We Made a Thing

Ruth and I made a video to help answer some questions about this whole Cambodia idea, so if you're interested, watch the video below to have a bit more insight into exactly what we're planning to do and why.  It was a lot of fun to record/edit, and there are many many bloopers (not included in this cut, obviously).  Hope you enjoy it!

5 Reasons Why NOT to Move to Cambodia

I recently found this article on one of the Khmer expat forums. It is very sombre and slightly disheartening but certainly an interesting read. As long as Ben and I are aware of the various risks and implications that this decision will have on our lives, health and future finances, we can try to tackle them one problem at a time. We have some idea of what we are getting ourselves into, and are counting on the Big Man Upstairs to look after us so all we can do is trust Him, act smart and stay safe. Overall, I think our experience will be quite different to the one outlined below, particularly for the support that we will have from family and friends back home and from the organisation over there, and for the whole reason we are going. Unlike the article, we're not moving to simply 'teach English or open a bar' and live like backpacking kings, we're moving to make an impact on the country and its people through quality Education and Development. It is meaningful, well guided work that is supported by numerous NGOs over there who understand that such development is the way forward for Cambodia to pull itself out of poverty. On reading the article, I also have to say that I do disagree somewhat with point no. 2; I was raised in Cambodia and I turned out fine.... sort of..... anyway, take a look....

5 Reasons Why NOT to Move to Cambodia

Lately, there have been a lot of Westerners moving to Cambodia or making plans to move to Cambodia. This is partly due to the difficult job market in many Western countries, and it’s partly due to Cambodia becoming a more “mainstream” destination for tourists and expatriates. Some of the recent interest in Cambodia has come from Westerners living in Thailand. Rising prices in Thailand and stricter Thai visa regulations have already contributed to a noticeable influx of shifty-eyed, tattooed sexpats creeping across the border into Cambodia. Fortunately, a lot of those dudes haven’t made it past Sihanoukville.

There has been such an overwhelming interest in moving to Cambodia that two recent books have been published on the topic. Lina Goldberg published the excellent “Move to Cambodia: A Guide to Living and Working in the Kingdom of Wonder” in late 2012. Earlier this year, Khmer440 contributor Gabi Yetter released her own very well-received manual, “The Definitive Guide to Southeast Asia: Cambodia.”

Both of these books provide helpful information and optimistic encouragement to readers who are considering relocating to Cambodia. It’s the optimistic encouragement that I have a problem with. I personally believe that there are significant drawbacks to moving to Cambodia that could probably fill an entire book. Maybe not a real book, but definitely one of those silly e-books.

Unlike Ms. Goldberg and Ms. Yetter, I don’t have the necessary work ethic or attention span to write a whole book about anything. So I’m just going to offer these 5 Reasons Why You Really Shouldn’t Move to Cambodia.

1. You will die younger in Cambodia.

This is a big one. The average life expectancy for Westerners living in Western countries is about 75 to 80 years old, depending on the country. Unofficially, the average life expectancy for Western expatriates living in Cambodia is 57.4 years old.

There are a number of reasons why moving to Cambodia will shave about twenty years off your life. Cambodia has a lot of common diseases that you would never catch in your home country, like Typhoid, Dengue Fever, Hepatitis, and Malaria. The medical care in Cambodia is atrociously bad. The ambulances are unreliable; the doctors are unqualified; the hospitals are unsanitary. Even easily treatable illnesses can quickly become life-threatening if Cambodian doctors get involved.

Sometimes expats in Cambodia succumb not to illness, but to traffic accidents or other hazards. Expats like to ride motorbikes, often helmetless, presumably because they think it makes them look cool. This can be rather dangerous in a country with reckless local drivers, no enforcement of traffic laws, and poor emergency medical care. Private ambulances in Cambodia will actually refuse to take patients who are seriously injured, because they don’t want to risk transporting a dying patient who won’t be able to pay the hospital bill.

But perhaps the primary reason why expats tend to die young in Cambodia is that many of them “lose the plot” and develop unhealthy habits involving drugs, alcohol, and prostitution. This leads to weekly reports of expats in their forties and fifties being found dead on their bathroom floors from a “heart attack” or “fall.”

Cambodia is full of dangers, and very few of the locals even know basic first aid. If you start choking in a restaurant in a Western country, your waiter or another customer will quickly perform the Heimlich Maneuver on you. If you start choking in a restaurant in Cambodia, the locals will all stand around dumbfounded and stare at you until you turn blue and collapse on the floor. Only then will one of them spring into action and attempt to revive you by vigorously rubbing tiger balm on your forehead.

