From rags-to-riches — Cambodia’s contrasts

It’s been a crazy week but yesterday was a day of massive contrasts. One of those rags-to-riches kind of days.
We were invited to join Together for Cambodia on a visit to some of their far-flung grannies. I love the oldies here and these grannies are just sa’aat (beautiful).

This visit was part of TFC’s Diamond Age program. It is a really wonderful program supporting grandparents in the community. Some have no family but the grannies we visited yesterday are the sole carers for their grandchildren, and some of them are doing it tough — or they were until TFC stepped in to help. These grannies are in Banteay Mancheay province, about an hour and a half drive from Siem Reap.
The first grandma lived with her sister, who is about 10 years older and together they are caring for her two-year-old  granddaughter. The girl’s mother has gone to Thailand and they haven’t heard from her and don’t know where she is or how she is. It is very sad. However, it is a positive for the little girl that she is able to stay with family, thanks to the care packages delivered every few months and the wonderfully supportive community around them. The neighbours all look out for them and help out where they can.
So, the purpose of our visit was to deliver one of these care packages — a sack of rice, dried fish and sausages and a box of dry goods. Sometimes it includes medicine. And the visit is a way to check on their health and their emotional state and to see how they are doing. They were all doing well and the little girl looked very healthy. My purpose was to take photos so TFC has some high quality images of this wonderful care program. And it was such a pleasure to do. These ladies are so thankful, so appreciative, so welcoming and were full of big smiles and gratitude.

But a trip to anywhere here is always a bit of an adventure. The road in and out was pretty rough and bumpy with massive pot holes and before getting to the next granny we had a little drama with the brakes on the car and had to stop for impromptu repairs.
The great thing about this country is you can find someone who can do the job — at least well enough for you to get safely home — and they can do it straight away. No, “oh sure we can book you in next week and it will take us two days”. Just pull up and park and within five minutes the wheel is removed. Ten minutes later and the guy is taking off on his motorbike to get a part you need and an hour later you are on your way again.
So we managed to track down some cold beverages in a big orange esky up the road and snap a few photos of the local shops and traffic while we waited. That’s petrol on the left in the alcohol and soft drink bottles. Cold drinks in the orange esky, an LPG pump in the middle, filling gas bottles on the right. And at the back — a hair and beauty salon.


The next granny looks after five of her grandchildren. Again, they don’t know where the mother is. The children range in age from about five or six through to 18 and are a delightful bunch of young urchins, full of fun and mischief and wanting to engage, despite the language barrier. The Joker is always good at this, he has them laughing and trying to chase him. This family is also doing well. They also receive a lot of support from their neighbours and they are in a lovely warm, caring community, where children can run and play and neighbours drop in on each other. Two NGOs and the community banded together to build them a new house, one high off the ground, with sturdy walls and space to move.

Cambodia has a very young population. A big percentage of people are aged under 25. The nation’s tragic recent history saw almost a generation of people wiped out and many of those who were left were displaced. There is no welfare in Cambodia and no pension system, although there is talk of introducing some kind of pension scheme. Consequently, old people with no families really do struggle. Some keep working — and it’s often hard, physical work — some beg. It’s lovely that these ladies are being well looked after.

Rags to riches

In stark contrast to the dusty village, where chickens walked through homes and children tore around on bikes and in bare feet, squealing with laughter, the evening saw me (still in my dusty, sweaty duds and my trusty thongs — flip flops for non-Aussies) at one of Siem Reap’s ritziest and newest restaurants.
I was on a photo assignment for the local rag, taking photos at Malis restaurant. It’s sister restaurant in Phnom Penh is well known and Malis Siem Reap opened it’s doors on Monday. It’s a very classy establishment. Plenty of ritz and glitz and stunning meals. Stunning. I photographed three and one dessert but I didn’t sample so I can only tell you what it looked like. This one was a rib eye with prahok sauce or marinade.

It was another world, one I don’t visit often. It is far removed from the world and the people I know here. The tuk tuk drivers and the teachers, waitresses and farmers. This elite club is for just a few of the upper echelons.
And while it was lovely, I’m not sure which is the richer of the two — the down-to-earth local restaurant where everyone sits on plastic chairs and meals are cooked on open stoves on the side of the street, or the classy tables with candles and fancy settings, gourmet dishes and stunning cocktails.
It really was a day of rags-to-riches — or maybe not — maybe it was just a day of riches. It was certainly a lot of fun.