Travel  Report  January  2018  –  Cambodia  Objectives:  to  do  a  site  visit  to    

• Global  Grant  1640392  Child’s  Future  –  Education  Project    • Proposed  project  Global  Grant  1753377  Child’s  Future  –  Water  Project  • Sponsored  project:  Tuk  tuk  4  Children  

 

Day  1  Arrival  in  Phnom  Penh  

Thursday  January  11  2018  Upon  our  arrival  in  Phnom  Penh  on  Thursday  afternoon,  we  met  with  Mr.  Vandong  Thorn,  the  Executive  Director  of  BSDA,  our  collaborating  partner.  He  updated  us  as  to  the  progress  of  the  project  so  far.  They  hired  staff  and  started  the  project  on  October  1st  so  they  just  finished  the  first  quarter.  BSDA  has  prepared  a  schedule  of  meetings  and  visits  in  and  around  Pursat.    We  had  dinner  with  Darryl  White  (Rotarian  from  Edmonton  who  supports  projects  in  Cambodia)  and  Adrian  Paschkow,  head  of  Tuk  Tuk  4  Children  (TT4C)  .  We  were  able  to  announce  support  of  TT4C  and  Adrian  was  very  very  pleased.  The  once  puzzling  incident  was  that  the  RC  Pursat  would  not  transfer  our  donation  to  TT4C;  despite  TT4C  requesting  the  process  from  RC  Pursat,  they  did  not  receive  any  clear  instructions  for  doing  so  and  the  whole  process  became  a  situation  full  of  hearsay  and  bad  feelings.  Adrian  does  not  want  to  work  with  RC  Pursat  as  a  result  as  they  treated  him  quite  badly.  I  will  make  a  note  to  find  out  what  the  process  will  be  for  our  next  donation  and  we  may  have  to  go  through  a  Rotary  club  in  Australia  that  supports  TT4C.    

Day  2  Meeting  at  Royal  University  of  Phnom  Penh  

Friday  January  12  2018  Prior  to  the  trip  to  Cambodia  Barb  Young  and  Manon  met  with  Andili  from  the  University  of  Calgary,  International  Department.  They  connect  us  with  the  head  of  the  Social  Work  department  at  the  Royal  University  of  Cambodia  as  they  look  for  opportunities  for  U  of  C  and  RUPP  students  to  work  in  the  field.  We  (Manon  Mitchell,  Kurt  Kowalchuk  and  Tong  Vandong  (BSDA))  met  with  Ung  Kimkanika  and  Chun  Boro  and  discovered  a  number  of  interesting  facts:  

• The  social  work  department  has  been  in  operation  for  only  10  years  • This  is  the  only  university  offering  a  degree  in  social  work  • “Social  Worker”  is  not  recognized  as  a  profession  by  the  government  of  

Cambodia  

• They  currently  have  80  students  over  the  4  year  program;  only  20  graduates  each  year  

Much  of  the  work  done  by  NGOs  involves  a  certain  amount  of  social  work  and  in  a  country  like  Cambodia,  which  is  rebuilding,  this  is  a  very  startling  and  disturbing  fact.  The  RUPP  also  offers  a  certificate  program,  which  BSDA  was  very  interested  in.  BSDA  and  Ung  Kimkanika  will  keep  in  touch.    Kurt  met  with  the  folks  from  Clear  Cambodia  to  discuss  how  to  answer  the  questions  that  TRF  has  raised  regarding  the  Global  Grant  application  for  providing  a  WaSH  program  at  six  schools.  Some  of  the  questions  were  answered  at  the  meeting.  Others  need  to  have  more  information  gathered  to  be  able  to  answer  them.  Clear  Cambodia  will  email  the  information  to  Kurt  when  it  is  gathered.      We  spent  the  evening  with  Vandong  from  BSDA  and  got  to  learn  more  about  Kmer  life,  his  organization  and  our  project  staff.  The  Phnom  Penh  skyline  has  changed  dramatically  over  the  last  5  years  and  we  were  curious  about  life  is  like  for  Kmer  people  in  rural  areas.  (Spoiler  alert:  not  much  has  changed  for  them!)      

