MY LAST WEEKEND JOURNEY TO COLLEGE

Yuck! It was very terrible for my journey to college last weekend. On that day, it was raining at night and it made difficulty for passengers in the area. As you see in the picture, the passengers in the taxi had to push the car while traveling down the mountain.Sorry that I didn't help them.

However, it was the last bad situations in rainy season in Cambodia cos this part of the road has been smoothed down that help make improve the situation better. Now trucks and cars can cross Phnom Proek Mountain easily…if it doesn't rain!

Yet we all here face new problem. It is now cold and the road is dusty with millions of pot hole on the road. Some foreigners who live in Cambodia called this dustiness ‘CAMBODIAN SNOW’. Maybe you have never experienced this condition.I sometimes find it very difficult to bear with the faul road like this...very very bumpy .

Farming In Phnom Proek

Most people in the district are former Khmer Rouges who integrated into the Royal Government of Cambodia in 1996. In only a few years they have cleared a large area of forest to be their own farms after expensive wood was cut and exported to Thailand during their control. Since then they stared growing corns beans sesames soy beans and topioca. Unfortunately they have to bear with very difficult road in transporting their agricultural products from their farm to the market which depends on only Thai businessman.. They often cheapen the price that put more pressure on our farmers. Because we have no choice, we have to let their trucks cross the border deep inside Cambodian territory and remain in Cambodia at any time they want.

The Rain

Rain in Phnom Proek
When it rains, everywhere is flooded. The roads fill with water and the streams water level become very high. Most of the schools in Phnom Proek have to close as students cannot travel to school on muddy road with some places are cut by water flowing across the road. In the picture, it has rained all day which effected on traveling and transportation in the whole district.

Room A5

My Weekends And My Course
At weekends I normally travel more than a hundred kilometer from Cambodian-Thai border on muddy and dusty roads to go to college in Battambang. But I find it very happy when I am in my classroom with my friends and lecturers. I sometimes spend a great time with my buddies chatting and eating. We are now seniors at University of Battambang in semester 2.We are finishing our course in January next year. I hope that all I have learnt at UBB will help me to find a good job in the near future.

My Day

Everyday I have to get up very early to do some washing before getting ready to start work at 8.It’s a must that I travel more than 30km a day down and up the mountain to work on muddy dusty and bumpy road. When it rained, I had to walk my motorbike up the mountain whereas other cars were pulled by tractor! In this picture you can see what the road look like.

My Background

I am Sophea.I am 28 years old and I live in the remote area of Phnom Proek in Battambang province along the Cambodian-Thai border…very close to the border. And my house is only 200m from the stream which both sides consider as unspecific border.

I have worked as a secondary school teacher in Phnom Proek for six years.You know? The first time I arrived in the area of former Khmer Rouge region I had to stay in the pagoda with some very young monks! At that time I was afraid of mine and malaria yet that’s fine now as most of the landmines have been cleared by CMAC and Hallo Trust.

I have been working with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) since November last year. Sharing Skills, Changing Life is a common word used in our organization. Of course, we are working together as a team. We mutually exchange our experience and skills in our team. I have learnt a lot from Jon and Chris. They adapt themselves very easily into Khmer society. Our team in Phnom Proek worked very hard in the community….traveled through the corn field and across the mountain in some day to visit improper school on the farm in the forest.

My Brief Impression

Hello from UBB in Cambodia!

At the beginning of my first word in this page, I would like to say “thank you” to my classmates at University of Battambang who always friendly to me and understand me cos I know that I am very playful sometimes. At the same time, thank you very much to Mr. Seng Chey Vuth, a lecturer at UBB, who taught me how to create my homepage.In addition,I would like to say to my lecturer that I have learnt a lot from his course .I really appreciate his effort and commitment. Without his help and the presence of the guest speaker, the process of creating my blog would never happen. I hope he doesn't mind with the atmosphere in our classroom as some students are a bit talkative include me as well.