Reflections from Tracey Anderson
Hightlights - Wow, there were so many...
The things that stand out in my mind looking back now after nearly two weeks are going to the rubbish dump in Phnom Penh where there are 25,000 people trying to make a living by scratching through the refuse for anything they can sell. As you can imagine, the smells and the images were vivid, far more hard hitting than seeing it on the TV or reading about it in the paper, I have images that are etched in my mind and I'm sure will be there for the remainder of my life. This is the one event that haschanged how I see the world and indeed, on a personal level, how I see my life.
I have done some travelling in the past and have been fortunate enough to have been on home stays before. This trip was no exception in that the local people were generous beyond measure, welcoming and warm to our presence in their country and their home. I was especially affected by the elderly people. Those that had survived Pol Pot were few, but those that lived through it showed little outward sign of the trauma they had endured. And we knew very well by the time we got to the home stay some of what theyhad been through. The Land mine museum and a visit to the Genocide Museum at Tou Seleng and the killing fields were graphic introductions to the atrocities. After the home stay and meeting some very gregarious seniors along the road, I came away with a sense of hope for the future, the humanspirit can endure many hardships and not only continues on, but with a willing spirit, thrives.
I loved being a part of a group. The group were diverse and suffered the highs and lows that any group would who were thrown together in a foreign environment so far from anything that was familiar; but they were also tremendous support and it was great being able to share the experience with 14 others. I don¹t think you do a trip like this and contribute financially through a sizeable donation to a volunteer organisation like VSA without being an open minded person who is willing to roll up the sleeves and muck in. So underneath the differences we were of a like mind and I enjoyed sharing the experience with them. I know I have made some life friends and have grown as a person from their perspectives and life stories that were shared along the way.
There was a moment at the school when we were leaving that lives on as a highlight for me. We had completed our work there and 1000 of the 3000 children were gathered to see the school officials thank us for our contribution. The teacher addressing us was close to tears, and as I looked around, so were we. A student got up and sang a song, we replied with a group rendition of the New Zealand national anthem. Then it was time for farewells and last minute hugs. We got to know many of the children and the teachers well while at the school. It was only for 5 days but it was time that was cherished and well used. In that time I had been adopted as a mother, sister and friend as they struggled to tell me what I meant to them. They said they would never forget me, I know I will never forget them.
I would like to think that we would keep in touch, in reality they do not have a functioning postal system, they could not tell me their address as they don't have one, and did not have access to email. Some of them had ambitions of being Doctors, lawyers, politicians and translators, I knowmany of them will reach their goals, paths do cross, and a life time can be long, should we meet again I would greet them warmly as only a sister, mother and friend would.
Being able to meet VSA volunteers in the field and see how the operation works in practice was another highlight. And to see other NGOs in operation, we also passed many UN vehicles and initiatives along the way. Again, these are organisations that I had only before seen on the TV. I am really interested in getting involved with NGOs in developing countries overseas so was excited and intrigued to see it all working in front of me. I have been thinking about doing a VSA stint for a while and had many questions about how it worked in practice, I was able to see this first hand and privileged to meet the people doing the work.
Lessons Learned - Again, where to start...some I have already alluded to...
The triumph of the human spirit over tragedy.
Travelling as part of a group is a good thing.
Individuals CAN make a difference in the world. For example $200 can buy a clean water well for a village and lower the incidence of water borne diseases. I probably fritter that amount away in any given month on movies and petrol (when public transport could be used). If I put that instead to a well I could, as an individual make a difference to a number of people.
I can be more responsible in my own life in the way I recycle, compost and in the products I purchase and eat. I have to say that people joked about me coming back a shadow of myself - they thought I would not be able to eatthe food and would get sick. Well not only did I NOT get sick but I was in the best shape I have been in for a long time. We ate only fresh fruit, vegetables, rice and small amounts of meat. None of the food was processed. Two weeks back home and I'm feeling the negative changes already. I have now established my own vegetable garden and am replacing bread with rice and am more aware of what I am putting into my body.
I also learned that people are usually best left in their own culture where possible. Friends and family joked with me about not bringing back a Cambodian baby, Angelina and Brad have done it after all! After teaching English as a second language at a High School - and admittedly these wereolder children, not infants, I had the sense that our way of living is quite different from what they are used to and I'm not entirely sure that the culture shock would not adversely affect them. Even NGOs who worked with 1,000 children living in the rubbish dump at Phnom Penh returned them totheir families back at the dump each day after taking them out for school. What is different is not necessarily bad.
