NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2009

Hi Everyone,

As Christmas is a non event here, before I forget, let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wish that 2010 is a year full of good health, happiness and inner peace for you all. If I remember it is the 25th, I'll think of you all around the Christmas table with your families.

Sothea's brother's wedding earlier in the year.

Sothea's grandma is well into her 80's and she always wants to make the traditional symbolic decorations for the family weddings.

Then she is so tired that she lies down in the middle of the wedding and goes to sleep, missing a lot of the ceremony. A great old lady, does what she wants when she wants.

Taking food to the bride's house for the reception.

My job was to tie up banana leaves around the cake that was inside before it was cooked.

Me with Sothea's mum and other relatives.

Me again with a neighbour.

Our cat had two beautiful kittens a few weeks ago. As before, she chose my bed to deliver them and set up her home. So, I've been sleeping in a nursery for the last few weeks. I also sleep with Pheara, the girl from the fishing village, so it was very crowded there for awhile. They have started to walk around now so have moved them to a box on the floor so they don't fall off the bed and hurt themselves. We kept one of the other kittens and it was so funny to watch him. He turned back into a baby. He lied down with the kittens and fed from his mum and went through the stage that small children go through when they can't see their mum. One day he was tearing around the shed crying loudly. He ran into my room and checked and looked everywhere in the shed, crying as he went and then ran outside crying for his mum. When she came back he settled down and went to sleep with her. Really interesting to watch. The kittens are running around my feet now playing, although one is still a little bit wobbly on its feet.

The three teenage boys that I told you about in my last letter, the one that was really sick and the two that were in the moto accident are back at school now and every day they look better and better so they are gradually returning to normal. The family of the boy that was killed wants the police to put one of them in jail as he was the driver of our students' moto. I hope not, as it is not going to achieve anything, except a sense of revenge for the parents. The families are in a monetary negotiation at the moment so I hope this sees the end of it. All 3 boys have changed after their close encounter with death. They used to laugh and play around in class but I have noticed that they are deadly serious now and listen to every word I say and work really hard. Sad to see their youthful exuberance gone.

Went to a local wedding a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. They sat me right in front of the speakers. They think this is a good place to sit because they like loud music. After eating and my ear drums nearly exploding, I moved to the edge of the party and watched the young ones dancing and having fun. An old aunty of the groom sat with me and we chatted away (through Sothea as interpreter) like a couple of old girls amused by the antics of the young. How I wish I could speak Khmer fluently as I would love to have an indepth conversation with the older members of the community who have been through so much and exchange thoughts on kids and husbands etc, just like women talk to each other at home. I had a great night as there was a cool breeze blowing and a bright moon, just the sort of night to sit outside and relax. Had a couple of dances before I left just to be polite.

A few Sundays ago, a friend and I, a German lady, who runs a coffee shop in a larger town not that far from here, went and sat on the wall at Kep Beach and watched her children swimming while we chatted. Along this promenade lots of people sell fresh crabs, other food and crafts etc. A fight broke out between a couple of ladies selling crabs. I mean a physical fight, only a couple of metres from us. Quite funny actually and added to the entertainment of the afternoon. No one hurt and finally the police came along and persuaded them to stop. They didn't intervene though, they stood and watched for awhile laughing. Obviously, someone had pinched someone else's customer.

In Phnom Penh there is an eating place called Sisters. They make great deserts like lemon meringue pie and brownies. This was started by an orphan who learnt cooking from an American lady. She then taught other orphans to cook and they in turn open up other shops. There is Sisters ll in Kampot. The lady there is a beautiful human being and has such a sad story. She didn't tell us but someone else in Kampot did. She lived in Vietnam. Her father remarried and her new mother-in-law didn't want her in the family. She was 12 at the time. This step mother put her on a bus, supposedly to send her back to relatives in Cambodia. What she actually did was sell her to people in the sex trade business and she was on a bus bound for Thailand to work in a brothel. She was sitting on the truck with her legs over the side and the truck sideswiped something. She lost a leg and a UN worker found her and took her to an orphanage in Sihanoukville. From there she learnt cooking from this American lady in Phnom Penh and then opened her own shop in Kampot. She teaches other orphans cooking. They are hoping that lots of Sisters will open up throughout the country as more orphans become trained and branch out on their own in different towns. Her and her husband run an orphanage in Kampot called Heritage House and they have 20 children living there at the moment. She also runs this cafe to provide funds for her orphanage. As I said, a beautiful person. I have met so many people who I admire greatly with remarkable stories. Some of the foreigners leave a lot to be desired but there are also some great characters. Makes an interesting time, meeting so many different people.

