Stinka is the prettiest cat from Stung Treng

Part of her diet are also gekkos, grashoppers and flies

a cow sleeps in the middle of the road, why not?

my hairdresser, me with new highlights and she gave a good head massage

On Monday, we had a meeting with all the Health Volunteers from Kratie with their VA’s and Stung Treng Health Volunteers with VA’s.

eating pirianha for lunch

Stung Treng - Kratie Volunteers & VA's on my balcony

girls round

At work, I am just trying to prepare for Daniel’s visit in September. We have to develop the Annual Work Plan with planned activities, expected outcomes and evidence of change. We then will meet together with the director of the RTC, the RCN, 2 teachers from the RTC and Hor and me. This is a basic thing volunteers have to do. Proof of evidence that I am doing what I am supposed to do. Which gives me also a clear guideline and aims.

20th of August
As agreed with the RTC, I’m now every Friday in our hospital. Trying to strengthen relationship between hospital and RTC. Also for me it is a good opportunity to see, what’s actually going on in there and I get closer to the preceptors and also to the regular staff and they know me now and are very friendly to me. So in the morning I went with Channa and met students, preceptors and chatted to them and promoted Nursing documentation, showed them how to fill out an Observation chart and a Drug chart. They just don’t know how to do it, so they rarely document anything. It’s pathetic and so frustrating. In the afternoon, we were on the paediatric ward, seeing students there. I noticed, that one of the students went out of the staff room with a syringe. When he came back I asked him, what he had done. He said he gave an IM injection to a child. I asked him if he had documented at all what he gave and when, and he said, the preceptor will do it when he comes back from the lunch break. I didn’t agree with that and made him write a new drug chart for the actual day and tick the box with the time and sign for it. I asked him to report to the preceptor and let him countersign later.
Next I saw a female student, also 2nd year, fiddling with a syringe. I asked her, what she is doing and she said, she’ll give also an IM injection to a child. I asked, who told her so and who will observe her. She said nobody, the preceptor said to do so once the drugs arrive from pharmacy. I asked her if I could observe. So we went to a little boy, max. 3 years old. When he saw her coming, he started crying. Cambodian nurses are very cold. They never try to calm down or take away fear. They just go ahead and do what they are supposed to do. I just couldn’t believe it, seeing a second year student giving an IM injection to a child without any qualified staff around. And the boy was so much crying. The needle was thick and I sat next to the boy, holding his hand and try to calm him down. She gave the injection into his thigh, not very confident though but she found the right spot. I just couldn’t help myself and cried together with the boy while calming him down. I tried to pull myself together but when children cry, I just can’t help it.
Afterwards I asked her, what she gave. She didn’t know and had to look it up from the drug chart. It was Paracetamol. I asked her, if she checked the temperature at all of the child before she gave it, she said, it was last checked yesterday. How often is it prescribed? Three times a day. I nearly started crying again when I found out that the doctor had been already, only comes back the next morning, this boy gets everything else orally and he has to get those bloody painful injections maybe three more times by unqualified staff until somebody comes around to change the prescription. I was really upset and just needed to leave the place.

Nurses here don’t think independently. I even think, they don’t think at all. They don’t care and usually have no background knowledge. They just go ahead, following any order from somebody in white uniform, if they give the wrong injection, tablet, nobody will know, because it’s not documented. If somebody dies, it’s just another one of so many. Nurses here don’t know how to care, to sit down with a patient, having a friendly chat or even holding hands, none of it happens. They don’t even know how to follow the nursing process. They just do the absolute minimum, no cleaning, no tiding, they don’t give painkillers before they change a wound dressing. Patients have to be very tough here, and they are. I’ve seen women after caesarean operations, so weak and pale, they do anything themselves because they don’t get any help from the nurse. All the dirty stuff is usually done by relatives, like going to the toilet or cleaning up afterwards. Nurses here don’t wash patients either. The nurse gives tablets or other meds whenever they arrive from pharmacy, probably they don’t even know about side effects or pre cautions.
It is shocking and I feel that I can’t do anything. And I struggle with that.

On Friday afternoon, Delia and me drove with our motos fortunately to Kratie and that was a good time to take a break from all those things and enjoy Cambodia. It took 2 and a half hours and it was a good ride, because the road was done only a few years ago. Apparently 10 years ago it was still unsafe to go that way because of soldiers and rebels, but now a days it is very safe.
We stayed at Emily’s and it felt like a proper girly weekend. On Friday evening we went to the birthday party which was actually Roger’s and Carl’s B-D-party. Karl is German and is a Chief Technical Advisor, IP-consultant. Works for IP and GOPA. Although he celebrated his 58th birthday, he swung me around with his Latin salsa skills and we had a proper party actually. Half Khmei, half ‘Barangs’, as they say. Barang means foreign, actually French. Also Roger played the Saxophone and Karl the Muntamonika, don’t know the English word, and they had a cool 30min Jazz session.

they gave everything

Tommi, Suse, Delia, Emily, Karl and me

Remnants of the Birthday party

On Sunday Delia and me went home around midday, trying to spot some dolphins on the way back, but again, no luck for me.
In the evening I did my washing and packed my bag one more time to go back to Chhlong, passing Kratie the next day, to do Supervision with the Regional Chief Nurse.

Chhlong is a very small, very basic town behind Kratie, passing through it on the way to Phnom Penh. We saw a lot of flooding around that area, which effects harvest and already poor people. I wasn’t aware that the flooding was so severe, but the river is high and maybe there will be also flooding in Stung Treng.

Flooding in Kratie Province

Breakfast in Chhlong

Channa, Sophany and Sethyl enjoying their eggs

The supervision was interesting. It is not easy to make preceptors learn new things.

during Supervision, preceptor next to me

Wat in Chhlong

During a student assessment, I realised, that another student struggled with a drip of a patient, next to where we were standing. She had a syringe with a needle and tried to inject the drug into the giving set of the drip. Completely on her own. Of course I went there and looked closer what she was doing there. She fiddled with the drip and liquid suddenly purred out. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but eventually she managed. Afterwards I asked her what she gave and she didn’t know. I asked her who ordered her to give it. She said she was a Primary Midwife student ( equivalent to a Healthcare assistant in the UK and they only have one year training here) and a 2nd year student nurse ordered her, to give that IV drug to a patient. I thought, I need to explode.
So after we gave feedback to the preceptor, who didn’t have a clue what she was doing, I ordered all the other preceptors into the staff room.
I asked them, how come, a 2nd year student can give instructions to a primary student to give an IV drug to a patient, but the students are not allowed to go to the patients and do Observations ( Blood pressure, Pulse, Temperature, RR) on their own.
That just so upset me but I really tried to stay calm and not get carried away.

The preceptors looked at me and found excuses. They had told them to do so, they were around all the time, there is no time to check Observations and so on.

It just didn’t make sense to me. I asked the clinical instructor from the RTC why primary students are allowed to give IV drugs, although they only have one year training. Apparently they do the same as a nurse, but get played even less. I just don’t understand that.

While looking more closely what the other students were doing, I saw them inserting Venflons on their own, mixing IV antibiotics, giving injections, all on their own and to all age classes. Children or Adults, it makes no difference. And they just do it, nobody looks or checks. The nurses are usually not bothered. They also send the students instead of doing stuff themselves.

So how can I live with that. I feel so powerless and want to change things, but I think I just can’t. It is very very frustrating and I feel very sorry for the patients. But they seem to accept it, although they are generally afraid of students.
It is really a complete different world with so different rules and assumptions. I thought I was over the culture shock but now I feel, I am in the middle of it again.
At the moment it feels difficult to accept things like that, because it is against everything I have learned and taught in my home countries.
I feel like I can’t do anything here, it’s like blowing hot air, nothing happens. And it breaks my heart, seeing all those people in pain, babies and children crying, nobody takes real action or good care of them. It’s not good and I’m sitting at the RTC in front of my laptop, trying to train the teachers here who are not interested at all.

