A little slice of life

Just what is life like here? I've had some people ask interesting questions about what it's really like here, so I thought I'd write a little about what comes to mind.

Taking a shower is really interesting. Cambodian bathrooms are very efficient items. Toilet, sink and showerhead all in the same room with a drain in the floor. I didn’t like it at first, but then I began to see the practical advantages of multitasking.

Brushing teeth is a fairly simple maneuver, except its like camping out. One does not drink the water directly from the tap over here. So we have a two liter bottle of water just for that purpose. We boil about a half a gallon of water a day to kill any critters in the water and then pass all of it through a British Berkefield filter to back up the boiling. It’s really not a big deal, but you have to watch those old habits, like rinsing your brush under the tap after you’re done – darn!

The fruit here is fantastic. It’s mango season right now which is terrific. Nothing like a mango-banana-yogurt smoothie for breakfast. Or sometimes I’ll treat myself to a fresh hot baguette on my ride to work, a legacy of French colonialism. There’s a vendor I’ve gotten to know through my increasingly frequent purchases of his specialty. Now that I’m a regular he even smiles and always reaches under the top baskets of bread to give me one of the fresh hot ones. All for 500 Riel, or about 12.5 cents.

Work starts at 7:30am. We knock off at 12 and take a two hour lunch break. Lunch is a big thing here. Yesterday I went to a non-Western restaurant because the food is the best and it’s incredibly cheap. I had stir fried chicken with ginger and rice, along with iced tea, all for the incredibly steep price of one dollar. You do have to be aware though – only have cold drinks that have cylindrical ice cubes with a hole in the middle. They are made with purified water. You don’t have drinks with the 'other' ice. That's the sort of ice that is delivered on carts and sawed into chunks for each customer. I imagine this is what it would have been like back when people depended on the ice man for the real ice box. It's a way of life for many, many people, even in Phnom Penh.

Truth is that I live in a city of 2.4 million people and many things are different than the western world, but there are conveniences here that one would find in most big cities. But 80% of the population is rural and 35% live below the poverty line, which is $0.42 per day per person in the family. Most of the rural poor have no electricity except a car battery to run a simple light bulb after dark or maybe a black and white TV. That's a big maybe. There is no electric grid in Cambodia. Each city has its own power and then, in addition to car battery power, there are 660 RE's, or Rural Electric "companies", which consist of a diesel generator and lots of extension cords - literally - that run to the houses in the villages.

I really can’t believe I’ve neglected to travel to this part of the world up until now. I have to say that it is becoming a favorite place for me. As I've said before, the pace of life is so comfortable here and the people very genuine and engaging. I understand there are a good number of VSO volunteers who have stayed on and are living here, and I must say I think I have a sense of why that is.

Wedding Day

This morning was like no other morning. At 5:45 I awoke to incredibly loud music. Rock concert loud. Then as suddenly as it came it went away. I thought I’d dreamt it. Okay, roll over, go back to sleep.

Then a few seconds later there it was again. I was not asleep. I followed my ears out to the balcony and then realized it’s wedding day, Khmer style.

I saw them putting up the tenting the night before, draped with very bright satin. Shimmering panels of pink, red and gold flapping in the breeze. This morning started the big day, ushered in with deafening music played with utter disregard for the other 99 percent of the neighbors who are sound asleep.

Weddings are very big in Cambodia. They usually erect a tent occupying an entire lane of the street in front of the parent’s house. Makeshift catering is located nearby with huge woks the size of airplane tires. And they can go on for two days.

As I peered over the balcony I saw guests arriving at 6am, dressed to the nines. Women in slinky silk gowns, the men less so. At the sound of a rather odd clamoring gong people began gathering about 100 yards away from the pavilion. In just a few minutes they all began marching in a double file line to the tune of a one-man stringed band. All of this happening just below my balcony. It was amazing. I felt a bit disrespectful standing there shirtless in my North Face gym shorts.

I’ve not been to a Cambodian wedding but over the time I’ve been here I’ve encountered countless weddings. They really do weddings big here. As I understand it there are up to eight changes of costume for the bride and groom. I mean full regalia. It is perhaps one of the largest industries in Cambodia.

By the way, no pictures for this one. I took my camera to the office yesterday and left it there overnight. Never again.

back to Cambodia

Right now I'm writing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during a stopover from Bali back to Phnom Penh. We've had a good week, albeit at a very different pace from life in Cambodia. I spent most of my time in a meeting room while Lizzy was pretty free to explore Bali.

