Below is an article I've been working on this week. It details the connection between health and religion in Cambodia, and how IRD would be wise to begin utilizing local relgious leaders in their work.
"To avoid the heat, the ceremony began early. The rented red plastic chairs were full and the babies were pacified with dried noddles. Rising to speak was the village chief; behind him a man in orange robes came into view.
The presence of a monk at a Child Survival Program event is uncommon. The target of International Relief and Development’s USAID funded grant is to decrease the morbidity and mortality rates of children in the struggling Tuk Phos province of Cambodia. IRD’s scope of work is not focused on the impact religious leaders have upon their communities. But should it be? The relationship between religious figures and the masses in Southeastern Asia has historically been strong and is currently one of the major elements keeping this rural region hopeful.
The pagoda, the road side shrines, and the daily chants all help to add color to the life of a Cambodian village. And for most villages involved with the CS Project, this distinct religious atmosphere remains segregated from the work IRD is doing. IRD hosts training meetings to help villagers care for their bodies; Buddhism offers blessing ceremonies to help villagers care for their souls. While it would seem that health and religion have separate aims, they are actually two sectors of the local economy that could be further integrated.
It may be true that health and religion are very distinct disciplines, but IRD’s work could be strengthened if it employed the help of local religious leaders. For within this particular community, health and religion have one major thing in common: education. IRD seeks to provide villagers with nutritional training so that they may become more healthy and self-sufficient. Faith practitioners hope to see villagers gain an increased passion for study so that they may become more informed about and active within their own spirituality. If IRD seeks to continue serving as a vehicle for education, a partnership with the local religious community would be highly beneficial.
Villagers themselves have voiced excitement over such a partnership. In 22 interviews conducted with local villagers within the Tuk Phos district, it was nearly unanimous that the aid of monks, achars (laymen), and nuns would be a helpful addition to the work IRD is currently doing. Sorn Chankoy, a 24 year old mother of one, said that there has been little incorporation of religious figures into the work IRD has done in her village. When asked if such involvement would be positive or negative, she claimed that “Monks have a lot of experience teaching. Monks are the model. They are respected.”
30 year old Pach Sopheap echoed Sorn’s sentiments, expressing enthusiasm over the connection between IRD’s education and the education provided by religious leaders. Pach lives near a pagoda, so she is accustomed to receiving teaching from monks. In fact, monks already “help educate about feeding and hygiene” in her community. “They help to remind us,” she said. If IRD could provide formal training on nutrition and health to local monks, their role of “reminding” would only be fortified.
By providing local religious leaders with formal training in health, IRD taps into a source that is able to meet needs for sustainability. Individuals who are already committed to meeting community needs are the perfect population to receive increased training. While their technical skills may fall short of IRD’s health practitioners, their values and passions don’t. Since religious leaders are so strongly committed to being advocates for the well-being of their villages, the level of trust and confidence villagers possess is already high. Religious figures can become more than qualified to teach and advise on nutrition and hygiene, for their impact and influence is far reaching.
Religion in Cambodia is not going anywhere fast. IRD’s Child Survival Grant, however, is. Ending in September of 2010, the project is phasing out and local volunteers will tackle the task of ensuring that what IRD begun is continued. In an effort at being sustainable, what better than religion to take the reins?
The stitching of this country’s social fabric has been, at times, a little jagged. Regimes have risen and fallen. Dictators have invaded and evacuated. Atrocities have hit and demolished. But religion has been a uniting and encompassing thread, holding the broken pieces together. Religion has provided a steady presence of peace and hope. In these times of sickness and disease and death, religion is capable of providing life; if not with the needle of a doctor, then with the word of a teacher."
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Angkor What?
The past couple of weeks have been very busy here. I’d say its been a rather healthy balance of work and play.
Work is kicking into high gear. I have been out in the field conducting interviews on a regular basis, gathering information to write up briefs and articles for IRD. I have many fun photos of families and children as well as their stories to share with you, but I’ll save those for a later post.
