MEET OUR STUDENT - ERICA FINSNESS

Hello all!

You've all made it onto my list of folks to receive updates from Cambodia.

I arrived - safe and sound and with my luggage - on Tuesday afternoon Cambodia time. Wendi, one of the people who works here picked me up from the airport and drove me through Phnom Penh and then to RDI. (Their website is www.rdic.org if you'd like to see their official site.)

My first impressions of Cambodia is that it is hot and chaotic! The traffic is completely insane, especially in the city, with lots of cars, motos (small motorcycles with as many as 3 people on the back - see left picture), remorques (trailers carrying 20 people or so towed by a motorcycle), tuk tuks (carriages towed by motorcycle), bikes and people weaving in and out. Traffic laws do not apply and a beeping horn usually means that you're about to be overtaken by something bigger and faster. Luckily, out in the village, where RDI is, things are a bit calmer. Here there are only dirt paths. The small ones are about 5 feet wide and the bigger ones 20 feet or so and much less traffic on those.

It has taken me a couple of days to settle in, but now have more or less gotten the hang of things and have even learned a few words of Khmer. The daily routine (at least so far) is waking up around 6:30 or so to the sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking, cow bells tinkling and calls to prayer at the Buddhist temple next door (right picture). Next comes breakfast at the coffee shop that is just a few minutes walk away. For the past fews days I've had "Gooey Teo" which is a kind of noodle soup for breakfast. Pretty good! From 8:30 or so until noon, everyone works. There is so much going on here! There is a recording studio, a microbiology lab, a computer lab, a factory that makes ceramic water filters, an artisan's studio, a soap-making shop (first yellow building in picture 2), and an experimental farm. I've gotten to see so much already! I'll try to take some pictures for my next update. Yesterday, I painted ceramic filters (basically big clay pots) with a silver solution to increase their microbicidal properties and packaged soap. The day before I got to accompany my roommate Sophie out to a few villages to do a survey about water filters (same big clay pots). Lunch and dinner are usually eaten in the cafeteria (second yellow building in picture 2) and the food has been very delicious. I'm going to try to take a little cooking course my last week in Cambodia when I'm going to be a tourist.

I'm staying in an old shipping container (left picture). Unless someone had told me, I would have never guessed that the bungalows, where volunteers like me stay, were shipping containers. They're quite nice inside, with two small bedrooms separated by a little entryway and a bathroom. There's even electricity and the bathroom even has running water and a shower! It's also nice that I've been able to get online in the computer lab every day. Pretty easy living.

Walking through the village is really interesting. Some houses are quite nice, while others are barely more than a small wooden structure. The style here is pretty much to have your house suspended on stilts and to have a place to cook and hang-out during the day underneath. Most families have quite a few young children, who whenever they see me or another volunteer shout out "Hallo" and wave and laugh. I wave back and try to say hello in Khmer. Running all around are smallish dogs and chickens (many less I understand since the bird flu). Some people also have in their yards big skinny white cows with rings of small bells around their necks. Many, especially around here, have rainwater collection tanks that RDI builds and installs.

Moving forward, I'm going to be working on a few projects (some TBD) while I'm out here. One that I've started to work on is a program that samples for parasites. I'm going to be working on the analysis and survey strategy. I'm also going to try to learn as much as I can about each of the projects here. I'm especially intrigued by this experimental farming project that raises goats in a kind of suspended structure. Their poop falls to the ground, where it is swept into a pond, where tilapia eat it. This water (enriched in nutrients by the poop and the algae in the water) is then pumped out to water and fertilize plants. It's a pretty neat system! I'm also hoping to get into the provinces, which are more rural, and to see some projects there.

This weekend, I'm going to go into Phnom Penh on Saturday and on Sunday I'm going to go to a wedding in the village - it should be fascinating and a lot of fun, even though I probably won't know what's going on most of the time.

That's all for now! Hope you're all well!

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Hello again!

It's sunny and hot here in Cambodia, as we're heading into the warm season where temperature get up around 105 or so in April.

Last weekend was a mixed bag. On Saturday, I went into town with Caleb, an American guy who lives here and a group of retired guys who come out to Cambodian every year to work for a week. We went into the "Russian market" which is so-called because that's where the Russians shopped in the 1990's. It was completely chaotic, hot and stuffy in there! There are an unimaginable number of stalls, with just enough room to walk between then. They sell everything under the sun - all in different sections of the market. They have clothes and silk and seamstresses; DVD's, watches and electronics; jewelry, carvings, and stonework; raw meat, candy and foodstands. It was packed! I bought a few things, and you're supposed to haggle over the price, but I had a hard time bargaining to save a dollar on something that only cost $5 and would cost 10 times that much in the States. We also went to a little spa and I got a manicure and pedicure for $5. It felt good to get inside and be pampered after the heat.