Day  3  Travel  to  Kampong  Cham  

Saturday  January  13  2018  On  Saturday  we  travelled  to  Kampong  Cham  with  Vandong.  We  booked  into  the  hotel  next  to  BSDA’s  social  enterprise  “Smile  Restaurant”.  We  then  travelled  to  Hanchey  and  visited  the  construction  site  of  a  beautiful  bamboo  kindergarten  which  is  being  built  by  the  local  community  folk.    

 They  were  hired  to  build  BSDA’s  Hanchey  Eco  resort  (their  next  social  enterprise  idea)  and  now  that  they  had  construction  knowledge  and  expertise  they  are  building  beautiful  schools.  The  community  never  had  a  

kindergarten  and  now  that  they  will  have  the  physical  structure,  they  may  be  able  to  get  a  teacher.    We  had  dinner  with  the  staff  from  BSDA  headquarters  as  well  as  the  architect  of  the  resort  whom  we  had  met  last  year.  It  was  great  to  learn  that  BSDA  is  working  diligently  to  establish  a  succession  plan  and  have  hired  women  in  leadership  roles.  

Day  4  Travel  to  Pursat  

Sunday  January  14  2018  We  left  for  Pursat  on  Sunday  and  stopped  along  the  way  to  taste  different  fruits  and  veggies  such  as  lotus  flower,  lily,  some  little  green  apples  that  taste  like  a  cross  between  an  apple  and  a  pear,  and  some  milk  fruits  which  is  purple  on  the  inside  and  tastes  sweet  and  delicious.    

 Finally  on  this  fifth  visit  to  Cambodia  we  got  to  eat  crickets  and  tarantulas.  It  was  an  experience  but  not  one  I  will  repeat  for  sure!    We  arrived  in  Pursat  at  the  same  time  as  the  Rotarians  who  were  on  a  guided  visit.  We  met  Richard  and  Susan  Allen  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel  and  it  felt  like  a  family  reunion.        

 

 We  were  invited  to  join  the  Rotarian  group  (about  40  of  them  from  USA,  Malaysia,  and  Australia)  for  a  big  welcome  dinner  and  presentation  by  the  Rotary  Club  of  Pursat.  We  had  the  opportunity  to  talk  to  the  group  about  our  projects  and  capacity  building  work  with  Sustainable  Cambodia.  It  was  wonderful  to  reconnect  with  the  people  we  have  worked  with  for  so  many  years.      It  was  interesting  to  hear  Sopheap,  President  of  RC  Pursat,  indicating  that  they  could  no  longer  take  any  Global  Grant  projects.  On  one  hand  it  is  ok  for  clubs  to  say  “we  can’t  handle  anymore”  however  I’m  not  sure  if  they  see  clearly  understand  their  role.    

Day  5  Project  Kickoff  Meeting  

Monday  January  15,  2018  On  Monday,  about  70  participants  attended  the  Child’s  Future  –  Education  Project  (CFE)  kick  off  meeting  at  the  KM  Hotel  where  we  were  staying.  The  following  participants  were  in  attendance:  

• 19  school  principals  • representatives  from  the  

Commune  Committee  for  Women  and  Children  (CCWC)  

• District  Education  officers  • Provincial  Education  officers  • Provincial  representative  for  

CCWC  (Community  Council  for  Women  and  Children)  

• Local  police  • KAPE  (an  NGO  that  provides  

education  training  materials  

and  consulting)  representatives  • BSDA  project  team  • BSDA  senior  management  

 I  was  surprised  when  I  was  invited  to  sit  at  the  head  table.  They  even  wrote  my  name  in  Khmer,  and  then  I  was  informed  I  was  to  do  a  10  minute  speech!  Vuthy  our  project  manager,  who  used  to  work  for  SC  and  who  we  trained  on  project  management  3  years  ago,  was  my  translator.