Budda at Pagoda

But I want to try and hang on for a bit longer. At least a year. That’s when I should know for sure if it’s worth it or not.

Today, Thursday the 20th, I will give 4 girls from the neighbourhood English lessons. I agreed that at the beginning of the week with their mother, who owns a little restaurant around the corner from my house and I went there a few times now and she speaks good English so we can communicate. I am looking forward to that. A new challenge for me though. But a good experience I hope. We’ll see.

Roundabout in Kratie

Helen gives health education about respiratory desease at the hospital

sunset over the Mekong

a visitor at night

Another thing for me to look forward to is that my beloved mum and sister will come next year in January to visit me for 2 weeks. That is soooooo nice and I can’t wait. I feel so happy that first Carmen comes and then my family. So exiting!!!

To all my friends, who have clothes or material, anything that can be used but isn’t in use, instead of throwing it away, please give it to my friend Carmen in England – Oxford or to my mum in Germany – Guestrow. Everything is needed here and poor people appreciate everything. So collecting can be started now. Especially expired hospital material or teaching equipment. Even English books would be great!

Thank you! Hope you are all well! Lots of love, yours Katja

Wat in Chhlong

In general it is Cambodia’s premier beach town, sporting miles of sandy beaches, uninhabited islands and warm tropical waters.
The main city area sits on a beach lined peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Thailand. The pace of life is very relaxed and unhurried. The beaches offer umbrellas, thatched roofed eateries, bars and lots of restaurants, pubs, bungalows and an range of hotels, all making for a laid-back, beachy atmosphere and a great little tropical getaway. It is also a place to unwind by the beach, enjoy the fresh- from- the- ocean seafood , pary at the bars and happenings, take in island excursions or scuba trips and generally slow down, lay back and chill out.

So far so good, little guidebook, but how is it in reality?

I was very lucky to stay in a wooden bungalow at the beach with a wonderful sea view and hearing the waves at all times.

I met up with a few other volunteers and we explored the 5 main beaches. Victory beach, which is apparently the ‘Ibiza’party beach

at Serendipity beach

When the weather was nice we stayed at the beach and chilled,

fresh grilled sea squid

little boys selling cake rolls

There was lots of sextourism going on. In the evenings, the young Khmei girls hooked up with single foreign males, those ones who are unattractive and old and you know that they only come there for one thing. Cheap entertainment.

at Serendipity beach

empty during the day, full in the evening

When we were walking along Otres Beach, I saw a crowd of people standing in the distance and was asking myself, what’s going on there. A party? Coming closer, I saw a man lying in the sand and a white woman over him doing cardiac resuscitation. But far too slow. And the crowd standing around them, a guy doing mouth to mouth resus.
I couldn’t help myself but jumping in and I’m not sure if I pushed the woman away, but she didn’t do it right, so I took over and then realised, that that man was already so blue and so I asked while doing the compressions, what happened. They said he was found around 30 minutes ago floating in the sea. They tried to call the ambulance but their reply was that after such a long time it was too late and he is probably dead anyway. To be honest, I didn’t try long. I gave maybe 3 or 4 more compressions together with the breaths from the guy, felt his aorta for a few seconds and declared him dead. His arms were stiff already as I realised when we turned him over to roll him onto a mat to carry him into a shack to cover the corpse. He was a heavy fat white foreigner and I can imagine he had a heart attack while being in the water or something like that. Also the waves were quit high all week and the stream strong. Nobody knew him but fortunately a guy came on his moto and said that this man rented a moto from him, so he had his passport. At least something. Later on the police arrived and I don’t know what happened then because I had to leave the scenery. It was quit a shock.

On the last day I was there, I did a boat trip to 3 islands, as they advertised it beforehand. One of them was the famous ‘Bamboo-island’. The trip was $14, including breakfast and lunch.
So in the morning I got a lift to the breakfast place and had a baguette with jam and a cup of tea. Then we went to the beach where the boat was already waiting for us. We were a group of people of 7. 3 couples and me. It took more then an hour to reach the first island over the open sea and the waves were sometimes a meter high. So we really had to cling to the boat not to fall out. But once we arrived, we had the opportunity to snorkel in shallow and calm water.

snorkeling on Island trip

Next one was Bamboo- island.

there are around 1000 little islands around

more tourists on Bamboo-Island

jungle feeling on Bamboo- Island

Bamboo- Island

I was swimming so much that afternoon.

ready for the next island?

on Bamboo-island

on the way back to main island

stuck but happy

I just felt sorry for the guys. I mean, what do people expect when they are here? At the end of the day it is still a developing country they are in but it’s easy to forget when you stay in one of the big posh hotels along the coast side .

So I will definitely return, the landscape is just so beautiful and I love the sea. I also got a good tan, haven’t been that brown for a long time.

and this is not fake!

Back in PP I’ve witnessed ‘Cambodian autumn’ in a park with lots of kites and wind.

PP kites in the wind with Independence monument in background

of course I also got one!

written by  katja-horsch on August 10, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: my trip to the beach
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

the VSO office

my room, nice and humid

I also met a few other volunteers, one is actually here with Dengue fever, her name is Noel and she is a Health Advisor in Kratie. She felt this aching pain three days ago and couldn’t see properly. So she was advised to come to PP VSO office to have treatment and people around. A few people from different placements from Cambodia were here yesterday because they went today to different places. On Monday starts a puplic holiday so people are using this time to travel using the big airport in PP. Corine is going to Malaysia, Pam and her husband are going to Vietnam, Meghan is going to Laos and Eric is going to Bankok. I would have gone with one of them, but it was too short notice. So I’ll be all on my own with Noel over the weekend.

After I slept yesterday all afternoon ( not very well), I woke up very hungry. There is a supermarket just next to us, so I went there. It’s one of those posh ones, they sell basics there, but no fresh fruit or veg. So I bought a bottle of wine, some crisps, some instant noodles for dinner and some bread and tea and milk. So I had dinner, there is a little kitchen next to my room, and had some wine to help me to get tired. I talked to other volunteers which was very helpful and they said that they all came in a bunch of at least 20 people and they explored the area from day one and could help each other. They gave me really useful insight information and felt sorry for me. I hadn’t thought about that by then and I’m still ok with the situation.

This morning, I had a nice cup of black tea with milk and bread with cambodian marmelade. When I looked closer at the bread I could see, that it was starting to get mouldy. I was hungry and thought, give it a try where it’s not so obvious, and it was tasty. But then, just in the middle about my briefing about security and logistics with my country director Alice, I felt really sick and vomited twice. So I went back to bed for another 2 hours. I woke up feeling hungry and decided to find something else then in this supermarket next door. I must have looked really down, because Jean was still here and asked me what was wrong. I explained to her that I’m really hungry but I don’t know what to eat and where to get it from. She was so kind and said, no problem, I show you around a little bit. So she showed me good places and I had a relly good beetroot salad with walnuts for luch. I also bought some good bread.

After that, we returned to the office and I had a really useful meeting with the programme manager for health, Daniel. He’s origianally from Ethiopia and really nice. I had a good overview about the health programme and my role. I was shocked to hear that women who just gave birth don’t start breastfeeding straight away because they think it’s not good for the baby. They wait for 10 days and give newborns water from a bottle, which is usually not properly cleaned. As an induction method for pregnant women, they press on the belly and start the process pushing it out.
Patients have to pay one ‘over the table’ fee in the hospital to be seen and then another ‘under the table’ fee to the doctor himself. Corruption here is bigger then I thought. But apperently, things are improving a little bit thanks to money donors and dedicated people.

I’ll stay here in PP for another 5 days only, then I’ll travel by bus to Stung Treng with all my belongings. The journey apparently takes around 7 hours. I’m looking forward to that.
Meanwhile I’m supposed to have 3 hours language training per day, but the teacher didn’n know, so he’ll arrive on Monday. So I have now the weekend ahead of me and I’ll try to explore PP a little bit more. It feels a little scary on my own, but apperently it is kind of save. They sometimes do bag-snatching and I’m advised always to wear a helmet on a motorbike.They are lots of european looking people around.