2. Cambodia is a horrible place to raise a child.

If you have a child or you are planning to have children, you definitely should not move to Cambodia. World Health Organization statistics show that a child born in Cambodia is ten times more likely to die before the age of 5 than a child born in France. All of the diseases that kill adults in Cambodia are even more dangerous to young children. Kids are also more likely to be involved in accidents requiring emergency medical care, because kids are fragile and kind of stupid.

While children may be coddled and overprotected in Western societies, they are simply left to their Darwinian fate in Cambodia. Cambodian children are often seen wandering the streets without adult supervision or perched helmetless on the front of passing motorbikes. Last year a “mystery illness”killed 60 children in Cambodia. Nobody really cared.

Raising any child in Cambodia presents grave risks that you wouldn’t have in a Western country. If your daughter develops acute appendicitis in your home country, you can take her to the emergency room at a modern hospital. A knowledgeable doctor will promptly diagnose her condition, a skilled surgeon will remove her appendix before it bursts, and she’ll be back to normal in no time.

If your daughter develops acute appendicitis in Cambodia . . . well, she’s probably screwed. Just start over with a new kid.

Let’s assume that your children are lucky and that the Cambodian diseases, traffic accidents, and poor medical care don’t kill them. Their future will still be quite bleak. The educational system in Cambodia is absolutely dire, from the primary schools through the universities. The only way to properly educate your child in Cambodia is to pay about $15,000 per year to send her to a top international school. This is going to be hard to afford if you moved to Cambodia to teach English for $9 an hour.

You may fancy the idea of moving to “wild” Cambodia, but the true test of being a good parent is whether you place your child’s safety and security above your own interests. That’s why many devoted parents from third world countries will do anything possible to sneak their families into Western countries where their kids will have a brighter future.

As young Western citizens, your children enjoy the same wonderful opportunity that you had to grow up in a civilized country with good schools, quality health care, free speech, seat belts, career prospects, democracy, Fig Newtons, and long life expectancies. They would kindly appreciate if you don’t fuck all that up for them by raising them in a corrupt, oppressive third world shithole. Your choice.

What amazes me is that the Westerners who decide to raise their children in Cambodia remain in total denial about what terrible, selfish parents they really are. Some have even started a Yahoo group called the “Cambodia Parent Network,” where they exchange tips on how to raise their doomed offspring in a country where no responsible Western parent would ever voluntarily raise a child. Cambodia Parent Network? Good grief. That’s like starting the Chernobyl Gardening Club.

3. The infrastructure sucks.

Even compared to neighboring countries like Vietnam and Thailand, the infrastructure in Cambodia is truly appalling. The schools, hospitals, roads, and utilities are all of very poor quality. Trash piles up in the street. Rats and roaches abound. Main roads in the capital city are now gridlocked during rush hours, and traffic only gets worse each year. There is no mass transit system and nowhere to park your car. Sidewalks are impassable. Internet connections are relatively slow. The tap water is dodgy. There are no zoning laws and no effective law enforcement. The noise pollution from karaoke parlors at 2 a.m., barking dogs at 4 a.m., and construction workers at 6 a.m. can be unbearable.

Many expats report regular power outages in their neighborhoods, sometimes lasting 3-5 hours a day. That will put a major damper on your online explorations.

Cambodia does have excellent nightlife, but there’s absolutely nothing to do during the day – no decent parks, cinemas, museums, malls, libraries, etc. Just walking outside between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. can be quite unpleasant due to the heat and humidity. Oh, and Cambodia smells really bad. If you’re thinking of moving to Phnom Penh, you need to know that the entire city stinks of garbage, smoke, urine, and rotten fish. Not just the Walkabout.

4. Living in Cambodia will destroy your financial future.

Let us agree that the hallmark of a successful life is living as long as possible while simultaneously acquiring as many material possessions as you can. Like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, but with a hot young wife too.

You may be able to find a hot young wife in Cambodia, but unless you are transferred there by a multinational company, you’re not going to make any decent money working in Cambodia. If you’re one of these guys who just decides to move to Cambodia to “teach English” or “open a bar,” you will guarantee yourself a life of relative poverty. You’ll likely start out making about $8 – $10 per hour, which would be the bare minimum wage in many Western countries.