For now, let me tell you about all the playing I’ve been doing. And by playing, I really only mean one thing – getting to see Angkor Wat. This was the one thing that I had to see while in Cambodia. The country continues to be plagued by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime while Angkor Wat remains the country’s jewel, one of the main things that still produces solidarity and provides a sense of belonging to the Cambodian people. It is truly a source of pride, as it should rightfully be.
The thousands of temples at the Angkor complex are absolutely magical places. They have ceased to support a civilization for almost a thousand years, and yet they are the beating heart of this country. They were the symbol of a civilization unrivaled, and they still are the symbol of a civilization unmatched. The sheer vastness and scope of Angkor Wat reveals the power and influence that was once focused out of this very country.
The complex is so large and overwhelming that when I say I spent 10 hours at this place, that is actually a disappointing amount of time. While we did quite a lot in that time and don’t feel slighted in the least, there is still so much that we failed to see. Brekke and I saw the sunrise over the main temple, the one actually called Angkor Wat. Then we rode by tuk-tuk to the other major temple sites – Bayon, The Terrace of the Elephants, The Temple of the Leper King, Ta Prom, Ta Koa, and Banteay Srey. And in the afternoon we headed about an hour north to the River of a Thousand Lingas. They are were very unique and had their own history and story to reveal.
Bayon was my favorite. It was one of the first temples we saw. If it was a wedding dress and I tried it on first, I would have no problem ending my search. We were there early in the morning as the sun had just hit the sky; it was slightly hazy and cool. There were no fanny pack toting tourists in sight. Brekke and I got to explore this ancient wonder by ourselves which made it that much more mind blowing. The symmetry of the temple is perfect, as is the detail of the carvings. There are over 200 large faces carved into 54 tall towers with tons of little crannies to get lost in. I can just imagine what a grand place it would have been during its height.
Ta Kao was also incredibly impressive, but mainly so because of what Brekke and I did there. We climb out of the tuk tuk with cameras in hand, ready to document another mound of old rock. We are planning on climbing to the top of this one, seeing as how there is one huge door frame at its summit that would make an awesome picture. As we walk off, our tuk tuk driver reminds us that 3 Japanese tourists died last year while climbing this very temple. First comes the shock that death always brings, then the terror of the idea of still climbing this thing, and finally the anger at the driver because he has ruined our picture. Or did he? That's right. We bravely hand him our cameras and we head off to climb Ta Kao. "We're in shape! We'll be careful!" We'll. Be. Fine.
Until we're not. Until we get half way and start to shake and wobble. We both begin to get short of breath. Brekke softly reminds me that "Jesus did not being us to Southeast Asia to die," while I yell "Yes he did! We're going to die! Oh, and we will have to add this to the list when we get to heaven!" Just imagine our arms and legs sprawled over steps that are so steep they should actually be called a wall, and you have envisioned what I thought was my last moment. Thankfully we find our way to a stoop, get a picture from the tuk-tuk driver at the bottom, and somehow find our way down...only to realize when we later examine our picture that we were only a few steps away from the top.
Thankfully, our afternoon was not filled with a brush with death. It was, in fact, very peaceful. The River visit was incredible. I mean, with a name like “The River of a Thousand Lingas,” who wouldn’t love it? It sounds so full of adventure and…well…Indiana Jones. We had to hike up 2000 km to the top of a mountain to get to the river. Butterflies of yellow and orange led the way as we climbed through jungle and over rock. At the top, the river beds are actually lined with even more carvings – the Lingas – and produced a little water fall. After seeing all the temples in the morning, the river was fairly unimpressive, but the hike was wonderful. Definitely something new and different.
I’ll end with this quote that I stumbled upon as I was reading the guide book about Ta Prom, the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. It sums up my experience at Angkor Wat perfectly: “Everywhere around you, you see Nature in its dual role as destroyer and consoler; strangling on the one hand, and healing on the other; no sooner splitting the carved stone asunder than she dresses their wounds with cool, velvety mosses, and binds them with her most delicate tendrils.”
Work is kicking into high gear. I have been out in the field conducting interviews on a regular basis, gathering information to write up briefs and articles for IRD. I have many fun photos of families and children as well as their stories to share with you, but I’ll save those for a later post.
