The author is a 2006 graduate of Bethlehem Central High School
It has been almost seven months since I departed the oh-so-familiar grounds of New York to arrive in Cambodia to work for The Cambodia Daily newspaper in Phnom Penh, the country’s capital.
But now, the traffic that initially seemed chaotic seems perfectly normal, the fear of robbery has faded, the heat has become a friend to my body and the native Khmer language — so unlike any other idiom I had heard before — now sounds familiar in this developing country, whose remnants of its French colonial past are sprinkled in its architecture and cuisine.
I no longer do ridiculously overly cautious things like wear bug spray 24/7, avoid lettuce in veggieburgers, wear a helmet in a tuk tuk (an enclosed, 4-wheeled cart pulled by a drive) or neglect to brush my teeth in sink water.
I have even kept running, after varsity cross-country at BC and through college, and raced in the Angkor Wat Half Marathon through the ancient Temples–also known for where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider! Running here is tough though; motobike drivers looking to make a buck (literally) constantly nag you to take a moto, the weather is hot and the sidewalks offer little refuge from street traffic.
I have made great friends, exposed stories of joy and injustice, traveled to exotic beaches and witnessed where people were tortured and executed during the 1974-79 reign of the Khmer Rouge, which still visibly affects so many aspects of this country today, and is at a pinnacle of judgment now as the UN-backed Tribunal is under way.
So far, the experience has been inexplicably worth answering the ad on journalismjobs.com calling for journalists at this well-respected, internationally read paper. Many national stories we publish tell of rape, murder, fights over land concessions and human trafficking, particularly Cambodian girls being sent to Malaysia as maids and the ensuing abuse.
However, it is also a very vibrant and exciting time to be working here in what seem to be years so crucially formative to the country’s development. To counter the negative stories, we also write about Cambodia’s first everything: its first fashion week, first women’s business association, first female marathoner, first soccer NGO, first oil discovery or first stock market. There’s a new first every week it seems.
As my friend Jennifer Liebschutz, also a Delmar native and BCHS graduate who has been working as an English teacher in Cambodia for more than 3 months now, said, `People are becoming more educated and are starting new businesses in technology and other modern industries every day. The tourism industry is booming, and new hotels are popping up everywhere. Though many people here still struggle to make ends meet, there is hope for a bright future here.`
Jen lives in Battambang, a quainter, more rustic area in the north of the country, where I visited a couple of weekends ago. She works for an NGO named Digital Divide Data, where she teaches English to bright Khmer young adults who mostly come from poor rice-farming families in the Cambodian countryside. They have graduated from high school but their families don’t have the funds to send them to university, which costs about $200 per year. She has so far enjoyed the experience, noting how motivated her students are to learn English since they know it is their ticket to a better future. Impressively, after daily lessons, Jen has also become fluent in Khmer!
Jen is one of many passionate expats I have met here. One of the most exciting parts of being a journalist in this reconstructing country is the chance to meet and interview embassy workers, UN and BBC filmmakers, legendary reporters and World Bank microfinance staff. But I think it is more of a privilege to tell the remarkable stories of the Khmer: women entrepreneurs, blind masseurs, Olympic-hopefuls, and Khmer Rouge survivors.
This is what I dreamed of as a student of ethical and political philosophy and international relations at Holy Cross, after my graduation from BCHS in 2006, when I became increasingly confident that I wanted to work in issues pertaining to developing countries, confirmed by the experience I had in Nairobi, Kenya 2 years ago. I am fascinated by peoples’ relation to the political, how policies and power cause extreme crises and how freedom of the press, civil society and nongovernmental groups contribute to development by keeping a government in check (I strongly suggest anyone that hasn’t been go to the Newseum in Washington, D.C…. this is the kind of inspiration of which I am speaking).
This experience has further fostered my aspiration for my career to be a meaningful agent for others, and going forward, I hope it will help launch me into a career in public policy.
But for now, I am enjoying peeling the layers off this fascinating and deceivingly complex country and people, one story at a time.
If you or your organization is interested in supporting Digital Divide Data, please go to digitaldividedata.org for more information. If you are interested in subscribing to The Cambodia Daily, please email [email protected]. If you would like to contribute to missions in Cambodia, the Maryknoll Catholic missionaries provide excellent mental health and medical facilities and resources for Cambodians, and are always grateful for assistance. I will be in Delmar until Dec 27 if you are interested in meeting to discuss aid, missions or projects in Cambodia.
