Cambodian weddings
We’re delighted to announce that Dara has got married! Many congratulations to him and his wife Taev On. You can read about the wedding – and interviews with the couple – in the April Connect2 update.
Meanwhile, Rotha from SCC sent us this short guide to what happens in a traditional Cambodian wedding:
A day prior to the wedding…
- Avoid long distance travel
- Do not undertake big physical activities
- Save all your energy
- Do not eat anything that will give you food poisoning!
- Sleep well
Will our friends be evicted?
- Clodagh at the school that SCC built.
Clodagh writes:
Driving to Samrong Meanchey last month, we passed a string of huge, newly built houses, many of which of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of them is less than 100 metres from the edge of the community. It’s a worrying sign for our friends: as Phnom Penh city expands, the land that they’re living on is becoming increasingly valuable.
With no legal rights over their land, the community is in a precarious position. The government could decide to evict them any day. If that happens, they’ll have to start from scratch all over again.
Dara: workers collapse in factory
I have started a new job in a factory, which produces shoes and clothes for sale abroad. Unfortunately workers keep collapsing because of the strong smell of glue – the smell makes people dizzy and start vomiting. This has happened many times, and people have been sent to hospital.
The machines I work on are also not safe. I was asked to operate a machine here, and I got an injury to my finger from it. And I may not be able to work here any longer, because the owner of the company doesn’t like male workers. He thinks we always cause trouble by protesting against the company. As a result, male workers here are not on a proper contract.
But the good thing is that I can earn more money by doing this job than construction, and it doesn’t require any qualifications. I work eight hours a day, and they pay me $60 per month. This is more than I can earn on a construction site.
Since I got back from Kampot Province, I have been very worried about my mum, who is HIV positive. Her health is poor and she is getting weaker and skinnier, but she’s still doing manual work, pulling her small cart around the community to collect rubbish. Despite the work of SCC, there is still some discrimination against her from neighbours.
I would like neighbouring people to treat each other kindly here, but we don’t want to leave the community. If we were forced to leave, we would have to start again and my sisters would lose their place at school.
Dara’s journey
Dara, 19, once dreamt of becoming a doctor. But he had to give up school to support his mother, who is HIV positive. With his family in debt, Dara recently travelled to faraway Kampot Province to find work. He writes:
I went to Kampot for almost four months. Even on the minibus, I missed my family. A neighbour had told me that the pay was better in Kampot, and we were struggling to afford rice and school-fees for my brother and sister. But I was afraid I wouldn’t find a job. What if I couldn’t afford a ticket home?
Luckily, I found work quickly with a Chinese construction company. They were building a road for tourists up Bokor mountain. The mountain was beautiful and there was a good view of the sea, but the work was even more physical than construction jobs at home. I worked twelve hours a day, carrying rocks and breaking them down. It was dangerous. I saw a worker slice his hand open.
My Chinese bosses shouted at people who weren’t pulling their weight. But we couldn’t understand them because they couldn’t speak Khmer. They provided food three times a day, but it wasn’t good. They also gave us a hut to live in. I slept in a room with nine other workers. The zinc roof dripped during the night. It was really cold. I didn’t have any warm clothes with me, not even a jumper. I stayed as warm as I could under my blanket, but I felt so homesick.
I phoned mum whenever I could. One day she told me that a neighbour had insulted her because she was HIV positive. That made me angry, and I decided it was time to go home.
When I got back to Samrong Mean Chey, I didn’t confront the person who’d insulted my mum, because I didn’t know the background to the argument. But I’ve cleaned the house, got everything in order, and am looking after mum. She’s in poor health at the moment.
I am so relieved to be home. I will not go away again. We still have debts to pay, but I realise now I need to stay close to my family. I’ve found a construction job near home. I’d like to do a different job, but I don’t have any choice.
I don’t expect to go back to school any more, but I often help my brother and sister with their homework, and they’re both doing well at school. I just need to earn enough money to make sure they finish their education – and to look after mum.
Samol: economic crisis means less work
It has been hard for Chamroeun to find construction work
Samol writes:
The community are having problems making money. Many people are dependent on contractual work from factories and construction and it is hard to find contracts these days. Both factory work and construction have decreased because of the global economic crisis. There is less investment in Cambodia. Many buildings have been built but aren’t being sold so construction is slowing down. People like Chamroeun who have been working in construction are having difficulties finding work and feeding their children.
Van: I have stopped selling cakes
Van writes:
I stopped making cakes three days ago. That’s because the price of the ingredients (sugar, beans, coconut and seeds) for my cakes has increased – from 30,000 riel (£5) to 50,000 riel (£8). The community members can’t afford to pay more for cakes so I can’t get enough profit from selling them.
Some community members buy the cakes on credit and say they will pay the next day, but still haven’t paid a year later! I am trying to think of new ideas of how to make a living. I am getting older and my health is deteriorating. I run out of energy easily and need lots of rest.
At the moment I am dependent of the community who have been sharing food with me, and on SCC for food hand outs.
Dara forced to leave
Kang Vanna, Dara’s mother, writes:
Dara has left home. He’s gone to work as a construction engineer in Kampot Province, which is about five hours away by bus. He left because he found it difficult to find a job locally or in Phnom Penh.
The problem is that we needed to carry out repairs on the house, and that meant that I had to borrow money. Dara has gone away to work so that I can pay back the credit agency. Read more…
SCC wins prestigious award
We’re delighted to announce that Rotha, a Programme Coordinator for our partner SCC, has won a prestigious award. KHANA (the Khmer HIV / AIDS NGO Alliance) named him “champion of the year” for his outstanding work in local communities with people living with HIV/AIDS. Rotha tells us more:
I feel so happy to win this award from KHANA!
I have been working for SCC for a long time. I used to be a monk, and from 1997 to 2001 I worked with SCC to train other monks in how to provide counselling for people living with HIV/AIDS. After I stopped being a monk, I applied for a job with SCC. Now I’m a Programme Coordinator, responsible for their programmes in Phnom Penh, Battambang and Siem Riep.
I was born into a poor family in the countryside, and my heart has been living with the poor ever since. Read more…
Savoeun’s daughter leaves home
Savouen is now working in the local garment factory
Savoeun writes:
My oldest daughter has dropped out of school and gone to work in Malaysia. She’s growing and selling flowers there. It’s well-paid work compared to what we earn round here, but I miss her very much, and I’m very sad that she wasn’t able to finish school.
The new school: what do they think?
Supported by our partner Salvation Centre Cambodia (SCC), the Samrong Mean Chey community has recently opened a free school for five to 16 year-olds. We asked people what they thought of it so far.
THE MOTHER: Mouy Ly (33)
Why is it important to have a school in this community?
It is very important, especially for people like me.
