Kñom rree-in pia-sa Khuhmy (I learn Khmer language)

The Khmer Alphabet on the back of my
(1st grade) workbook

Not surprisingly, Khmer is a very hard language to learn. Surprisingly, it is one of the easiest Asian languages *not including Asian languages written in the Latin alphabet (ex. Indonesian, Malay)* to learn because it is not tonal, while Khmer is surrounded by languages that are tonal. What I find most difficult are not the sounds (the "ng" does not come naturally for me) but rather having to write the words in Roman letters to remember them, all the while knowing this is not how they are really written. One person, i.e. my textbook, might write the words one way, while I may write it another making it super confusing to flip through my notes and textbook simultaneously. Moreover, my teacher might say a word one day, I write it down, and then the next day he says it again and it sounds different. Or more commonly: two different words sound the same to me, and when I am finally told that I have said them differently enough to move on to a new word, I just think "UHHHH I was saying the same thing!" Ugh.

That all being said, some of the words in Khmer (or rather "pia-sa Khuhmy") that I have learned so far are super interesting (for a nerd like me) and frankly a few are hilarious. Being a former French colony, it is only natural that some French words entered the Khmer language, especially for things/ideas/actions etc. that did not exist previously in Khmer before the French. Other words just hammer down the fact that rice is an integral part of Cambodian life (although again, being a former French colony, baguettes are quite common as well and although some people I have met have a strict "non-western-food-diet," I welcome bread into my life. Although now the title of this blog at the moment does not make sense, whatever). Below are some true gems of the Khmer language:

Pia-sa onglei = English language
Pia-sa alamon = German language
Pia-sa espan = Spanish language
P'ly pom = apple (get it? "pommes" in French too)
K'tim barang = onion, or translated literally, "the thing you chop that is French" (barang = French)
P'ly sau mau = rambutan, but really means hairy (as in, um, armpit hairy. They taste good I swear!!)
K'lean bai = hungry, or rather, hungry for rice (rice = bai)
ñam bai = to eat rice. Although ñam is to eat and you can eat whatever you want, if someone is asking you if you are going to eat, he/she says "ñam bai."
bai peil prruk = breakfast, or rather, rice time morning
bai t'ngai trong = lunch, or literally, rice afternoon. Even more literally, "t'ngai trong" means "day straight" (noon-- get it? the sun) and when giving directions, "trong" can signify to continue straight. Hence, lunch means: rice, continue with the day
bai peil yoop = dinner, or rather, rice time night
srrool = easy. Doesn't that word just sound like it means easy? Because I always forget the word for hard yet remember this amazing word, I continuously say "not easy" rather than hard. #whatever.
yoo yoo m'dong = once in a while. this is just a hilarious word, nothing else.
book-a-look = staff. again, just funny.
twerka = to work. like "werk" lolz.

Another interesting aspect of Khmer language is that some words, such at to eat, to go, and to sleep, change depending on who you are talking to. Talking about myself, or "simple people" as my teacher puts it, uses a different word than talking about the King or a monk. This derives from Pali, a language from India that was used in ancient Buddhist texts. Although no one speaks solely Pali anymore, it still wiggles its way into Khmer.

I might ñam bai, but the king, queen, prince, and princess so-y bai. A Buddhist nun / female monk can either peer-saw bai or baw-rit poh bai, but a male monk ch-han bai. Hun Sen, Southeast Asia's favorite human rights abuser since 1985, baw-rit poh bai along with female monks. If I am from a village and there is a big ceremony at the pagoda, I hope rather than ñam. Ma-hope means "food" in any case. My dog does not ñam bai but rather see bai, and saying that a human see bai is very rude and derogatory. I pointed out that if we spoke Khmer in the United States, we might say that dogs also ñam because dogs in the U.S. are treated as if they are part of the family. When I told my teacher that my dog often will sleep in my bed with me, he was horrified. I explained that dogs in the U.S. often stay inside and are kept very well, making this not uncommon.

Speaking of sleeping, I can kane or dayl, but a male monk sung and a female monk sum rahn. The king, queen, prince, and princess all praw-tumb. When I go somewhere, I tao, but a male monk nit mon tao, and a female monk can either twer dom na or cheng dom na. The king, queen, and prince can yee-ung, but only the prince and princess can nit man. I forgot to ask what animals do, but can only assume it is yet another word. Luckily, I will likely only be talking to "simple people" and do not need to remember all of these words!

