Categories
Recent Entries
Archives

March 01, 2004

Football in the Minefield

This is a fun article written by a volunteer at Aki Ra's Landmine museum about playing football with some of the students there.

Football in the Minefield

Posted by Ravensong at 05:16 AM
View/Add Comments (0) | Category: Cambodia

February 29, 2004

Back to NYC

So it may come as a surprise to many of you that I'm flying back today, Monday March 1st. It's strange. Even though I didn't end up doing what I had planned to do here in Asia, I answered the questions that I came here to answer.

I came to Asia, with the intent of doing volunteer work in Cambodia, to find out whether or not I should go get a degree in international development and/or humanitarian assistance. And the answer is no. Cambodia is a beautiful country, and I definitely plan on returning and visiting again. I feel like a chicken, but all I needed was to be in Cambodia for a week to know that working in a place like that was not for me. I think it was a combination of factors, the strictness of traditional gender roles, the instability of the government, and the scary sense that comes from knowing that if you get hurt in Cambodia, the nearest hospital you should even consider going to is in Bangkok.

Plus I've spent a TON more money than I anticipated. So I need to go back to NYC and find a job while I can still afford my rent!

But anyways, please keep checking back here. I have a bunch of journal entries I've been working on that are not quite ready to be published, but soon will be when I finish them. Also, I WILL be posting pictures once I get them developed at home.

Posted by Ravensong at 03:16 AM
View/Add Comments (2) | Category: About Ravensong

February 27, 2004

Husnaweb

Hey!

You guys (the Oregeonians and Laura in particular) should check out my friend Husna's blog.

http://www.husnaweb.com

She's got some great Bush comics up there :)

Posted by Ravensong at 08:12 AM
View/Add Comments (1) | Category: Sanuk!

February 26, 2004

Aki Ra and the Landmine Museum

Aki Ra, proprietor of the Cambodian Land Mine Museum is one of the most incredible human beings I've ever had the fortune to meet. A former child soldier for first the Khmer Rouge and then the invading Vietnamese, he specialized in laying landmines as well as disarming them. After the fighting stopped and the Khmer Rouge was routed, he joined the UN peacekeeping force that arrived in 1991 and went to work demining the country.

After the UN left, Aki Ra continued wandering around the country, voluntarily demining areas on his own. He wasn't paid by the government to do this, but grateful local villagers would give him a place to stay and food to eat.

Normally, demining landmines is a very time consuming process. For HALO, one of the three major authorized non-profit groups working to demine Cambodia, it takes $500, and 5 people to demine landmine. One guy goes in with a metal detector, finds a landmine, comes back out. The next guy comes in to confirm that it is a landmine, and the type, goes back out. The next guy comes in, digs a little hole next to the landmine, being very careful not to set it off. The fourth guy comes in with some TNT and puts it carefully in the hole around the landmine. They all stand back, clearing the area of about 200-500 meters around and give the signal for the 5th guy to detonate the mine. This can take anywhere from 1-2 hours.

But Aki Ra demines landmines the way he used to, when bullets and grenades flewover his head; with nothing more than a 2 foot long bamboo pole . No protective gear, no help, no nothing. He goes to an area, where landmines are known to be found and starts poking slowly through the dirt. When he bumps in to something, he pokes it cautiously, listening to the sound of the bamboo pole against the whatever is underneath the dirt. The sound will tell him what kind of landmine it is and how to demine it. Sometimes he has to dig cautiously in the dirt, take out the landmine, unscrew the top carefully and pull out the spark plug or the TNT. With other landmines, he slowly unscrews the pin, and renders it useless. How long does it take him to do this? The British volunteer, a guy working on a documentary about Aki Ra, told me that just this past December, he went up to the northern Cambodia border near Laos and watched him demine more than 100 landmines in about an hour and a half.

Landmine victims with their limbs blown off, are often stigmatized in Cambodia because they can do very little in a country where the main source of income comes from physical labor. Often, they can do nothing else but resort to begging.

So what did Mr. Ra do? Start a small center for landmine victims. Over the years of demining, he found and collected a ton of stuff, and eventually opened the landmine museum in Siem Reap, along the road to the Angkor Wat temples.

But this whole time, what he's been doing is illegal because civilians aren't supposed to go around demining or teaching farmers how to demine landmines (even though that almost all the farmers are former soldiers like him). The Cambodian government also shut down and raided his museum a couple times, and threw him in jail (and in Cambodia, that's a really really bad thing; in jail they take away all your clothes except for your underwear, and you lie on a shit stained concrete floor). The Cambodian government rationale? Aki Ra was promoting the "wrong kind of tourism." According to the government, tourists should only come to Cambodia to see the temples, not to see things like landmines.

