Living in Sisophon
on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 24/Dec/2009 05:40, 34 days ago
Ready for the road.Life here is a new experience every day. Even the name of this town is a problem. It seems the name’ Sisophon’ is a Thai word, and as the Cambodians dislike the Thai People they also dislike the name. The Government call it Banteay Meanchey, because it is the provincial town of the province of the same name. However the local name is Seresophon or Srei. Ten years ago this place was just a crossroad on the way to the border with Thailand. In fact this province was part of Thailand at one timeThe main roads are tarred, but all the by-roads are just dust tracks. Houses don’t have addresses. I can circle the town on my bicycle in 15 minutes, so it’s quite small. I don’t think it has a post office. Post comes to us by bus from Phnom Penh, we’re told in advance and we must go to the bus stop and collect it. Yet this town has 4 banks. Opening an account is an experience. I brought all the necessary documentation and it still took two and a half hours and five assistants. They were extremely polite during all that time.Three currencies are used here, American Dollar, Cambodian Riel and Thai Baht. Riel is not available outside Cambodia, and it is not recognised internationally. The dollar is the most popular and Thai money is worst value. Many people are very poor and eke out an existence any way they can. At about 7 o’clock every morning I see two little boys, bare foot with sacks on their backs, rooting through the rubbish bins and scrap heaps for cans and plastic bottles. They come back again at dusk. They seem to be no more than 5 or 6 years old.Statistics show that enrolment of children in school is more than 100%. I don’t joke, yes more than 100%. Could it happen anyplace else in the world? However I see many children working in the markets when they should be in school. There is no way of knowing who is in school on any given day. There is a number count but no individual roll call. The majority of parents try to send children to school until the end of Grade 3. They believe by then the children will have learned enough to work in the market, or sell the fish caught during the night. They don’t see any value in further education. It’s easy to see why they think like this. For example, a teacher is educated and earns $30/50 per month. He/she cannot live on this and so is obliged to take another job at night and weekends to survive. A nurse earns even less. However a fisherman or a farmer is dirt poor but at least he can feed his family. How can one disagree with these facts?In order to survive, teachers resort to all sorts of money making activities. They often give extra classes during lunch time to kids whose parents can afford to pay. Very often this is the only time anything is taught. At the end of each year there is an exam. Any student who fails must repeat the grade. Sometimes a child will stay 2 or 3 years in the same class with no hope of passing. Eventually he/she will drop out. The exam questions will be done during the lunch-time lessons and the answers given. In other words you can buy the exam. This goes on right up though secondary and third level. Bribery is part of the culture, in every area of work. The doctors and nurses in the local hospitals work for a couple of hours, but walk out anytime they like to see a private patient in their clinics outside the gate. Unless a patient has money to bribe them he will be left for hours or even days without attention. It’s horrible but easy to understand, they genuinely cannot survive on their salaries. Sometimes I think I’m losing the will to live and then someone surprises me. My bicycle was flat yesterday, I asked a boy mending bikes on the road-side for help. He pumped up both wheels and wouldn’t take any money. You can walk into any cafe, sit down and they will bring you a pot of tea. You can sit there as long as you like, have a refill as many times as you like, and they won’t accept a cent from you. Tea is free.Rubbish is dumped everywhere, people drop litter at will, they eat at corner cafes up to their ankles in litter and surrounded by flies. At the same time I see each member of a family being scrubbed and a bucket of water poured over him/her before eating the evening meal. They always remove their shoes before entering a building. Children take their shoes off at the door of the classroom.