Kambodscha – Meine Erlebnisse, mein Leben und meine Arbeit

Sieht interessant aus, nicht? Seit meiner Rückkehr befasse ich mich mit der Khmer Schrift. Ich wusste, dass es ein grosses Unterfangen wird, doch dass es so schwierig ist? Die Schrift benutzt 33 Konsonanten, 24 Vokale und 14 Initialvokale. Das würde ja noch gehen. Jetzt kommt es auf die Kombination von Konsonant und Vokal an, wie der Vokal jetzt ausgesprochen wird. Abgesehen von den unzähligen Ausnahmen, die man einfach kennen muss. Dazu kommt, dass es die normale Schrift und die schöne Schrift. Aber es geht voran und mein Lehrer ist ganz zufrieden mit mir. Das sagt er zumindest.

Die Weihnachtszeit nähert sich. Und das spüren wir sogar hier in Phnom Penh. Plastikweihnachtsbäume werden aufgestellt, die ganzjährige Weihnachtsbeleuchtung an gewissen Hotels leuchtet weiter und die Durchschnittstemperatur ist von 30 auf ca 28 Grad herunter gekommen. Wie ihr wahrscheinlich diesen Zeilen entnehmen könnt, kriegen wir hier von Vorweihnachten nicht wirklich viel mit. Dennoch ist es schon fast ironisch, dass ich meinen hübschen Plastik Weihnachtsbaum wieder reaktivieren darf. Ich habe ihn eigentlich nur für den einmaligen Gebrauch gekauft. Hätte nicht gedacht, dass ich diesen Baum noch einmal verwenden werde.

Die Macht der Natur

Dass es viel geregnet hat hier ist vermutlich keine Neuigkeit. Thailand stand unter Wasser, Kambodscha stand unter Wasser. Phnom Penh wurde verschont. Doch das Flussbett vom Tonle Sap am Phnom Penh Flussufer stand knapp einen Meter vor dem Überfliessen. Ich schätze das Wasser war etwa 7 Meter höher als normal. Auf dem Land ging es dramatischer zu und her. Ganze Landstriche wurden überflutet. Die Touristenstadt Siem Reap bei Angkor Wat stand komplett unter Wasser. Hier ein paar Zahlen und Fakten: Geschätzte 1.2 millionen sind und waren von den Fluten betroffen (Bevölkerung Kambodscha: 14 millionen). Mehr als 247 Menschen haben ihr Leben im Wasser gelassen. Ca 400’000 Hektaren Reisfelder (das entspricht etwa 10 Mal die Fläche vom Kanton Basel land) und 3’000 km Strasseninfrastruktur wurde zerstört. Mehr als 1’000 Schulen wurden überflutet.

Phnom Penh Hochwasser

Mittlerweile hat sich das Wasser verzogen, aber jetzt warten grosse Probleme auf die Landbevölkerung. Viele haben ihre Reisernte verloren. Kambodschanische Bauern leben ausschliesslich von ihrem Reis. Neben dem Reis den sie lagern für den Eigenverzehr verkaufen sie den Rest für ein wenig Einkommen. Ein Bauer verdient um die 50$ im Jahr. Viele Landbewohner stehen jetzt vor dem Nichts. Kein Haus, kein Reis, keine Sanitären Anlagen.

Mittlerweile ist es ruhig in den lokalen Medien betreffen den Fluten. Aber die Probleme sind noch lange nicht gelöst und Kambodscha wird noch länger mit den Auswirkungen dieser Flut zu kämpfen haben.

Web Essentials

Bei Web Essentials geht das Geschäft weiter. Wir können uns sehr glücklich schätzen, dass fast niemand von unseren Mitarbeitern persönlich betroffen ist. Und auch dass keiner unserer Notfallpläne im Falle einer Flut in Phnom Penh zum Einsatz gekommen ist.

Dominik und Rebekka sind für fast zwei Monate in die Schweiz zurück gekehrt. Einerseits um an der TYPO3 Konferenz in Frankfurt teilzunehmen (TYPO3 ist eine Frei erhältliche Software die hilft eine Webseite aufzubauen, Web Essentials ist auf diese Software spezialisiert und setzt sich für deren Entwicklung in Südostasien ein). Zwei unserer Kambodschanischen Mitarbeiter sind auch mit nach Frankfurt geflogen um unsere Kunden persönlich kennenzulernen.

Ausserdem haben sich Dominik und Rebekka mit Yannik ein paar Wochen Zeit genommen um eine Auszeit zu nehmen. Sie hatten diese Auszeit bitter nötig. Diese Zeit war für mich sehr anstrengend. Ich hatte das Gefühl dass die ganze Verantwortung des Betriebs in meinen Händen liegt. Es hat mich Zeit und Nerven gekostet bis ich realisiert habe, dass diese Verantwortung nicht nur bei mir liegt, sondern dass wir diese Verantwortung aufteilen können. Mittlerweile sind Dominik und Rebecca wieder zurück.

Further up North « Wandering through Cambodia (original Blog written by Mary Hui).

Following an idea initially inspired by a former co-worker, Christoph and I hopped on a bus for a 14 hour ride to our neighboring country, Laos. A couple of weeks ago, it was Pchum Ben in Cambodia and our company closed its doors for 3 days. Then the government, less than a week before the holidays, sent us a photocopied notice that demanded that the staff be given two extra days to travel back to their home province in order to register to vote in the local elections. Though it was frustrating for getting our projects done, it was not a problem for us since that would give us a solid 9 days in Laos. That’s me, wearing my vacation outfit.

