Koh Ker - The school in the middle of a THe school is a place of safety for these minefield
Yesterday we set off at 5.00am to go to Koh Ker School. Koh Ker is in the far North of Cambodia, towards the Thai border. It is a desperate place, in a Country full of desperate places.
The van had been loaded up the night before and eight bleary eyed people set off. Not even a coffee, there's never a Starbucks when you need one! Ponheary, Rethy, our driver and chef for the day, Pohv, tuk tuk driver and friend of the foundation, Gordon and Dorothy two volunteers from Canada, Bernice, a French women who teaches at the International School and lives at the house, Lori and me.
We also had all the food needed to feed nearly 300 hungry children along with all the utensils, pots and pans etc. and books for the new library and medical supplies. The roof was piled high and every inch inside was stuffed. We stopped on the way to collect ice and 25 kilos of beef, an unheard of luxury up there, for the lunch.
Ponheary first heard about the school two years ago and went up to visit it with Lori. The journey is difficult because the road runs out and just becomes dirt. In the rains it is very,very difficult and takes twice as long, that is if you don't get stuck or the 'road' is under a metre of water. When they got there they found a crumbling place with 40 very sick looking children. There were no pencil, no exercise books, nothing. Just a few chalk slates. Oh, and did I mention it was surrounded by land mines? An area had been de-mined for the school along with a narrow path from the village. You never stray of the path around there. Landmines are another story for me to tell though. Although the school is very far from Siem Reap Ponheary and Lori knew that they had to do something. Firstly, they needed to get a Doctor there because the kids were so sick. It took 8 days for them to find someone to take there. In that 8 days 2 children died. They were all seriously malnourished. Malaria, Dengue and TB very rife. They had children lying on desks with IV's in their arms hanging from the rafters.
The poverty in that area is unimaginable. I thought that I had seen the worst deprevation on the planet in Africa, Peru and India but this is some of the worst I have ever seen. The area is still controlled by Khmer Rouge, not in an organised way, of course, but the same people. Most of the people who live there were in the massive refugee camps that were on the Thai Border after the KR regime and throughout the occupation and civil war. They were lawless places. The men up there are brutal. They swagger around wearing ray bans and fatigues with machetees hanging from their belts. Domestic violence and child abuse are the norm. Children can be found in the paddie fields that have been raped, murdered and their heads put on a stick and noone investigates it. I am talking about now, in 2010, not during the KR regime.
The first thing Ponheary had to do was improve the health of the children, then to get clean water for them, then sort out the school and get more children to go there..It was decided to give the children breakfast every day and to give them supplements to improve nutrition. They get rice, fish and vegetables. This is usually their only meal of the day. It is cooked by local women who are paid in rice. They rotate so that everyone gets extra rations. When the kitchen was built, a thatched roof with a place to light a fire and place a giant wok, the local mafia wanted money for it. The foundation had provided it, of course. Ponheary and Lori went to a meeting with the head of the district who wanted paying. These are the men who had so brutalised Ponheary and her family. Lori said that she was scared but Ponheary just said 'they killed me once already'. She told him that they would not give him any money and she told Rethy, our driver to go and burn it down. At this they backed off. The foundation pays for extra Teachers at he school and supplements the salaries of the others. Many of the children were bringing their younger siblings to school and they were hanging around and so a kindergarden was established. Ponheary and Lori went t ll the surrounding villages to persuade everyone to send their children to school. There are now 280.
It was decided that the school would run all year. At least that way the.children would be fed every day. At first, during break times the children would fall asleep. Yesterday, I saw healthy looking children who, during break, were running around, playing volley ball and doing normal things. Not least was watching us prepare their lunch. THe school is a place of great safety for the kids. Being in the middle of a minefield underlines that. Their lives at home are of practical slavery. They do all the work and have nothing.
Next a new well was dug and water filters put in place. The well is 20 meters deep and water is pumped up to a tank. It then goes through a filter system. after the capital cost the only expense is $60 a year for filters and fuel for the pump. For the first time ever the children had water free of e coli. Even that was a problem THey were told by their parents it would make them sick and they shouldn't drink it. Now, they fill water bottles to take home, it tastes better! An NGO called Plan built some new classrooms to house the extra children. and the foundation supplied exercise books etc. Ponheary and Lori get up there about once a month now. On those days the children do not get breakfast as they get a magnificent lunch cooked by us. Rethy's special recipe noodles, beef and vegetables with chilli (of course) and chives. We are all just the sous chefs taking orders. They get noodles because they are a special treat. You grow rice but have to buy noodles. THey never get meat either and so Ponheary likes to get good beef and lots of vegetables. We actually had enough food for three times as many children but these kids are hungry and on Sunday there is no school so, for many it is their last decent feed until Monday morning.
to be continued
The van had been loaded up the night before and eight bleary eyed people set off. Not even a coffee, there's never a Starbucks when you need one! Ponheary, Rethy, our driver and chef for the day, Pohv, tuk tuk driver and friend of the foundation, Gordon and Dorothy two volunteers from Canada, Bernice, a French women who teaches at the International School and lives at the house, Lori and me.