But it's gotten alot better. Aki Ra has received widespread international attention because of his efforts and has letters of backing from almost every major NGO working in Cambodia today. What's really funny was that the Cambodian government wanted the leaders of the 3 major anti-demining groups in Cambodia, MAG (the first all-female demining teams), HALO Trust, and CMAC (Cambodian Mine Action Center) to sign letters to the court that what Aki Ra was doing was wrong, but they refused and actually backed what he was doing.

All this happened probably less than 2 years ago. Now, Aki Ra's Landmine Museum is on the verge of becoming an official NGO in Cambodia, which means that the Cambodian government can't come in and take all their money all the time. This kind of does have a happy ending; once they become an NGO, many international orgs, including the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA! Yay CIDA! I worked for them when I was in Beijing.) have promised funding to really boost their efforts.

I was absolutely stunned by the work that this guy has done. Not once on my trip have I felt more ashamed to be an American than when I was at the landmine museum. America, along with China and Russia are the top producers of landmines in the world. Now, I understand their argument that they need landmines for the zone between North and South Korea. But, first of all, South Korea makes their own landmines, AND THEY DON'T EXPORT THEM. WHY are we still producing landmines for export?

I applaud Bush's recent announcement that they're going to make it so that landmines have a shorter life span. As recently as this past Christmas, Aki Ra demined some U.S. landmines (and you know they're American because they say so, and they have instructions labeled on it that say: CAUTION!! DO NOT EAT CONTENTS!!!) that had a production date of 1965!!!

When I was there, I met a little boy who had his leg blown off by a landmine. When his older brothers heard the explosion, they came running to see what happened, and they set off two more landmines, killing them instantly. Shrapnel from the landmines they set off took out his eye. He doesn't care about his eye or his leg; he just wants his brothers back. I promised him that I would tell people about landmines and when I got back to the States, I would write letters to all our elected officials about him.

So please, if you have an ounce of time, dash off an email to someone, anyone and ask them to do what they can to change our current landmine policy.

If you happen to be in Cambodia, and have the time to stay in Siem Reap for a month or two, they accept volunteers to teach English and Japanese to landmine victims.

To learn more about Aki Ra, check out the landmine museum website at:
http://www.silence-band.com/cambodia/

To learn more about demining efforts in Cambodia:
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/5.1/Focus/Rohan_Maxwell/maxwell.html

Posted by Ravensong at 10:32 PM
View/Add Comments (0) | Category: Cambodia

February 24, 2004

A Funny thing about Nationalities

One of the problems I've had has been explaning to people I that I'm from America. Consistently, I get asked about where I'm from, to which I reply, New York. And most people then ask where my family is from. And I'll say, New Jersey. They'll reply "Oh, you look _______ (fill in the blank, Chinese, Korean, Thai, etc.)"

And people have asked me, why don't I identify myself as Chinese. For most of the world, people identify themselves by their blood ancestry. I spent 2 evenings explaining this concept to a German girl, who just didn't believe me that when people are born and grow up in America, whether they're from Haiti or Mongolia, will generally identify themselves as American, and both will be correct. Both people will bring different things to the quilt that is American society and culture and change it, because American culture and society is always evolving.

For Germany, and many other countries, I know it's different. There are like, 3rd and 4th generation ethnic Russians in Germany, whom Germany refuses to grant citizenship. Meanwhile, for you Americans with German blood, you could probably get a German passport with less hassle than it takes for you to get an American one.

When I was in Cambodia, I was talking to the owner of my guesthouse, a Khmer (Khmer are what the Cambodian people call themselves), and telling him about my friend in high school, who is Cambodian-American and doesn't speak Khmer. And he replied, "Oh she is half-Khmer." But I explained to him that both her parents are full-blooded Khmer, and I could visibly see that he had a tough time understanding why I called her Cambodian-American.

In fact, during a stop on a long 16-17 hour bus ride from Pnomh Penh to Bangkok, I randomly met a member of the Cambodian Parliament. He gave us his business card which said that he was a member of the human rights committee in Parliament. During his conversation with one of the people I was traveling with, he said he was working on getting rid of of the 2-3 million illegal Vietnamese aliens out of Cambodia. Sounds something like America right? Well, the problem is (and he didn't tell us this, I know this because I've been doing research) that alot of those Vietnamese people are like 4th or 5th generation Vietnamese. Others came to Cambodia when they were babies, fleeing American soldiers in Vietnam, and grew up speaking Khmer, not knowing any Vietnamese. Culturally they pretty much are Khmer, which is why Vietnam doesn't want them. But Cambodia doesn't want them because they are ethnically Vietnamese.

(That was one thing I still don't understand. The Vietnamese are the main reason why the Khmer Rouge are not still in power. They came in in the mid-70s and overthrew the Khmer Rouge because the KR attacked the southern provinces of Vietnam. But Cambodians seem to have more hatred for the Vietnamese than the Khmer Rouge.)

