PHNOM PENH, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will provide additional 250,000 U.S. dollars to help Myanmar after the cyclone disaster, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced here on Monday.
"Including the 50,000 U.S. dollars that Cambodia has already provided, we will provide up to 300,000 U.S. dollars to Myanmar," Hun Sen said while addressing an inauguration ceremony at the National Institute of Education.
"The amount of money is from our honest heart to help Myanmar but it is still little because we are also poor," he said.
He added that Myanmar used to help Cambodia with 500 tons of rice seeds in 2000 when Cambodia suffered from floods.
by Editor: Bi Mingxin
China view
http://news.xinhuanet.com
Monday, May 26, 2008
Cambodia frees up vital rice surplus
Cambodia has lifted a ban on rice exports to reduce global concerns over supplies of the grain.The prime minister, Hun Sen, imposed the ban in late March in a bid to halt the staple food's spiraling prices.Saying the country has enough rice for its own needs, the premier says the lifting of the ban would also help reduce global concerns over supplies of rice.But to maintain the nation's reserves, he says exports must go through the government system and will be limited to 1.6 million tonnes.
by ABC
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au
by ABC
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au
Ex-Thai PM Thaksin plans 'modern city' in Cambodia: official
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is planning to build a "modern city" in neighbouring Cambodia, replete with a financial district and port, an official said Monday.
The businessman, who owns English football club Manchester City, told Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen of his plans for Koh Kong province, near the Thai border, during a meeting on Friday in the capital Phnom Penh.
"He did not say how much money will be invested, he just told Prime Minister Hun Sen about his plan," Hun Sen's spokesman, Eang Sophalleth, told AFP.
Thaksin, joined by other Thai investors, told Hun Sen that the planned city would include a financial centre, hospital, schools and housing, he said.
A port to be used for fixing broken ships would also be included, he said.
Eang Sophalleth said Hun Sen welcomed the plan, asking Thaksin to work on his project with the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).
Thaksin was toppled in a military coup in September 2006 and went into self-imposed exile in Britain.
The 58-year-old former Thai premier returned to Bangkok in late February after his allies swept back into power in elections late last year.
by AFP
http://afp.google.com
The businessman, who owns English football club Manchester City, told Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen of his plans for Koh Kong province, near the Thai border, during a meeting on Friday in the capital Phnom Penh.
"He did not say how much money will be invested, he just told Prime Minister Hun Sen about his plan," Hun Sen's spokesman, Eang Sophalleth, told AFP.
Thaksin, joined by other Thai investors, told Hun Sen that the planned city would include a financial centre, hospital, schools and housing, he said.
A port to be used for fixing broken ships would also be included, he said.
Eang Sophalleth said Hun Sen welcomed the plan, asking Thaksin to work on his project with the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).
Thaksin was toppled in a military coup in September 2006 and went into self-imposed exile in Britain.
The 58-year-old former Thai premier returned to Bangkok in late February after his allies swept back into power in elections late last year.
by AFP
http://afp.google.com
Children not getting breakfast because of aid cuts
KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia (AP) - At dawn in a ramshackle elementary school in rural Cambodia, the children think of only one thing: their stomachs. They anxiously await the steaming buckets of free rice delivered to their desks.
But by the end of the month, they will no longer get free breakfast from the U.N. World Food Program. About 450,000 Cambodian students will become the latest victims of soaring global food prices.
Five local suppliers have defaulted on contracts to provide rice because they can get a higher price elsewhere, program officials say. Prices of rice have tripled on the global market since December.
Faced with a shortfall of more than 14,000 tons of rice, and with more pressing needs to meet, the World Food Program stopped the free breakfasts in March. The schools' remaining stocks are expected to run out in the coming days.
That will leave students without what was often the best meal they got all day.
``I feel hopeless,'' said Boeurn Srey Leak, a 15-year-old in sixth grade.
