March-Newsletter
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Young Adults in Global Mission 2016-2017 Living and Laughing in Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia Contact: [email protected] Blog: http://savannahyagm.wordpress.com Every day Buddhist monks in Cambodia receive their meals from the generosity of those in their community. Here are two young monks out collecting their lunch for the day. Khmer Kitchen Riddles with Sarun: This one might not be possible to try on your own My supervisor told me that my newsletters needed more jokes because it is a long process but it was pointed out to me and riddles, and so here is riddle from Sarun himself: that if I am going to share Khmer recipes then I have to There was once a man who lived in Phnom Penh. He was very rich include the Khmer staple, Prahok/ (sometimes ្បហុក and owned a great big home in the city with many hired assistants referred to Khmer Cheese). As Sarun explained to me, to care for him, including several guards who looked after his Prahok was originally created as a way to preserve fish home. For his job the man was often required to go on business during the months where fish was not as readily trips to other countries and one week he booked a ticket to fly to available, but today it is used more as a sort of condiment China for an important meeting. The morning of his trip, however, to supplement many other Khmer dishes. While there are one of his guards came to him and explained that the night before, many variations to this dish, here is the general process of while on duty, he had a dream in which the plane that the rich making it explained to me by my coworker Veary! man was going to take crashed on it’s way to China. The guard warned his boss that he should listen to the dream and delay his Step one is to descale the small fish you will be using, journey. Persuaded by the seriousness of what the guard had to clean them and leave them in a bucket of water to soak say, the rich man took his advice and did not go to the airport as overnight. This causes the fish to swell. The next day you planned. Sure enough, hours later the news reported that the very remove the fish from the water and leave them out to dry flight the man had been booked for had crashed before reaching for another day. After the drying is complete the fish are its destination. Filled with shock and gratitude, the rich man went covered in salt, mixed together and put in a basket or jar to his guard, thanking him and telling him that as a reward he overnight. During this stage the extra liquid that comes would give him anything he desired. The guard, who was a humble from the fish is collected, boiled, mixed with seasonings man, simply asked for $10, 000, just enough money to build he and and turned into fish sauce. After the juices are extracted his family a new home. The rich man was surprised and repeated the fish is returned to the container, covered with more that he could have anything he wanted, but the guard assured him salt and left to ferment. Veary said that many sellers only that a new home was all he desired. The rich man agreed, thanking leave it for a month but for best results it should be left his guard profusely and sending him home with his reward for a year or more. Once completed, the Brahok can be money. However, as the guard left with his prize, the rich man in cooked a number of different ways and combined with his parting words informed his guard that, despite his gratitude, many other foods! the man must never return to work for him again. An example of Brahok But why??? (Send me an email if you think you’ve figured it out!) Khmer Language Lesson Chum An): to cook ចំអិនអហវ ( I asked Veary, who is often my go-to Khmer េទេដើរេលង (Da leng): to go for a walk teacher, to tell me some of the first Khmer words that came to her mind to teach to a ករពិភក'( (pe pheaksah): discussion bunch of my friends and family back home and here they are. Best of all, I got to learn a ែចករែលក (Chek rom lek): sharing couple new words too! បទពិេសធន៍ (Bot bpetsowt): experiences 21 Pictured above is some of the work done by LWD. On the left is a group measuring land that will soon be cleared for agricultural use. In the middle is a water usage committee repairing the pipes that bring water to their village and on the right is an LWD hosted event celebrating the opening of a new preschool. Life With Dignity Over the past couple months I have passed into a sort of Khmer music on stage, their passion filling me with “second phase” of my YAGM year where everything no hope and inspiration. And over the past couple months longer seems quite as new and instead I am getting to I have gotten to watch the various stages of one experience more of an ordinary life here. And slowly, village’s construction of a community pond that will without even really realizing it, I have become familiar soon supply the families of this village with the much with this place I now call my home. When I go with needed water required to improve their health and coworkers to various villages within our region I now livelihoods. One day, after joking to a coworker for recognize many of the people I see. When I overhear my months about wanting to climb a nearby mountain, a coworkers talking about various places or projects, I group of men from the village agreed to accompany me actually know what they are talking about. And a few to the top, sharing with me a little part of their home weeks ago when my coordinator and a member of the that very few people get to see. ELCA staff from Chicago came to visit my site, I was thrilled to realize that I could explain to them a lot of the Even as I write this I am still only starting to realize just work that our office is doing, something that often how much I have had the privilege of getting to witness completely overwhelmed and baffled me in my first in my time here. And now, as I head into my final four months here. months here (crazy, right??) I am getting to step into yet another phase as I have been asked to serve as a One of the greatest parts of my position with LWD is that Water Management Project Lead, working closely with I get to see a little of all aspects of the work that the several village Water Usage Committees to help organization does. Some days I spend in the office, establish sustainable water systems within the helping edit reports, writing articles about interviews I communities. I look foreword to the new ways this have done in the field, creating maps of water systems or opportunity will continue to help me understand and other random projects. Other days I get to go with my experience life supervisor and attend Agricultural Cooperative or Village here in Cambodia Bank assemblies where I hear about how a community is and I am so working to create alternative ways to manage their thankful for the finances so that the whole community can benefit from people and the profits instead of an outside institution. Often, I get to organization that stop at people’s homes and listen as they share a piece of are helping me to their life with my coworkers and I, such as their newly do so. constructed chicken coop, their watermelon patch or the new home they are building. On special occasions, and these are my favorite, I get to attend gatherings where Me and two coworkers (Keo one of the youth clubs started by LWD performs modern and Bunna) at the top of the mountain we climbed. Often times following dinner, my coworker Pol and I will sit at the table long after everyone Words else as left as he shares stories with me, many of which end in a Khmer Proverb. I asked Pol if he would share to Think his favorite proverb to include in this newsletter and here it is! “កំហុសរែមងមនដល់អ្កេធ្ើ អ្កេនឥតអំេពើ បនអ្ីនឹងខុស” About: “Blame for error always lies with those who act; those who do nothing, what do they have to be wrong about?” Meet those who helped Contribute! Veary!! Veary serves as the Empowerment Program Officer for our office. She has one of the biggest hearts I know as well as one of the best laughs! She is the mother of one son, Viriak, who is currently finishing up his masters in China. Though she denies it, Veary is an incredible English speaker and my favorite times in the office are often spent sitting and chatting with her over snacks. She also denies that she can sing, but last weekend we sang a duet together to “My Heart Will Go On” and I will never again sing it with anyone but her! Veary is generous, confident, affectionate, hardworking, and at times, just lil’ bit sassy, so in other words she is my role model. Sarun!! My supervisor and host father, I can’t imagine my life here with out him.