This is why I feel lucky to be an American. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my Chinese ancestry too. But as for my ideals and values, they were totally shaped by living in America. Thank god I didn't grow up thinking Mao to be the father of my country.


Posted by Ravensong at 06:16 AM
View/Add Comments (4) | Category: Sanuk!

February 22, 2004

Dollars, Riels and Baht

The capital city of Cambodia is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I've seen on my trip here in Asia. There is a huge French influence, with wide boulevards, large grassy parks, balconies on almost every single apartment building. Not only that but they have some of the most fantastic baguettes and coffee I've ever tasted.

The currency of Cambodia is the Riel, but everyone uses US dollars as well as Thai baht. Most people use US dollars, using the Riel as change. For example, I'll buy a book that costs say, $1.50 USD. If I hand them $2 USD, I'll get back my change in Riel, in this case, 2000 Riel (it's 4000 Riel to $1 USD). Or I can chose to hand them $1 USD and 2000 Riel. So everyone pretty much uses US dollars, while using the Riel for anything less than $1 USD. It's slightly confusing when you first get here, but eventually you get the hang of it.

Posted by Ravensong at 12:00 AM
View/Add Comments (3) | Category: Cambodia

February 21, 2004

The Killing Fields

I know I know, I'm really behind in my log. For a quick recap, I've spent the past 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the city where Angkor Wat is located. (Angkor Wat, the temples in Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat movies?). I spent 3 days exploring the largest temple complex in the world, as well as visiting a real floating village and a landmine museum founded by this incredible individual that made me feel absolutely disgusted to be an American (as America is one of the largest producers of landmines in the world, next to China and Russia). But more on Angkor Wat and the landmine museum later.

Now I'm in the capital city of Cambodia in Pnomh Penh. Today, I went to S-21, a formery primary school that was turned into an interrogation center by the Khmer Rouge. Out of the 16,000 that went in, only 7 survived. The rest were sent to the Killing Fields nearby. I visited that as well, and saw the stupa that they create, piled with the skulls and bones of victims. During the Khmer Rouge reign, they figure approximately 15 - 25% of the population was killed; estimates range from 700,00 to as high as 2 million.

I took pictures at S-21 as well as the Killing Fields; the more photographic evidence there is that something like this occurred, the less people can deny that it happened.

What was remarkable was that the Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records; they took pictures of every single person they brought into S-21. Despite the fact that some of the victims knew exactly what they were getting into, some of them were still smiling for the camera.

I'm still digesting the enormity of it, and what I think about it. I'm not quite sure yet. The Killing Fields was interesting in that Cambodians have a different concept of reverence. While I was there, children from the nearby school followed me around the whole time, asking for money. At the same time, there were kids swimming and playing in the stream that ran right through the Killing Fields. A guy slept in a hammock while his chickens ran around the fields, pecking for insects. While the site wasn't scattered with bones like it was a few years ago, there was this one tree that had bones piled inside of it, along with scraps of clothing from the victims and incense being burned for the souls. The chickens were pecking among the rags and bones, and no one came to chase them away. But I shooed them off.

It is a protected site; they asked foreign tourists to pay $2 USD as an admission fee, though I'm sure that none of it goes to the protection of the fields.

What do the Cambodians think of their recent past? Most seem to just want to look forward and concentrate on the future. 70% of the current Cambodian population is under the age of 30, a fact which is clear when you walk the streets of Cambodia. Almost everyone who remembers the reign of the Khmer Rouge was either a member or a victim; no one was left on the sidelines. Friends against friends, family members against family members. How do you deal with that?

Posted by Ravensong at 06:27 AM
View/Add Comments (0) | Category: Cambodia

February 12, 2004

Random Things I've Learned on My Journey (a running list)

Thailand

1) It is vulgar to put a fork in your mouth. Eat with your spoon. And chopsticks are ONLY for eating with noodles.

2) Don't point your toes at anyone; especially not Buddha. The feet are spiritually the lowest part of your body.

3) Don't touch anyone's head. It's the highest part of them spiritually; thus counts as a spiritual invasion of sorts.

4) When entering any store, cafe, or office, always look at the door to see if you need to remove your shoes. It doesn't matter if it's just a hair salon or a travel agency; if there are shoes at the door, you need to take off your shoes.

5) Feeding animals will give you better karma in the next life. This is why there are so many stray dogs and cats running around Thailand.

6) Abalone (a type of clam) flavored potato chips are interesting and not that bad. Abalone flavored roasted peas on the other hand, are terrible.

