Justin Trudeau recently said that “Indigenous people can teach the world how to care for the planet. “ After visiting a number of indigenous villages, I have to say that I agree with him.
While visiting Cambodia this month, I had the opportunity to travel to Mondulkiri province with two of our indigenous students, Sreyneang Loek and Monyroth Srey. There was a national holiday for the “Water Festival” so everyone had 3 days off from November 24 – 26. Also joining us on the trip were another indigenous friend of Sreyneang’s, Sophea, and two of my friends, Susan Green and Paula Stromberg, both from Vancouver. Susan is a Law Professor at RULE where our CLEW students study and Paula is a film maker currently documenting the working conditions at the garment factories here.
While visiting Cambodia this month, I had the opportunity to travel to Mondulkiri province with two of our indigenous students, Sreyneang Loek and Monyroth Srey. There was a national holiday for the “Water Festival” so everyone had 3 days off from November 24 – 26. Also joining us on the trip were another indigenous friend of Sreyneang’s, Sophea, and two of my friends, Susan Green and Paula Stromberg, both from Vancouver. Susan is a Law Professor at RULE where our CLEW students study and Paula is a film maker currently documenting the working conditions at the garment factories here.
Sreyneang graduated with a Khmer Law degree and has completed 3 years of her English Law degree. She has been sponsored by the United Nations to attend numerous conferences around the world to represent Cambodian Indigenous women. Sreyneang works for the Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Organization. Part of her work is at Mondulkiri province and part is in Phnom Penh where she does her reports about the communities.
Monyroth was recommended to CLEW by Sreyneang last year. She is currently in her second year studying Law. She is from a village that is being displaced because of dams being built on the Sesan branch of the Mekong River.
Please see my previous blog post from December 22, 2014 about Srey Monyroth and Prak Phuong's first day with CLEW: http://travelwithruth.weebly.com/blog/more-clew-magic-two-more-new-students
Monyroth was recommended to CLEW by Sreyneang last year. She is currently in her second year studying Law. She is from a village that is being displaced because of dams being built on the Sesan branch of the Mekong River.
Please see my previous blog post from December 22, 2014 about Srey Monyroth and Prak Phuong's first day with CLEW: http://travelwithruth.weebly.com/blog/more-clew-magic-two-more-new-students
Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia
Mondulkiri is north east of Phnom Penh on the border of Vietnam. It is about a 6 hour drive from Phnom Penh to Senmonorom, the capital city of Mondulkiri province. The province is quite different from other parts of Cambodia as it has pine forests, rolling hills, waterfalls and cooler temperatures. Although it is quite sparsely populated, there is a large indigenous population with numerous tribes having lived here for centuries. They rely on crops such as rice, coffee, rubber, cashews as well as many fruits and vegetables. They are dependant on wood and timber from the forests to cook their food and build their homes.
The indigenous people represent only about 1.5% of Cambodia’s population but there are 24 tribes, each with their own language and culture. Sadly, they have been targets of racism and victims of displacement from their ancestral lands because of the Government of Cambodia’s project development plan. During the Khmer Rouge regime in the 70s about half of the population in this province was killed and their land taken. Those who survived were forced into labour camps to grow rice.
The indigenous people represent only about 1.5% of Cambodia’s population but there are 24 tribes, each with their own language and culture. Sadly, they have been targets of racism and victims of displacement from their ancestral lands because of the Government of Cambodia’s project development plan. During the Khmer Rouge regime in the 70s about half of the population in this province was killed and their land taken. Those who survived were forced into labour camps to grow rice.
Indigenous People's Hotel
Our first stop was to visit the Indigenous People’s Hotel which is owned by the Director of the Indigenous organization where Sreyneang works. The Director’s name is Yun Mane and she is a Bunong Woman from Mondulkiri. Guests stay in traditional huts, designed and built by indigenous people. These huts have electricity, washrooms and a shower, unlike the original ones and they’re only $10 per night. While there, we enjoyed a traditional meal of rice and 3 different dishes of meat and vegetables.
Sreyneang's village, Pu Treng, of the Bunong Tribe
Next we went to Sreyneang’s village, called Pu Treng, which is home to about 600 families. Although the highway to Mondulkiri is quite good, the dirt roads into the villages are really dusty and full of pot holes. The roads are an orangey red and the dust permeates everything and makes things look rusty.
There was one primary school and one secondary school, a couple of stores and a wooden church. There were lots of farm animals wandering freely – pigs, chickens, ducks, dogs, cows as well as many fruit trees, vegetables and herbs in the gardens. I asked Sreyneang if the animals were communal but she said, no, everyone knew where they belonged.
There was one primary school and one secondary school, a couple of stores and a wooden church. There were lots of farm animals wandering freely – pigs, chickens, ducks, dogs, cows as well as many fruit trees, vegetables and herbs in the gardens. I asked Sreyneang if the animals were communal but she said, no, everyone knew where they belonged.
We arrived in the late afternoon and our first impression was how well the village was maintained. There wasn’t much garbage strewn around like we’ve seen elsewhere – no plastic bottles or Styrofoam containers littering the ditches. After meeting Sreyneang’s family, we took a walk around the village. As the sun was setting, people were preparing their dinners, kids were running around playing games and the animals were heading to their respective homes for food. Paula tried to take pictures of a couple of little kids but they were afraid of her. She tried to show them the pictures on the camera but they wouldn’t go close enough to look. They stood back a few feet and smiled and giggled.