Case Study Writing

Part of being a not-for-profit NGO is just that: it is not for profit. Trailblazer's funding relies on donations, and soliciting donations is not an easy feat. Roughly just over half of donations come from individuals, meaning that the personal case studies from Trailblazer's projects are very important. They need to make that person reading them at, say, 1am be compelled to send a check or click on the paypal icon. Last Friday, I went to Chea Smun village (per usual, not how this village is spelled in Khmer (obviously) but how I understand and pronounce the name) to interview two students who had received donated bikes from Trailblazer. 

Srei Mau and her bike

Chea Smun, about an hour by moto away from Siem Reap, was one of the most remote and undeveloped (in terms of infrastructure) village I have been to while in Cambodia thus far. The dirt-clay road was a brilliant sinopia-tawny color, accentuated even more by the puddles left from the immense amount of rain the night before and that morning. We arrived at the secondary school: two lines of classrooms with a portico attaching all of them and a tattered Cambodian flag in the center. 

One of the hardest parts of doing the case study was making sure that the questions my Cambodian partner, Lon Sey (works with Trailblazer), asked were indeed the questions I had prepared. A lot can get lost in translation! Getting more sentimental / opinion answers to the questions (versus one-word answers) I was asking was a tough feat as well from the the boy and girl I interviewed. They were so shy! Then again I would probably be shy too if this massively tall foreign woman wearing strange clothes came to my school asking questions about my bicycle. As for the case study itself, this is what I have written: 

FINALLY got a smile :)

Every day many children in Cambodia have to walk long distances to get to school, meaning they arrive physically tired and mentally drained before class even starts. This situation is exacerbated in Siem Reap province, one of the poorest in Cambodia, and specifically in Meanchey Commune where children often walk to school. The reality is that walking long distances limits students’ capability to succeed and disincentivizes them from attending school. To address this problem, the Trailblazer Foundation has provided bikes to multiple students in Siem Reap Province, allowing for the students and their families to have more mobility and save valuable time. 

As part of Trailblazer Foundation’s Cambodia Assistance Program, Trailblazer provided bikes to students at Chea Smun Secondary School in Chea Smun Village, located in Meanchey Commune of Prasat Bakong District. Besides this, Trailblazer has also installed four biosand water filters at Chea Smun Secondary School to help the students maintain good health. More than half of the students at Chea Smun Secondary School have bikes, making it important to help those who do not integrate at school. The donated bikes in general are easy to use and bike maintenance has so far only included simply repairing flat tires. 

Seyha, a 17 year old student in his eighth year of school, received a bike from Trailblazer four months ago. He said that already his studies and day-to-day life have greatly improved with the time gained from biking as opposed to walking to school. It used to take him thirty minutes to walk to school, and now it takes him five to ten minutes with his new bike. His father finished his studies through grade eight and his mother did not even go to school, so Seyha is excited to attend high school next year and complete his studies as he aspires to become a mathematics and chemistry teacher. Seeing as Chea Smun Secondary School currently only has six teachers for 176 students, Seyha finishing school and becoming a teacher would greatly help the Cambodian education system at large. Because Seyha’s high school next year is 10 kilometers away, his bike is going to substantially reduce the time it takes to get to and from school. On the weekends, his parents also borrow the bike to go to and from the market to buy food for Seyha and his two younger brothers at a much faster pace than before. 

Another one of Srei Mau's neighbors

One of Seyha’s neighbors, Srei Mau, also received a new bike from Trailblazer. Srei Mau is 15 years old and in grade eight as well, and her favorite subjects are chemistry and biology. Similar to Seyha, Srei Mau wishes to become teacher but for biology, yet admits that she has a lot more to learn. Srei Mau loves that her new bike allows her to stay after school for longer to continue studying rather than have to dedicate time to walking home. She will also attend the same high school as Seyha next year, likewise surpassing the education level of both of her parents. Her parents use the bike on Sunday to go work on the farm, while she uses it also to go to the market for her 3-person family.  