I've told you about Borith before, one of our farm workers who lives here and who is engaged to a younger girl in the village. Problems abound at the moment. Initially her family wanted $1000 for her. This is not really selling her as such but they use the $1000 to pay for the wedding. Borith is very poor, as is his family. After negotiations, he got the price down to $750. He has saved up $250 which is great going considering he doesn't earn much. The girl's parents went to a fortune  teller who told them 2 dates which were the best time for them to marry to ensure a happy marriage etc. – one in January and one in February next year. There is no way Borith will have anywhere near the rest of the money needed by this time. He wanted to wait another year. If he borrows it, it will take him years to pay it back and he doesn't want to start married life with a huge debt as he needs his wage to support them both as well as children that are bound to come along very soon. If he waits another year or so she may get married to someone else in the meantime. Also, a long engagement doesn't look good as people will think there is something wrong and her parents don't want to lose face. His family also have problems. If the wedding is to be early next year, they would prefer it in February. They will have to borrow money to get here for the wedding (I'm only talking bus fares) and a extra month will give his father a chance to save a little bit more towards it and therefore not have to borrow as much. Hard to find work in their isolated village and so a few dollars for a bus fare is hard to pay back. So Borith, is all in a muddle at the moment. He is not a drinker but the other day he wasn't here in the morning and we were all worried in case he had been bitten by a snake coming home from visiting his girlfriend as he walks through the bush as a shortcut to Kep Gardens. Word finally got through that Borith was in a hut in the village. He had sat drinking palm wine with a man in the village and passed out. He didn't surface all day and Sothea said he was frightened to come home because I would be angry he got drunk and didn't turn up for work. I actually thought it was funny and so completely out of character but I also was aware that he is really worried about money and the wedding as he had been very quiet. An easy solution would be just to give him the money but I don't want to interfere in his personal life. Also, I don't want to set a precedent. I am sure this is a common problem and if I pay for Borith, others will expect the same or come asking for it. Where does it stop? I often encounter this problem as I see one of the students needs something or other but if I give it to them, I then have 159 others that I really should do something for as well. I tell myself that we are providing free education for them and to be happy with that. I can't help everyone, as much as I might like to.

Went to Sihanoukville a few weekends ago. It's close to here, about 100 kms or so. It is one of the tourist attractions in the country as it has nice beaches, islands etc. We found a guy who is working on the logo for Kep Gardens. He has come up with a couple of ideas which we quite like but just need the finishing touches now. It's really hard to come up with something simple, yet meaningful and shows what Kep Gardens is all about. Not being arty, farty at all, it's all too hard for me.

While in Sihanoukville I found a supermarket that has heaps of European food. It is easy to order from them and have it delivered and then pay through the local bank in the market. I brought a few things back and made dinner a couple of nights. I don't think anyone was overly impressed. They sat there very politely eating what I had put in front of them. I thought that I looked like them when I eat something I am not particularly fond of. Haven't done it again as they didn't enjoy it so will wait for Andrew to arrive before I try my culinary skills on the wood fire again.

I have had several chances to go to Vietnam with a bloke that sells bread on the back of his moto. He may well end up being the cook in the bungalows. His family lives there. He is always asking me and this time it is his sister's wedding. He reckons he can get me over the border without a visa but I'm not going to risk it. Don't want to spend a few years in a Vietnamese jail! I must get a visa for Vietnam as it would be great to go with him and stay with his family in their village. We are only 45 kms from the border here and I don't think he lives that far inside Vietnam. He lives locally as he is married to a Cambodian girl and has two small children.