Rich countries have pledged $469 million for food aid to address what is expected to be a $755 million deficit, due to food prices that have risen 76 percent since December. The U.S., already the largest provider of food aid, is expected to contribute almost a third of that money. If Congress approves, the U.S. will contribute $770 million more to be available after Oct. 1.
But the money will not arrive in time to save some food programs from being cut or ended.
``I don't think there is a single program that doesn't have some kind of concerns because they have to scale down,'' said Susana Rico, an official of the World Food Program which feeds almost 89 million people worldwide, including 58.8 million children. ``The majority of countries will suffer some kind of cutbacks in rations or programs in the next three to five months.''
The numbers are grim. In Burundi, Kenya and Zambia, hundreds of thousands of people face cuts in food rations after June. In Iraq, 500,000 recipients will likely lose food aid. In Yemen, it's 320,000 households, including children and the sick.
Private aid agencies based in the U.S. also said food price hikes are hurting their projects.
Mercy Corps will likely distribute 20 percent less food to Iraqi refugees in Syria and serve 12 percent fewer Colombian families fleeing violence in the countryside. World Vision may stop helping 1.5 million people - nearly a quarter of the number it serves - because of rising food prices and pledged donations not yet delivered. At least a third are children.
In Cambodia, the free breakfasts that started in 2000 have made children visibly healthier, said Nheng Vorn, the principal of Choumpou Proek School, about 40 miles west of the capital, Phnom Penh.
``They are more focused on lessons, and their reading ability has improved subsequently,'' he noted.
But principals at many such rural schools don't have the money to replace the breakfast program. Girls in particular will be at risk of dropping out because families need them at home to work in the fields or help raise siblings, said Thomas Keusters, the World Food Program's Cambodia director. Children in Cambodia often start school late and repeat grades a lot, he said.
``It's not uncommon to have a girl in grade five or six who is already 15 or 16 years old,'' Keusters said. ``We are paying them to come to school. I'm very concerned about them because I have no rice.''
About six miles away from Choumpou Proek school, the students of Sangkum Seksa school devour hearty portions of rice, peas and sardines in the morning. The school has only 10 rooms, housed in two faded yellow concrete buildings. Some students go barefoot.
``I can only feel pity for them,'' said the principal, Tan Sak. ``I have no solution for them after the current stock is used up.''
Before the free breakfasts, many students left school before noon so they could eat lunch at home.
``I had difficulty sitting in the class because my stomach was growling,'' Rim Channa, a 13-year-old fifth-grader.
Now, once again, all they will have for breakfast is the tart fruit from the nearby tamarind trees.
---
Associated Press Environmental Writer Michael Casey contributed to this report from Bangkok, Thailand.
---
On the Net:
World Food Program: http://www.wfp.org/english/
By KER MUNTHIT and MICHAEL CASEY
Associated Press Writers
But by the end of the month, they will no longer get free breakfast from the U.N. World Food Program. About 450,000 Cambodian students will become the latest victims of soaring global food prices.
Five local suppliers have defaulted on contracts to provide rice because they can get a higher price elsewhere, program officials say. Prices of rice have tripled on the global market since December.
Faced with a shortfall of more than 14,000 tons of rice, and with more pressing needs to meet, the World Food Program stopped the free breakfasts in March. The schools' remaining stocks are expected to run out in the coming days.
That will leave students without what was often the best meal they got all day.
``I feel hopeless,'' said Boeurn Srey Leak, a 15-year-old in sixth grade.
Rich countries have pledged $469 million for food aid to address what is expected to be a $755 million deficit, due to food prices that have risen 76 percent since December. The U.S., already the largest provider of food aid, is expected to contribute almost a third of that money. If Congress approves, the U.S. will contribute $770 million more to be available after Oct. 1.
But the money will not arrive in time to save some food programs from being cut or ended.
``I don't think there is a single program that doesn't have some kind of concerns because they have to scale down,'' said Susana Rico, an official of the World Food Program which feeds almost 89 million people worldwide, including 58.8 million children. ``The majority of countries will suffer some kind of cutbacks in rations or programs in the next three to five months.''
