I do-do things here, I swear.

Suas'dai mut peat! (hello friends!)

Something I realized lately is that I have yet to explain to the world what I'm doing in Cambodia. There are several reasons for this:

1. I don't know what I'm doing. That is a lie, but...
2. I do know what I'm doing but it's difficult to explain without a lot of background information that may be uninteresting/confusing to outsiders.
3. The Community Health Education (CHE) program is still very new in Cambodia. It's fluid and evolving as we move forward.
4. I know to expect the unexpected, there is no standard, and every village can and will be different.

The past two weeks of training were enjoyable...to me....for the most part! Hiat ai? Why? Because the past two weeks were much more hands on and experiential. Two weeks ago we grouped up with some awesome Khmer students and did different community assessment projects with them.

One day, I co-facilitated a group discussion about sexual health with a couple of my fellow trainees. This I fully enjoyed because I love the topic. I'm all about spreading the word about safe sex, STIs, reproductive & sexual health to youth of all kinds! Put a sroam-ana-mai on it!!!(Condom) When leading a discussion about such a sensitive subject, there are things that are considerably different and challenging in comparison to an audience of Americans:

1. Khmer people are very shy.
2. Khmer girls are especially shy.
3. Khmer students are accustomed to "being talked at" rather than "being engaged" in school settings. Or so I've heard and witnessed.
4. Khmer students are easily influenced by their peers. Oh, wait...that's not different from the States...but whatever. It still makes it difficult to get individual opinions, nonetheless.

Before the actual discussion began, we handed out surveys for the girls to fill out anonymously. It appeared that one girl had most of the "correct" answers and the others followed suit with the same wording and all.
Best Answer to the question - "Explain in your own words what sex is...":

"Sex is mean that the man and women they make sexually."

And I'm not trying to make fun of their English skills because these girls are far more advanced with their English than I am with my Khmer. These girls are very smart and I'm happy that they even attempted to answer the awkward/embarrassing questions.

The girls definitely knew a lot more than they were willing to share initially during the discussion. It was also interesting to hear what was most important to the them in terms of relationships and sex. They were most concerned about finding a partner that they could trust. We played the game "Sex in the Dark" in which they anonymously wrote any question about sex and we picked the questions randomly out of a plastic bag and answered them as best we could. The most popular question was "How do I find a man that I can trust?"
Well......
How do you find a man you can trust??...very good question. We answered the question as honestly as possible. We stated that it was important to trust their gut, to trust their friend's opinions, and also trust their family's opinions about the boy/man. We also made it clear that we were all still trying to figure out how to find a trust-worthy man and that it takes time. There are plenty of good men out there!


So that was something I did.


The activity this past week included a household survey and "workshop" regarding alcohol consumption and drunk-driving. This topic was decided by the students the previous week during a needs assessment/priority ranking activity. For the household survey, my group went to houses/shops near the Wat and asked people their thoughts on alcohol consumption and drunk driving in their community. Most people agreed that alcohol was a problem in the community. We learned from an officer that 20% of accidents in Tramkok were alcohol-related and that 7 people died in July 2012 due to alcohol-related accidents.

Our "workshop" (I put this word in quotations because it was "kind of a discussion and demonstration" more than a workshop) was held on Friday at our language teacher Siphen's house. We talked about advantages and disadvantages of alcohol, and the cost of drinking and driving. I don't want to bore you much more so here are photos:

DISCUSSING THE COST OF DRUNK DRIVING: DEATH


I also made some awesome posters. The students decided on the slogan and I made the posters like a machine!!!!!

MORE DRINK...MORE DRUNK...MORE ACCIDENTS...MORE DEAD.


I'm going to leave you at that note. You drink, you drive, YOU DIE!!!! My apologies if this post was not as entertaining as it could be. I hope everyone is doing well back in the U.S. of A.
Things are A-Okay here in Kampuchea.


Lots of love,

loRAAAH!

Is this real life?

Dear my friends,

It's 6AM, Monday August 6th 2012 and my house is rockin'. My host mom, Him Sophany (Sophany is her first name, Phany for short) , is having a three day sale. She's a bulk rice vendor but this sale is extra special because it includes breakfast, lunch, coffee, soda, and et cetera. The State Exams are happening for the next three days and she is taking advantage of the traffic in our front yard. We're directly across from a high school and many students from the area are coming here to take the exams. My host mom seems pretty happy about it. She's getting lot of help from her family (people I've never seen before which means they are also probably not family either, just randoms) and she's smiling a lot more than usual. I'm slowly feeling more comfortable around her which is usually pretty good.

Sometimes I think that my host mom is starting to like me more but then again, I think she's just trying to preserve my white skin. It's very hard to tell.
Oftentimes when I leave the house in the morning, she'll smile, touch my arm, and rattle off a few things in Khmer to me. I initially take this as a very motherly sign of love and endearment. But then she proceeds to pull my sleeves down to cover my forearms.