I also learned that families and communities can continue to work well under the most harsh of circumstances. Poverty does not have to equal dysfunction and it certainly does not mean that families are bereft of love and support for one another.
Observations
There were four that really struck me. The first regards family and community structure. Community structure and order seemed stronger in the rural areas. The further away from cities we travelled the more order there seemed to be to things, farms, the grouping of houses, families doing things together, a sense of routine of purpose. While in the cities there was asense of disorder, a sense of hopelessness at times. Families and childrendrifted to the cities in search of a better life, I know they had theirreasons but I often wondered why.
The second observation was around children. They were some of the hardestworkers - selling items to tourists with all their might and energy.Despite this, they often gave away the sales pitch and were just kids. Muchlike the observation about the enduring human spirit - children are childrenwhere ever they are and what ever their circumstances. The spirit of achild is the most enduring of all. I was once cornered by a group of kidswanting to sell me trinkets. They were yelling out their prices, that were dropping with every second I waved my hand in disagreement. I was waiting for some others from our group to finish their purchasing so I sat down and we started a spontaneous lesson in counting. Intrigued by the counting chant - we were heading to 100 - other kids joined in. There was much fun and laughter along the way and a big cheer when we reached our goal, in that moment they were no longer the youngest sales people I had ever met, they were just children, delightful, spontaneous, joyous children.
Comments were passed by our tour leader - no doubt trying to get us thinking about how good we had it back home - about how 'hard' life is without electricity. At the home stay there was a generator that was turned on for a few hours each night but apart from that there was no power. And there is no doubt we have it good in the west. But I also had a sense that they were used to not having electricity, families knew how to manage it and managed it well. Again, there was a sense of order and place, people knew what theyhad to do and just got on and did it. Electricity no doubt will transform their lives and will be a reality in a short space of time - we saw large hydro schemes funded by Japan being developed - I had to wonder of the traditions that might change because of it and the new level of expectations that would come with that change. Power would no doubt be progress, but would it all be positive? From my high school history lessons I know how the expectations rose for women here, and had to wonder how it would impact on social structures in Cambodia.
Finally, I observed and understood what happens when a generation of people with a life time of learning and wisdom are wiped out. That wisdom is no longer there to be passed down, so how do you know how to use a saw, how do you know how to structure a university course, how do you know how to organise a library? These are things we take for granted. In my own work experience people have said, we should try to provide work environments to retain staff who have been been here a while because when they go they take their institutional knowledge with them. Its true, I've certainly experienced that in the work place, well, imagine that across a whole country. I observed and understood by the end of those two weeks why volunteers and NGOs are still needed in countries like Cambodia. And its not about coming in and taking over, its about getting alongside and transferring skills. Its as simple and as complicated as that.
Responsible tourism
I had heard the term but never really understood it before the Addventure. Its the only way to really appreciate a country at a micro level. Understanding the issues that face a country and their people and appreciating and adhering to their customs and practices. We therefore didn't create more rubbish than we needed to and when we did create rubbish we sought recycling areas to dispose of it, we kept our shoulders and knees covered, never touched anyone's head and took our shoes off when entering private homes, we tried to learn some of the language and customs andwatched the locals for direction when in doubt.
If you are going to travel to places like Cambodia why would you not be aresponsible tourist? If you were not going to be responsible you would best be asking yourself why you were there. Cambodia is a country, like many, that face a myriad of challenges, why would you want to contribute to those challenges by being irresponsible? I hope that in being a part of this Addventure group we have in some small way been a part of the solution, been able to be part of a skill transfer process, been able to be changed by the experience to be better inhabitants of the planet, be able to talk about ourexperiences and encourage others to see developing nations in a new lightand how we can all make a difference.
For me responsible tourism meant getting under the skin of the place so the trip was often hard in that it was heart breaking and wrenching, but it was also extremely rewarding, joyful and life changing. This trip was only two weeks long but we did so much in that time that it felt like we had been away for two months. I would like to thank VSA forthe opportunity to be a part of this pilot programme and I hope that itcontinues into the future for others.