The numbers are grim. In Burundi, Kenya and Zambia, hundreds of thousands of people face cuts in food rations after June. In Iraq, 500,000 recipients will likely lose food aid. In Yemen, it's 320,000 households, including children and the sick.
Private aid agencies based in the U.S. also said food price hikes are hurting their projects.
Mercy Corps will likely distribute 20 percent less food to Iraqi refugees in Syria and serve 12 percent fewer Colombian families fleeing violence in the countryside. World Vision may stop helping 1.5 million people - nearly a quarter of the number it serves - because of rising food prices and pledged donations not yet delivered. At least a third are children.
In Cambodia, the free breakfasts that started in 2000 have made children visibly healthier, said Nheng Vorn, the principal of Choumpou Proek School, about 40 miles west of the capital, Phnom Penh.
``They are more focused on lessons, and their reading ability has improved subsequently,'' he noted.
But principals at many such rural schools don't have the money to replace the breakfast program. Girls in particular will be at risk of dropping out because families need them at home to work in the fields or help raise siblings, said Thomas Keusters, the World Food Program's Cambodia director. Children in Cambodia often start school late and repeat grades a lot, he said.
``It's not uncommon to have a girl in grade five or six who is already 15 or 16 years old,'' Keusters said. ``We are paying them to come to school. I'm very concerned about them because I have no rice.''
About six miles away from Choumpou Proek school, the students of Sangkum Seksa school devour hearty portions of rice, peas and sardines in the morning. The school has only 10 rooms, housed in two faded yellow concrete buildings. Some students go barefoot.
``I can only feel pity for them,'' said the principal, Tan Sak. ``I have no solution for them after the current stock is used up.''
Before the free breakfasts, many students left school before noon so they could eat lunch at home.
``I had difficulty sitting in the class because my stomach was growling,'' Rim Channa, a 13-year-old fifth-grader.
Now, once again, all they will have for breakfast is the tart fruit from the nearby tamarind trees.
---
Associated Press Environmental Writer Michael Casey contributed to this report from Bangkok, Thailand.
---
On the Net:
World Food Program: http://www.wfp.org/english/
By KER MUNTHIT and MICHAEL CASEY
Associated Press Writers
Cambodian orphans melt ex-pat
Donelle McLeod tries not to get too attached to the children at the Rainbow Bridge Happy Tree Aids orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, but says it is difficult not to.
Ms McLeod, formerly of Cambridge and with family still in Waikato, is based in the Cambodian capital working for ANZ, and is a regular visitor to Rainbow Bridge, an orphanage specifically for children with HIV/Aids.
She was back in Hamilton for a short stay last week, and spoke to members of Hamilton's Wesley Methodist Church about her connection to the orphanage and how donations from parishioners had helped the facility.
"You can't get too connected to them (the children) or you just want to take them all home. They certainly get connected to you," said Ms McLeod, who plays with the children for a few hours each week.
"But you have fun you make water bombs, kick a ball around, read books, that sort of stuff."
The orphanage is home to more than 60 children.
Ms McLeod regularly donates clothing, toys and linen to the orphanage, and insists any friends coming to Phnom Penh to stay with her do the same as payment for their stay with her.
Food, shelter and clothing are covered by government grants, but all other goods and services are paid for with donations.
Donations from Hamilton people have enabled orphanage staff to vaccinate the children, who range in age from babies to 19-year-olds.
While she had been a little sceptical of what percentage of charity donations actually reached the communities they're intended for, Ms McLeod said having direct contact with Rainbow Bridge staff reassured her donations were definitely being used to benefit the children. Ms McLeod added her own money to make up the donations to US dollar value, a popular currency in Cambodia.
Ms McLeod was introduced to the orphanage through a work colleague and said her involvement over the past 12 months "has become bigger than Ben Hur".