A small magazine called Kep Revival is printed twice a year. The latest one came out at the beginning of November, in time for the tourist season. They had a few blank pages and asked if we wanted to put in an article about Kep Gardens. We did and because of this have had a few visitors interested in what we are trying to achieve. One couple was from Australia. They were travelling around Cambodia and then going to volunteer in an orphanage for a month in Thailand. They are doing this to see whether they will give up their jobs and volunteer in countries like Cambodia for a few years. Great idea to try it out first to see whether it is really what they want to do. They have a blog site where they have written a couple of things about Kep Gardens as well as a set of pictures. It is www.brucenroz.com if you are interested in taking a look. Nothing like travel to meet interesting people in this world.

Actually, I probably will know when it's the 25th as the Water Festival is being held in Kep on 26th and 27th. They race on the sea whereas the big Water Festival in November in Phnom Penh, they race on the river. We are sponsoring the local community boat. We buy their uniform and provide their food and drink for the two days racing. We have to go on 25th to present their uniforms (all very proper here). It will be a great two days of fun and being involved in this way will make it extra exciting, barracking for our boat and local people. The boats are like small canoes, a bit like the Aboriginal boats carved out of a tree trunk and hold 5 rowers. There are over 100 boats involved from most of the communities in the Kep Province. All the big wigs in the Government come from Phnom Penh and I assume there will be some serious betting going on, even though it is illegal. Should be fun. Another way to become involved in the community. I will send photos in the next newsletter of our industrious crew and their boat. Don't even know who they are but guess I'll meet them on the day.

Kep Gardens is becoming quite well known for our English classes. This is great but it also brings with it the problem of requests for lessons. A guest house rang yesterday and want their staff to have English lessons. I can't possibly do it all myself so have to keep putting people off and saying we'll look at it in the future when we are more organized. As it is, I start lessons 3 days a week for 11/2 hours at the Governor's office to teach his staff this Monday. This brings the number of teaching hours a day to over 8. Quite exhausting because I guess me being me, I put all my energies into it and I take a lot of time to prepare lessons and resources as well. Goodness knows where I will find time to organize the hospitality school but I'm sure I'll get there. Where there's a will there's a way. These classes for the Governor are the payment for him signing the Association papers and the building request papers free of charge. I didn't really have much option but to agree. Also, it doesn't hurt in this country to have someone in power on your side as much as I hate to admit that this influenced my decision to take the classes on.

Our 3 male students in Siem Reap. Two of them are in their school uniform. This is the 2nd hand moto we bought for them to get around to their work placements.

So, all the drawings have been officially put together for the Kep Gardens buildings and Sothea and I have spent the last week running from Department to Department for signatures of approval. Thought we were at the second to last signing on Thursday but have just received a phone call that we have to pick them up and take them somewhere else on Monday. I tell you what, by the time this is all finished, we would have met every government official in the Province. Not all that bad though as at least it has brought Kep Gardens to their notice. I'm not a drinker but I might go out and get drunk once all this has finished! It's a nightmare but worth it in the end I hope. I want that customs letter for our boxes to come into the country tax free and unfortunately have to wait for all this other stuff to be signed off first as the customs letter is the last thing.

We have been planting heaps of different sorts of fruit trees and pineapples etc recently and the next job is to plant hundreds of bushes and shrubs that we bought to line the driveway down the middle of the paddocks. Have employed another person to help Borith but not sure if he will be long term. We were looking for someone to be "the Gardener" for the bungalows and driveway and other flower type areas on a permanent, long term basis but haven't been successful finding the right person yet.

Have a great Christmas everyone with your families.

Cheers, Janine

Sothea with his mum and dad.

Lauren, the young American visitor and yours truly.

Gourmet delight.

A couple of our students.

Lauren with a group of our students.

Lovely smile.