The rain season started shortly before I arrived and it is such a relief, to have the rain around in the afternoon/ evening. There was a thunderstorm yesterday. So I don’t think I have to be too careful with water at the moment. Yesterday I had 3 showeres…
I had a mango earlier on from the mango tree in front of the office. Absolutely delicious. Very sweet and juicy.
I’ll go out now to find a Sim card for my mobile phone to be available and to take some pictures. I might also find something for dinner.

getting filtered drinking water from the office kitchen

written by  katja-horsch on August 5, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: first entry from Cambodia/ PP
tagged FirstEntry
Send a Compliment

---

2 comments...

the most amazing sunset I've seen here so far

absolutely amazing

On the 6th of July it was a sad day for Cambodia because the wife of somebody very important died. So all flags were only half up and everybody was in mourning.

On the 7th of July it was a happy day for Cambodia. It is a celebration day because of a temple in Preah Vehir, which lies close at the Thai border. This temple was finished building last year and it has something to do with the conflict Thailand-Cambodia.
So we had a van here at the RTC who blew up balloons. At 11 am everybody had to stand in front of the RTC, teachers and students and then we sang the national anthem. There were even cameras and people who took pictures. After the singing one was shouting: Preah Vehir! And everybody shouted with raised arms: Preah Vehir! Then clapping and giggling and then they released the balloons into the sky. It was quit nice. In Phnom Penh they have a big celebration with live concerts and so on for a few days.
Even one day later we have the telly on in our RTC office all day where we can see the concerts.

Daniel came also up to see all Health Volunteers in Stung Treng. He is the Senior Programme Manager from VSO Programme Office, based in Phnom Penh. It was very good to see him. I also invited him and Channa, Delia and Louisa for dinner into my house. I cooked Thai Curry. It was nice. That reminds me of mice. Catch regularly again. Anyway. To talk to Daniel was like a brainstorm which I definitely have to do more often. He is very good in what he’s doing I think and he knows a lot about development and budgets and all that. He gave me more good ideas to work on and encouraged me to pick up on old ones which I thought couldn’t be done anyway.

Hor has a bad time at the moment. First his uncle died last weekend, so he had to go to Phnom Penh. Then now his grandmother died and he’s going back to Phnom Penh. Those journeys are all long and exhausting and I feel sorry for his loss. He has applied for a better job in PP where his family and daughter are. It is also with VSO but he’d be in a better position and would earn more money. I hope he gets the job.
Then is the question what happens here in ST when he’s gone. Daniel asked me if his position could be covered by Channa, to use the money we could save eg. to build toilets. Initially I said that I can’t imagine Channa taking over Hor’s job. He is only 21 and just got promoted in his English school, where he teaches. He is a very hard worker, but it might be too much for him. Although I could do most of Hor’s work maybe, I am not familiar at all with all that finance business. But maybe I could learn from it. The project most likely finishes in 2 years and there won’t be more significant changes I think. And once the new volunteer arrives we might can share responsibilities. Her name is Caroline and she’ll arrive in October this year and will work with me taking over the role as Preceptor Advisor. I cover this role at the moment, together with the TDA role.
The reason of thinking so hard about it is, that we really need the money.

So because of Hor’s absence and Channa has some holiday, I am on my own for 3 days in the office, surrounded by all those men.

Another man came to visit Stung Treng for a 1 week workshop here. My good friend Eric Otieno.

hello Oti

yes, it is a mermaid!

On Monday, the 13th of July, my little 9 day adventure started. I got up early at 3:30 to take a minivan to Kratie to have two days of supervision in the hospital there. It was a weird moment then, because the minivan was just about to start when a woman said, that she had an Insect in her ear and she couldn’t get it out. It must be normal here, nearly everybody in the van had then a try to take it out. One was holding a torch and another one had a toothpick or something and I couldn’t watch but they were fiddling with her ear about 10 minutes without success. A woman suddenly got some liquid out and persuaded the woman with the insect to put this liquid into her ear. Just then another man was at the ear and the woman was obviously in pain. Fortunately they decided to call a Doctor and we drove with the minivan full of people to that doctor, at 4 o’clock in the morning. After another 10 minutes she came out and the insect was gone. So we drove for 2 ½ hours to Kratie where I met Channa, the clinical Instructor and the Regional Chief Nurse, Sethyll. We had breakfast together and then went to the hospital.

me and Channa at work with our selfmade VSO batches

Supervision in Kratie

eating brown bread with cheese! at Emily's

Emily got soap bubbles out

shower in the rain

still smiling, although no dolphins seen

In the evening, we went to see Joe. Joe is the owner of a restaurant in Kratie and he is originally from Chicago, but now in Cambodia for over 11 years. He cooks brilliant food and usually drinks during the day. But he is a lovely guy. So we had great fun that night.

at Joe's, he is at the back with greyish hair

On Wednesday morning, we got picked up from the minivan with all the other Health volunteers from Stung Treng inside. We were on our way to Siem Riep to attend to the Health Sector Workshop. That is for all VSO Health volunteers from Cambodia. It was twice a year but now that there are financial crisis’s at VSO too, they reduce it to annual. It was organized by 3 other volunteers. Attended volunteers work as Dietician, Nurse Advisor, Hospital Management Advisor, Health Advisor, Behaviour and Communication Advisor, Midwife Advisor and me, the only TDA and PA.
We all stayed at Smilyes Guesthouse

Siem Riep is a great place.

Traffic in Siem Riep

me and Mary

Louisa made it, next one is Lucky

Go Trisha, Go!

Limbo- Helen

Susan, Emily and Noel

a live band in SR! were really good!

a little girl, dancing to the music on the street

Noel buys fruit

me, Emily, Susan and Noel

Fancy crocoskin ?

Taxi driver with passenger on his seat, another 2 next to him and 4 at back

fish playing wit a ball that looks like the earth

a famous silver statue

22.07.09

After having had my first day back at work, I feel also good, although I didn’t want to come back first. But I had a successful meeting with the promoted Chief of Clinical Office Dr. Sovann and he gave me promising feedback and he also will work fast on my suggestions. So I have the feeling it’s rolling again.

a rather pale budda

I also have my first visitor coming! Hurray! Carmi was brave enough to book a flight from London Heathrow to Seoul and from Seoul to Phnom Penh. She’ll arrive on the 21st of December and will depart unfortunately again on the 2nd of January. But at least we’ll spend Christmas and New Year together. So much looking forward to that!
But still too little time. Whenever you want to come, try to plan at least 3 weeks. Because it is a struggle with the jetlag and a lot to take in once you arrive. So two weeks exhaustion and one week enjoying. But I can’t complain, I’ve got a visitor!!!

family shrein

I want to finish this rather long blog again with some gentle remainders. If you want to do a fundraise and don’t know for what, let me know. If you want to give a donation but don’t know for what, let me know. Even little amounts can help and you’ll see for what because I can document each step where the money is going to.

