Day 1 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Steung Meanchey Rubbish Dump)

So here I was, at Phnom Penh with Jerry and SF and a group of about 20 Singaporeans. We were invited to take a look at the activities of VisionFund at Cambodia. Prior to my trip, I did not know that VisionFund is another arm of World Vision. While World Vision takes care of the poorest, VisionFund helps the next in line. $ are donated to help villagers setup their own biz.

We were hosted by a very warm Fadeth, who is cheerful and bubbly :)

After waking up early in the morning to catch a flight to Phnom Penh, it was good that we manage to catch a short rest before meeting again to go to Vision Fund Cambodia.

At the briefing we were given a file with information on the VisionFund and how they disburse the $$ to the villagers, the role of loan officers and the education that goes behind each loan.

I particularly like the diagram about how having less debts makes you float higher (it was a pictorial representation of house flying upwards when it has more assets and less debts!)

The afternoon was then spent visiting Steung Meanchey Slum in outskirts of Phnom Penh. It is one thing to hear, watch or see documentaries about these slums. It is another to be surrounded by the sheer poverty in the rubbish dump. Children were picking rubbish and a lone worker bent painstakingly to pick the plastic bottle which will be packed and sold to the many recycling centers that are nearby.

The children and adults were eating and earning a living at this municipal rubbish dump, the biggest in Phnom Penh it seems. However, soon they'd have to move else where as the site has been bought for re-development.

A quick check on google reveals a couple of good websites that say a bit more on this area. Here's one where the pix are pretty good
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/sets/386746/)


and my clip on this (pix by jerry)



I left the place with lotsa of thots - it never occurred to me that 1.5hours from Singapore, children are having a tough time trying to fill their tummies in a place where you will not usually associate with food - the rubbish dump!

Simple pleasures that children in Singapore take for granted - Oreos, pencils and erasers are all eagerly received by the children!