We had dinner in town and I had the Fish Amok, a regional specialty. It was absolutely delicious, and they served it up in little folded-leaf cups. Really ingenious. I also tried a coconut juice, which is just a green coconut with a straw in the top. That was not tasty at all - kinda of a fizzy green taste.

I don't know if it was the coconut or what, but there were about 5 or 6 hours on Sunday when I was not feeling well at all. A bit of a bug has been going around RDI and 5 or 6 people have had it in the past week. I was feeling better by the afternoon, so just got a glancing blow of the sickness, but wasn't feeling good enough in the evening to go to the wedding. I felt really bad for my roommate, who was sick from Thursday until Monday and still isn't quite well.

This week I've started work on one of the projects that I'll be working on. They're working on a project to determine the factors that contribute to parasitic infection in the villages, so that they can hopefully come up with some mitigation strategies. I am going to be helping them direct some of their sampling so that the results can be as meaningful as possible. I've also started analyzing some of the preliminary data. I've been figuring out the statistical program, which is half the battle, but have somewhat tamed that beast. It's exciting to see some of the results and to start to figure a few things out. This week I went into the villages on two consecutive mornings with a guy who was explaining the project to villagers and getting people to participate. Most of the rest of my work time was spent on the computer, working at the statistics. I'm also going to be teaching a kind of "Intro to Public Health and Epidemiology" course for the Cambodian staff here over the next three weeks. I'll probably be teaching once or twice a week for an hour or two each time. I'm really excited about that, and now just have to put some materials together.

A few pictures from life at RDI:

1st picture - This is the factory side of RDI. The big pile of wood is for the kilns. They make ceramic water filters (the big clay pots) which are part of a simple system that helps provide safe drinking water. The water filters are the big clay pots. We have two of the filters in the dining hall and the water is quite good!

2nd picture - This little merry-go-round is right across the path from my bungalow. The kids play on it and the rotation pumps water from the ground into the storage tank - pretty cool! There's quite a problem with arsenic in the groundwater around here though, so this well is good for areas where the levels are low. In areas where the levels are higher, they make rainwater-collection tanks. In the background of the picture is the community school. On Monday and Tuesday mornings, the kids have music and it's fun to hear them all singing in Cambodian.

3rd picture - The big event of the evening is the volleyball game that happens before dinner. A lot of the guys are really good! To the left of the volleyball court are some of the rainwater collection tanks. They're spherical so that the water is completely enclosed and so that there are no corners to harbor bugs. Behind the green net are crops raised to feed the goats, which live just outside of the picture. To the right of the volleyball is the horse shed.

4th picture - This is a typical house in the village - it's actually one of the nicer ones, since it's made out of concrete. The shabbier ones tend to be made out of wooded planks. During the day, the family hangs out in the shade underneath the house. There are also platforms for sitting and preparing food, as well as hammocks and a kind of babybasket/hammock for the wee ones. The fire for cooking is also downstairs. Upstairs, the front door is decorated for Chinese New Year, which is this week. This weekend, a few of us are planning to head back into Phnom Penh. We're going to go out to dinner on Friday and then maybe to karaoke. We'll stay over Friday and be touristy on Saturday. As great at life on the farm is, I think it's good to get away on the weekends and switch things up. I'll let you know how it goes!

Hope you're all well!

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Sok Sabaay niw Kien Svay!
(Hello from Kien Svay!)

This week has been really good!

Over the weekend a group of us went into Phnom Penh. We stayed on the 4th floor (no elevators!) of a guesthouse. While the room was pretty basic, it was luxurious to have air conditioning and hot water for a shower. Samrach, one of the youngish guys who works at RDI picked us up in his sister's car and took us to this fun little spot for dinner. The food wasn't super delicious, but it was popular because in one corner of the open-air restaurant they had set-up a kind of live karaoke, meaning that there was a band that you could make a request of and sing along with. Sam sang us a few songs, in Khmer (Cambodian) of course. We cheered very loudly, which I think surprised the other Khmer around us and embarrassed him a little bit. We, unfortunately, could not go to the real karaoke club because we were a group of girls (plus Sam) and karaoke clubs are more of a guys-only affair. We had to appease ourselves with fruitshakes, which are amazingly delicious, so the night was a success!