The seminar was conducted by VSO and geared toward introducing a market-sensitive approach to how we can support poor people to engage in commerce more robustly. It is proven that economic development in countries translates to decreases in poverty, more than international development agencies can ever deliver through compassionate support. However, that's not to say that there isn't a place for them. VSO is choosing to align itself with promoting economic growth that is pro-poor so that disadvantaged people can improve their position in the market chain.

This is a difficult thing for a non-profit (NGO) to undertake because it counters their beliefs and approaches toward eradicating poverty. But you can't argue with the fact that people need jobs and they need to feed their families and because of this economic development and private enterprise need to take hold. It is the major difference between the countries of the world that are well off and those that are struggling. But, VSO's approach is that we need to keep the disadvantaged at the heart of our considerations. We can't simply expect that improvements to the macroeconomy of a nation will automatically trickle down to the lowest levels where we find the poor. We can work at creating enterprise that is considerate of the poor as well, not for handouts, but for involvement.

I'm reading a very good book right now that I recommend for anyone who is interested in the subject of poverty reduction. My good friend Will Kidd gave me a copy of The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs as a going away gift because he thought I could use it. Well, I am. And I thought I understood poverty! It is a very good read with some very surprising and inspiring elements.

Spending the week with my colleagues from Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Ireland, Netherlands, Mongolia, the UK and Guyana was a rich experience. We had interpreters and earpieces so we could dialogue with one another. Bottom line is that it was inspiring to meet and be amongst people who are so committed to the cause of ending poverty.

And as far as Bali is concerned, I'll be back to see the sights some day.

from Cambodia to Bali

Ready for this? Lizzy and I are now in Bali, Indonesia - a bit of a break from Cambodia. On Thursday morning we flew into Malaysia and then onto Bali. I'm here for a conference beginning Monday for VSO with delegates from a number of countries, including Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Guyana.

So we decided to come a few days early to have a mini-holiday over the Khmer New Year and to celebrate my 50th birthday, which is on Sunday, April 15. Bali is a very special place that is like paradise in Asia. From what I've seen these last couple of days it is a place that is very beautiful to the eye - lots of culture, stone buildings and sculptures, all very primitive and encapsulated in a rain forest atmosphere.

Two things have been noticeable here for me. First, the people are serene and hospitable - so welcoming and gentle. They know tourist dollars are important but they seem to be satisfied that if you say "no" they will accept that as okay pretty easily, which makes for a more pleasant experience for me. Contrasted to Cambodia, Bali is so much further developed for traditional tourism, but it also means the stuff I don't like about a place that has already been discovered - tight obnoxious traffic, oodles of "toot" in endless strings of stores, and higher prices. Still, this place is amazing and worth a good visit because of its intense beauty.

The second noticeable thing is how tightly configured things seem to be. Different from Cambodia, Balinese seem to use every square inch of things and yet tastefully done. For instance the houses are more like compounds with several small buildings and always double doors. And there are a number of stiles for offerings to the gods (Hindu) on every property. So very different from the way things are from where I come from, both places that is.

We're staying at a very nice place in Ubud, which is up in the center of the island away from the coast. It's very mountainous here and steep terrain abounds. Just today I was sitting on the porch reading when I noticed a pair of rather large monkeys playing on the thatched roof next door. No need to go to the zoo here!

So, tomorrow I'm 50. I didn't plan it this way, so far from everyone, but here we are. It's just another year, but NOT just another one too. I get it's significant if for the fact that it gives me a place to look back and see what has been, as well as look forward to what will be. Probably a good practice to do everyday, eh?

My first visitor

Last night Lizzy came in from London for her first trip here. The flight was 2.5 hours late, but all the better to finally have her in my arms. Very quickly it seemed as though we never left in January. We feel very relaxed and at home in Phnom Penh and now I'm really glad I have Lizzy by my side if for only a few weeks this time.

This week I've been in the office reviewing my work so far. It's been a steep learning curve about the economic landscape in Cambodia which is influenced by so many factors. Although I've been in business for the better part of 30 years, this is a very different context when compared to America and the rest of the Western world. I'm advising VSO Cambodia so that it positions itself most effectively to play a role in developing small scale enterprise. As in America where small business employs nearly 50% of the people, the same is true in others parts of the world as well. It is a strategy that most of the economists in development work have signed off on as being the best way forward.