The things that stand out in my mind looking back now after nearly two weeks are going to the rubbish dump in Phnom Penh where there are 25,000 people trying to make a living by scratching through the refuse for anything they can sell. As you can imagine, the smells and the images were vivid, far more hard hitting than seeing it on the TV or reading about it in the paper, I have images that are etched in my mind and I'm sure will be there for the remainder of my life. This is the one event that haschanged how I see the world and indeed, on a personal level, how I see my life.
I have done some travelling in the past and have been fortunate enough to have been on home stays before. This trip was no exception in that the local people were generous beyond measure, welcoming and warm to our presence in their country and their home. I was especially affected by the elderly people. Those that had survived Pol Pot were few, but those that lived through it showed little outward sign of the trauma they had endured. And we knew very well by the time we got to the home stay some of what theyhad been through. The Land mine museum and a visit to the Genocide Museum at Tou Seleng and the killing fields were graphic introductions to the atrocities. After the home stay and meeting some very gregarious seniors along the road, I came away with a sense of hope for the future, the humanspirit can endure many hardships and not only continues on, but with a willing spirit, thrives.
I loved being a part of a group. The group were diverse and suffered the highs and lows that any group would who were thrown together in a foreign environment so far from anything that was familiar; but they were also tremendous support and it was great being able to share the experience with 14 others. I don¹t think you do a trip like this and contribute financially through a sizeable donation to a volunteer organisation like VSA without being an open minded person who is willing to roll up the sleeves and muck in. So underneath the differences we were of a like mind and I enjoyed sharing the experience with them. I know I have made some life friends and have grown as a person from their perspectives and life stories that were shared along the way.
There was a moment at the school when we were leaving that lives on as a highlight for me. We had completed our work there and 1000 of the 3000 children were gathered to see the school officials thank us for our contribution. The teacher addressing us was close to tears, and as I looked around, so were we. A student got up and sang a song, we replied with a group rendition of the New Zealand national anthem. Then it was time for farewells and last minute hugs. We got to know many of the children and the teachers well while at the school. It was only for 5 days but it was time that was cherished and well used. In that time I had been adopted as a mother, sister and friend as they struggled to tell me what I meant to them. They said they would never forget me, I know I will never forget them.
I would like to think that we would keep in touch, in reality they do not have a functioning postal system, they could not tell me their address as they don't have one, and did not have access to email. Some of them had ambitions of being Doctors, lawyers, politicians and translators, I knowmany of them will reach their goals, paths do cross, and a life time can be long, should we meet again I would greet them warmly as only a sister, mother and friend would.
Being able to meet VSA volunteers in the field and see how the operation works in practice was another highlight. And to see other NGOs in operation, we also passed many UN vehicles and initiatives along the way. Again, these are organisations that I had only before seen on the TV. I am really interested in getting involved with NGOs in developing countries overseas so was excited and intrigued to see it all working in front of me. I have been thinking about doing a VSA stint for a while and had many questions about how it worked in practice, I was able to see this first hand and privileged to meet the people doing the work.
Lessons Learned - Again, where to start...some I have already alluded to...
The triumph of the human spirit over tragedy.
Travelling as part of a group is a good thing.
Individuals CAN make a difference in the world. For example $200 can buy a clean water well for a village and lower the incidence of water borne diseases. I probably fritter that amount away in any given month on movies and petrol (when public transport could be used). If I put that instead to a well I could, as an individual make a difference to a number of people.
I can be more responsible in my own life in the way I recycle, compost and in the products I purchase and eat. I have to say that people joked about me coming back a shadow of myself - they thought I would not be able to eatthe food and would get sick. Well not only did I NOT get sick but I was in the best shape I have been in for a long time. We ate only fresh fruit, vegetables, rice and small amounts of meat. None of the food was processed. Two weeks back home and I'm feeling the negative changes already. I have now established my own vegetable garden and am replacing bread with rice and am more aware of what I am putting into my body.
I also learned that people are usually best left in their own culture where possible. Friends and family joked with me about not bringing back a Cambodian baby, Angelina and Brad have done it after all! After teaching English as a second language at a High School - and admittedly these wereolder children, not infants, I had the sense that our way of living is quite different from what they are used to and I'm not entirely sure that the culture shock would not adversely affect them. Even NGOs who worked with 1,000 children living in the rubbish dump at Phnom Penh returned them totheir families back at the dump each day after taking them out for school. What is different is not necessarily bad.