Saturday I did all the touristy things. First off, I took a picture of the rooftops in Phnom Penh in the morning. Then I headed to the Royal Palace. It was really neat to walk around the lux grounds of the palace. The architecture is also really cool, with many accented rooftops and details that are very different than what you would find anywhere else. They're especially fond of the Naga, which is a 7-headed snake. It was also interesting to people-watch and to see the tourists from all the other parts of the world – some from the provinces of Cambodia, some from Japan, Europe, Australia, you name it!

I met a young monk in dark-orange robes who introduced himself and basically wanted to practice his English. He told me all about his life in the monastery and how he wishes to study in Michigan where he has a host father or something along those lines. It is funny because some people, especially students, here are very eager to practice their English, especially if they hope to someday study in America. I think you end up having a lot of the same conversation, though based on what they learned in their English classes.

I spent quite some time walking around looking at all of the different buildings, abundant plants and myriad of Buddhas. Buddha statues are to Cambodia what "Madonna and Child" paintings are to Italy. They're everywhere – all pretty similar, but each also unique.

After the palace, I headed for the National Museum. Unfortunately cameras are not allowed in the museum. There was a beautiful central courtyard with plants and ponds. Around the courtyard were the exhibits. The museum was really interesting because the sculpture progresses through many centuries of Khmer art, so you get to see the Hindu influence and then the Buddhist influence and how the two have somewhat melded. Currently, Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist.

After the museum, I had lunch at Friends cafe, which is a restaurant that is the culmination of a training program for streetkids. They enter the program with virtually nothing and leave the program as skilled restaurant workers. Their restaurant also supports a whole host of other similar programs. Pretty neat.

After lunch, I went to Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21. Before the Khmer Rouge came to power in the 1970's, it was a high school. Then, the Khmer Rouge converted it into a detention center where they tortured over 17,000 men, women, children and babies. Out of all of those people, only 7 survived. The rest were sent 15 kilometers away to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The museum was filled with pictures and a few of the stories of those who spent time at Tuol Sleng. It was just overwhelming. Under the Khmer Rouge almost 2 million people, a quarter of Cambodia's population at that time, were killed. Educated people were targeted and virtually wiped out. In some senses the peace of today seems very far removed, but in other ways it seems very recent. There is still a lot of rebuilding to be done.

The rest of the weekend was pretty subdued. Saturday night all of the American staff at RDI gathered for dinner at Pizza Club. I guess it is a Saturday night tradition here. Sunday was a small church service in the morning – just some singing and time for prayer. I have been really inspired by people's stories of faith here. That has been a really large part of what I've gained by being here.

Day-to-day life around here has been good. I have been moving ahead in my work and really learning a lot. I am working on a sampling plan and analyzing some of the initial data for a parasite project they are doing. The prevalence of parasitic infection is really quite high, even in these less-poor villages. It's really neat to be a part of that and I'm learning so much. I also spent two mornings this week teaching a basic introduction to public health to 20 or so of the Cambodian staff here. The first morning, I just basically talked the entire time and it was really hard to get a read on whether or not they were understanding anything that I was saying, let alone the concepts. The following morning I tried some small-group exercises and I think that went over much better. This coming week I am teaching two more classes, and I'm excited to continue with the lessons.

My roommate and I have started walking for an hour or so each evening, when it gets a bit cooler, which is really nice. The rice fields are a beautiful, vibrant green that time of the day, and the kids are just bringing the cows home. The kids run out and yell "Hallo!" to us. We respond in kind and wave, which sends them into gales of laugher.

This weekend, 4 of us are planning to go to Kep, which is by the sea. I'll be excited to share pictures and stories with you!

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Hello again!

It's been another great week in Cambodia!

This past weekend a group of 5 of us headed down to Kep, which is on the coast, for the weekend. The plan was to head into Phnom Penh on Friday after work and then share a taxi down to Kep. We had booked a 7-passenger taxi figuring that we would have a little extra space for the two hour trip. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the meeting spot and a Toyota Camry pulled up. Our friend, Samrach, who works at RDI and had arranged the taxi for us, informed us that this was, in fact a 7-passenger taxi. "T.I.C" he said, "This is Cambodia." And so it is. Four of us stuffed into the back seat with Caleb, who's probably about 6'4" crammed into the passenger seat. At first, we wondered how we could stand it for 2 hours, but then we got used to it, and it really wasn't too bad! Needless to say, we were all pretty excited to stretch out when we arrived at our guesthouse by the sea.

