NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2010
Hello Everyone,
Been frantic here for a few weeks but things are quieter now for my part anyway. First off, it was a lot of work getting the “Hospitality Essentials” seminars organized, getting the 4 students organized, handouts, resources, uniforms, advertising, seeing people to sell them this training. This morning they set off to Kampot to spend 3 weeks at a guest house training and working with their staff. Everyone very excited, the guest house staff was very welcoming and according to Sothea and Andrew they have settled in and already started. I couldn’t go with them as I have classes from 7.00 but they are fine, know what they have to do so it’s best just to leave them to get on with it and sort out little problems as they come up themselves.
The end of the school year this week for the English classes. Exams all next week so I have been busy getting exam papers for the three different levels organized, revising with the students and organizing end of year parties for the different age groups. I must admit, I am quite proud of them as I can see the improvement over the year and people visiting that haven’t been here for awhile are quite impressed when they talk to them. So something is happening. Have a long way to go to finish getting it running the way we want it but once the two classrooms are built and we have accommodation to offer volunteers we will be able to offer more classes at times that suit people and hence be able to cater better to more students. Although I guess 120 students in pretty basic conditions is not too bad. At least some of the community are benefiting but would like to help more. At the end of the exam week we will close the school for the month of September. This will give us a break to recharge our batteries as well as time to organize for the next year which starts the beginning of October. Update: exams finished, more passed than I thought. Very proud of them actually. Lots of fun at the parties so everyone left happy. The next day others started arriving wanting to enrol for next year. News travels fast around here. We are not putting out any signs asking for enrolments as we have very few spaces left. Let’s hope not too many more roll up as I hate to disappoint them but have no choice.
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Beginners’ party
Meanwhile, lots of activity happening all over Kep Gardens but I will leave this for Andrew to fill you in as this is his baby.
We have a small puppy. About 2 years ago (before I got here) Sothea saw a village dog that he liked the look of and asked for a puppy. Obviously, nothing came of it and then out of the blue last week the guy rolled up and gave him a male puppy. He is jet black, won’t be a big dog, more medium sized and we have called him Rascal after a dog we used to have that looked just like him as a puppy. He sleeps with me of a night in his bowl which I put on the bed. I also feed him. I have a method to my madness as once our bungalow is built and the school house is built, I will have a long walk in the dark after classes. Not afraid of people or “ghosts” as most people here are, but afraid of the wildlife I may encounter along the way, especially in the wet season. I am hoping he will stay with me in the school and on the way back bark if he senses any snakes around!
Rascal
Update: I had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy around. Total chaos and those sharp teeth that bite your toes!! Costing a fortune replacing peoples’ lost shoes! A very exhausted puppy on Friday night after all the parties. So many children to play with he was quite “hyperactive” and impossible to control. Just like an over tired child.
Last Monday, we awoke to the sound of heavy machinery. They had decided to make the road leading from the village road past Kep Gardens into the mountains. The Department of Environment is doing this as they want ranger access and fire fighter access which they didn’t have last year when there was a bushfire just over the hill. They have been saying for 2 years they were going to do it and it’s finally happened.
First day of road construction
Big problem though. After they had dug some drainage on one side and built up the road up bit we had torrential rain. For 5 days we could not get in or out of Kep Gardens unless we walked ankle deep in thick clay mud to the village road. They hadn’t had a chance to roll it before the rain hit. Also the cow carts and cows walking into the mountains to feed churned the mud up so we may have had a road started but we were marooned! A couple of days of no rain now so they have rolled it but they are not going to bitumize it, it will always be dirt. I don’t know how it will stand up in the rain. The main problem is the cows as they go up and back every day and their hooves will always cut into the dirt, hence mud. Not any cars going up and down to pack the dirt down hard. So, the rainy season could always be a problem. Although rutted, maybe the track was better as at least we could drive the moto in and out! We didn’t have to move our fence as we first thought, they just went around it. Great for us! Also, we had to pay some money to help with the fuel for the machines but they gave us a cheaper price than our neighbours as they said we help the community. So, all in all, we got out of it pretty lightly. We do have to link up a drainage pipe from our drainage into their drainage to prevent our entrance driveway from being washed away.
Road continuing past our property on left hand side into the hills.
Update: They have run out of money so the road will not be rolled anymore. It is a mess at the moment and obviously not going to get any better. Not sure how far they got from our place. I must take a moto ride and have a look.
The road past our gate back to the village. This was a dry day!!
Farm wise, they have been getting beds ready to plant some vegetables. Have no idea what but I guess I will find out soon enough. Have some chillis growing already. The steel has been delivered for our seedling house so that should be up and in use by the end of the week. Now that Andrew is here, we make everything ourselves which saves money and is also constructed to last. Last one fell down as the termites ate out the bamboo.
Borith and Chan getting the beds ready
Also, we are preparing half a paddock to do an experiment with a different way of planting rice. The local people plant about 5 stems in the one place. This method only uses 1 stem and they are put into the ground in a different way. They do not need anywhere near the amount of water the traditional way of planting does and the yield per rice field is supposed to be substantially higher. We hope it is successful as we want the village people to see the successful results and then they may be tempted to change their way of doing it as it will save them money in seeds and they won’t have the worry of needing so much water. Sothea wanted to plough the traditional way because it was a rice crop so instead of using the tractor, one of our neighbours who is interested ploughed the ground with his cows and is helping prepare the area as he wants to learn how to do it in case it proves a better way of doing it. He has an open mind and is not frightened of change like the majority of the villagers. They have been doing it the same way since time began so it has to be right and the best way to do it. They need to see the results with their own eyes before they would be prepared to even think about it. Hope it works as it will help them financially in the long run.
