Today is the Jewish New Year, so to anyone who celebrates: I hope the new year is a sweet and wonderful one for you. On Friday, I got to participate in a sort of Jewish New Year's celebration. There were no prayer books and no one really knew what to say or sing. Our Israeli host said the blessing over wine, we sang a few non-religious songs about peace, ate some apples with honey and other sweet food, and just hung around and talked. Very laid back and altogether a good way to bring in the new year.
Meanwhile, country-wide, the holiday of P'chum Ben day is being celebrated. During this 15-day period of the Khmer lunar calendar, Cambodians go to the pagoda and pray to all the souls and spirits that, due to bad karma, have not been reincarnated and are stuck in limbo/hell. Everyone brings food to the pagoda to feed the spirits. I am not sure if the food pacifies them because they are very hungry or angry. I suppose if you were trapped in hell without any food you'd probably be both.
Cambodians pray that the spirits do not remain in hell and that they do not torment the people still living. Cambodians have a special obligation to their own ancestors, so as a result, they try to go to the pagoda where their ancestors were burned to get a more direct line of communication. If you are a good Cambodian Buddhist, you will travel to many pagodas in the hope of not giving any ancestor the cold shoulder. Since P'chum Ben day happens only once a year, people go to great lengths "to speak with their grandmother."
Once the spirits have had their chance to eat the food, the monks claim the rest. But just like the spirits are unable to finish most of the food, the monk pass most of the food along as well. So after you contribute some food, the monks usually invite you to stay and have something to eat. It's not necessarily the food you brought, but in the big Karmic wheel, everyone gets to eat.
Being so far away from home, I have the tendency to simplify holidays to their basic form. Most holidays can be described in the following way: The past is important; your ancestors are important; so let us gather together and celebrate the present; let's toast to the future; everybody grab something to eat. (Except Halloween, which goes straight to the last part.)
I wish I could celebrate the New Year or P'chum Ben day with all my friends and family. Best wishes to all and happy holidays.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
"What am I doing in Cambodia?" or "What I am doing in Cambodia."
To the few readers of this blog. I am no longer in Thailand, but Cambodia. I have been here for one month, working at a hotel named Shinta Mani. My job here is Director of Community-based Activities. At the moment, I am trying to compose a newsletter to send to all the past donors of the projects. Here is one of the articles that I completed. I hope that it explains some of the things I do.
"Driving along the road to Angkor Wat, I am riding in a van with some important people, including the owner of Shinta Mani hotel and a few potential investors. In the van behind us there are more important people, including the managing director and general manager of Shinta Mani. These people have importance, because two days prior to this ride I was hired as the Director of Community-based Activities for Shinta Mani. These higher-ups are the ones that make my job and these programs possible.
This is my first visit to the village and in a short amount of time I am expected to be an authority on everything related to our village and school programs. For now, I am simply in awe of the sights around me.
A paved road past Angkor Wat and the Bayon, leads to a dirt road proclaiming to be the entrance to Angkor Thom district. I am told that a joint-venture with a Japanese group expanded and reformed the road. However, huge divots in the road lead me to disbelief. Our driver deftly steers to avoid the obstacles. Thirty minutes later, he performs another deft feat by crossing a weak wooden bridge only a few centimeters wider than our van.
Across the bridge, we are led to an area full of brush.
Here, land is cheaper and families came out in search of new places to start farms and homes. The family we visited had purchased the land 14 months ago. On a plot of land of 40 by 40 meters, the family began by planting a few items for subsistence consumption.
Their reputation as hard-working family was already recognized by their community. As a result, in January of this year, the family was approached by Shinta Mani to be recipients of a water-well. In the time since, the family has capitalized on their new resource by planting long beans, winter melon, and cucumbers from seeds provided with their well. The family continued to expand into sugar cane, a crop that requires regular watering, but yields about $0.15 per stem. This year they were able to make about $150 dollars from their harvest. Even more farsighted, the family has planted trees for custard apples, mangoes, and jackfruit, some of which do not bear fruit for four years.
