After Kenya, Cambodia is the second poorest country we have visited.
I can feel the changes slightly taking place inside of me, that I consider to come from traveling: as I write "second poorest", I feel it is not quite right to say it like that.
Similarly to Kenya, the Cambodian people is a smiling one, and were it not for a century of economic and cultural domination of the West, we would not be stuck in certain mindsets and standards when it comes to measuring "wealth" and "poverty".
On the way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, we stopped in front of a house, in the middle of a dirt road, a half-hour truck drive from the closest urban center.
The house was standing on its stilts, which looked strong and built to last. The house itself looked like it was only one room. In the space below it, without walls to close it from the wind, dirt, or gaze of passer-bys, a middle-aged man was napping in a hammock. Around, kids were playing with second-hand toys, their clothes worn, the youngest boy simply running around naked. In front of the house, a water pump. "Like it was for you a century ago", as they say. Or even "like in the middle ages".
Animals sniffed around in the neighborhood, looking for grass or grain. To separate each house and the piece of land around it from the next, identical-twin looking one, some fruit trees (banana, coconut) or cereals. No flower, no ornament of any sort was visible, except the odd shrine at the corner, with burnt incense sticks and small porcelain Buddha statue.
The encounter with the family living in the house was a materialization of the word "uneasiness", and I forbid myself to take pictures. I wanted to leave some of my extra tshirts to them, but did not know if they needed tham at all, or whether they would feel offended that I thought they needed my charity.
Cambodia has been out of civil war for less than 20 years, and the country lacks all the basics. A government spokesman explained in a Western business investment magazine that they did not have electricity until 1994 (in the Christian Era calendar, yes...), and now they do but it is still very expensive.
The image of that family, living in that house, is burnt in my mind. This is where we come from: a house made from natural material (wood and leaves), a household of many generations with numerous children, living outside during the day, sleeping all together on the floor, or a shared mattress with any luck. A hand pump in front of the house, which provides water for the whole "block", or at least a handful of families.
This is what every country went through, at some point of their history. For generations and generations, until "development" came, bringing nation-wide infrastructures and revolutionizing the role and power of the individual, and therefore the structure of the society. But we do not know what it feels like to be without running water and to be left hungry, rather than with a full belly, at the end of a meal. In our world travel, we have been to a few places where we did not have running water ourselves, or we had to cross an open field to reach the toilet, which was nothing else than four planks nailed together around a hole in the ground. But it is not our life standard.
And I believe this huge gap in daily reality, between "us" from the West, and "them" the more than 60% or 70% of the world population without access to all of our goodness (comfort/luxury), is a critical issue blocking us from effectively thinking new ways for "development", "community building", and "help".
It also reinforces an idea I've had for 6 years now, which is that as the guy sitting at the top of the world, with everything anyone could ever wish for, I have a responsibility to give back. Not give money and not care how it's used, nor give money and say "do what I command you". Rather, I see my responsibility as coming into contact with underprivileged people, listening to their needs, but most importantly their ideas; as understanding what works and what does not work, and why, when it comes to fighting poverty; as building bridges to bring joy and new means of expression without sacrificing the old customs and the human energy that flow in those communities.
The investment I am to make cannot be measured in euros or dollars, only in years. It is not about how much I can help to increase the income of a household, it is about how can I support their smiles.
The proper response to life is applause.
I hope to help in re-writing the scenario a bit, so we can all applause together, the sooner the better.
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| Motorbikes and unstable trucks swarm on Cambodian roads, carrying all kinds of load on their back, from wood beams to live pigs to whole families. Haystacks line the roads across rural areas (right side, on the picture above) |
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| The world-known profile of Angkor Wat, reflected on the water |
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| Happy me :) |
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| A traditional dance show, with a 50cm-high head-wear, at the back of the stage a replica of stone carving from Angkor Tom temple. |
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| Stone monkey-men guarding the central tower and the shrine in an old temple around the Angkor Wat area. In early 20th century, French writer and future minister of culture André Malraux came in the region and "borrowed" a few archeological pieces, that were later sent back to Cambodia |
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| Stone faces carved at the top of Angkor Tom temple |