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Ploughing the field ready to plant rice
One of the other paddocks has been planted with green beans. They love water apparently and don’t take long to grow. Once we harvest them we will plough them all back into the soil for the nitrogen value and plant again. This paddock is going to be for a few hundred papaya trees to sell the fruit at the market and also for our own use. We are also getting the composting bins up and running again.
Hope you are all well and happy,
Cheers, Janine
ANDREW’S BIT
Hi to you all.
It’s been 10 weeks since I arrived to join Janine. The list on the fridge (we don’t have a fridge but that’s beside the point) was huge but not unexpected. I have a lot of work to do but I am enjoying it.
The first consideration was the rain. The season was nearly 2 months late which is a major problem for the locals as it badly affects their rice growing activities. This is the major income project for them each year.
We decided upon 3 major projects which needed to be attended to before the rain set in.
The first was the digging, bricking and concrete plastering of water drainage around the bottom 2 paddocks to divert the surface water from the land. The rain is huge and therefore we had severe flooding problems. These drains are 240 metres long x 1 metre wide x ½ metre deep. We used approximately 20,000 bricks and 5 tonnes of cement and a heap of sand which would choke a black dog. A gang of 6 blokes saw the job done In 3 weeks. Have a look at the pictures. A great effort and all by hand – no machinery.
 Breaking rocks for the drainage
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Mixing cement
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The Finished product |
This is phase 1 of a 3 phase project after which we will have the drainage over the total property under control. We will commence phase 2 early next year subject to other priorities.
The second project was urgently needed repair work to the dam. Some 3½ years ago we had a dam dug, approximately 50 metres square and 3.5 metres deep. It is fed by a natural waterway from the surrounding hills. Last year, following a torrential downpour, together with the erosion over the previous years, the outlet pipe work (in 2 positions) was completely washed away. The first outlet allows water to flow through to neighbouring rice fields and follows the natural route. The second we installed to divert water to the villagers as they did not have any supply.
This project is now nearly completed, the only requirement is for me to fabricate the steel sluice gates for the spillway. Again, a great job by all and WITHOUT ANY MACHINERY!
The third major project is the rebuild of the boat. We commissioned the build of the boat about 3 years ago. It is built totally out of timber all by hand saw, axe etc. The hull planking is 50mm thick and the stringers 200mm x 100mm. We fitted a 300 hp marinized Hino diesel truck engine with heat exchangers, gear box etc. The prop we imported from Thailand. I was here most of the time the boat was built to deck level but unfortunately I left the remainder to be completed by a local clown who completely stuffed it and totally ripped us off. Anyway it is now out of the water on the slip and the entire superstructure is to be removed and rebuilt including an upper deck, a bar, food preparation area etc . We will use the boat to generate income to support our project and to train hospitality staff during our lunch and dinner cruises around the local islands. This is my favourite project.
A couple of other tasks we have started are the building of some staff quarters because currently 4 of us sleep in the tractor shed.
Current crowded staff quarters
The new building will have lots of windows to catch to breeze through the valley, much more room to spread the beds out and we’ll build some wardrobes and chests for their clothes and personal possessions so it doesn’t look such a mess all the time. It has been built in the orchard so when the trees grow there will be lots of shade to keep the place cool during the day.
Staff quarters
We are also building a chicken coop and run so we can breed our own chickens for sale and have a good supply of eggs. We will be able to use them in the restaurant and for the lunch and dinner cruises on the boat. Along with the orchard, vegetable patch, papaya paddock and now the chickens and eggs we will have made some headway towards becoming self sufficient and helping to ensure the sustainability of the project.
Chicken coop
We need a seed house is to raise papaya seedlings for planting after the rainy season. Good quality fruit is always in demand and we hope to take advantage of the market with some alternative growing techniques. The income will again help us toward sustainabililty. This is in work.
We have built 5 adjoining compost bays which, when in full production, will produce approximately 1 ton of compost per week, enabling us to substantially improve our soil conditions and crop potential. These bays need cleaning and re-roofing. Once established we will conduct proactive training in the method and use of composting to local farmers.
Composting bins
There are a lot of other small jobs as you would expect with a small property but these break up the day. Our larger projects will commence after the rainy season.
There is a saying here that 60% of stuff you know, 20% you will learn and 20% you will never know (called 60/20/20). Currently I am at the 60/0/0 level and it is unbelievable. Nails and wire by the kilo; .4mm thick roof sheeting and steel sections; hollow clay bricks by the thousands at 7 cents each; cement by the ton in 50 kg bags at $4.60 each; “skilled” labour rate $6.20 per day, 6 days a week; “unskilled” labour rate $3.20 per day, 6 days a week $US of course; geckos, cows, dogs, cats, snakes, rats, rain and many, many unknown smaller flying, crawling things make life very different but I love it.
Cheers to you all, Andrew
August 2010
