Siem Reap, Cambodia
After staying overnight in Bangkok on Friday, James and I flew to Siem Reap. This is an ancient town with temples dating back to 1st century - many have been restored, a few are in the process of over ten years of restoration. Rather than add a history lesson to these images I'm just going to caption them, but years of warfare and disease have left a country rich in heritage to be poor in health and wealth. Our days were spent among the temples (Angkor means temple) and the nights were spent listening to Cambodian techno, watching the Chelsea football (soccer) game, and talking to the locals. Many of the locals have a sense of better times to come but lament the corruptness of the government and the lack of healthcare in their country.
I will tell one quick story. The first night we were in town, we went to what was advertised as a cello concert played by the head doctor of the local childrens hospital (there are only three hospitals in ALL of Cambodia). It ended up being 15 mintues of music and 45 minutes of lecturing about how dire the situation is in Cambodia and how westerners have a bad attitude and don't help out this country who so intensely needs all the help it could get. He shot down the government for being corrupt and the foreigners for being selectively ignorant. While the statistics he presented were mind-boggling (60% of Cambodians have tuberculosis) and he reiterated time and time again that malaria and AIDS are huge problems, which "were brought to Cambodia by the west", there was something about his plea for money that made me feel similar to when I arrived at the airport with no transportation arranged and became prey to the many drivers who shouted and clammered to drive us until the police came over and asked them to disperse... i felt like i was only welcome there as a dollar sign. By the way, in Cambodia most of the money transactions are done in American dollars - now, I haven't seen green in four months and it was actually a bit discomforting to see it for the first time again here. But I digress... having left the concert that was more of a lecture, it was interesting to hear from the locals that this man was known, yes, for doing good things, but also for being out on the town drunk with two prostitutes on his arm and exaggerating his claim as to how many children were treated at that hospital. And as we were to discover the temples, our guide would also point out that the school was built by the French, the hospital by the Swiss, and the resotration of the temples was being done by the Japanese and the French. But looking around in the auditorium that night while the good doctor went on and on, I saw people nodding their heads "yes, this is a horrific situation", "yes we westerners are terrible terrible people and should be shamed" "yes, let me give you - the healer, the incorruptable, the bringer of light - money". And I guarantee you that most of them went farther into their wallets than into the culture that would have shown that indeed this man was no better than those whom he was shaking his finger at.
Just as a note, we stayed at the FCC, a comfortable and unimposing colonial structure:
http://www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/
I will tell one quick story. The first night we were in town, we went to what was advertised as a cello concert played by the head doctor of the local childrens hospital (there are only three hospitals in ALL of Cambodia). It ended up being 15 mintues of music and 45 minutes of lecturing about how dire the situation is in Cambodia and how westerners have a bad attitude and don't help out this country who so intensely needs all the help it could get. He shot down the government for being corrupt and the foreigners for being selectively ignorant. While the statistics he presented were mind-boggling (60% of Cambodians have tuberculosis) and he reiterated time and time again that malaria and AIDS are huge problems, which "were brought to Cambodia by the west", there was something about his plea for money that made me feel similar to when I arrived at the airport with no transportation arranged and became prey to the many drivers who shouted and clammered to drive us until the police came over and asked them to disperse... i felt like i was only welcome there as a dollar sign. By the way, in Cambodia most of the money transactions are done in American dollars - now, I haven't seen green in four months and it was actually a bit discomforting to see it for the first time again here. But I digress... having left the concert that was more of a lecture, it was interesting to hear from the locals that this man was known, yes, for doing good things, but also for being out on the town drunk with two prostitutes on his arm and exaggerating his claim as to how many children were treated at that hospital. And as we were to discover the temples, our guide would also point out that the school was built by the French, the hospital by the Swiss, and the resotration of the temples was being done by the Japanese and the French. But looking around in the auditorium that night while the good doctor went on and on, I saw people nodding their heads "yes, this is a horrific situation", "yes we westerners are terrible terrible people and should be shamed" "yes, let me give you - the healer, the incorruptable, the bringer of light - money". And I guarantee you that most of them went farther into their wallets than into the culture that would have shown that indeed this man was no better than those whom he was shaking his finger at.
Just as a note, we stayed at the FCC, a comfortable and unimposing colonial structure:
http://www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/
posted by Stephanie at 3:43 PM
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