Water Festival and back to reality

So it feels like I’m settling in to Samrong a little more now and day to day tasks are becoming a touch less stressful to complete. We are having a bit more fun in the market and trying out what we can and can’t cook well or at all!

A few weeks ago we had a few days off for water festival so Em and I packed a small bag each and head down to PNH – took us about 11 hours down there and then 9 to get back so wasn’t too bad. The reason for our visit was to take part in the boat race which is integral to the celebrations of the water festival and I must say that it is definitely one of the highlights of my time here so far. You can see what the boats are like above - although that is in Samrong on the lake outside my house! Actually taking part in the was great fun and we provided much amusement to the Khymer boats who take it very seriously indeed. The actual races are head to head and it is fair to say we were pretty well beaten – we were also beaten by two of the boats from the race behind – however that is better than VSO did the year before.

PNH was packed full of people and for the vast majority of the time there was a great atmosphere and it was nice to meet up with people and see how there placements were going. Which leads me on nicely to work...

It’s been back to reality (with a slight bump) since the fun of PNH and it’s been hard work. There is obviously a lot I have to learn about CDA and the work that they have done/ do in community forestry and it has been really interesting. It is a bit of a disappointment that my work will be a lot more office based than I thought. They are used to having a volunteer that isn’t in the field as much as I will need to be for my role but I think that I have stressed that in my broken Khymer enough times. I did get out to the villages a couple of times this week and it is really helping me to formulate a plan of how best to move forward as you need to really understand the situation before moving forward with things. However frustrating that may be for the eager new volunteer!

Unfortunately the forest is not in its healthiest state in Odar Meanchey and you have to go quite far to get to reasonable sized areas – so it is a far cry from the likes of Rattanikiri and Mondulkiri from what I hear. That does make it even more important that the remaining areas are protected both for the people whose livelihoods depend on these areas and the animals and plants that live in these areas.

I am definitely getting more involved and advising on strategies and proposals has been a mainstay of my time here so far (as well as a fair bit of editing) – I guess there will be an element of “chasing funding” but that is the reality of a grass roots level organisation trying to expand its programme. We have been working on several proposals and one of these from Action Aid includes the potential of a 10 year partnership if you successfully complete a 1 year pilot project to satisfactory standards. Although not within my particular area of expertise the potential for long term stable funding would be a welcome addition to CDA – as long as they don’t rest on their laurels and become dependent on one donor!

Weekends tend to be very quiet (though last wkd I had a stressful day meeting Action Aid) with lots of reading etc. However this weekend I am off to Prenut Pre as Leonie (fellow VSO volunteer from ICT) and JP (her boyfriend) are having a party! Although a long way to go my social calendar isn’t exactly full so I didn’t think I was in a position to be turning invites down!!