   After  all  the  welcoming  speeches,  our  project  was  introduced  and  it  was  time  to  review  the  baseline  data  collected  by  KAPE  and  our  team  during  the  first  quarter.    The  results  of  the  testing  showed  that  there  was  a  huge  problem  with  reading  and  with  mathematics.  The  District  Education  Officer  (DOE)  commented  on  this  and  indicated  that  he  did  not  who  to  believe,  the  provincial  test  results  showing  a  good  percentage  of  students  passing  and  moving  on  to  higher  grades  or  to  believe  KAPE  and  their  results.      The  principals  in  attendance  supported  the  results  from  KAPE  and  the  DOE  believed  them.  At  the  end  of  the  day  each  group  of  people  seated  at  a  table  got  the  opportunity  to  write  down  1  issue,  how  the  issue  could  be  resolved,  who  would  be  responsible  to  ensure  the  problem  was  addressed.        Two  of  the  teams  7  got  the  opportunity  to  communicate  their  findings  and  suggestions.  This  was  a  beautiful  way  of  getting  the  community  to  come  up  with  solutions  and  to  hold  themselves  accountable  for  the  change.  All  agreed  that  more  money  needed  to  be  directed  from  the  commune  budget  to  education.  Right  now  in  most  communes  next  to  $0  is  allocated  to  education.    It  was  obvious  that  the  results  were  a  bit  of  a  sobering  however  everyone  was  now  very  receptive  to  the  efforts  our  team  was  prepared  to  offer  to  make  this  change.  This  was  a  very  astute  strategy  that  bought  immediate  buy  in  from  all  levels  of  the  community.  It  got  them  engaged  and  concerned  and  willing  to  make  a  change  for  the  betterment  of  their  communities.    

Secondary  Outcomes:  We  learned  more  about  KAPE  and  witnessed  their  professional  methodology  and  communication  skills.    The  Provincial  Representative  for  CCWC,  Mrs.  Sophany,  was  interested  in  the  TT4C  project  and  I’ll  have  to  connect  them  with  her.    

   That  evening  we  joined  the  big  Rotary  group  again  for  dinner  at  the  KM  Hotel  and  this  time  they  showed  OUR  DOCUMENTARY  “Making  Change  Happen”  on  the  big  screen  while  everyone  was  having  dinner.  It  had  a  HUGE  positive  impact  on  the  crowd!  

 

Day  6  TT4C  

Tuesday  January  16,  2018  On  Tuesday  morning  we  were  picked  up  by  TT4C,  Mayu,  Emmanuel  (volunteer  from  Italy)  and  Matthieu  (volunteer  from  France).      We  drove  in  the  Tuk  Tuk  to  the  first  school  and  saw  first  hand  how  the  games,  songs  and  stories  brought  the  classroom  to  life.  The  children  were  super  excited  to  participate  and  you  could  just  see  their  faces  light  up  and  their  brains  engaged  in  learning.  The  TT4C  team  creates  books  that  can  be  used  in  a  Kamishibai  theatre.  The  children  were  eager  to  see  what  was  on  the  next  page.      

The  games  and  stories  they  create  using  a  colour  printer,  a  laminator  and  a  paper  cutter  were  engaging,  entertaining  and  easy  for  the  teachers  to  use.  All  of  the  materials  are  stored  in  cabinets  that  were  purchased  with  our  donation.  It  was  great  to  see  our  club  logo  on  the  cabinets.  Everything  is  under  lock  and  key  so  it  is  safe  and  secure.  The  materials  are  changed  out  every  month  and  follow  

the  curriculum  the  teachers  follow.  This  month  the  theme  was  “family”.      We  visited  another  school  where  they  repeated  the  process,  switching  out  the  old  material  with  the  new  material.  It  was  wonderful  to  see  our  money  in  action  making  a  huge  difference  in  the  education  of  these  little  ones.              

CABINET  OUTSIDE     CABINET  INSIDE  

 

 

 On  Tuesday  afternoon  we  went  to  the  offices  of  the  Provincial  Education  department  and  sat  down  with  our  project  staff  (Vuthy,  Lundy,  Sauret,  Saurun  and  Rundi)  as  well  as  BSDA’s  representatives  (Vandong  –  Executive  Director,  Sauran  –  Provincial  representative  and  Sokeun  –  Monitoring  and  Evaluation  representative).    We  were  introduced  to  their  project  methodology  and  discovered  that  Sokeun  was  an  Excel  wizard.  We  also  saw  how  they  plan  to  do  quarterly  reports.  We  were  very  