She is contracted to work in Cambodia until next May.
Her role involves bringing Cambodian banks up to international standards.
By JEFF NEEMS - Waikato Times
Ms McLeod, formerly of Cambridge and with family still in Waikato, is based in the Cambodian capital working for ANZ, and is a regular visitor to Rainbow Bridge, an orphanage specifically for children with HIV/Aids.
She was back in Hamilton for a short stay last week, and spoke to members of Hamilton's Wesley Methodist Church about her connection to the orphanage and how donations from parishioners had helped the facility.
"You can't get too connected to them (the children) or you just want to take them all home. They certainly get connected to you," said Ms McLeod, who plays with the children for a few hours each week.
"But you have fun you make water bombs, kick a ball around, read books, that sort of stuff."
The orphanage is home to more than 60 children.
Ms McLeod regularly donates clothing, toys and linen to the orphanage, and insists any friends coming to Phnom Penh to stay with her do the same as payment for their stay with her.
Food, shelter and clothing are covered by government grants, but all other goods and services are paid for with donations.
Donations from Hamilton people have enabled orphanage staff to vaccinate the children, who range in age from babies to 19-year-olds.
While she had been a little sceptical of what percentage of charity donations actually reached the communities they're intended for, Ms McLeod said having direct contact with Rainbow Bridge staff reassured her donations were definitely being used to benefit the children. Ms McLeod added her own money to make up the donations to US dollar value, a popular currency in Cambodia.
Ms McLeod was introduced to the orphanage through a work colleague and said her involvement over the past 12 months "has become bigger than Ben Hur".
She is contracted to work in Cambodia until next May.
Her role involves bringing Cambodian banks up to international standards.
By JEFF NEEMS - Waikato Times
Cambodian gov't warns island developers over breaches of contract
PHNOM PENH, May 26 (Xinhua) -- A senior Cambodian official has told investors developing islands to speed up their projects, warning that they must not divide their land concessions into plots for resale, local media reported Monday.
"Investors should not construct houses or villas for sale. They have to establish hotels or resorts to attract tourists to Cambodia," Keat Chhon, Cambodian Minister of Economics and Finance, was quoted by the Mekong Times as saying.
"We will not allow companies to violate their contracts," he warned.
The Cambodian government has granted permission for private firms to construct resorts worth billions of dollars on 10 islands off the coast of Sihanoukville and Kampot.
However, only a few sites are currently under construction, with rumors that companies are violating their contracts to build luxury residences for sale.
Sihanoukville governor Say Hak has previously warned that investors will lose their deposit and have their islands confiscated if development is too slow.
by
www.chinaview.cn
"Investors should not construct houses or villas for sale. They have to establish hotels or resorts to attract tourists to Cambodia," Keat Chhon, Cambodian Minister of Economics and Finance, was quoted by the Mekong Times as saying.
"We will not allow companies to violate their contracts," he warned.
The Cambodian government has granted permission for private firms to construct resorts worth billions of dollars on 10 islands off the coast of Sihanoukville and Kampot.
However, only a few sites are currently under construction, with rumors that companies are violating their contracts to build luxury residences for sale.
Sihanoukville governor Say Hak has previously warned that investors will lose their deposit and have their islands confiscated if development is too slow.
by
www.chinaview.cn
Newlyweds lend a hand in Cambodia's struggle against war, poverty
SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- Let's be honest: It was the specter of tigers, temples and tom yam soup that led my husband and me to honeymoon in Southeast Asia. We wanted an adventure to remember, on a continent where neither of us had been.
But as I researched our trip, I realized that we should spend at least a little time giving back to people who are still struggling for the basics after decades of war and poverty.
We found a way to have it all in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the ancient temple complex Angkor Wat -- and Ponheary Ly, a tour guide who considers it her mission to help educate as many Cambodian children as possible.