We also had all the food needed to feed nearly 300 hungry children along with all the utensils, pots and pans etc. and books for the new library and medical supplies. The roof was piled high and every inch inside was stuffed. We stopped on the way to collect ice and 25 kilos of beef, an unheard of luxury up there, for the lunch.
Ponheary first heard about the school two years ago and went up to visit it with Lori. The journey is difficult because the road runs out and just becomes dirt. In the rains it is very,very difficult and takes twice as long, that is if you don't get stuck or the 'road' is under a metre of water. When they got there they found a crumbling place with 40 very sick looking children. There were no pencil, no exercise books, nothing. Just a few chalk slates. Oh, and did I mention it was surrounded by land mines? An area had been de-mined for the school along with a narrow path from the village. You never stray of the path around there. Landmines are another story for me to tell though. Although the school is very far from Siem Reap Ponheary and Lori knew that they had to do something. Firstly, they needed to get a Doctor there because the kids were so sick. It took 8 days for them to find someone to take there. In that 8 days 2 children died. They were all seriously malnourished. Malaria, Dengue and TB very rife. They had children lying on desks with IV's in their arms hanging from the rafters.
The poverty in that area is unimaginable. I thought that I had seen the worst deprevation on the planet in Africa, Peru and India but this is some of the worst I have ever seen. The area is still controlled by Khmer Rouge, not in an organised way, of course, but the same people. Most of the people who live there were in the massive refugee camps that were on the Thai Border after the KR regime and throughout the occupation and civil war. They were lawless places. The men up there are brutal. They swagger around wearing ray bans and fatigues with machetees hanging from their belts. Domestic violence and child abuse are the norm. Children can be found in the paddie fields that have been raped, murdered and their heads put on a stick and noone investigates it. I am talking about now, in 2010, not during the KR regime.
The first thing Ponheary had to do was improve the health of the children, then to get clean water for them, then sort out the school and get more children to go there..It was decided to give the children breakfast every day and to give them supplements to improve nutrition. They get rice, fish and vegetables. This is usually their only meal of the day. It is cooked by local women who are paid in rice. They rotate so that everyone gets extra rations. When the kitchen was built, a thatched roof with a place to light a fire and place a giant wok, the local mafia wanted money for it. The foundation had provided it, of course. Ponheary and Lori went to a meeting with the head of the district who wanted paying. These are the men who had so brutalised Ponheary and her family. Lori said that she was scared but Ponheary just said 'they killed me once already'. She told him that they would not give him any money and she told Rethy, our driver to go and burn it down. At this they backed off. The foundation pays for extra Teachers at he school and supplements the salaries of the others. Many of the children were bringing their younger siblings to school and they were hanging around and so a kindergarden was established. Ponheary and Lori went t ll the surrounding villages to persuade everyone to send their children to school. There are now 280.
It was decided that the school would run all year. At least that way the.children would be fed every day. At first, during break times the children would fall asleep. Yesterday, I saw healthy looking children who, during break, were running around, playing volley ball and doing normal things. Not least was watching us prepare their lunch. THe school is a place of great safety for the kids. Being in the middle of a minefield underlines that. Their lives at home are of practical slavery. They do all the work and have nothing.
Next a new well was dug and water filters put in place. The well is 20 meters deep and water is pumped up to a tank. It then goes through a filter system. after the capital cost the only expense is $60 a year for filters and fuel for the pump. For the first time ever the children had water free of e coli. Even that was a problem THey were told by their parents it would make them sick and they shouldn't drink it. Now, they fill water bottles to take home, it tastes better! An NGO called Plan built some new classrooms to house the extra children. and the foundation supplied exercise books etc. Ponheary and Lori get up there about once a month now. On those days the children do not get breakfast as they get a magnificent lunch cooked by us. Rethy's special recipe noodles, beef and vegetables with chilli (of course) and chives. We are all just the sous chefs taking orders. They get noodles because they are a special treat. You grow rice but have to buy noodles. THey never get meat either and so Ponheary likes to get good beef and lots of vegetables. We actually had enough food for three times as many children but these kids are hungry and on Sunday there is no school so, for many it is their last decent feed until Monday morning.
to be continued
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