We met a number of neighbours as they cooked their meals over open wood fires in their kitchens which were usually separate from their living/sleeping quarters
We met Ly Sophan, the first woman to graduate from university, and Sreyneang is the second from this village. Sophan was home visiting her younger sister who got married 3 years ago and now has 3 kids. We also saw the local church which was built by Christian missionaries. There is a mix of Buddhists and Christians in the village. Sreyneang is Buddhist but she says the Christians go to church every Sunday.
We met Ly Sophan, the first woman to graduate from university, and Sreyneang is the second from this village. Sophan was home visiting her younger sister who got married 3 years ago and now has 3 kids. We also saw the local church which was built by Christian missionaries. There is a mix of Buddhists and Christians in the village. Sreyneang is Buddhist but she says the Christians go to church every Sunday.
Sreyneang's Family
Sreyneang’s family is led by her mother as her abusive father left them 6 years ago. There are 6 kids in the family with Sreyneang being the oldest at 24 and her youngest sister is 7. One brother was away when we were there.
After a lovely walk as the sun set, we went back to Sreyneang’s for dinner. I was impressed that it was her oldest brother cooking the meal with oversight by her mother. It was delicious! We sat around a big carved wooden table that was bought a number of years ago by Sreyneang’s father. Even though it is very valuable, her mother doesn’t want to sell it although it would help her financially.
Sreyneang’s mother gave us a demonstration of how she weaves scarves and then gave each of us a scarf that she had previously made. I then bought more scarves from her and from a neighbour to sell at our next fund raising event in Canada.
Sreyneang’s mother gave us a demonstration of how she weaves scarves and then gave each of us a scarf that she had previously made. I then bought more scarves from her and from a neighbour to sell at our next fund raising event in Canada.
Sreyneang's family home
The Loek’s current family home has a dirt floor and is not in very good condition to raise this many children. Sreyneang has worked very hard to make money to help her mother build a new home. One of the things she has also done is save money that she is given by the UN to travel to conferences. She was in Geneva for 6 weeks last summer and was given a daily food allowance because things are so expensive there. Sreyneang packed her suitcase full of noodles so she could eat them and save her money. The good news is that her new family home is almost completed so they will be ready to move in soon!
Bou Sra Waterfalls, Mondulkiri
For our second day there, we visited a coffee plantation and the Bou Sra waterfalls. Both were really beautiful. Unfortunately, the holiday meant there were crowds of people at the falls but we managed to find a nice spot to relax and enjoy the rushing water and cooler air.
Prak Phuong's village, Lam Mes
Next, we went to an indigenous village called Lam Mes where another one of our indigenous students is from. Prak Phuong was also referred to CLEW by Sreyneang and started studying Law last year with Monyroth. Phuong wasn’t able to join us this trip as she had work to do for school. So, we met her brother, Prak Bun Nhong, instead. He works at the nearby rubber plantation. In his spare time, he teaches English to the local children. He showed us their home and his classroom.
Please see my previous blog post from December 22, 2014 about Prak Phuong's first day with CLEW: http://travelwithruth.weebly.com/blog/more-clew-magic-two-more-new-students
Please see my previous blog post from December 22, 2014 about Prak Phuong's first day with CLEW: http://travelwithruth.weebly.com/blog/more-clew-magic-two-more-new-students
Drinking water
One thing I’ve noticed is that each of the homes has an urn outside where they catch rainwater. Just about every house in the indigenous villages had one of these urns. Some looked better than others and some were covered. The fact that some aren’t covered is not good because animals can get into it. I saw one little girl scooping her cup into her urn to get a drink of water. In the dry season, they have to go get water from the village well. Sreyneang’s village has a well that was built by the Red Cross so they have to tote their water from there.
CLEW Graduate working at the Ministry of Women's Affairs
Phallikol Phok is our first graduate from CLEW and she is currently living and working in Mondulkiri province. She joined us for our second day and took us for a tour of her office at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. They were previously housed in a small building that was both the office and a residence for staff but they just finished building a new office and the previous building is now an expanded staff residence. Phallikol lives there when she is not travelling around the province on missions doing presentations for villages on topics such as gender issues and domestic violence.
After seeing the Ministry offices, we went to see one more waterfall where I had a chance to sit on an elephant. Then, we ended the day by going up to a lookout where we had a beautiful view of the sunset before going for dinner at a Nature Eco Lodge. It was a really nice way to end the day!
Long trip back to Phnom Penh
On our third and last day, we decided to head back to Phnom Penh early in the morning to avoid the evening holiday traffic. However, we stopped into one more indigenous village before getting on the highway. Unfortunately, I think all of the dirt pot-holed roads were too much for our van. About half an hour down the highway, it overheated and we had to pull over. After numerous calls and arrangements, our tour operator was able to find another van despite everything being booked for the holiday. We had to wait 4 hours at the side of the road for our new van to arrive. We made the best of the time by going for walks in the nearby pine forest and having a picnic lunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. A guy on a bike selling dumplings stopped by and sold us some dumplings. At least there was a lovely breeze and it wasn’t stifling hot like it would have been closer to Phnom Penh.
Just before our new van arrived, an old beat up van came to tow the broken down van. One of the plans had been to tow us back to Phnom Penh but I said NO WAY to do that! As it turns out, they towed the van by using a log and tying it at either end with rope to attach to each of the vehicles. So unsafe that I couldn’t believe it! However, I heard the next day that they made it back to Phnom Penh that way. Our “new” van was in pretty rough shape when it arrived, being the last one available. It was all dusty and the shocks were totally gone so we would almost hit our heads when we went over any bumps. We had broken down at 9:30 in the morning and I arrived back at my apartment at 8:45 p.m. It was a very long day but we made it!!