I also learned that families and communities can continue to work well under the most harsh of circumstances. Poverty does not have to equal dysfunction and it certainly does not mean that families are bereft of love and support for one another.
Observations
There were four that really struck me. The first regards family and community structure. Community structure and order seemed stronger in the rural areas. The further away from cities we travelled the more order there seemed to be to things, farms, the grouping of houses, families doing things together, a sense of routine of purpose. While in the cities there was asense of disorder, a sense of hopelessness at times. Families and childrendrifted to the cities in search of a better life, I know they had theirreasons but I often wondered why.
The second observation was around children. They were some of the hardestworkers - selling items to tourists with all their might and energy.Despite this, they often gave away the sales pitch and were just kids. Muchlike the observation about the enduring human spirit - children are childrenwhere ever they are and what ever their circumstances. The spirit of achild is the most enduring of all. I was once cornered by a group of kidswanting to sell me trinkets. They were yelling out their prices, that were dropping with every second I waved my hand in disagreement. I was waiting for some others from our group to finish their purchasing so I sat down and we started a spontaneous lesson in counting. Intrigued by the counting chant - we were heading to 100 - other kids joined in. There was much fun and laughter along the way and a big cheer when we reached our goal, in that moment they were no longer the youngest sales people I had ever met, they were just children, delightful, spontaneous, joyous children.
Comments were passed by our tour leader - no doubt trying to get us thinking about how good we had it back home - about how 'hard' life is without electricity. At the home stay there was a generator that was turned on for a few hours each night but apart from that there was no power. And there is no doubt we have it good in the west. But I also had a sense that they were used to not having electricity, families knew how to manage it and managed it well. Again, there was a sense of order and place, people knew what theyhad to do and just got on and did it. Electricity no doubt will transform their lives and will be a reality in a short space of time - we saw large hydro schemes funded by Japan being developed - I had to wonder of the traditions that might change because of it and the new level of expectations that would come with that change. Power would no doubt be progress, but would it all be positive? From my high school history lessons I know how the expectations rose for women here, and had to wonder how it would impact on social structures in Cambodia.
Finally, I observed and understood what happens when a generation of people with a life time of learning and wisdom are wiped out. That wisdom is no longer there to be passed down, so how do you know how to use a saw, how do you know how to structure a university course, how do you know how to organise a library? These are things we take for granted. In my own work experience people have said, we should try to provide work environments to retain staff who have been been here a while because when they go they take their institutional knowledge with them. Its true, I've certainly experienced that in the work place, well, imagine that across a whole country. I observed and understood by the end of those two weeks why volunteers and NGOs are still needed in countries like Cambodia. And its not about coming in and taking over, its about getting alongside and transferring skills. Its as simple and as complicated as that.
Responsible tourism
I had heard the term but never really understood it before the Addventure. Its the only way to really appreciate a country at a micro level. Understanding the issues that face a country and their people and appreciating and adhering to their customs and practices. We therefore didn't create more rubbish than we needed to and when we did create rubbish we sought recycling areas to dispose of it, we kept our shoulders and knees covered, never touched anyone's head and took our shoes off when entering private homes, we tried to learn some of the language and customs andwatched the locals for direction when in doubt.
If you are going to travel to places like Cambodia why would you not be aresponsible tourist? If you were not going to be responsible you would best be asking yourself why you were there. Cambodia is a country, like many, that face a myriad of challenges, why would you want to contribute to those challenges by being irresponsible? I hope that in being a part of this Addventure group we have in some small way been a part of the solution, been able to be part of a skill transfer process, been able to be changed by the experience to be better inhabitants of the planet, be able to talk about ourexperiences and encourage others to see developing nations in a new lightand how we can all make a difference.
For me responsible tourism meant getting under the skin of the place so the trip was often hard in that it was heart breaking and wrenching, but it was also extremely rewarding, joyful and life changing. This trip was only two weeks long but we did so much in that time that it felt like we had been away for two months. I would like to thank VSA forthe opportunity to be a part of this pilot programme and I hope that itcontinues into the future for others.
posted by Pacific Discovery at 2:31 AM
1 Comments:
thank you Tracey, for such an isightful report. I have volunteered in China and other places, but never in a place that has had to start from the beginning. And yes, the experience does change you if you let it.
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