Mozzeenet

Started learning Khmer this week - one of Sonia’s friends is teaching us twice a week. He’s a good teacher - we started learning the Khmer alphabet - it’s like sanscrit.

I’ve been doing some technology and training assessments this week across the various departments. So far, I’ve done networking, Services and Radio. I’ve learnt a lot - there’s a huge range of hardware here from very old computers to very recent, depending on what has been donated. The women are keen to learn but have had limited access to resources and knowledge.

It’s exciting talking to them. I am getting my head around what is needed. I’ll be starting with Basic Computer Maintenance and Skills training in May. A big concern for the organisation is viruses which have wiped out whole hard drives recently. It appears they get the viruses from floppy disks and email. So looking at putting some procedures in place for virus protection, getting anti-virus software and educating the staff about how viruses occur.

Yesterday, we all went to a funeral ceremony for the mother of one of the staff. It’s more like a celebration with food - everyone sits at tables and there is a monk praying at the front. The relatives of the deceased wear a white sash across their chest. The house was about 30 minutes out of PP - a different world altogether, more rural and very green. There were lots of wooden houses built on stilts over the water.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia