Written January 16th, 2012
I passed through the boarder of Cambodia, after a long hot 3
hour wait with packs in tow to get into Cambodia, and immediately said to
myself, “This is Africa, all over again.” Not only that, but everything I had
read in the books The Road to Lost Innocence and Cambodia’s Curse
was right before my eyes.
1. It is HOT!
Hotter than Africa, I sweat doing nothing here.
2. It is dirty.
Not only is there trash everywhere, much like Africa (with the exception of
Rwanda), but the trash even surrounds their homes. At least in Africa they
would pile their trash in one place and burn in. Here, I’m not quite sure what
they do (this observation was taken while traveling to our contact. Our rural
village is cleaner than this). In addition, only a few main roads are paved and
at best just somewhat paved, nothing like American roads. The rest are dirty
roads and the dirt is dusty here. You turn right off the main road into a
“business” or home and it’s just straight up dirt.
3. Motorbikes are
everywhere! There aren’t many cars here and even the motorbikes aren’t
owned by everyone. Bicycles are the main choice of travel in the rural areas
especially and just good plain ole feet work best too.
There are also a few things that distinguish Cambodia from
Africa too.
1. There are oxen and
pony drawn carts. These are legitimate two wheeled carts that are drawn by
massive oxen or ponies. These carts are used to transport straw, rice, hay,
grain, products and water to and from the fields, markets and homes.
2. There are cart
pushers (mostly I saw them at the boarder). These are people who push
massive two wheeled carts much like the oxen and pony drawn carts. Some of the
people had shoes, some didn’t. They usually wore long pants and shirts with
hats wrapped around their head and the only thing you could see where their
eyes. These carts were weighted down with any kind of product imaginable. Women
and men pushed and pulled these carts usually with children helping.
3. Houses are on
stilts. For many reasons this is useful. 1) to avoid the house being
completely submerged in flooding. 2) it’s a lot cooler outside at night to
sleep than inside a building with no A/C! Also, oxen and ponies sometimes are
housed under the houses instead of building a barn which costs more money.
It’s very poor here, VERY
POOR! I can’t even begin to describe the level of poverty that exists here.
80% of the population lives in the rural areas outside the city. 80% of the
electricity is in the city. There is no running water here, not much plumbing
either. Many electronic devices like televisions or radios, even lights are run
off of generators (if the families can afford one) or car batteries and usually
only for a few hours at night. The country is mostly illiterate. Most families
are too poor to send their kids to school (it cost about $5/month!) and those
that are able to afford it their kids usually have to pay bribes to the teacher
or are needed in the fields to work for food for the family.
Our contact however is amazing! He is a 29 year old
Cambodian pastor with such passion and heart for his people. We are staying at
his church in the Kampong Cham province. There is no electricity, no internet,
no beds, no running water here. We have a squatty behind the church we use
(which is also better than the African squatties as these are porcelin and we
pour water down the toilet so it can flush). Our tents are set up inside the
church to keep the awful massive mosquitos and flies from attacking us at
night. We eat at our contacts house which his wife and mother cook amazing food
for us.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining
because I’m not. Please understand that. This blog was mostly written while
traveling to our contact location in Cambodia. It was pure shock to me that
Cambodia was so poor. After spending two months in two Asian countries which
are poor but better off than Cambodia I wasn’t prepared for what I saw and
experienced in the first few days of being here.
This country is a HUGE mission field and missionaries are
desperately needed. Like Thailand, the country is 92% Buddhist. Not only that
but they have experienced war, turmoil and corruption most of their existence
(it was not until about 20 years ago that they stopped having war however
corruption has continued and worsened). They are taught by their Buddhist faith
to be content with their lives and also that if their life is in a bad place it
is probably because they did something wrong in a previous life. They are
taught not to strive for something better. Please know that I am excited to be
here. To see what God has in store for this place, for our contact and for us.