I found Ly, a Siem Reap native and survivor of dictator Pol Pot's labor camps, through the Asia message board on Fodors.com. Ly, 44, is a veteran guide who has arranged private tours of Angkor Wat and other Siem Reap attractions in both English and French -- languages she learned in secret during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia -- since 2000.
A former English teacher, Ly has also worked for seven years to enroll children in Cambodian schools. While public school in the country is ostensibly free for the first three years, many rural children do not have the $12 necessary for shoes, school supplies or uniforms, she said.
''As a teacher, I knew about the difficulties of the kids and families who couldn't send the kids to schools,'' she said. ``Also, I found that the kids are smart, but they don't have any occasion to show how smart they are. To build the country, we have to build the education for all people, especially the kids.''
It's a message that Ly's clients -- mostly Americans who prefer independent travel with native guides to packaged tours -- could support. In addition to touring the temples, more and more visitors asked Ly whether they could visit the schools and donate money for bicycles, supplies and uniforms.
Lori Carlson, formerly of Austin, Texas, was one such convert. When she visited here in 2005, Carlson was struck by Ly's dedication. On her return to the States, she founded the Ponheary Ly Foundation (www.theplf.org), a registered nonprofit that channels money directly to the schools.
By last December, Carlson, 48, had raised $90,000 for five schools -- and quit her job to move here to work full time with Ly. She formed a board of directors for the PLF, which distributed school supplies to 1,955 children last fall.
''I believe the travelers who go to visit the temples at Angkor Wat understand they bear at least some of the responsibility to gently nudge these children toward school rather than reinforce the idea that it's good to stand on the corner and beg dollars from tourists,'' she said.
With such strong advocates, Don and I were excited to meet Ly and do our part. We arrived here to find a city undergoing massive change. The number of tourists visiting Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, has exploded in recent years, spurring an increase in hotels, shops, restaurants and other businesses.
While the influx of dollars has been good for many Cambodians (merchants prefer U.S. dollars to the Cambodian rial), it's disconcerting to see barefoot bicyclists ride past $800-a-night hotels. Young children hawk maps, books and trinkets near the temple grounds; tuk-tuk drivers fight over $1 fares.
That's not to say that Don and I eschew luxury (it was our honeymoon, after all). We turned down a $20 room at Ly's simple guesthouse, primarily because it didn't have a pool, which we considered essential to deal with the area's crushing humidity. At $95, our poolside room at Bopha Angkor was spacious yet not ostentatious, and the package included daily breakfast, a traditional Khmer dinner and a massage.
Just a few hours after we landed, we went to Angkor Wat with Ly's brother Dara as our guide. There are more than 300 temples in the complex, but Dara steered us to the ones that would provide the most interesting backdrops for my husband, the photographer.
As we sweated in the 90-degree heat, I asked Dara about his family's experience under the Khmer Rouge. He told us that his father, a teacher in Siem Reap, was among the first wave of educated people to be killed under Pol Pot's regime. As a result, Dara and his siblings were sent with their mother to the countryside to work.
It's a sobering tale, and we heard more from Ly over the next few days. Ly, who was 13 when the Khmer Rouge came to power, and her siblings survived, mainly because villagers would leave food for them at night.
''We were given this much rice,'' Ly told us, holding up the tip of her finger. Dara would ''crawl out on all fours, like a cat'' to get extra food; sometimes, actual cats or monkeys would have gotten to the rations instead, she said.
Still, the extra nourishment kept the family alive -- and the Khmer Rouge noticed. Officials asked her mother why her children were still alive when so many other youngsters had died, Ly said. When her mother refused to answer, she was horribly beaten.
Such atrocities were common in the Pol Pot years. Yet most Cambodians don't like to talk about the time under the Khmer Rouge, Carlson said. It's rare to find it discussed in schools, primarily due to the country's Buddhist beliefs, which hold that people -- even war criminals -- are responsible for their own karma.