satisfied  with  that.  What  we  needed  to  advise  them  on  was  the  funding  process  as  they  were  unclear  as  to  how  the  money  would  be  transferred  to  them.      This  brought  up  an  interesting  point.  They  had  only  received  $20,000  USD  from  RC  Pursat.  We  discovered  that  the  first  installment  from  TRF  was  NOT  transferred  to  RC  Pursat.  This  is  a  huge  problem,  as  BSDA  needed  $45,000  for  the  first  quarter  expenses.  It  so  happens  that  the  staff  of  BSDA  has  been  pooling  their  money  to  pay  our  project  staff.  This  was  a  very  educational  meeting  indeed  and  worth  the  trip!      Culturally  Khmer  people  do  not  talk  about  problems.  Our  RC  Pursat  representative,  Samoeun  Meng  knew  that  the  money  had  not  shown  up  but  did  not  tell  me  or  email  me.  They  really  don’t  like  to  address  the  issues.      We  reassured  them  that  it’s  ok  to  have  problems.  It’s  ok  to  encounter  challenges  and  to  share  them  so  a  solution  can  be  found.  (fast  forward  to  Jan  31:  I  finally  got  the  right  person  at  TRF  to  tell  me  what  the  problem  was.  Apparently  they  need  the  receipt  from  the  RC  Pursat  bank  account  that  the  money  was  transferred.  I  sent  them  our  bank  transfer  documentation  but  that  was  not  good  enough.  I  sent  them  a  copy  of  the  bank  statement  showing  the  money  was  received.  Hopefully  this  will  get  the  money  flowing  before  we  leave  for  Calgary).  

Day  7  School  and  Community  Visits  

Wednesday  January  17,  2018  On  Wednesday  we  set  off  to  visit  schools  and  community  representatives  who  are  part  of  our  project.  What  we  found  was  the  worse  educational  conditions  we’ve  seen  in  Cambodia:  schools  with  no  support.  The  teacher  has  a  book  the  students  have  a  workbook  and  that’s  it.  The  library  in  two  of  the  schools  were  also  the  principal’s  office  and  the  storage  room  where  the  World  Food  organization  keeps  rice  and  canned  fish  for  the  students  to  eat.    In  one  of  these  two  schools  the  ‘library’  had  a  standard  issue  shelf  with  no  books  on  it.  One  of  the  schools  in  our  program  even  has  a  fence  behind  it  with  a  sign  stating  that  no  one  should  go  beyond  because  there  are  still  land  mines  there.    

 The  challenges  the  teachers  and  schools  face  are  quite  unique.  Some  schools  can  only  start  the  school  year  later  when  there  is  a  lot  of  rain  because  the  students  need  to  cross  rivers  as  there  are  no  bridges.  And  we’re  talking  about  elementary  school  children  so  they  are  6  –  12  years  of  age.  Many  have  to  walk  long  distances  and  over  mountain  ranges  (large  

hills)  to  get  to  school  in  the  Kravanh  district.      When  we  met  with  commune  officials  they  were  all  committed  to  spend  more  money  on  education.  They  all  agreed  that  schools  and  teachers  were  in  need  of  greater  support.  Typically  they  spend  the  money  on  visible  items  like  roads.  But  they  have  seen  the  results  of  the  baseline  data  and  they  were  not  pleased.  So  they  are  committed  and  they  are  thankful  that  we  will  be  providing  support  to  some  of  their  schools  and  to  their  youth  clubs.  

 In  the  morning  we  visited  the  Kravahn  area  and  then  we  had  lunch  in  some  remote  local  restaurant.  The  food  was  delicious!  In  the  afternoon  we  headed  to  the  Bakahn  district  and  visited  another  school  as  well  as  a  commune  council  leader.  This  leader  was  a  woman  –  the  first  we  ever  met!  Their  commune  had  a  youth  club  but  their  objective  was  cultural!  Great!  They  are  already  organized!    In  the  evening  we  spent  fellowship  time  with  our  project  staff  and  other  BSDA  staff  working  in  Pursat.  They  rented  a  Karaoke  room  and  brought  in  take  out  food  (great  Khmer  food!),  so  we  sang  and  danced  and  enjoyed  time  with  them,  their  way.  Vandong  told  us  that  they  do  this  from  time  to  time  to  build  the  team  and  the  feeling  of  belonging  and  camaraderie.    Great  team  building  for  sure!  