The classic problem here is that 85% of the population is rural and depend on fishing and rice farming to create their subsistence. That which they don't eat for themselves they take to a village market to sell. Or, more likely, they sell it to middlemen who in turn give them a token amount compared to what it will sell for. But the challenge for the small fisher or rice farmer is how do they transport it to the village or town to sell it? Instead they simply take the lower amount offered on the spot. This is just one very little snapshot of a symptom that we need to address if we are going to make an impact at the furthest reaches of poverty.

Then there's the fact that Cambodia has over 75% of its population under the age of 30. That's due to the enormous loss of life during the Khmer Rouge years. So there is a real deficit of experience and know how that somehow needs to be made up.

And the "enabling environment" - the macro economic, legal and political forces under which business and society operate - is very challenging for small businesses to form and grow. Take the statistics I ran into this week from the World Bank that ranks 175 countries of the world in enabling environment terms. Cambodia ranks the following: 159 in ease of starting a business, 143 ease of doing business, 124 in employing workers, 100 in registering property, 159 in obtaining and dealing with licenses, and 174 in financing and obtaining credit. Compare this with the US rankings: 3, 3, 1, 10, 22, & 7 and you can see there is a dramatic difference in the context of creating free enterprise.

There is a direct correlation between the economic growth and prosperity of a country, driven by private sector (business) activity, and the well-being of people in terms of income, health, education, etc. It's fairly simple: businesses are willing to take risks and invest because they have confidence in the government and the enabling environment. Otherwise they'll take a defensive position or go elsewhere where they'll feel safe to invest.

I could say a lot more about this but it gives you a flavor of how I'm having to calibrate my knowledge and experience. On one hand I shake my head in disbelief at the enormous obstacles, and on the other hand I'm confident we can find a way through the obstacles to create a sound strategy. I'm totally inspired that I get to play a role in shaping long-term, sustainable strategies that can and will affect so many people. And I believe we can make an effective impact even in the face of these, and other, adverse enabling environmental factors.

I'm moved, daily, as I see people in their struggle to make ends meet.

Laborers working on construction projects earning 3,000 Riel - about $0.75 - for an entire day's labor is a shocking reality. Driving to the airport to pick up Lizzy last night I saw many buildings under construction and there in the darkness of the massive concrete skeletons, the workers huddled together in their makeshift homes, resting before the next day's work.

A young boy, probably 9 years old, slides under my table at the restaurant with a beat up shoe brush, grabs my foot and vigorously shines my sandals.

Two little girls come up to our breakfast table, not more than 6 and 8 years old, with wide eyes locked onto the food that remained on our finished plates, and the satisfied smiles as they emerge from under the table after having feasted on our leftovers.

Daily images of life in Cambodia challenge my sense of fairness in the world and fuel my sense of purpose of why I'm here and, I suspect, why there are so many others from around the globe who are making Cambodia their home away from home for awhile. There is much work to be done.

The market

Okay, I'm really proud of myself today. I went to the market - the open air market that is - where the locals shop. Open air isn't an accurate description though. It's situated in a square with stalls configured into a sort of serpentine arrangement with lots of cover overhead from the hot sun. They trade just about everything here. It's not a place where many Westerners come to shop for consumption - they go to the Western supermarkets. Not me, not today at least.

Fruits, veggies and meats, household goods, sewing shops, countless hairdressers, moto repair, DVD's and CD's, mobile phones, and lots of mini restaurants. You name it, you can buy it here. But no one speaks English and, quite frankly, much of the food hygiene is a bit scary for a Westerner to stomach. And yet I came here on a mission today: to shop like the locals and buy local food. After all, I am a new neighbor living just down the street.

So there were a lot of hand gestures and pointing to things. I do know numbers in Khmer so I can tell them how much of whatever I want: 200g of fresh coconut, a small handful of Kaffir lime leaves, two chicken breasts, a knot of fresh turmeric, some red and green chillies, limes, 100g of long green beans, etc. By the end of it all my backpack was full and I spent less than $7, a very good deal for what I got, but probably 100% markup because I have a white face.

I went home and prepared my dinner which was a Khmer curry dish I learned how to prepare when I was in Battambang in January. This includes pounding my own curry paste from fresh ingredients. I must say it came out just divine.

I'll return to the market again and again. The fear is now gone and the experience was worth it all. Check out the new pictures.