You may be thinking, “But I heard I can teach English and live like a king making $1,200 per month in Cambodia.” You can’t. You’ll be able to afford a relatively crappy Khmer-style apartment with tiled walls, bars on the windows, unreliable electricity, and loud, annoying neighbors. Near Russian Market, of course.

You won’t be saving any money, and you won’t have health insurance. So if you get sick and and can’t teach for a few weeks, you’ll be on the verge of selling your passport for noodle money.

Unlike the minimum wage earners in Western countries, you won’t even be paying into social security, or a pension plan, or any kind of retirement benefits. So just plan on working in a low paid teaching job in Cambodia until the day you die. Of course, your lack of retirement planning will be the least of your concerns when you’re lying on your deathbed in a dirty Cambodian hospital at age 57.

Because you’ll have no savings, you won’t even be able to leave money to take care of your wife and kids when you die. Keep in mind that your kids will already be well behind the financial eight ball because you raised them in an impoverished country with an inadequate school system and few legitimate career opportunities.

I know what you’re thinking now. “I’ll just move to Cambodia for a few years, then I’ll move back home and get a good job that pays well.” Not a chance. The job market is extremely competitive these days in most Western countries. Cambodia still has a notorious reputation, and it’s hard to get a good job when the hiring manager who reviews your application says, “This candidate has a fascinating resumé. I wonder if he’s a pedophile.”

5. Your mother will be so disappointed.

If you move to Cambodia, you’re probably going to have to tell your mother at some point. Of course she’ll tell you that she supports your decision, because that’s what good mothers do. But deep down, she will be crushed that you are moving so far away from her.

You have a moral obligation to help take care of your mother in her later years. Don’t be a selfish ass who passes that responsibility off on your siblings so that you can live 8,000 miles away in Cambodia.

And what if you eventually have kids in Cambodia? Are you going to deprive your mother of the pleasure of seeing her sickly, under-educated, half-brown grandchildren because you’re raising them 8,000 miles away from her? That’s a cruel, selfish thing to do to your mom. She may justifiably respond to this affront by cutting you out of her will. And since you’ll be working for peanuts in Cambodia, that inheritance would have been your only chance of acquiring any real money during your lifetime.

(Taken from 7 reasons why you really shouldn't move to Cambodia)

http://www.khmer440.com/k/2013/07/7-reasons-why-you-really-shouldnt-move-to-cambodia/ 

Human Pin-cushions

So the official preparations have begun. Today we started our vaccinations, ouch :( I was lucky, i've had most of the important ones from living overseas before, so I just have to have a couple of boosters. Poor Ben has to have the whole shebang! He had 5 shots today alone. Between us we've got to have Hep A (x3), Polio, Tetanus, Whooping Cough and Diptheria, Typhoid, Influenza, Measles Mumps and Rubella.... yikes.

When we get to Phnom Penh, we will both also get Japanese Encephalitis (x2) and Rabies (x3) which are much cheaper there than they are here. We've also started arranging the house and booking the movers to help take our things back to Perth. It's turning out to be quite tricky to determine what we need to take with us and what we should keep for our return- and where to store it all! We will only be able to have a few suitcases to bring on the plane so we're hoping to get most things in PP. However, the main things we'll be taking over will be Australian-grade motorbike helmets (the main form of travel there is by 'moto'), medications, some personal items and some Australian foods that we will try and make last (you can't take jelly and tim-tams for granted!). The international community in PP has grown quite strong, so there are definitely places to get some imported goods, particularly from the US. From now on though, even simple things like bread and milk will be put in high regard in exchange for rice and tea and MSG -.-

Heading out your door...

Ben and I are big Tolkien fans, and one of our favourite quotes is certainly serving as inspiration for courage right now...

Logos International School

The school Ben will be teaching at is Logos International School in the capital of Phnom Penh. It is the high school of Asian Hope in Cambodia, with about 70% of the kids being Khmer and the other 30% International students. This video is a little insight into the school and its greater mission in Cambodia that we will be a part of. 

Wait.... Where?

Ah Cambodia... The Kingdom of Water, home to the splendor of Angkor Wat and the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. I am fortunate enough to have lived there as a child from 2003-2005, but this place will be new to Ben, and the rapid changes the country has seen from development in the last 10 years means it will be quite new again to me too. So here's a little run down of Cambodia..