"It's only 7AM and 90 degrees out, host mom! I would be nearly naked if it weren't socially/culturally inappropriate! Please let me keep my sleeves folded up to bare my sexy, sweaty elbows!"

...Is what I would say if it were socially/culturally appropriate to say to any person in Cambodia. Unfortunately, it is not appropriate. Neither are showing shoulders, knees, or Public Displays of Affection. But go to town (literally!) with Public Displays of Defecation.
Aut Ai Dtay! Mut Peat khnyom, Aut. Ai. Dtay.

HERE'S MY HOST MOM SPOONING SUGAR ONTO A PLATE WITH SOME KIND OF ROOT/TREE/VEGETABLE/FOOD/PLANT


Okay, but in all seriousness, I do think I'm making progress with my host family. My host sister, Sopda (Sokda?), continues to be a doll and very helpful. My host dad is very quiet, funny, and kind (a lot like my for-real-father!) Host mom is what she is. A powerful woman. As difficult as it is for me to understand what kind of mood she's in and what she's thinking most of the time, it is more inspiring to see a strong and successful woman in Cambodia than for me to get along with her perfectly. And for that, I am happy. As long as I can get her to laugh at least once every two days, then I am satisfied.

FOR EXAMPLE {And also, side note: it's no longer 8/6/2012. It is now 8/10/2012. It's hard to update blogs...}:
My language group (Team Tiger Growl) took a trip to the Market for our TDA (Trainee Directed Activity) today and happened upon some really sweet Khmer fashion. 3/4 of us decided to get matching Lacoste Sports pants and rock them at our Technical training that afternoon. I was so excited about my new Lacoste Sports pants that I put them on as soon as I got home for lunch. I then ate lunch on the cray (it's like a deck...but you sit on it and eat food on it and it's like a table but not a table.) Anyway, I finished eating and scooted off the cray but did so in an ungraceful manner and snagged my LACOSTE SPORTS PANTS on a snaggley wood panel!

"Skrrrrrrrrip!" said my Lacoste Sports pants and low and behold, I have a large hole on my butt. I say "oh no!" in Khmer, of course, and explain that I just bought the pants at the market today! My host mom and dad laugh and laugh at my misfortune.
Luckily we have this lady (servant?) at our house all the time (she was the one that helped me wash my clothes my first time attempting that whole thing...) whom raced to a tailor with my pants and got them sewed up right away and I was able to wear them to technical training with Team Tiger Growl in practically-seamless-perfection.

Long story short, (tl;dr) my host mom laughed at (with?) me today.

TEAM TIGER GROWL: Amber, Laura, Caitie (not picture: Peter)


Okay, people! Thanks for hanging in there and reading thus far.
Here's a short list of observations/notes/factoids:
1. Sometimes, when I hear chickens cluck it sounds like "Go DJ, Go DJ, GO!"
2. Roosters crow at all hours of the day. Not only at Dawn.
3. Dogs are less of an issue while running now. I carried a stick with me the other day. I did not hit any dogs, OBVIOUSLY, but I did wield the stick at a couple dogs that tried to chase me down. I think they are now afraid/bored of me. Either way, I am happy about this.

4. (This will be a longer note) To preface, I run the same 30 minute loop every time I run and a couple days ago I noticed something new. A small area/commune that was previously the most troubling to me due to angry dogs was actually very quiet this run. I noticed how much trash there was and some small children staring at me. And then I noticed the women at a particular house to my right . There were several women, maybe 7 or so. They were wearing shorts and tank-tops, had bleached hair, and looked very "untraditional" to Khmer women standards. I've seen similar women like this before on the way to Takeo near the railroad tracks. These women are prostitutes. Or so I assume. Either way, one of the women smiles at me, says "Hello" and "I pray for your heart."
This statement only made me feel guilt/sadness and made me wonder where/how she learned that particular phrase. One can only assume.

5. Takeo Province is experiencing a drought which is very disappointing and not good for many reasons. Most people here depend on the rain for growing their rice. Also, a lot of people use rain water as a source for bathing/cooking/drinking/etc. And for selfish reasons, I love the rain here because it's too damn hot and rain does not come often enough.
6. Do not play sports of any kind barefooted. You will regret it.
7. I'm midway through my PRE-SERVICE-TRAINING! Yay!!!!!
8. AND ONE LAST THING: Since this blog is called "Laurax Doodles in Khmer" I will try to post my doodles/drawings more often. I swear I am doing it...
here's proof:

Koala drawing for my friend Kateri



Okay. I'm going to end it here because this is the latest I've stayed up in several weeks (It's almost 10PM!!!) and I needs my sleep!
Love,


LoRAHHH!