Seyha and Srei Mau thank Trailblazer profusely, smiling widely, for giving them the bicycles because the donation has helped them concentrate on their studies with more passion. Bikes save students’ valuable time so that they can study and learn more while following their dreams. Both students also ask if Trailblazer can donate more bicycles or school supplies in general to other poor students, Srei Mau relating poignantly, “please try to help us some more...because we need it.” For only $45, you can supply a bike to help a Cambodian student pursue his/her educational goals, thereby improving wellbeing and quality of life. More educated Cambodian youth means more power for development and social change, and a brighter future for Cambodia.

Me and the cutest savior ever! 

We went to both Seyha and Srei Mau's houses to get photos with their families (that I had to really try to coax smiles out of) and bikes. In both cases, the father was not at home. Seyha actually did not have his bike at school in reality because his mom used it that day. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in these cases albeit slightly awkward (I mean, we were doing an interview about how he bikes to school). Nevertheless, his bike was at home which was great because using the same bike in their individual photos at school was honestly super obvious. 

For the photos at Srei Mau's house, I hid the TV that Srei Mau had in her house toward the front entrance within visibility of the camera. Contrary to popular belief, you can be in dire poverty and still have a television--but most people do not want to see or know this. "If they can afford a television, why do I need to donate a bike? Shouldn't the latter be the top priority?" Well, it can actually be easier to access a 3G network in the jungle than it is a proper waste system in a town, for example. What's more: who are you to tell a family how to spend its money? Just because a family cannot readily afford a bike, does not mean it should be deprived of any simple entertainment. Must a family live extremely basically / in borderline squaller if it cannot afford rudimentary items, but can afford a small toy for a child for the time being? I also made sure not to  photograph the solar panel that a Japanese NGO installed on Seyha's roof the day beforehand. The family also had a water filter from yet another NGO, furthering my burgeoning opinion that NGOs in Cambodia are, in a sense, enabling the government to continue their corrupt practices by doing a ministry's job. That being said, would the government actually step up to the plate? Moreover: we cannot wait ten years for water, transport, education, etc. etc. etc. 

What was most shocking about where Seyha and Srei Mau live is that the flooding is so bad in the rainy season that they must take a boat to cross the murky river that separated their neighborhood from the main village roadway (bike is not going to help in that situation!). Right now, a very slippery and narrow bridge connects the land masses--a bridge that a little girl held my hand walking across. Houses are right up against the river, and I can only imagine the living conditions inside of them during the wet season, and what this does to water supply as well as sanitation practices. Sadly on the way to Lon Sey's motorbike, the little girl was not there to hold my hand. But I sucked it up, realizing how silly I probably looked towering over this girl yet nearly shaking with my fear of heights. 

Political Activism on the Ground

Looking gooddddd n' $eksi wet hair and all

Yesterday, I went to visit the Khmer Youth Association's (KYA) office in Pouk District, about 40 minutes outside of Siem Reap city for a meeting with the Siem Reap Province director, Lun Bunthay. I was interested in meeting with KYA in order to get experience with an NGO that is locally founded and run, rather than having a Western director or staff as so many NGOs in Siem Reap do. I sported my newly purchased face mask while going there and coming back, and multiple women on the back of motorbikes next to me kept touching their skin, pointing to me, and saying "Beautiful!" in Khmer due to my white skin. Ironically, I accidentally bought whitening soap the other day too.

I arrived, Lun greeted me, apologizing for how cold it was that day (it was 90 degrees), and offered me a small bottle of water which I graciously accepted even though I clearly had my own water. I had prepared about twelve questions beforehand, mostly about how youth can participate and engage in Cambodian political society, to get the most of the meeting and was very interested to hear what Lun had to say. He had also prepared a print-out for me which was so adorable :-o ! I also really appreciated him for trying to understand my questions, rather than just smile and say something else as often happens here if someone does not understand your English.

Information Board

As I expected, Lun told me how many Cambodian People's Party members and community / commune councils often do not like KYA, but that this is changing. KYA fosters youth to think independently, not for any particular party. KYA also has strict transparency and anti-corruption education and policies. For example, KYA is trying to get hospitals to post their prices instead of relying on patients to bargain for their well-being. KYA also offers a forum to report corruption, although I am not sure what the success rate of this is.

One of the more difficult barriers for youth is that many Cambodians believe that politics and decision making are best left to the older generations; however, this is not fair seeing as these decisions affect the population at large. This part of the Cambodian, and Asian at large, cultural framework that dictates that respecting your elders is one of the most important aspects of society. KYA does not wish to "break" culture per say, but rather it wishes to educate youth to vote and take political action that is rightfully theirs to take. Educated youth can be the agents of social change.