 

Day  8  Preschool,  SC  visit  and  Project  Meeting  

Thursday  January  18,  2018  Of  course  our  last  day  was  filled  and  rather  hectic  as  we  were  trying  to  fit  in  everything  we  needed  to.      We  started  with  a  visit  to  a  kindergarten  right  in  Pursat  (across  the  street  from  the  KM  Hotel)  as  they  are  also  part  of  TT4C.  They  also  had  a  nice  cabinet  where  all  the  resources  were  neatly  organized.      We  then  visited  our  friends  at  Sustainable  Cambodia.  The  Rotarian  group  was  there  and  the  sewing  program  had  all  their  wares  out  for  sale.  The  landowner  has  retaken  a  good  portion  of  the  facility  from  the  road  to  the  buildings  so  all  the  water  tank  and  bio  sand  filter  construction  area  had  to  be  moved.  The  campus  looks  quite  a  bit  different.  The  garden  is  gone  –  too  bad  as  that  was  part  of  our  first  project  there  when  we  were  members  of  RC  Sarcee.      We  had  lunch  with  the  Rotarians  and  then  met  with  our  project  staff  one  more  time  to  close  off  our  meetings.  We  reviewed  the  financial  management  aspect  of  the  project  because  it  was  repeatedly  unclear  to  them  as  to  how  the  money  was  going  to  be  transferred.  Both  BSDA  and  RC  Pursat  were  under  the  impression  that  the  request  for  transferring  funds  would  have  to  be  requested  by  the  Executive  Director  of  BSDA,  and  approved  by  a  vote  ofthe  RC  Pursat  club.  This  is  not  the  case.  We  documented  the  process  and  had  everyone  state  what  the  process  was.  I  will  follow  this  closely  to  ensure  the  money  flows  as  there  are  expenses  to  be  paid  at  this  time  and  we  don’t  need  any  further  delays.    In  the  evening  we  met  with  our  friends  from  TT4C  and  their  volunteers  and  had  a  delicious  fish  dinner  in  a  local  Khmer  restaurant.  It  really  helps  to  have  Khmer  speaking  people  with  you  when  the  menu  is  not  translated.  

Day  9  Travel  to  India  

Friday  January  19,  2018  Friday  morning  we  left  Pursat  with  Navi  who  is  the  young  girl  who  recently  graduated  from  Nursing  School  (midwife)  and  is  sponsored  by  John  &  Letha.  She  was  travelling  to  Phnom  Penh  to  look  for  work  so  we  offered  her  a  ride.    We  got  to  the  city  on  time  and  started  our  26  hour  journey  to  Solapur,  India,  where  we  were  going  to  visit  our  Rotary  friends  who  visited  us  as  part  of  the  Rotary  Friendship  Exchange.      

Conclusion  This  was  a  great  visit  as  we  got  to  see  our  team  in  action  and  watch  how  they  were  so  well  organized  and  committed  to  the  success  of  the  project.  I  was  extremely  glad  

to  be  able  to  problem  solve  with  them  and  ensure  that  the  financial  management  process  was  clear.  It  certainly  wasn’t  before  we  got  there,  even  though  all  3  parties  agreed  to  it!  There’s  nothing  like  a  site  visit  to  course  correct  and  ensure  success.    Since  the  visit  I  have  tirelessly  hounded  TRF  to  find  out  why  the  money  was  not  transferred.  It  was  only  on  January  30th  that  someone  finally  told  me  what  the  problem  

was.  I  was  sure  that  sending  a  pdf  of  our  transfer  documentation  would  be  good  enough  but  it  wasn’t.  They  want  the  proof  at  the  other  end  that  the  money  was  in  the  bank  account.  It  would  be  so  simple  to  provide  that  kind  of  information  to  project  leads.      Thank  you  so  much  WCS  committee  for  providing  funds  for  me  to  travel  to  visit  our  project.  I  look  forward  to  the  next  visit  to  see  how  they  are  doing.  It  might  coincide  with  the  mid  project  review  by  TRF  people.  I  am  truly  grateful  for  the  opportunity  to  watch  positive  change  happen  in  these  communities.