Chunchiet Japon Charan!!

The highlight of last week was organising and escorting 70 Japanese company executives at 6am in the morning to see our school feeding program. Ok maybe a little more background is justified... In Kampong Chnang Province and now Pursat Province we collaborate with an NGO called School Aid Japan that builds school buildings, water pumps and latrines whilst we provide the hot breakfasts.

They are supported by this company called Watami (apparently some Japanese restaurant chain) and they were going to visit the schools they were supporting. God knows why we were there but our Deputy Country Director decided we would hijack the visit and then promply pissed off to Japan on home leave.

So we spent the week prepping the school for the visit, trying to find any embarrasing problems and what not. On Wednesday night we had an impromptu office party which centred around opportunity. Apparently Vuthy had found a very tasty looking duck at the market and there was a weddding next door to the office with very loud music. So good food+beer+free music=impromptu party. As usual everyone got pretty hammered but it was fun cos we havent had one in a while.

The next day we headed out to do a final inspection of the school. We also dropped in on some Food For Work projects in Srae Ouk (Yaay) and Srae Prich (a neighbouring village). One things that struck me this time was the sandiness of the soil, it is like a beach or something!. Nothing much can grow here and how they manage to compact it into a road is beyond me. Not only that but they are hacking it out of swathes of scrubland in very hot weather, So the next morning we were up at 4am and drove down to meet the Japanese. 4 minibuses turn up about half an hour behind us and hordes of Japanese swarmed the school. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. I was able to answer questions for a few that spoke english but I felt a bit sorry for the kids and the houses around that we visited because it was like a human zoo. Well at least the Japanese put on an impromptu magic show for them...

and i got to meet an apparently famous pop star called Hitomi.

I spent the weekend in Phnom Penh following up a very disapointing lead instead of hitting the beach with the Belgians which was a big mistake!

In other news the price of food worldwide has gone gangbusters due to biofuels replacing food crops, oil prices, surging demand and more complex foods and cash crops being grown instead of staples. This means the World Food Programme is chronicly underfunded world wide. It is the bizarre situation where there is enough food but people cannot afford to buy it.

Here in Cambodia it has meant a 40% price rise in 6 months which is catastrophic for the hungry poor. WFP's rice suppliers have defaulted on their contracts to get better prices meaning we will suspend all programs as of next month until we can get reliable supplies. For me the heartbreaking thing is the support program for people with HIV. Most other people can cope but these people mostly can't.

In a more lighthearted vein here are some random photos...

Firstly constructing a well at one of the schools.

The absurd amount of male and female condoms that our office has been saturated in. Safe sex gone too far? This is just the bathroom, each persons pigeon hole has nine small boxes as well. Pressure or What!
My incredibly racist 'Black Man'' brand chopping block. Its a bit hard to see but its a total Uncle Tom picture on the brand.
And while I was staying for my weekend in Phnom Penh i got put in the crappy room at the hotel (no windows, smells of cigarette smoke) and next to it is some storage. Look carefully at the photo...anything out of place? How bout the shrink wrapped wads of $100 bills. Ok as you probably guessed they aren't real and are left over from Chinese New Year when giving fake money to the gods is a tradition. Still they are pretty damn good!

Oh and no photo but something very embarrasing happened to me on Friday on the way home to swap bags to go to Phnom Penh after getting up at 4am. My trousers got caught in the gear of my bike and my pants tore all the way up the seem to the knee Benny Hill style. This was as I was waving to the guy who runs the service station so I couldn't stop cos I was a bit embarrased and couldnt peddle because it was jammed so I glided along until the bike stopped and attempted to untangle the shreds of my pants from the gears before I could get off. Sigh!

This week I have some independant monitoring to do plus preparation for Mark and Tara's visit then Mum, Dad and I's trip to Vietnam for Khmer New Year. And the tempreture keeps climbing, average is now about 36 with high humidity. Consequently we get blackouts about 3 or 4 times a day now.