Of course, this is all easier said than done. Through workshops, public outreach, and a network of peer educators (the latter also used for educating villages and towns about water and sanitation!), KYA is trying to garner youth support and awareness. One of the largest challenges is getting young women involved as not only are young women young, but also women (an obvious double whammy). KYA strives to target young women, and realizes how important it is to have gender equality in decision making. One of their future goals is to have more young women in the government in decision-making positions, and even sooner to organize a KYA Women's Rights Day.

What I found super interesting is that ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), although allowing for great travel mobility between the member nations, will in 2015 allow for more worker mobility. This means that educated persons from Singapore or Malaysia (Lun also mentioned Korea and Japan, although these nations are not part of ASEAN I realized about an hour after our meeting so I am a tad confused and looking into it) can come to Cambodia and take upper level jobs because they have the means and education--something that many Cambodians, notably Khmer youth, do not have. This worries Lun because this policy  could potentially further marginalize uneducated Khmer (or even somewhat educated) youth into migrant worker jobs in Thailand (a huge problem already--in fact one of KYA main outreach programs in the western part of Cambodia is educating the massive amount of youth that migrate to Thailand seasonally / for extended periods of time etc. about their rights. 7,800 youth, aged 16-30, go to Thailand annually from Pouk District alone, Lun said).

This was only half way through the storm. And in the right?
Yup, that's your local sewer, folks!

There are also some environmental initiatives KYA does that relate directly to water rights that I am studying with Trailblazer Foundation. As Lun said: "plastic...will be climate change." I was once explained in Bali that a large problem with plastic is that it has replaced banana leaves as a tool to carry / contain items, etc. Banana leaves were thrown in a river when they had served their purpose. And now this happens with plastic bags. Khmer people love plastic bags as well as plastic bottles; however with the bottles, many poor children (and even older women I have seen) collect cans and bottles to earn 100Riel ($0.025) per three. Water and sanitation have everything to do with the environment. In fact, as I witnessed yesterday evening, a big rain can cause the sewage to overflow into people's homes, the road, workplace, etc. Lun was explaining how people have yet to understand their impact on the environment (à la the banana leaf). KYA has a program that installs toilets and also has peer educators in these villages to help explain the toilets and promote their protection from misuse. This is vital as so many organizations install sanitation without properly explaining its function to recipients and without being fully cognizant of the cultural framework and sanitation effects. There are also initiatives to conserve water and grow crops while saving water at the same time.

KYA has a plethora of other initiatives, but I do not want to bore you, dear reader, to tears. On June 20, I am attending a democratic and anti-corruption workshop with Khmer youth which I am SO excited about. I am excited how youth social change and participation can help instigate environmental change and help spread drinking water and sanitation rights around the country. KYA has the potential to hit the root of the problem of water / sanitation access in Cambodia with their good governance policies. 

Filter Installation~~

A shop at Lolei Village

All of the time I have spent sifting sand, sifting gravel, washing sand, and washing gravel has paid off! On Friday, I went to Lolei Village outside of Siem Reap to install eight water filters which--let me tell you, reader--was an incredibly long and arduous day.

I rode out to the village on the back of a pick up truck, and borrowed Bone-knee's (not how you spell his name, but how I pronounce it) über Cambodian hat that was camouflage colored with a lovely flap that covered my neck and then wrapped across my face to snap onto the other side. Literally my entire head, neck, and face except for my eyes (which had sunglasses) were covered. This was great, as this hat was going to do more than any sunscreen I owned would. As well, the dust flying everywhere would not stick to my sunscreen and sweat, but only my sweat. Much better!

A family next to their filter

The village had no electricity, only one generator in one of the nicer houses. There was one dirt road that went through the village, houses lining either side, and a few small shops. Behind the houses were either more houses or gardens / farms / open land. Most of the villagers were at home to receive the filters, and from what I observed at least, about half of the children went to school.