The family was encouraged with donations of school supplies for their three children, as well as a bicycle to ensure that they could get to and from school. In addition, the bicycle allows the family to reach markets to sell some of their crops. After 7 months of hard work, this family became the 69th to receive a house from a Shinta Mani donor. When I visited with the higher-ups, only the foundation had been laid.
Within three weeks, the house was near completion. Finishing touches were added to the toilet and septic systems adjoined to the outside of the house. The family is very excited to be moving into their new home.
On a recent visit to the family, I asked how Shinta Mani had changed their lives. The father, Hai Lai, remarked that, “when I got the well, I knew I could make the family better. Now, I can make a big farm for my family.” With the farm performing well, Hai Lai looks to the future. He says that he does not want to stop farming, but he would like to own a business as well and start selling items in the market. Looking across the faces of his children, Hai Lai states, ‘we have, but not enough.”
Driving back to the hotel, on that first village visit, I could tell that the investors and owners were impressed with the programs. I too was impressed. A few donations had enabled a family to grow to a standard of living they thought was impossible 15 months earlier. Hai Lai’s story is not one often seen or heard by the average visitor to Cambodia, nor is it a story usually made possible through donations from an unimposing 18-room hotel."
Feel free to make comments about the lack of grammar or flow.
"Driving along the road to Angkor Wat, I am riding in a van with some important people, including the owner of Shinta Mani hotel and a few potential investors. In the van behind us there are more important people, including the managing director and general manager of Shinta Mani. These people have importance, because two days prior to this ride I was hired as the Director of Community-based Activities for Shinta Mani. These higher-ups are the ones that make my job and these programs possible.
This is my first visit to the village and in a short amount of time I am expected to be an authority on everything related to our village and school programs. For now, I am simply in awe of the sights around me.
A paved road past Angkor Wat and the Bayon, leads to a dirt road proclaiming to be the entrance to Angkor Thom district. I am told that a joint-venture with a Japanese group expanded and reformed the road. However, huge divots in the road lead me to disbelief. Our driver deftly steers to avoid the obstacles. Thirty minutes later, he performs another deft feat by crossing a weak wooden bridge only a few centimeters wider than our van.
Across the bridge, we are led to an area full of brush.
Here, land is cheaper and families came out in search of new places to start farms and homes. The family we visited had purchased the land 14 months ago. On a plot of land of 40 by 40 meters, the family began by planting a few items for subsistence consumption.
Their reputation as hard-working family was already recognized by their community. As a result, in January of this year, the family was approached by Shinta Mani to be recipients of a water-well. In the time since, the family has capitalized on their new resource by planting long beans, winter melon, and cucumbers from seeds provided with their well. The family continued to expand into sugar cane, a crop that requires regular watering, but yields about $0.15 per stem. This year they were able to make about $150 dollars from their harvest. Even more farsighted, the family has planted trees for custard apples, mangoes, and jackfruit, some of which do not bear fruit for four years.
The family was encouraged with donations of school supplies for their three children, as well as a bicycle to ensure that they could get to and from school. In addition, the bicycle allows the family to reach markets to sell some of their crops. After 7 months of hard work, this family became the 69th to receive a house from a Shinta Mani donor. When I visited with the higher-ups, only the foundation had been laid.
Within three weeks, the house was near completion. Finishing touches were added to the toilet and septic systems adjoined to the outside of the house. The family is very excited to be moving into their new home. On a recent visit to the family, I asked how Shinta Mani had changed their lives. The father, Hai Lai, remarked that, “when I got the well, I knew I could make the family better. Now, I can make a big farm for my family.” With the farm performing well, Hai Lai looks to the future. He says that he does not want to stop farming, but he would like to own a business as well and start selling items in the market. Looking across the faces of his children, Hai Lai states, ‘we have, but not enough.”
Driving back to the hotel, on that first village visit, I could tell that the investors and owners were impressed with the programs. I too was impressed. A few donations had enabled a family to grow to a standard of living they thought was impossible 15 months earlier. Hai Lai’s story is not one often seen or heard by the average visitor to Cambodia, nor is it a story usually made possible through donations from an unimposing 18-room hotel."
Feel free to make comments about the lack of grammar or flow.
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