Also if you want to send something to me in particular, I need again Mosquito repellent and everything else you might think I need. I live with the minimum and am happy about everything now. Music, Books, Clothes, Stationary…
Thank you for following me up and thinking of me. Keep in touch! Katja

written by  katja-horsch on July 23, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: 06.-23.07.09
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

I am in my second month far away from you and familiar environment.
So far I can say that it is great and I’m really enjoying myself.
The language is still a problem though, I need to crack on and find a teacher or learn myself. I can go to the market and understand numbers and am able to have a conversation with hand and feet, but it is still too little and some people who know me now a bit find it quit frustrating not to be able to communicate properly.

hello my handsome

Cambodian style bedshapes

Today, Thursday, one teacher wanted me to help him performing a class demonstration on Friday, on wet-to-dry dressing. Yes that’s how it is called.
This one skill performance, as they teach it in the RTC to the students, is from America and has been translated into Khmei language by the RTC teachers a few years ago. There are 27 of those Checklists and the teachers train the students how to do it and how to follow from those checklists in the RTC first. Then the students have to transfer those skills into the hospital. The preceptors responsibility is to make sure, that the student follows always the guideline/ checklist with whatever they do.
Those checklists have a very high standart.
The problem is, that the RTC teachers are actually not quite sure about what certain things mean on the original. So some points are very unclear translated and the result is dodgy teaching and make the students confused.
The next problem is in the hospital. Because the checklists involve a lot of material use, the ward can’t provide that material because it’s just not available. So the students can’t perform the way they should and get bad marks or even fail on assessment. Also some preceptors have never done some procedures as the checklist instructs so they are confused about it.
I discussed that problem with some teachers and they can see the problem but don’t know what to do about it.
I talked through the wound dressing procedure whith the teacher and clarifyed all unclear points. Then I demonstrated the dressing on a pillow on top of a dummy with some teaching material from the RTC. I asked him beforehand if no other teachers did it before and he said, yes they did but they are also not sure how to do it following the checklist.

promotion van passing by

my great alarmclock, but always too early!

nice view from the bridge

Yesterday on Sunday we’ve celebrated Delia’s Birthday one week earlier because she is going to Austria in a couple of days and won’t have her Birthday here. So we organised a surprise party for her, actually Helen did. Everybody brought great food and Helen even made an ice-cream chocolate birthday cake

the pre-B-D girl

The plans for this week have changed. I’m not going to Kratie anymore due to no Clinical Instructor is available. So one more week in ST and the RTC. The following week I might also not go to Chhlong, but defenitely to Siem Riep for the Health Sector Workshop.

I am exited to know that there is a family reunion in France this week and I wanted to let you know that I am strongly thinking of you and will try to contact you this week.
Hopefully we will be able to skype with camera and all that. Wished I could be there.

Take care everyone! Yours Katja

cycling on top of the bridge again

My week started by going straight back into another Hospital to do supervision of preceptors. This time in my home hospital in Stung Treng together with Channa, his first time we were officially doing something outside the RTC.
It felt ok, due to my previous experience in Ratanakiri. Together with also a new clinical instructor Mr. Vann, we struggled through two and a half days of observation and talking.

observing preceptor with student

checking Respiration rate

tald to preceptor afterwards with Mr. Vann and Channa

Delia and Sambath at work with a patient

Today I was even a vet, giving “Stinki” , Kathy’s cat who is now at Delia’s, an i.m.- injection for not getting pregnant. She was a very brave cat and I love her already.

Otherwise not much is going on, housework, reports to write, catching mice…

great light

Thursday
Actually it hasn’t rained for the last three days. Everybody is longing for it. It is very hot and sticky at the moment. I am sure then when it comes, then properly.

This morning I had breakfast with Helen and Delia and Queeni, who visits Delia from Kratie and is also a nutrition advisor. We met at the Vietnamese noodle place and it was as always very tasty.

Then Delia and me went to the hospital again. She wanted me to check a Blood sugar measurement machine. It didn’t work. Needs replacement unfortunately. There are two of those machines, both broken. The whole hospital is now without. It is unbelievable. Patients need to have a proper blood test now to know how their blood sugar is. It’s pretty bad. When I compare to the UK how many Blood sugars we take and so easily without thinking about where to get supply from and who repairs the machine. There are lots of hidden diabetes patients here. Even I can see that.
And we actually don’t know who will pay for replacement…

Then I went to the RTC and unfortunately Hor didn’t feel well and went home. He felt very sleepy and had a headache. I hope he hasn’t got Dengue fever…

In my lunch break I got a little surprise, because in my bathroom sink was a Scorpio sitting. I panicked a bit and then called Delia. She calmed me down and we were thinking how we could kill it. I was nearly going to crush it with the other end of my floor brush, but I just couldn’t do it. So she asked if my landlady wasn’t around. I went out to see and there she was. I must have looked a bit out of order, because she came running. When she saw it she laughed at me, got a piece of wood from outside and killed it for me. Then she took it with her. I was relieved.

nasty little thing

When I arrived at the RTC a bit earlier then usual, some students were there, talking to me. Because of the English classes they know me now and also from the visits at their accommodation. Two in particular are very interested in me and always talk to me. One is a very shy boy, I should know his name by now but am to embarrassed to ask again. The girl, her name is Sareth, always smiles at me and is very curious about me. Last night, when I had just my washing finished and also cooking, I was quit sweaty and was just about to throw my vegetable waste over the riverbank. Everybody does that, the cows will have it later when they stroll along. So I looked a bit not so good. And then those student nurses where on their bicycles, standing there on the road waiting for somebody. It was coincidence that it was her as well and she started of course a chat.
So today she asked me if she could come and visit me in my house. I thought that was a lovely idea. So on Saturday at 12.00 and they would like to eat English food. What shall I cook? Maybe spaghetti, maybe beans on toast? Got a holy tin from PP for special moments. Or maybe potatoes and veg and meat? Well, I decide later.

So after Sareth asked me for my contact details, everybody else wanted them. I only gave it to 4 other girls and the boy. They said they all want to come and visit me. So I better be prepared for that. I thought I’ll make a party one day and invite them all.

In the afternoon I was fairly proud of myself because I found out how to do a slide show with window power point. All by myself I prepared a presentation via slide show. I think would have never found out like that, but here is enough time.

And Mr. Vann told me that I am bossy. We laughed it off.

Did I tell you already about the fire? There was a fire in town near the market today. At least 5 houses burned down. I went to see it after work and it was shocking.

5 houses missing after the fire

In the evening I enjoyed brown rice, which I brought from PP with mixed veg and sauce. I watched a DVD – Charles Wilson’s war- which I somehow liked because of the actors ( Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) and then I got a long SMS from Sareth. Which sounded like this: hi what are you doing? Are you going to have holiday this year? Are you doing anything this weekend? Tomorrow you go to a party. Do you like Khmer music? Do you like Khmer food? When do you get up? Where do you normally go for holiday? What do you eat tonight? When do you go to bed, I hope you sleep very well. From me sareth.

I just hope that all the others who have my number now will not bombard me in the same way. So I answered that I will try to answer all her questions on Saturday when she comes around.

Louisa’s b-dparty was great.

Queenie, Delia, Evic, Louisa, Helen and me

lovely cake!

Helen and Chantra having balloon conversation

and now everybody down, down

yes, no touching allowed

and now clap your hand above your heads

and freeze!

khmei dancing

sooo long.

freeze!

my sweet Channa

Queenie and Evic

funny how I dance

"dancing queen..."

On Saturday morning, I met first Delia for breakfast at the market at 8 am. We had those tasty cold noodles with chilli. Then we went and had our toenails painted, as it is common here.

fancy turquise toe nails?

Then I went shopping in preparation for the student girls from the RTC, who wanted to be at my house by 12 noon. When I arrived at my house at 10:45, there they were sitting already! Sareth, Parim and Shry mom. So they came in and asked me, if they could help me with the cooking.
First we chatted a bit and I gave them some of the magazines, Carmen sent me. More and Closer. They really liked them and looked at everything very close and wanted explanation.
I decided on Spaghetti with Tomato sauce, so I explained first that it is an European dish, coming from Italy. They never heard of Italy.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get real spagetti, so I used some Khmei flat egg noodles.
For the sauce, I somehow had in my head to make the sauce smooth - I need to grate the tomatoes through a sieve. So I first boiled the tomatoes as seen at Sheila’s, then peeled them and rubbed them through a sieve into the wok. Together with onions and garlic, s&p, it simmered a bit and then we added fresh basil, which I love here.
We ate on the balcony and when I asked if they wanted some chilli sauce, they all put lots of it onto their portions. They found the dish delicious.
I didn’t know for how long they wanted to stay, but then they wanted to watch a DVD. I asked what kind of film they like, love storys or something like that? No, action films. I borrowed some DVD’s from Delia and had only “Get smart” and “Tropic Thunder”. So we watched first “Get smart” until it stopped working and then “Tropic Thunder”. Yeah, and then they disappeared after 4pm.
They were very nice and I hope we can come together another time. I really would like to teach them some more English or just I don’t know, be there for them.

