep
I have European friends in Phnom Penh who went broke helping people. They are closer to retirement than away from it and they are in debt with no assets despite having well paid jobs as professionals with international organisations for many years. They have lived in a few different developing countries over the past twenty … More Different Degrees of Broke
The way that Cambodians name their children can be really amusing to a westerner. One family of five children I know are named Danay, Danneth, Panneth, Panna and Dany. The girls are “D” and the boys are “P”. When I met them I was seeing them everyday and it took me a month, first to … More Insidious Power Play
HIV rates in Cambodia peaked in the late 1990s at around 2%. This was one of the highest rates in Asia and was considered to be a burgeoning epidemic which could easily have progressed in the same way as epidemics seen in many sub-Saharan African countries where rates have soared to as high as 20%. … More Carrying the Stigma of HIV
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