The current CLEW Dorm was rented by Marnie & Ford back in about 2006 and has been home to the students since then. As we became involved in 2008, we increased the number of students living here to the point that it is no longer feasible. There are about 25 students and graduates living there now. Initially, we had just the one side of the duplex and then added the upstairs of the other half while the owner lives downstairs. A recent addition this year is a restaurant on the sidewalk in front of the dorm that you can see with the umbrellas in the picture on the right. This is operated by the owner of the building. My tuk tuk driver is there as well as an older gentleman sharpening knives. The convenience store, "Wall's" is handy to have next door.
As I have mentioned, there is one main room on the second floor that does triple duty. It is a place to eat meals, study and have English classes as well as sleep. The only furniture in the room is some book shelves on one side, cloth closets on the other and a few desks with computers. At night time, they pull out their sleeping mats and pillows. About 9 girls sleep in the main room while the others sleep in the smaller rooms in the duplex on the other side.
What surprised me most is when I asked about some nylon ropes that were hanging from the walls and were all frayed. I asked what these were used for. They explained that they were for the mosquito netting that they sleep under. I had no idea that they were doing this as I thought this would only have been required outside the city. I asked them to show me so with lots of giggling, they demonstrated the mosquito "tent". Apparently about 3 of them sleep in each tent and there are 3 tents put up each night in this main room. I asked Bandol about this later and she confirmed that everybody in Cambodia sleeps under mosquito nets unless you have an air conditioned room to sleep in. If you don't, you will wake up with lots of mosquito bites in the morning or worse, you will become infected with a disease like malaria. Although my doctor advised me that the risk of malaria is low in Phnom Penh, I'm glad I have an air conditioned room and I've been taking my malaria pills daily!
We provide new students with bicycles to ride to school while the older students and graduates buy small motorcycles/scooters to get around. It is about a 15 minute ride to the university.