In the evening I got an invitation from Delia to come along and have something to eat.
There were also Queenie, Louisa and Evic. We had Gin and Tonic! Wow, that was a great treat. The bottle came from Delias mum, when she visited her last year. It was a great chill out dinner and Delia and me had quit a good chat.

Today, Sunday

I really wanted to sleep long today. But at 5:30 the rooster woke me up, then some people started hacking some wood and then somebody else was making noise from the street. Because my bedroom has only a thin wooden wall I can hear literally everything. I stayed in bed and read until 9. Then I got up and I didn’t have any water from the taps nor from the shower or toilet. Great. My landlady wasn’t there but a bloke helped me to figure out the water pump at the house.
Then I made a lampshade for the kitchen from the cans we had last night.

lampshade extraordinare

And then Internet- café and blogging! Takes always quite a time until all pictures are uploaded and so on.

Tomorrow I try to finish my proposal for a French aid organisation who wants to support Cambodia with $ 40.000. Cross fingers that we get the money!
I really want to try to get a new building for student accommodation.
Nevertheless, I still count on your support and maybe that you consider some fund raising ?

Antji and John, got your parcel. The mosquito repellent is perfect! The chocolate was half eaten by mice and very melted…. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still nameless, please give me a name!

written by  katja-horsch on June 28, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: ST end of June
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

After I arrived in ST from PP on Sunday, my landlady came and brought me lunch. Khmei food. That made me really happy. Although we can’t understand each other, she makes me feel welcome.
In the evening, we were saying farewell to Joelle in her house in ST. It was a great party with lots of lively Khmei people there. We even tried to dance like them, until the power was cut off and we had to light candles to carry on partying without music.
Even my little Channa was tipsy, because he brought Rice wine from Laos and I forced him to drink it with me. Then a thunderstorm came and we went home. Wet.

On Monday morning, I started packing and went again to the RTC to get some documents about previous preceptor supervision in Rat. After that I decided, to carry on and cycle to the “Mekong blue”, one kilometre away from the RTC, were they grow the precious silk from silkworms.
There I met a guy named Makara, and he gave me the full tour.
It’s a really big complex, and they have everything you need to produce breathtaking silk material. When I saw the silkworms, I had to think of my sweet niece Tilda, who got silkworms from her father ones and she always wanted to give them more then four leaves per day. Wonder what happened to them, can you tell me John?
I’ll definitely be back there. They even have a kindergarten for the children of the women who work there. It is a lovely place. At the end I bought a little purse made of silk.

When they arrived at 2:30, there was also Tiri in the car, Hor’s wife. I was really happy. She is so lovely. I was starting to joke that in England they recommended to take a sports bra to Cambodia because of bumpy roads. At the beginning it was ok, although only sand road. But then, it just got worse and worse. We probably drove 20 km/h ( our neighbours in England would say 20 is plenty) for an hour or so and then the rain started and we slowed down even more. But finally we arrived in Ratanakiri and were looking for a place to stay. VSO pays $6 per night, so Sytill and me were staying in a guesthouse and Hor and Tiri stayed at Hor’s brother, who lives here with his family.

I was telling Hor and Sytill about the lake and that I really wanted to go swimming there. So in the afternoon, we decided to do so and we headed back to the hotel, got the swim costumes, towels and some drinks and went to the lake.

It was really beautiful. Because it was a cold and cloudy day, the water colour wasn’t nice. Apparently it is crystal blue usually, but never mind. The water was lush.
Sytill was asking if I wanted to go over there to change dresses, and I didn’t quite understand what he meant, so I said yes, because I thought he meant something like a place to change into your swim suit. When we arrived, there was a house and Hor was talking something about “looking like the Ethnics”. We went into that house and Tiri started to undress. I thought I can change now, but then a woman appeared and wrapped a coloured piece of cloth around me and then I started to understand.

Tiri and me, the ethnic girls

I could hold my breath longer then Hor, we had to laugh a lot though

mmhh, beer with straw

no crocodiles, I checked beforehand

Sytill ordered even wine. He is a dodgy man, somehow very difficult to read. I still don’t feel that the ice between us has broken, although we did all those childish things today. Funny p.

We actually wanted to top the evening by going to a karaoke bar, but Tiri had a bad headache so we went back to the hotel. Hope she’ll feel better tomorrow.

On Wednesday, we had breakfast, then 2 more supervisions in the hospital. The plan was, that the others wanted to go home in the afternoon and I wanted to stay until Sunday.
But because it was raining more or less all the time and I did the lake and also the other volunteer from Rat. didn’t have time to see me, I decided to go back home with them. I would have felt left alone, because I had so much fun with Hor and Tiri and Sytill.

On the way back in the afternoon, we visited a waterfall. We passed a bamboo-clad valley and went then to the Ka Chhang falls, just 10m high,

at the waterfalls

Setyll, Hor, Narem and Tiri

Then I decided to go and see my friend Eric, who likes to be called by his african name: Otieno, in Kampong Thom whom I met first when I arrived in PP. KT used to be known as “place of the big snake”, apparently because the locals used to take offerings to a large snake which lived in a cave on the river, though this may be yet another Cambodian myth as no one now has a clue where the cave is. That’s what my book says.
So I had a few days to see another province. It lies in the heart of Cambodia actually.

The bus ride took around 8 hours and when I arrived on Thursday afternoon, we had some of the famous Stung Treng Coffee ( it tastes a little bit of chocolate and every volunteer in ST is crazy about it) and cake, together with his elderly landlady, he lives with. Oti also has a big house like me, with guestroom and veranda. But he hasn’t got the view onto the river.
He works for VSO but with another NGO called ‘Mlup Baitong’. He works in Livelihood sector, has to do with foresting and farming. I admire his braveness to be black and so confident. Because also for Cambodians it is strange to see somebody so black. And also to see somebody so white. And when we walked together, they were staring and laughing at us.
Otieno is lovely. Although he has three sons already at home he kind of adopted a Cambodian girl and supports her when he can. He also gives a contribution to a very poor family near to his house. And he is still able to save up some money each month to support his family at home. He has a very big heart.
On Friday, we went to see “Sambor Prei Kuk” one of the major temple sites. It is the site of a Chenla-era capital that once boasted hundreds of temples, although many to them have now been lost, perhaps smothered by the encroaching forest. Several temple groups have been cleared, and particularly fine brick carvings and decorated sandstone lintels and columns can be seen.

So I had to take the taxi first to Kampong Cham. In the Taxi we were 7 people. Me and three others in the back, one of the women was very pregnant and 3 in the front. That means 2 on the passenger’s seat, squeezed together for 2 and a half hours. I missed the first bus going to Stung Treng so I had to wait for another 2 hours in KC.

The bus broke down of course and I thought from hearing the crackling engine, that was it. The engine is stuck and we can’t carry on. But the amazing thing is that the bus driver again was able to fix it. No idea how. So after 30 minutes, everybody could come in again and off we went.

It was starting to get dark when I arrived and a thunderstorm was coming up. I tried to find a moto driver to bring me home because the rain started already.

Also when I arrived I had a good feeling of being back in my house. It feels familiar and save. And after a quick catch up with Delia and Helen on the phone, I realized that I’m having a great time here so far and that I’m really lucky to have had my placement offer in Cambodia.
It is a great start for volunteering and living and working in a developing country.

Now, I just want to ask or remember, that if you want to do something good, you could do some fundraising anytime. For example at work, if you ask colleagues to donate even only £ 1 or Euro 1 each and collect it and send it to me, it will make a difference. Please consider it. When I come next year for a visit, I’ll bother you with that. In the JR, girls, maybe you want to put your mark onto the RTC by donating for some water filters for example or maybe even we could improve poorly conditions of student nurses by buying a toilet for them or materials/ equipment for teaching. If you have some money, maybe even some watches for nurses would be a great help. Some students are so poor, they can’t even afford to buy a watch.
I am here, so it won’t get lost. Please contact me for your positive answer.

sunset over the mekong

I then went to work and found myself in the middle of 10 RTC teachers, all male. Because the office has moved, we are now in the big meeting room, forming an U-shape with our desks. Facing each other. On the other side I have the feeling it is better for communication and getting to know each other. This is only temporary until we move into the new building, which they build on for nearly 2 years already.
In our old office they just knock the walls down and make another classroom out of it.