For now, let me tell you about all the playing I’ve been doing. And by playing, I really only mean one thing – getting to see Angkor Wat. This was the one thing that I had to see while in Cambodia. The country continues to be plagued by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime while Angkor Wat remains the country’s jewel, one of the main things that still produces solidarity and provides a sense of belonging to the Cambodian people. It is truly a source of pride, as it should rightfully be.
The thousands of temples at the Angkor complex are absolutely magical places. They have ceased to support a civilization for almost a thousand years, and yet they are the beating heart of this country. They were the symbol of a civilization unrivaled, and they still are the symbol of a civilization unmatched. The sheer vastness and scope of Angkor Wat reveals the power and influence that was once focused out of this very country.
The complex is so large and overwhelming that when I say I spent 10 hours at this place, that is actually a disappointing amount of time. While we did quite a lot in that time and don’t feel slighted in the least, there is still so much that we failed to see. Brekke and I saw the sunrise over the main temple, the one actually called Angkor Wat. Then we rode by tuk-tuk to the other major temple sites – Bayon, The Terrace of the Elephants, The Temple of the Leper King, Ta Prom, Ta Koa, and Banteay Srey. And in the afternoon we headed about an hour north to the River of a Thousand Lingas. They are were very unique and had their own history and story to reveal.
Bayon was my favorite. It was one of the first temples we saw. If it was a wedding dress and I tried it on first, I would have no problem ending my search. We were there early in the morning as the sun had just hit the sky; it was slightly hazy and cool. There were no fanny pack toting tourists in sight. Brekke and I got to explore this ancient wonder by ourselves which made it that much more mind blowing. The symmetry of the temple is perfect, as is the detail of the carvings. There are over 200 large faces carved into 54 tall towers with tons of little crannies to get lost in. I can just imagine what a grand place it would have been during its height.
Ta Kao was also incredibly impressive, but mainly so because of what Brekke and I did there. We climb out of the tuk tuk with cameras in hand, ready to document another mound of old rock. We are planning on climbing to the top of this one, seeing as how there is one huge door frame at its summit that would make an awesome picture. As we walk off, our tuk tuk driver reminds us that 3 Japanese tourists died last year while climbing this very temple. First comes the shock that death always brings, then the terror of the idea of still climbing this thing, and finally the anger at the driver because he has ruined our picture. Or did he? That's right. We bravely hand him our cameras and we head off to climb Ta Kao. "We're in shape! We'll be careful!" We'll. Be. Fine.
Until we're not. Until we get half way and start to shake and wobble. We both begin to get short of breath. Brekke softly reminds me that "Jesus did not being us to Southeast Asia to die," while I yell "Yes he did! We're going to die! Oh, and we will have to add this to the list when we get to heaven!" Just imagine our arms and legs sprawled over steps that are so steep they should actually be called a wall, and you have envisioned what I thought was my last moment. Thankfully we find our way to a stoop, get a picture from the tuk-tuk driver at the bottom, and somehow find our way down...only to realize when we later examine our picture that we were only a few steps away from the top.
Thankfully, our afternoon was not filled with a brush with death. It was, in fact, very peaceful. The River visit was incredible. I mean, with a name like “The River of a Thousand Lingas,” who wouldn’t love it? It sounds so full of adventure and…well…Indiana Jones. We had to hike up 2000 km to the top of a mountain to get to the river. Butterflies of yellow and orange led the way as we climbed through jungle and over rock. At the top, the river beds are actually lined with even more carvings – the Lingas – and produced a little water fall. After seeing all the temples in the morning, the river was fairly unimpressive, but the hike was wonderful. Definitely something new and different.
I’ll end with this quote that I stumbled upon as I was reading the guide book about Ta Prom, the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. It sums up my experience at Angkor Wat perfectly: “Everywhere around you, you see Nature in its dual role as destroyer and consoler; strangling on the one hand, and healing on the other; no sooner splitting the carved stone asunder than she dresses their wounds with cool, velvety mosses, and binds them with her most delicate tendrils.”
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