In Cambodia, pretty much anything goes in terms of transportation – Cambodians are very creative in getting where they need to go. I have seen 9 people packed into a Camry 7-passenger taxi, pick-up trucks with people packed together standing up in the back, 5 people on a moto and many other ways of traveling along in large groups. Most roads are a little less than 2 lanes – usually not paved and definitely not demarcated, except perhaps in the city. You travel along, more or less on the right-hand side. If you're faster, you tend toward the middle and blast your horn so that those ahead of you can move aside to get out of your way.

Tour buses are quite popular if you have a bit more money, i.e. $5. We took a tour bus back on Sunday, and we each got our own seat – really! our own personal space of a seat! The only problem was that for the first half of the 5 hour trip the AC didn't work. When we stopped to take a bit of a break, they fixed the AC, but then for the rest of the trip the AC rained down condensation upon me and 2 other passengers. At least we got to see a bit of the countryside and to listen to some Cambodian karaoke. So the transportation might not have been too pleasant this weekend, but the weekend was totally worth it!

Saturday morning, we woke-up early in the cool sea air and had a delightful breakfast at our guesthouse. Next up, my first moto ride! The driver took us through Kep and along the ocean to the boat dock. Driving through Kep was really amazing. During the French rule in Cambodia, Kep-sur-Mer was a retreat for the elite, and was filled with lovely villas. In the late 1970's the Khmer Rouge destroyed the town, burning the villas. Many of the hollowed-out ruins still remain and are quite beautiful, although desolate. Some have Cambodians families living in them; in some, only plants and birds are living there. One or two of the villas have been restored. Now in addition to the ruins, there are a number of guesthouses as well as a smattering of Cambodian homes scattered near the shore and up into the hills. The areas around Kep were also some of the last holdouts of the Khmer Rouge, with activity as recently at the late 1990's, so the town is really just starting to rebound.

We arrived at the boat dock, eager to depart for a day at Rabbit Island, which is so-named because locals say that the island resembles a rabbit. Sophie (my roommate – a grad student from Holland, in red), Hannah (an engineer from Canada/Singapore) and Erin (running a project for UNC) were all excited to take some time off from working at RDI to spend some time on the island. It's been really amazing to get to know people from all over the world!

A small, colorful fishing boat whisked us away to the island. After a short 15 minute ride over glassy seas, we arrived at this little gem of a beach. The water was clear and soo warm. On the beach were a number of small thatch bungalows and open-air restaurants, a few bamboo platforms for sitting, hammocks for lounging and very little else – heavenly!

While the morning was still cool, we decided to walk around the island. Parts of the hike were open while during other parts we were hunched-over, scrambling under brush. I liked walking along the beach the best – some of the beaches were sandy, some rocky with a lot of shells, some mangrove swamps and some with flat red rock. It was amazing to see so many different micro-environments all on the coast of one small island! Once we returned, we feasted on fresh crab and shrimp - practically right from the ocean, with only a few Cambodian seasonings. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach and floating in the warm water. Too soon it was time make our way back to the mainland, but we were all happy and delightfully tired from a day outdoors. For dinner, we headed to a restaurant up in the hills and were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the setting sun.

On Sunday morning, we piled into a tuk-tuk for an hour drive to Kompong Trach, which is a karst formation. It's amazing to see – out of the flat fields, several small mountains of stone rise up abruptly. Before we even got there, we were followed by a small group of kids on bikes, waving flashlights and offering to guide us in the caves. With about half a dozen kids scrambling around us, we climbed the sharp, pocked stone up to the top of the rock. The views from the top were amazing! We could see out over all the rice fields, and could even see Vietnam in the distance.

Next, we scrambled down the mountain and into the cave entrance. After walking some 200 yards, we emerged in the hollow center of the mountain. From there, a number of caves radiated out. The kids showed us around, pointing out the natural rock formations and the various Buddha statues set in the caves. It is pretty incredible, especially the center of the mountain, which is ringed with sheer rock and a few plants that had managed to grow there in the center. We spent the morning there, and headed back to Kep via tuk-tuk and then back to Phnom Penh via the aforementioned bus.

This week has been another good week of work. I taught three classes this week. I was only supposed to teach two, but the students asked me to teach two more – one this week and one next week. They've been a really great group to work with. I hope that they've had fun and learned something in the classes; I've put a lot of work into preparing for them. I'm also figuring out some stuff out on the parasite project and getting much more adept at some of the analyses. Now, we're working to bring it to a point where someone else can take it over, as they're still in the process of data collection. I can't believe I only have a week left at RDI!