We installed eight filters, which took a total of about six and a half hours including lunch, installation time, and driving time. The filter mold comes from a Canadian organization called CAWST (The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) that creates a lot of filter molds, I am told, for NGOs all over developing countries. The filters are immensely heavy, as they are made out of concrete, and so are the bags of sand (I really never realized how heavy sand could be). The filters are relatively easy to install seeing as they are just plopped on the ground wherever the family wants them (and this means they can be near a toilet or sewage source, but because the filter does not draw on this water (necessarily :/ ) this is fine). On Friday, we installed the filters either next to their well or next to their kitchen area.

Putting well water into a filter 

Basically, we wheeled the filter on a dolly to where the family wanted it installed. The family pays 13,000Riel, or $3.25, for the filter that then goes to the village fund. The price in 2012 was $2.60, but due to inflation, I am told, the price increased. This place has to be level in order to function properly, and in a few cases we had to add sand or a pebble or two underneath the filter in order to ensure this. We then put some water into the filter, pour the large gravel into the bottom, and level it. I leveled the gravel as I can reach the bottom of the filter with my rather long arms and still not get my sleeve wet. Then, we pour in the small pebbles, level these again, and then the sand which two people need to pick up to dump in due to its immense weight. We level the sand carefully without packing it in, and also then clean the filter using water and a cap-full of bleach. Finally, we pour more water into the filter and place the blue perforated filter contraption on top of this sand and water (it fits nicely into the concrete filter). You pour water on top of the blue filter and then, after about two weeks of being installed, clean water comes out of the drinking end.

Diagram of a filter

The two week waiting period is for the biofilm to develop and mature in the sand. The biofilm is created in the sand to trap bacteria in the water (it will consume bacteria such as E.Coli), and is developed organically and biologically specific to that water source. A biofilm for pond water would be different from a biofilm for well water, for example. The biofilm traps about 40% of the bacteria, while 60% or so of the other objects / not-so-great minerals in water (if there is a lot of iron, for example) is physically trapped with the blue filter or does not make it through the sand at all. For example, pond water had a lot of silt that is physically blocked with the sand and/or blue filter. Biosand filters trap about mid 80s to high 90s % of the bacteria and objects found in water, with percentages varying due to maintenance and quality of the original water source. When the biofilm develops after about two weeks, clean water is good to go. The gravel serves as another physical filter to maintain the integrity of the sand part of the filter, preventing it from going through the outlet tube.

A page from a booklet

The cleaner the water is going into the filter, the cleaner the water is coming out. Therefore, if you use water from a stream that feces run into, the water that comes out of the filter will not be as clean as water coming from a well 30 meters or so from a toilet. With each filter Trailblazer installs, they also hand out and explain a blue booklet in Khmer with pictures to show how to maintain the filter, how to use the filter, and how to drink/use water responsibly and sustainably in general. The pictures show fenced in livestock so they do not poo in streams, and also enclosed toilet areas, for example.

Drunk driving and helmet notice

Rice (duh), sauce, fish, and omlet

We stopped for lunch at one of the houses that actually belongs to one of Trailblazer's staff. His wife cooked a great meal of rice (of course), a sauce for the rice that consisted of chili and some sort of cilantro-esque herb, grilled fish, and a great omlet. While eating the omlet, Sotirot (again, not how you spell his name but how I pronounce it) asked me what the eggs of the fish were called. "Fish eggs," I said, "or from certain fish, it is called caviar and this is very expensive." "Ohhhhhh" he said, very excited. "There is caviar in this omlet!"

I am vegetarian, and trying to not eat fish in the middle of nowhere. So much for that one. But it did explain why the food tasted so good!

Also on the Lolei trip, I held three more naked babies that I loved but God was I worried about them peeing on me. We also went by a makeshift school with English and Khmer letter charts, as well as an English parts-of-the-body chart. There was also a fruit poster in English, and randomly in Chinese, with fruits I don't even think they readily have in Cambodia, like blueberries. The man at this house said he learned English with monks at the pagoda, and hopes to teach English to Khmer students for free. I also witnessed the only anti-drunk driving poster I have seen in Cambodia, and I am told that drunk driving is actually a serious problem.

At about 3:15, I climbed back onto the back of the truck, put Bone-knee's fashionable hat back on, and went home. 

A Plethora of Goods

First, sincere apologies for the lack of photos in this post. Also, please comment with questions or other opinions (as I say at the end of this post).