7) It is rude to blow your nose in public. Instead, you must endure the sniffles for as long as it takes for you to find a private place to blow your nose. Even if you're sitting in the middle of a 2 hour lecture with the sniffles.

8) However, It is NOT rude to pick your nose. You can stand there in the middle of the street, digging away while you talk to your friend and no one will give you a second glance.

8) Beware of prepackaged pre-buttered bread.

Posted by Ravensong at 12:17 AM
View/Add Comments (4) | Category: Random List

February 11, 2004

Fake Hippies in Pai

I never knew geckos made noises before. As I type this, I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Pai, a sleepy town north of Chiang Mai full of hippies and expats. There are three geckos crawling around the ceiling tiles, tapping their tails and making clicking noises. I can't tell if the noises are from their tapping tails or from their throat

Famous for the stunning surrounding mountain scenery, Pai has got alot more foreigners than I expected for all it's 2 page mention in the Let's Go guide. But it certainly is beautiful and peaceful here. I was staying in a lovely little bamboo bungalow by the river for 100 baht, a little more than $2 USD. But (warning cheesy note coming up) all I can think of is how much K would enjoy this. It's the most romantic spot by the river I've seen. But what good does that do me now?

Gordon (the Scot who I met on our trekking trip), and I went to a blues bar last night. The singer was alright, but I wasn't that big a fan of the crowd. Yes at first glance this seems like a relaxed laid-back hippie town, but at the bar last night, you realize that most of them are fake hippies. It's obvious that mommy and daddy are subsidizing their stay here in Pai while they complain about capitalism and the modern world.

But Pai as a town is lovely, small and scenic. Yea, I think I could only stay a few days here before I go nuts. On Friday, it's back to Chiang Mai, where I'll hope on an overnight train to Bangkok with Gordon and Whitney (a jazz singer from NC that I met on the trek) and from Bangkok, it's on to Angkor Wat!

Posted by Ravensong at 10:00 AM
View/Add Comments (0) | Category: Thailand
Durians and Mangosteens

For the few of you that are eager to hear about my bamboo trekking and elephant riding experiences, well, I've decided to wait until I can get pictures up, which will have to wait until I get them developed in Bangkok :)

But what have I been doing in Chiang Mai since I returned from trekking? Pretty much enjoying my vacation; i.e. doing nothing. Well that's sort of true: I took a Thai cooking class (run by Libra House) which was absolutely fantastic. I learned to make green curry (sitting there for 45 minutes pounding the damn things into curry paste with a stone mortar and pestle), sweet and sour pork, tom yum (Thai hot and spicy soup, perfect for hangovers or so I'm told), spring rolls, peanut sauce, pad thai, and this AMAZING banana syrup/ coconut dessert. And I don't even LIKE bananas!

Near our hostel, there had been a pickup truck selling fresh durian everyday, and we were kind of curious about it. For those of you who don't know what durian is, it's a brown prickly fruit about the size of a large pumpkin/watermelon that has been banned from public places in Thailand because of how horrendously bad it smells; like a mixture of smelly feet and smelly fish. It was SUPPOSED to smell bad and taste wonderful. The texture was like a rotten mango, and it smelled like a mixture of rotten onions and sour cream and onion potato chips. And guess what? It tastes like a rotten mango that's been sealed up in a garbage bag with stale sour cream and onion potato chips! There were four of us, and we were lucky that we only bought a little package. I think we only ate a tenth of what was in there; the rest we gave to a lady who was begging with her baby in the street, which I'm not sure is an act of charity or of cruelty.

On the other hand, mangosteens are fantabulous! They are a tropical fruit banned from importation into the U.S. because possible agricultural pests. Queen Victoria once offered a "handsome" reward to anyone who could bring her one fresh. It looks like a small round purple eggplant, and you have to peel away the purple/red skin (which is pretty thick). Inside is a white meat that looks kind of like pearly garlic cloves, but tastes so sweet and wonderful with just a hint of tartness. I'll have to find some pictures of them to post soon.

Posted by Ravensong at 06:47 AM
View/Add Comments (3) | Category: Thailand
Latest Comments

Husna: Hey! Thanks for the Husnaweb plug, Amy! I have a... [read]


ravensong9: Time is misleading. I think that computer was set... [read]


Sirius: fun and games, Amy. But what were you doing up at... [read]


ravensong: That's so fucked up. I can't believe stuff like th... [read]


Holly: Some of this somehow reminds me of the situation i... [read]


Chris: I first tried some mangosteens in Bali. I like the... [read]


ravensong: This is why people need to marry outside of their ... [read]


ravensong: Lots of people giving me dirty looks on the BTS (t... [read]


ravensong: The exchange rate is fairly constant, about 4000 r... [read]


Sirius: That's really interesting. My mom was talking t... [read]



Designed & Hosted by the BootsnAll Travel Network