In the afternoon I developed an annual Refresher booklet for Preceptors. This was an idea to decrease costs for another workshop to be held for all 40 preceptors who had already training. It now must be approved by the RTC, VSO and Kadoorie and the MoH. So it can take ages until being used properly.
I also helped translating some nursing knowledge into Khmei language.

a lizard running away from me

I said that before I came and I am totally aware of it, and at the end it is up to me what I do with it, but I am glad to have the opportunity of new ways of thinking and being.

On Wednesday, I joined in the morning the same English class then I’ve joint already once last week. I could see a change already. They were all quiet and tried to listen to me. I try to talk to them as interactive as possible and wrote every more or less uncommon word onto the whiteboard. I also tried to motivate them again to become a very good nurse and learn as much as possible about nursing in order to give the best care they can. I think that they understand the importance of English now as well, because this time even the hip boys at the back were listening and asking questions. I really liked it though.
In my lunchbreak I went to Joelle’s place and then we had lunch together at their local restaurant.

eating eel soup for lunch

mmhh, eel soup

I have the feeling, sitting together in this big room broke the ice. Everybody greets me now and talks to me. Even two others asked me already some translating questions.

Later we have a meeting. Clinical instructors with VSO team. Will do a brainstorm session about our work relationship.

I like teaching. In England I was always very unsure and felt not very confident, but here I have the feeling, I will gain lots of teaching experience and confidence. Maybe I will lead my nursing career into a different direction. We’ll see. But I really like it so far.

The meeting with some of the teachers ( the same as clinical instructors) went well. I could really see that some are really interested and want to improve, others are not bothered at all. I tried to make them understand that I only have 2 years time and that I would apprichiate teamwork. They would like to give feedback to them and teach them new methods. I said that I’d like to sit in the class when they give a lesson to the students, so that I can give them afterwards individual feedback. Some liked it, some refused it. And that are the ones who are afraid of not being good enough. I reasured them that I would only sit and watch, I would’t even understand what they are saying in Khmei. But I think, even with only doing that, I can see what level of teaching the teacher is.
They also want me to teach them English language. Because some of them can’t speak at all, some speak very good, I’ll devide them into 2 groups and who doesn’t attend for 3 times without apologies is out.
I need to get some advise on that from somebody, because I never taught anybody any language. But somehow I am looking forward to that and I am sure it is possible.
In the evening we met and had "Ban Chow".

omlette filled with soy beans and meat, to be eaten with leafs

the traditional "ban chow" round

The busride was very long. At the end we were on the road for 9 hours. Khmei people love Karaoke, and all the way it was really loud Karaoke musik on the screen or they showed bloody war movies. Meanwhile the aircondition is really cold and blows very strongly.
We also overrolled a dog puppy. I saw it. It brought tears into my eyes. The busdriver was sad too. So many animals on the road. It is a constant horn noise to hear to make the way free.
Then after 5 hours, the bus made a horrible noise and somebody said, the wheel is broken. What amazed me was, that the busdriver was able to fix it in 25 minutes. It was the Keilriemen (don’t know the English word), that was broken.
We also stopped 3 times on the way and ate something. So I think, I finally had the sweet sticky rice in a bamboo stick, Shane was talking about. Got it in Kratie.

In PP, Hor introduced me to his family and his geogous baby daughter. I then went to the VSO office and met a few volunteers there. We went out for dinner and I had chips with ketchup. That was good. In that restaurant, I saw an old guy, sitting next to a beautiful khmei girl. She looked not older then 15. And suddently it became reality again that PP is also a city of sex tourism. I felt really sorry for that girl. Apparently, they get $20 for the act and $50, when she stays overnight. It makes me sad.

On Friday, we had the meeting and I think it was good. The director was on time and in a good mood. He talked openly and agreed to a few things. When he went at lunchtime, Daniel, Hor and me continued with project revision all afternoon until the evening. Hor is just so good in what he’s doing.

On Saturday, I mainly relaxed. Forgot to take my camera, so no pictures available.
I did all my shopping in two different supermarkets and even got fairy- lights. There are many people around in the VSO office at the moment due to different workshops.

Sunday, the Mini-van picked me up at 4:30. Hor and his wife were in there as well. Pleasant trip, it only took 7 hours.
This afternoon I’m going to prepare for preceptor supervision trip tomorrow. We’ll go most likley at 9 am, so not too bad. I am really looking forward to see Ratanakiri.

If you want to send something, then maybe black and herbal tea.

More from Ratanakiri. Am quite exhausted now. Hugs and Kisses to all of you!

cute doggy

Yesterday I’ve seen a real scorpio infront of Helens house. It was as big as my hand and black. We were just returning from the weekly “Banchow” place, which is next to Helens house. Banchow is a dish, it is a giant thin omlette filled with soja beans and some minced meat. You eat it rolled into different leaves with your hands after dipping it into a tasty sauce.
Scott had the honor to kill the scorpio because Helen was worried it might do harm to children running around her house. So he stood on it with his foot and then it was dead.

Talking about animals. Last night a noise kept me awake. Something scratchy next to me. When I had the guts to look what it was with my torch, I saw a giant cocroch at my window. Eventually, I overcame my disgust and pushed it out. I then went into the kitchen, that was all around midnight, and there it was. A giant rat sitting on the sink, jumping off when I came. I couldn’t see where it went.
In the morning, on the way to the bathroom, I had another heart attack. Suddently something jumped at me out of nowhere, and tried to escape through the gaps at the front door. It was a cat! No idear where it came from, but I hope, it ate the rat over night (Sorry Carmen).
I also have a lot of gekkos in the house on the wall and they make funny noises.

Gekko

my visitor in the evening

Otherwise my day at work was good. Had a meeting with the 2 English teachers who teach the students twice a week basic English. VSO supports them and I can sit and observe one of them tomorrow morning and give them feedback.
Then I discussed with them my idear, starting a choire. I wrote the word choire down, because they didn’t know what it was. So I explained it and they were really positiv about it. At the end of the meeting( which took 2 and a half hours), one of them pointed at the word choire like they never heard about it and asked me, what it means. At the end we decided it is like a band. Well, lets hope it will work out.

In the evening Delia and Scott came around and they put on my new hamock and it’s so cool. Lying in there and letting the time pass. It’s very comfi.

Tuesday

My day started by spending 2 hours in a class of more or less 30 student nurses, year 2. They were very shy and they were encouraged to ask me some questions.
It was strange to stand infront such a big class and shouting at them, that everybody can understand me. But it also felt natural and more and more I have the feeling, that I am getting used to it. So I told them something about me and then they asked me about nursing in Europe and so on. Some of them really try to speak well, some can’t speak anything, unfortunately. Then I sat at the back and joined the lesson of Mr. Voeun. He speaks funny broken English but it is ok. I feel like being the English expert here, having reports to correct and also they expect me to teach some English language to the clinical Instructors from the RTC. But I explained to everyone that it is only my second language and I’m not perfect in it. But so far to be honest, I feel confident with it.
In the English class we had some group discussion about what pets they used to have when they were younger. They were just in the process of learning when to use “use to”. So it was funny to hear, their pets were pigs and waterbuffalos.
All together it was great, apparently it is very rare that a foreigner speaks to them.

I will give Mr.Voeun some feedback on Friday. He had to go, doing more teaching somewhere else. I think he was good, tried to involve all of them and he also used different participatory approaches. It was just so noisy from outside and not all students pay attention at all times for 2 hours. So some disappear for a while in the middle of the discussion, some don’t have books and can’t follow, some do something else, like homework I thought.