Last night it finally happened – I ate fried tarantulas! Erin, Sophie and I headed into Phnom Penh after work to meet up with Judy, another RDI volunteer and some of her Australian friends. We went to a great Cambodian restaurant, also run by the Friends organization as a training restaurant for street youth. The spiders were on the menu as an appetizer. At first I tried a leg and it was pretty good, a little hairy but mostly good and crunchy. Several others at the table also ventured a try. Next, I moved on to the bodies, which were a little more daunting and they too were pretty tasty. The rest of the meal was much more standard Cambodian fare and was amazingly delicious. We went back to RDI very full and happy.

This next week, I'll be really trying to relish each moment of my last week at RDI and finishing-up my work here. After that I'll head up to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor for a few days before heading home.

More next week!

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Hello again!

I can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll leave RDI and start my week of traveling! The time has just flown by. I’m going to really miss life on the farm and all of the friends that I’ve made here.

This past weekend was pretty low-key. On Saturday, I spent the day in and around Phnom Penh. I caught a tuk-tuk early after breakfast and rode for about an hour to Choeung Ek – The Killing Fields. Even though I only spent an hour there, it was a very overwhelming experience. Thousands upon thousands of people were killed there in such a dehumanizing, systematic fashion. Many of the bodies have been exhumed from the shallow mass graves, and the central stupa is filled with skulls. There are still fragments of clothing and bones that come up out of the ground, particularly when the ground softens during rainy season. Those get piled up at the bases of trees. It’s amazing how powerful actually being there is – after almost a week, I’m still processing the magnitude of it. Staggeringly, there are over 300 similar killing sites throughout the country.

I was relieved to get away from that heavy place and head into the city. Once in Phnom Penh, I made some arrangements for my upcoming travels and then set about exploring more of the city. First, I headed north to Wat Phnom, which is the one hill in the city, and thus is celebrated with a temple on top. I didn’t go to the temple, but just walked around the city park that was on and around the hill. On one part of the hill, there was a tribe of monkeys scampering about after food. Conveniently, there was also a tribe of vendors nearby selling food to feed the monkeys or to eat yourself. I relented and bought a mango – I ate part of it myself and gave the other slices to the monkeys, who at it with relish.

Next, I headed to the markets. I went first to the “New Market” with hopes of finding more fried insects to try. I did succeed in finding them, but they looked very unappetizing, sitting in grubby baskets on the ground. I opted not to eat them. I then went to the “Russian Market” where I had much more success with shopping. Hurrah! I was pretty hot and exhausted from walking around the sun-scorched streets and stuffy markets, so I took at tuk-tuk up to a place to relax with a massage. There is an organization in Cambodia called Seeing Hands Massage that trains blind people to give massages. It is a pretty neat program, especially since there’s no disability support in Cambodia. (It’s also one of the more legit places to get a massage.) After an hour’s massage, I left feeling very relaxed. That evening, I met up with the other RDI folks who had come into town for a fantastic Thai dinner and some grocery shopping.

Sunday was spent at the farm, catching up on some reading and hanging out with friends. We had invited some of the Cambodian women who usually prepare meals for us to a dinner made by us. I volunteered to head-up the dinner, and prepared a favorite from home – African Chicken. All the volunteers really liked it, and even the Cambodians declared it “Ching-aihng” (delicious). Making the dinner was so much fun, with music playing and everyone pitching in, and it made me really happy that everyone enjoyed the food so much. For dessert, Judy made a chocolate-coconut cake with coconut ice cream and chocolate sauce. Everyone really had a fun time and ate way too much.

This week it has gotten really hot. The afternoon sun is amazingly intense, and it has even been hot at night and in the mornings, which have previously been cool(er). I’ve been hanging out in the air-conditioned computer lab working on my various projects. I’m wrapping-up my preliminary analysis of the Parasite Project data. I’m trying to leave it in a state that someone else can come and pick-up where I’ve left off once more data is collected. Also, I taught for the last time yesterday. The exercise that I designed was to try to plan a study in an hour – quite an undertaking, but I think that they got something out of it. Hopefully, I’ve succeeded in teaching and in my project-work; I know that I’ve learned very very much.

I’m looking forward to my week ahead. Saturday morning, I’ll head via bus to Siem Reap. I’ll spend a few days exploring the temples of Angkor and city of Siem Reap. Then I’ll head back to RDI for one last night and catch my plane back to the States the next morning!