Feeble Attempts

Chinese:

Hello --> Ni Hao

Thank you --> Xie Xie

Vietnamese:

Hello --> Sin Jeao

Thank you --> Cam On

Cambodian:

Hello --> Sue se day

Thank you --> Acun

(spellings are phonetic--I can't spell correctly in English--I certainly am not going to attempt it in Mandarin, Vietnames or Cambodian!)

The past few days in Cambodia have really opened my eyes in ways I didn't expect. Last night we went to a cello concert to raise money for a free children's hospital that operates in Siem Reap. We expected a few cellists and a bucket of money for donations. What we saw was a despirate appeal by one doctor fighting time, poverty, history, the WHO (World Health Organization--who says that his hospitals are too sophisticated Cambodia's ecoconomy--promoting (according to the doctor) a "poor healthcare for poor countries" mindset) and the "me first" nature of Capitalism-- to try to provide proper health for the poor children of Cambodia.

Dr Beat Richner lived in Phnom Penh before the Khmere Rouge takeover and returned in 1991 at the request of Cambodia's King. He holds concerts for tourists every Thursday and Saturday night to educate the world to the health situation in Cambodia and of the West's resposibility for the current condition. He uses the phrase "passive genocide" to describe the international community's apathy towards the health of Cambodian children (case in point: when SARS broke out 4 years ago--CNN, TV Cinq, CCTV etc....all filled their broadcast hours with coverage. At the same time in Cambodia, a Denque outbreak was paralyzing and killing thousands of babies throughout the countryside--many more than were affected by SARS...but no coverage). If you are interested in learning more, you can view Dr Richner's website at http://www.beat-richner.ch/index.html

Dr Richner states in no uncertain terms that the US Secret Bombing of Cambodia and the distruction that it caused (about 2/5 of the country was destroyed by US B52's with no US public knowledge of the action until much later) allowed the conditions for the takeover by the Khmere Rouge and Pol Pot's genocidal reign.

Whatever you believe and whatever the causes are--the fact remains that Cambodia is just now emerging from a long history of war and terror. After the Khmere Rouge came the Vietnamese invasion...and the result of it all--war from the US, the Khmere Rouge, Vietnam...the Cambodians are still dealing with landmines, poverty, Dengue Fever, inadequate healthcare and vast corruption.

In the face of all of this--we find ourselves making feeble attempts to make pennence to this country--and the others that we visit along the way. And I must again assert that these are feeble efforts at best. We buy our souvenirs from businesses that sell the goods of crippled children or who employ disabled persons. We eat at restaurants that pull young people off the streets and train them in cooking, food service and business. We give money to the crippled landmine victims. We invite our tuk-tuk drivers to diner (that was Justin and Rachel's doing--and I can't commend them enough for their thoughtfulness. Tonight we ate with our driver, his wife and their two children and it was one of the highlights of the trip). After hearing about the Dengue epidemic that is taking so many of the children here, I went to the hospital today and tried to give blood--but wasn't elligible for now--I'll probably try again in Thailand if they need it.

Anyway--we try to be conciensious travelers--we try to show respect to the inhabitors of the country that we are trapsing through--we try to learn enough basic phrases to be polite--we try to shop wisely etc....but all of it seems soo slight. How do you apologize for being a part of the System that keeps the rich rich and the poor poor? More importantly, how do bring about change? Not just change in the sense of where we choose to buy souvenirs, but change in the lasting, systemic way.

As I write this, I know that I'm just another traveler backpacking through Southeast Asia and that these thoughts are nothing new. It's a 'coming of age' for all rich, white people when we are first surrounded by poverty and when they see the effects of warfare on regular people--the ones who are called "collateral damage" by our government. I'm just another one in a thousand--and I know that. But I have this blog and this is what I see and what I'm thinking--so I figured that I might as well share it all tonight.

Because I'm feeling that "feeble attempts" just won't get the job done.