In the afternoon, I prepared a little teaching session about ‘how do we learn and different learning styles’. I was asked to do teaching sessions for the clinical instructors and I think to start from the beginning it is important to understand about the learning process. Then they want me to show them some practical skills with equipment at some point.

On my way back from work I stopped at Helens because she wanted to give me something, Evic had left for me. It was a big Teddy bear. She had it in her house and thought, it can give my company in my house. The thought is very sweet.

In the evening it was raining heavily. After my portion of instant noodles, I went to bed early and closed the door to my bedroom. That night it was much better. I slept through and couldn’t hear any rat noise. There are defenitely still some buggers around, who nibble on my soap frequently.

Wednesday

In the morning we met at a Vietnamiese noodle place for breakfast. Delia was sad because she had to say goodbye to her sweetheart. It made me sad too. But she will see him again in a few months, so it is not too bad. Those noodles soups are so tasty.
Afterwards to work.
In the afternoon I’m going to the Wat because Helen will do a speech there. It is a HIV/ AIDS awareness, “candlelight” meeting , and they wear caps and t-shirts with the logo:
‘O.K. Condoms’ on it. Hilarious.

It was a great afternoon.

Louisa, Delia, me and Helen

students listen of course

Sambath, me, Louisa and Wuddy

at the meeting

Louisa, Delia, Wuddy and Helen

Delia is holding her "candle light"

inside the pagoda

Afterwards, Helen, Delia and me had “Banchow” and then a big thunderstorm

the thunderstorm is arriving...

Thursday

The Kadoorie project has been extended. That is good news. Daniel from the Programme office wanted to come to ST to talk about new activities and achievments, but the director can’t make that date. So, we will go to PP next week on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to that. Also it feels amazing to be actively there in decision making about a big project with lots of money involved. It is different from working on a ward directly or being somewhere in the field. This is more about developing the actual action plan. And it feels important and exciting to be part of it.
All day at work we did brainstroming about that meeting and we have now a good list of ideas to discuss in that meeting.
When I think about it, travelling for 9 hours to PP on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday morning and then going back for 9 hours on Friday. But PP, the world of supermarkets and Internet- acess and post-offices!
In the evening, I killed 3 big coqurotches. I sprayed them with anti ants spray to death. I didn’t want to, but I am also afraid of them. It took me a time to push them onto a piece of paper and then throw them out of the window.

Friday

Well, I agreed on having a cleaner once during the week. Malynn is her name and she came for the first time this morning. I asked Channa to translate some instructions for me, because we can’t communicate yet. So when she arrived I gave her some pieces of paper where Channna wrote down in Khmei what I wanted to do with her. First of all I wanted to go to the bank with her to get some money. Then I wanted her to choose what she needs for cleaning at the market and I would pay for it.
Because I live around 1 km away from the market, I took her on my bike, she sitting on the end, as Cambodian people do it. It is so funny to try to speak to somebody who doesn’t understand a word and the other way around. But smiling helps and nodding. So somehow we got a good mousetrap, one where the mouse or rat goes in but stayes alive so that I can put it outside.

the mouse trap

enjoying the lazy hanging around

evening mood at over the mekong

Also the trip to PP had to be rescheduled because the director had problems with the appointed date. So now we now go to PP on Thursday next week, have the meeting on Friday morning and then we decided to stay until Sunday. Hor can visit his family and I can do shopping, shopping, shopping. Also my mobile phone is slowly dying, I think I need a new one.
On the following Monday, we will then travel together with Setill, the Regional Chief Nurse, to Ratanakiri province for a supervision visit of a Preceptor. I am so exited about that one, because Ratanakiri is supposed to be beautiful. Ethnic minorities, elephants, waterfalls and jungle combine to make this one of the most popular provinces in the northeast, my guidebook sais. It also served as a base for the Khmer Rouge leadership during much of the 1960’s. Pol Pot fled there in 1963 and established headquarters in the north of the province.
Gem mining and tourism form the lifeblood of the province. I really want to go for a swim in Boeng Ueak Lom, the vulcanic lake. Delia was there already and somehow I said something like- and then I can try out my new swimming costume- and then she looked at me and said, that nobody goes for a swim in that. They wear normal clothes, like T-shirt and trouswers. Well, I’ll find out. Also there is the Virachay National Park, which is popular.
I will stay in Ratanakiri until the end of the weekend, so alltogether for a week. And I had to take only one Annual leave for that.

Tomorrow evening I told everyone to come because I’m having my housewarming party. Don’t know how to manage yet, with only 2 forks, 2 spoons, 4 plates, 1 wok
and 4 glasses. I hope Helen can bring her rice cooker and then I make the only thing I can cook well and have the ingridenens for, my Thai curry. Will go to the market in the morning. Maybe I will be able to buy some meat. So far, I just couldn’t. The smell and the look of dead animals is nearly unbearable. The same with fish.

my new dress, like?

Saturday

This morning, there was a mouse in the mousetrap!

I've got one!

Cambodian wild flowers

Then I started to prepare. This might be boring for guys now, talking about food preparation… First the fruit salad. I bought lovely apples from New Zealand and a fresh pineapple and lytchie fruit. That all together and a little bit of palmsugar and lemon juice and then into the fridge.
Next the curry. You might all know how it tastes, having eaten it before in our house. But the challenge with this one is, that there is no coconut milk to find. Only fresh coconut stuff shredded off the coconut itself. So I bought some of that and then soaked it in water for a while. Then I put it through a fine siv and there was my coconut milk. Also I used first time baby- aubergines with it and it really works. Instead of lime leaves I had lemon grass and lots of fresh basil. Because I didn’t have much money left at the end of my shopping trip, I could only afford to buy a very small piece of beef meat and put that in. The left over dry coconut stuff I used to sprinkle onto the fruitsalad. Isn’t that very interesting to put into the travel blog? : )
Then I made a green salad out of cucumbers and salad leaves, an onion and lemonjuice. I couldn’t find red tomatoes yet. They sell them green.

At 5 pm Kahn came and we chatted a bit. He visited Helen at lunchtime and then he had school. Helen suggested to him that instead of becoming a doctor, he could start his career by becoming a nurse first. So he asked me if I could find out for him about that. He said that Helen is his mother and I have become his bigger sister. Isn’t that nice? I feel still a little suspicious but I think, he means good.

At 7 people startet to arrive and we ate and chatted on the veranda. Helen made also some pizza bread! How, I don’t know, because neither of us has an oven. It was amazing and with real cheese! I need to get some in PP.

Jo, say cheese!

my party guests

Hor and his wife

Hor and his wife, Evica and me

After I cleaned up I had another mouse in the trap and reliesed it at the river. Then I killed another 2 coquratches in the bathroom. They actually really disgust me. I flushed them down the toilet because last time I threw them out of the window and they had still this poisening spray on them. And there are lots of animals here I don’t want to poison too.

living room, tidy

my bathroom

written by  katja-horsch on June 7, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: 1.6.- 7.6.09
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

There are many things I’m doing or I’ve seen for the first time in my life since I am here.
Apart from eating many different fruit or veg or duck eggs, generally food for the first time, it is also new for me to go every night at 9 o’clock to bed. Also last night I experienced the loudest and heaviest thunderstorm ever. The house was shaking when the thunder came. I wonder how I will cope with that when I live alone…

On Sunday Joelle went to have another blood test and it revealed that she is clear now of malaria. So lucky. There are apparently 5 stages of malaria and she had fortunately only stage 1, the weakest form but also it can lead to dead if untreated. We want to go at the weekend together over the river by boat to see the a little village.

the Referral Hospital in ST

My Thai curry on Sunday evening was a success. I made it for the first time with all fresh ingredients. Delia and her boyfriend Scott, who visits her at the moment (lucky her), came around and Helen and me sat on the veranda, eating and drinking wine.
Did I ever mention that Helen is originally from Canada and Delia from Australia?
Both of them lived in England before they started with VSO ..

a street in ST

This morning, Monday the 25th of May, I went first thing to the bank with the new letter, Hor brought with him from PP. They made me a booklet, which you need to get money out of your account. The card for the cash machine will be ready in 10 days. Anyway, this booklet. When I received it after 30 minutes, I couldn’t help myself laughing. They put for my name: Katja Horsch Deutsch. When I tried to explain that Deutsch is my nationality, they wouldn’t believe me, because in my passport those three words are below each other. I tried to convince them for 5 min until somebody else came and said that I’m right. So they did another booklet for 30 minutes. This time, the stamp wouldn’t work and they had to repair it before putting it on. Finally I have my bank account and now money can be transferred for my house.