Markets in Southeast Asia range from live fish flopping about after being severed alive (I really do wonder what Peter Singer would say to that sight), to piles of fruit I don't know the names of in English, to women screaming "buy something?!" about their kitsch and ubiquitous elephant emblazoned handbags (most of which I have been told are from Thailand or Vietnam), to circuitous halls and halls of batik sarong cloths, to where I went yesterday: a NGO sponsored market with all locally made handicrafts and goods. I went from stall to stall learning about the different NGOs while also looking at the handicrafts being sold (often scarfs not meant to be worn in tropical heat, post cards, pendants, bracelets, etc.). And I saw serious problems with much of this.

Some NGOs, it seems, have basically taken over different villages with no route of action in mind to leave. They help the children (always the children, or children and women, not the (male) adults who are also in need of help) buy school supplies to go to school rather than beg on the streets, and also provide art (the photographs are made into postcards) and English lessons. Pictures of kids brushing their teeth and looking doe-eyed into the camera dot the brochure. To compensate for the parents' loss of income, the organizations will often provide rice or other forms of non-monetary help to the families. The NGO begins to thus dictate their livelihoods. Although helping children is 110% important, so is helping the adults who force their children to do beg on the streets. What about helping parents find work? If there are no jobs (and this often seems to be the case, unfortunately), what is the underlying problem, here? There is more to the story than just the children.

Most NGOs also help women, and female-made products becomes a sort of branded attribute. It is a selling point of the commodity--one might even say a "trend." The women from one village bead bracelets and pendants for a tourist market in order to provide for their families.  The Australian head told me all but three of the men walked out when I asked her what the men do while women bead. This is excellent, the women are able to help their families now when before they were not able to.

But it is also problematic: beading these bracelets still marginalizes women to do handiwork as well as relies on a tourist market to buy the goods. Without this Australian woman, and without a tourist market, the women would still be impoverished. NGO work today is reminiscent of my studying the French Indochina Empire but in a lighter and more charitable way. The white power is still coming into the impoverished country to "help" to poor people who cannot help themselves, while also benefiting themselves (goods are still being produced for a western market). Yes, this is a stretch but a reasonable connection.

You could argue: what would these women do without this NGO if there are no jobs? And this is a very valid point--the NGO has provided these women with a skill they can market to the flood of tourists in their country at the moment. By having their own business, this empowers them. But I also ask, more cynically: what would the NGO and its often white founders do without these impoverished women? Rather than have the women bead, it might be more productive to get to the root of unemployment rather than place a daintily embroidered scarf over the problem.

Many NGOs have a program where you can tour local villages and really get to know "authentic" and "traditional" Cambodian life. Yes, tourists often strive for this authenticity and yearn for simpler times--but a tuk tuk driver's life is just as "Cambodian" as a rice farmer's. Touring villages helps people who might not otherwise know what life is like sans electricity or plumbing see this, but again, the villagers then rely on the tourists for their income. Tourism is a lucrative industry, but tourism as the primary industry creates problems.  The villagers have to do this day in and day out, making their village more like a museum rather than a place to live. As tourists bike through, they don't want to really see the real, nitty gritty and not pretty life. And eating lunch with a local family? They often want to try the local food, but not too local. And I am not referring to the people who really do want to dry duck egg (no, not a duck's egg, but a duck's egg with a was-about-to-be-hatched-and-then-you-ate-me duck inside the egg), I mean the people who would be disappointed eating only a small helping of rice for lunch. That's local, for you. Of course, there are exceptions to this.

What's more, the people who are buying these goods think that they are greatly helping the situation. They are certainly putting their money to a good cause, but this "passive activism" worries me. Buying ten scarves made by women in the rural village will not change the country. Eating at a restaurant where all of the profits go to some school children will not change the political situation in the country that makes things how they are today. It can begin to help, but buying your way to change is not the answer. Although many tourists and people in general simply do not care enough to make lasting change--they are going home soon. Those who stay do try to make a change, but (as this post describes), I fear it is not the best pathway. And no, I do not have a different, viable, and practical method in mind.

This is not meant to denounce any of the NGOs in Siem Reap and Cambodia at large, it is just that I find multiple flaws and many of them and hope that you, dear reader, might have a different opinions to enlighten me with. I am very very open to other thoughts as I would love to prove the cynic in me wrong. Maybe....is this NGO society the first step to changing Cambodia on the whole?