We left Phnom Penh at 6:45 am and arrived in Pakse, the biggest city in the south of Laos at 10 pm. We were dropped off at a dark bus station, far from the center of town and immediately we noticed a major difference between our home and Pakse. There were no tuk-tuk or moto drivers harassing us for a ride. In fact, I kinda wished someone showed interest and helped us find our guesthouse. We walked in the direction of the city and found internet in a nearby hotel. It was not long before we were in front of our homestay Imoun. A chubby woman had stayed up late waiting for us. She let us in and showed us around. It was a simple home. I think in fact, the name of the guesthouse wasn’t a joke. It was really a homestay.

I never got her name but she served us delicious breakfast and treated us so well. There were no other guests on all the nights we stayed there. But seriously, for $10 a night, I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a simple place with awesome hospitality. Also, did I mention that her sheets were the whitest sheets I’ve ever seen at a guesthouse. They looked like they were purchased yesterday from the store.

On the second day, we decided to rent a moto and drive a 300 km loop at the top of the nearby Boleavan plateau. The plateaur is known for the tea and coffee plantations, waterfalls, and ethnic villages. We went the local market, bought $2 rain jackets in anticipation of the rain from the gloomy dark clouds. I was glad we bought it but cheap quality rain jackets from china don’t last so long in harsh conditions. That’s Christoph after driving only 1 hour.

We drove first to Tad Lo and stayed in a guesthouse that was facing the waterfalls. We stayed in that red bungalow. Once again we were the only people staying there and actually, in total, we only saw 3 other travelers in the area when we went walking. The next morning, we hiked over to Tad Lo. I was so happy to find it!

The next day, we drove through thick fog in the misty rain to our next waterfall, Tad Falls. The guidebook said this was the real attraction of the plateau. When we finally found the road to our guesthouse, we were surprised. The road was probably as slippery as wet playdoh. Christoph drove through on the dirt bike but still tipped over into the mud! It’s moments like these when I really appreciate well-designed gear. Though my boots were completely covered in mud, my feet were nice and dry.  That was the muddy road to Tad Falls.

It should be no surprise that we were the only guests again at our guesthouse but this time it was a bit eerie. It was really misty, there were scratchy sounds, and at one point, I saw a cow right outside of the bungalow! The reason why we trekked to stay here was because it’s built right at the waterfalls. Most of the time it was ridiculously misty but when it did clear up, we had a nice view of Tad Falls.

Though the South of Laos is quite similar to Cambodia, there were strange but obvious differences. For one, we saw more variety in the livestock – pigs, goats, and different kinds of cows. That’s Christoph slowing down for the goats.

Though many families have a flat screen TV, we didn’t hear them, whereas in Cambodia, everyone including the neighbors would be gathered around the blearing TV screen. We actually immediately noticed this when we crossed the Lao-Cambodia border at the end of our trip and had to wait for more passengers for the bus. The local shop was showing Tom and Jerry and the dramatic symphonies of the chase scenes were the only sounds at that empty border.

Whenever I come back to Phnom Penh from traveling, I’m always reminded of the residual but profound impact of the Khmer Rouge on family life, on personal life, and individual development. Sure both Laos and Cambodia are underdeveloped and poor but somehow Cambodia has to and has not really addressed this invisible burden of its own history. The people seem to have less peace and so they never like to be alone or in silence. Nevertheless, it was nice to be home. We could understand the language again and I was so happy to have dry clothes and a warm bed!

On our bus ride back, Christoph met a really nice Swiss couple who had been traveling from Russia through China and now in Cambodia. They were planning to go to Siem Reap but realized only on the bus that the route they planned for was not possible. To my surprise but not entirely unexpected, Christoph invited them to stay at his place. He has a spare room and he developed a friendship with the guy. It was actually really nice to be able to show them our home and give them a better sense of what Cambodia is like beside the typical tourist attractions. They stopped by our office to meet our staff and Christoph had some meaningful conversations about faith and justice with them too. I was proud of him for listening to his heart and showing such hospitality to these strangers. I could tell they really had a good time when they left and who knows, we might see them again in Switzerland. 

Flooding in Phnom Penh | Travelfish on Phnom Penh.

Cambodia has been hard hit by flooding this year with many cities and provinces experiencing high water levels and associated fatalities. Phnom Penh is poised to be next, with the swollen Tonle Sap river threatening to flood.

The Tonle Sap seems to want to meet the pavement.

The flooding in Cambodia has already affected over 90,000 families in 14 provinces. Earlier this week tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter from the temples in Siem Reap, where the flooding has been extensive. Around 100 fatalities have already been reported, including a Brit whose death is thought to have been caused by trying to cross a flooded area while drunk (so please be careful out there!)

High waters haven’t stopped the fishermen.

The flooding has presented the Cambodian government and foreign NGOs with a quandary, seeing as that this week was a public holiday for Pchum Ben — the Cambodian festival of the dead — and not an ideal time for emergency meetings or disaster preparedness. The China Daily reports that provincial governors have been asked not to leave the country on trips overseas. Despite this, response to the flooding has been…well…muted. The millions of dollars of foreign money that has gone for flood prevention seems to have had little effect. Local newspapers have taken the week off for holidays, so don’t expect to get much information there. The kids don’t care, though, and are happy to take the opportunity to go for a swim wherever they can.

Your flood is my swimming pool.

Sandbags are up around Nagaworld, where the Tonle Sap has risen to meters above its dry-season levels. The Cambodia Daily reports that suburbs of Phnom Penh that have not experienced flooding in over a decade are underwater, and that more flooding in the city is expected.

The infamous Koh Pich bridge being threatened by the river.

Flights in and out of PNH are still flying on-schedule, and most buses are also running on time, albeit very packed due to the holiday.

Despite the government weather warnings from the embassies of many Western countries, and a flood alarm from the Mekong River Advisory, life is going on in Phnom Penh (despite the massive Pchum Ben slowdown).

Might as well go for a dunk.