Hor asked me to type from Helens house contract a copy so that we can use it.

Work is fine at the moment. Just finding my feet. I think I was quite negative about everything in the last few mails. Maybe I am still, but at least I realize it now.

Channa in our RTC office

Hor in our VSO office, very busy

So I’m trying. But generally I feel a little more relaxed and am looking forward to more challenges and how I will manage things. This is definitely a big learning curve for me and I realize slowly, how my life was until now. Have enough time to think about it…, and somehow I can see already what positive effects it will have on me once I let go. I had a disagreement with my mum about me being too impulsive. 6 weeks ago, I was very much disagreeing with her, but now, thinking about it, I think she is right. I am actually an impulsive person. But I think there is nothing wrong with it.
I also realized, how stress at work had influenced me for a long time and how it effected my private life at home in so many negative ways. I feel that I had so much stress in the last few years. I never want to have that again. Here it is not yet stressful, it probably will be at some point, but at the moment I really enjoy an easy life, I feel like I’m on a long holiday a little bit. Except from not being physically together with friends and family. That is not easy at all.
But people (mostly volunteers), I see here every day now become important, and I am really looking forward to see Helen after work for example. With certain people I click, like Helen and Joelle, with some a bit later.
Thinking about a conversation with Dave, a VSO facilitator from P2V and SKWID course, who asked me one evening in Harbourne Hall at the bar, what I want to get out of this personally. I haven’t had really thought about it until then, and I couldn’t really answer him back. I knew from the volunteers point of view I want to give my best to support the health sector here in North East Cambodia, but I also want to learn, just to be myself. And I have the feeling, I’ll have plenty of time to practise.

In the afternoon at RTC we were doing something really useful, I found. We went through each preceptors evaluation form. They did complete it after the workshop last week. So Hor translated and I wrote everything down and will summarise it to complete the Kadoorie report (they do the funding of the project). There were really good comments and suggestions, I can hopefully do something with. I really can recommend evaluation forms.

For supper, Helen bought a small roasted chicken. Chicken here in Cambodia is more expensive then other meet. Why? No idea. She’s having Khmei lesson at the moment. She’s trying to learn how to write it. It’s far too advanced for me.

Tomorrow, I’m going to see my house again and maybe sign the contract.
I’m actually looking forward to have my own space. I asked Scott ( Delias boyfriend) already to help me putting a hammock (Haengematte) onto the veranda.

Tuesday

Today I found out, how much holiday I really have. Not only the 20 days I have anyway, but 25 more days, Bank holidays. That made my day! I really want to try to travel to see as much as I can while I’m here.

In the afternoon, Hor and me met the landlady again and signed the contract. The house is sooo big! Two bedrooms, big living room, big hall, open kitchen, big veranda and a tiny bathroom. So I can move in on Thursday at 14:00.

Happy 30th Birthday Avery!!!!!!!!

Wednesday

Hor showed me today the Accommodation for the students, who have to live there because they come from different Provinces and can’t afford to stay anywhere else. There it is for free for them, and from my understanding, during their theory in the RTC ( usually 4 weeks), they don’t get any money. Once they are on placement in the hospital ( usually 4 weeks), they get $1 ( = 4000 Riel) per day. There are 4 buildings and in each building are 5 rooms. In each room are up to 6 beds and sometimes students have to share a bed. Currently there are 105 students in those 4 buildings.

one building for student nurses

the clean water tap

student nurses

To be honest, I don’t think that the Role of TDA, I am suppose to act in, is useful at the moment. The clinical instructors from the RTC make such a confident impression and I think, they need only very little or no support, thanks to previous volunteer Kathy. I should concentrate more on the Preceptor Advisor role, which is still a vacancy at the moment. I want to be more active in the hospitals, working closely with the preceptor and the student. Generally that is possible, but the project only allows two visits to different hospitals per student placement.
I’ll have my first official visit with the Regional Chief Nurse in 2 weeks. Then we will observe together preceptors, working with students, and give feedback. Therefore we will go to Rattanakiri province for 3-4 days and I plan to stay over the weekend there afterwards to check it out.

Thursday

I moved! Looks all so big and empty. Channa helped me to find certain things in the market for a good price. I have the feeling, people charge too much from me when I buy on my own. Isn’t it handy to have a supermarket in England or Germany? Here, everything needs to be bought in the market. I still need to get used to it. So we bought a big pot for cooking water, a pillow, plastic bowls for washing, glasses to drink from, a jug, sponges and cleaning chemicals ( ants everywhere) and towels. Also toilet paper, a hammock!, Tupper boxes ( so that mice can’t get to food), and incense sticks ( against mosquitoes).

my landlady's wedding picture

my living room

my bedroom

the hall

the guestroom

My first night on my own in the big wooden house… It was ok. There is the family living behind me who owns the house, so there voices and so on to not feel too isolated. I hope, that one day I can communicate with them properly.

living room

the veranda

the bathroom

the kitchen

my view from the veranda

me in my living room

In the afternoon, we had a meeting at Louisa’s house ( VSO Maternal and child health Advisor), all of the volunteers who are in ST. Helen ( Behavioural Change and Communication Advisor), Delia (Nutrition Advisor), Louisa, Hor (Provincial Programme Officer) and me. We talked about a joint meeting with Kratie’s Health team in order to talk about headlines for coming VSO Health Sector Workshop in July. I liked that. We had a few good ideas and it was interesting to meet out of work but talk about work.
In the evening we had supper at the Riverside restaurant, eating VSO special. It was delicious. I was really craving for meat.

Saturday

Jo standing infront the big drum

a giant butterfly stranded on the street

one of my favorite pictures

Joelle is posing with a girl

On the way back we sat together with a group of drunken Cambodians. There were probably our age ( Joelle is as old as I am), and it was really funny. Fortunately nothing else happened and we landed safely back in ST.

We had a quick fruit shake at the “Riverside”, which is so far my favourite because it has a slightly European touch and nice chill out music. Two guys from Belgium joint us. They do an Asia tour and came just from Laos. It is funny to talk to people who travel and see lots of places. It must be funny for them to hear that I’ll stay in ST for 2 years… So far I have the feeling that travellers are interested in other people, but only for a short time. Because is it worth it to go into deep detail and to know each other? And that’s what I think. It is great to meet and chat about this and that, but then, you say goodbye and that was it, because I’ll stay.

I then invited Joelle to see my house and we had banana cake and self-made ice-tea.
She was my first visitor. It made the house more lively. I need more visitors.
Next Saturday I decided, my housewarming party is due. I try to invite lots of people.

In the evening, I watched a DVD: The boy in the striped pyjamas. It is a sad story, but I liked the film.

Sunday, 31st of May 2009

I woke up during the night once because I felt, something dropped on my face and I thought it was a mouse or something. I couldn’t find anything with my torch. Maybe it was just a dream..

In the morning I washed some clothes and did some cleaning. At lunchtime I got a call from Evic, she is a VSO volunteer living in Kathy’s house, working in Livelihood. She gave me an iron ( yeahhh!!, otherwise it is very expensive in the market) and some speakers for my laptop (yeahhhhhhh!!!, also very difficult to find). That made me very happy. After my smart linen clothes have been washed, they definitely need to be ironed. So that’s what I’m doing next.

Azaleen I think Mami

I’m here now for more then 3 weeks and it feels already like 3 months.
I miss you all and give you a big hug. And my letterbox-pigeon whole is hungry!

written by  katja-horsch on May 31, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia
from the travel blog: ST 25.05.- 31.05.2009
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...