Basic Information

Area:  181,035 sq. Km

Population: Over 15 million

Capital:      Phnom Penh

Government: Liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy

Provinces: 21

Language: Khmer, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, English and a variety of minority languages

Currency: Dual currency system: Cambodian Riel and American Dollars

Neighboring Countries: Thailand-N and W, Laos-NE, Vietnam - E

Religion: Buddhism, Muslim (Cham people group) minority

Ethnic Background: Cambodian (Khmer)-80%, Vietnamese-12%, Chinese-5%, Tribal groups-2.5%

Rivers and Lakes:

The Mekong River runs from the Laos border in the north to the Vietnam border in the south. Tonle Sap runs from the Mekong in central Phnom Penh north to the lake, claimed to be the largest freshwater fish breeding and production area in the world. Tonle Bassak also runs from the Mekong, in central Phnom Penh to the southern border with Vietnam.

Mountains:

Elephant and Cardamom mountains - southwest

Dangkrek Mountains - northern border with Thailand Eastern Highlands-northeast corner

Former Colonial Status:

French protectorate (18 63-1949)

Associated State within the French Union (1949-1955)

Independence Date: 25th September 1955

National Flag: A centre of red with an ancient temple of Angkor Wat motif, with dark blue bands across the top and bottom.

Brief History

Cambodia was once the most powerful nations in the region, with the Khmer arriving from India in prehistoric times. By the 1st century, they had built a mighty Hindu state with the country’s power continuing to grow through the 13th century until the empire extended from the Bay of Bengal to the South of China Sea. This is the period in which the great temples of Angkor were built.
In the 1500s to the 1800s, foreign powers sought greater influence in the area, and the state declined. The French arrived in the mid-19th century, and offered Cambodia protection from her powerful neighbors, this however, quickly turned into control, and France ruled Cambodia until 1954.

During the Vietnam War the country tried to steer a neutral course, but neither side respected its neutrality: the North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh trail ran through Cambodian territory, while the U.S. bombed and raided the eastern half of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. In the 1970 General Lon Nol took over but fought a civil war against the Khmer Rouge up until two weeks before the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, when the murderous Pol Pot regime came to power. The following four years saw genocide on a horrific scale, with estimates of at least two million Cambodians dying as a result of the policies of the Khmer Rouge.

Vietnam invaded and overthrew the Pol Pot regime on 7th January 1979, but the Vietnamese were Cambodia’s traditional enemy, thus, when Vietnam reduced its military presence in the late 1980s, guerrilla warfare again broke out, with several groups, including the Khmer Rouge, competing for domination. The United Nations finally brokered a peace settlement, and elections were held in 1993. The royalist party (FUNCINPEC), led by Prince Norodom Rannariddh won the elections but was forced to hold power with the Cambodian People’s party led by Hun Sen. This fragile coalition fell apart in 1997 following a successful coup by Hun Sen.

1998 saw a further set of elections which Hun Sen won, though not with an adequate majority to call parliament, so another coalition government was created. With the death of Pol Pot earlier in the year and the subsequent disintegration of the Khmer Rouge, the conditions may have been laid for stability, with an opportunity for a new start for the country after 30 years of conflict.

First Contact

We've done it.

 Ben has gotten himself a job at an International school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. If you know Ben and I, it has been a relatively short journey to get to this point, considering we've only been married 4 months and although it was on the cards, we had not intended to move to Asia for at least another year! But an opportunity arose, and we have jumped at it. At first we were wary of making the move so soon, since we are quite comfortable here in Port Hedland after just settling in, but over the next few days of decision making it weighed on our hearts so that by the end we were both praying it would come through!

Neither of us has fully gotten our heads around it yet, and probably won't until months after we've arrived in Cambodia- if then. So we thought the best way to explore our thoughts and feelings at this point would be to keep this 'inkling' of what we're experiencing, both for us and our friends and family. It is only 2 months until the big move, which is quite short notice considering it is a whole new country, culture and community we will be settling into. These next few months will see us frantically finish up business here in Hedland and then in Perth, packing our lives into boxes for storage and 4 simple suitcases (if that) to take with us, and putting ourselves forth as human pin-cushions for the million or so vaccinations we must get each.

Sigh. it's a lot to take in. Perhaps we should focus on the basics first, such as completing the forms needed to finalise the position and getting in touch with old friends in Phnom Penh to ask for advice on how to even begin preparing for the new life ahead. We both know that this is what we desperately want to do and where we are meant to be, we just hope and pray for the strength to see it become a reality!!!