We got our site placement today! I'll spare you the anticipation that they made us go through, but I am going to Svay Rieng Province. I basically got everything I wanted for a site. It's two hours down the road from Phnom Penh. It's about 10k from the provincial capital where there will be more things. Another volunteer lives there and I can bike in pretty easily to see her. The internet is said to be spotty there, so who knows how much internet access I will have.
In addition to a school and a health center, there is a microfinance institution near by. The town is also walkable, though I will ride my bike lots of places.
My site is a replacement site, meaning a Peace Corps Volunteer was there before. Hence, I received a report written by her. She had excellent relationships with her school director, a co-teacher and he volunteered at the health center. I look forward to building off of her work.
Svay Rieng has few westerners (Lonely Planet says you can see the entire province through the window of a bus), so I will be immersed in Khmer and have to do my work in Khmer.
Unfortunately, I do not know my particular living situation yet. Peace Corps said there are plenty of families that I can live with, but they have not narrowed it down yet. So, I will stay with a teacher when I go to visit the site this weekend.
I will provide more details once I see the site.
Peace Corps has had our site chosen since Saturday or Sunday, but has made us wait until we were all together for a seminar day (the group is split into two training districts). Everyone was pretty anxious to find out their site and when we got to Takeo, they made us sit through a presentation about mental illness and dermatological health. Our poor Peace Corps Medical Officer had to try to keep our attention while we were waiting for our site announcements.
After her presentation, we went outside where there was a makeshift map of Cambodia with flags for each site. The staff drew an envelope which had a trainee's name on it. The trainee came up, read their site, found it on the map, and then had to draw another envelope for the next trainee. Luckily, I was one of the first to be called, so I found my site quickly. Overall, it seems everyone got what they wanted, but we'll see what happens once site visit comes about.
Please comment on my blog: Do people have questions? Am I painting a clear picture of Cambodia?
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2 comments:
it all sounds so intense but it also sounds very interesting. if you ever get a chance put up a picture or two. I hope all is well.
Hi Jeremy,
I wanted to let you know how much your blogs mean (yours in particular and all of the Cambodian volunteers') for those of us back at home. I'm Nathan and Jennifer's mom/mom-in-law, and I enjoy reading all of the blogs! You've painted a great picture of the day to day life and challenges for a PC Volunteer in Cambodia! I don't usually comment on blogs, but since you specifically asked, I thought it might be nice to know how great it is to hear about all the average everyday details for those of us silently supporting your great work.
All the best,
Sharon
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