Ly is different, Carlson said. She understands that it's important to talk about the past so it doesn't happen again. We were talking in Ly's van, on our way to deliver lunch to the 476 children at Knar school, out in the Cambodian countryside. On the road, we saw men on bikes toting crates filled with piglets and open huts with children playing in the dirt.
Cambodian families expect all children, no matter how young, to contribute economically, Ly told us. Which is why even the kids who are lucky enough to go to school attend for a half day; at home, they are needed for chores, farm work or other money-making ventures.
In addition to a donation made before our trip, we gave Ly $40 for lunch, which buys two noodle packets for each child. That's essential, Carlson said, because if the child received only one packet, he or she would take it home to the family instead of eating it. The school tries to feed the children at least once a day to make sure they have enough energy to learn, Carlson said.
We arrived at Knar School, which consists of several one-story classrooms. As Don carried the boxes of noodle packets into the rooms, the children's eyes grew wide. They straightened in their seats and thanked us by pressing their hands together and bowing.
Carlson and Ly showed us around the school and talked about the improvements that have been made. Incentives such as bicycles, uniforms and extra noodle packets show the families that there are tangible benefits to their children attending school, Carlson said.
''I would like to have my country be the same as the other countries,'' Ly said, with Cambodian children able ``to have good education to work well to get out from the poor life.''
The children seemed to love school, showing off their uniforms and books. An impromptu game of soccer ensued, with Don in the thick of it. It was an emotional sight for me, which sparked later discussion: Although we had been together several years, Don and I had never talked about the greater good we could accomplish as a couple.
It's a conversation that all newlyweds should have, wherever their honeymoon takes them. For us, road-testing our fledgling marriage in an underdeveloped country not only gave us the adventures we sought, but also set the course for a more permanent path. And that's definitely a trip worth taking.
IF YOU GO
There are no direct flights to Siem Reap from the United States. You can fly there from various Asian cities, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
We stayed at Bopha Angkor (www.bopha-angkor.com), booking the ``Poolside Evasion package.''
We booked Ponheary Ly as a guide by e-mail (ponhearyyahoo.com). Ly charged us $145 for 2 ½ days of touring, which included three half-day sessions at Angkor Wat, the visit to Knar School and a visit to the floating village on Tonle Sap lake.
Information: Ponheary Ly Foundation, www.theplf.org; www.tourismcambodia.com; www.angkorwat.org
BY CHRIS GRAY
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.miamiherald.com
But as I researched our trip, I realized that we should spend at least a little time giving back to people who are still struggling for the basics after decades of war and poverty.
We found a way to have it all in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the ancient temple complex Angkor Wat -- and Ponheary Ly, a tour guide who considers it her mission to help educate as many Cambodian children as possible.
I found Ly, a Siem Reap native and survivor of dictator Pol Pot's labor camps, through the Asia message board on Fodors.com. Ly, 44, is a veteran guide who has arranged private tours of Angkor Wat and other Siem Reap attractions in both English and French -- languages she learned in secret during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia -- since 2000.
A former English teacher, Ly has also worked for seven years to enroll children in Cambodian schools. While public school in the country is ostensibly free for the first three years, many rural children do not have the $12 necessary for shoes, school supplies or uniforms, she said.
''As a teacher, I knew about the difficulties of the kids and families who couldn't send the kids to schools,'' she said. ``Also, I found that the kids are smart, but they don't have any occasion to show how smart they are. To build the country, we have to build the education for all people, especially the kids.''
It's a message that Ly's clients -- mostly Americans who prefer independent travel with native guides to packaged tours -- could support. In addition to touring the temples, more and more visitors asked Ly whether they could visit the schools and donate money for bicycles, supplies and uniforms.
Lori Carlson, formerly of Austin, Texas, was one such convert. When she visited here in 2005, Carlson was struck by Ly's dedication. On her return to the States, she founded the Ponheary Ly Foundation (www.theplf.org), a registered nonprofit that channels money directly to the schools.
By last December, Carlson, 48, had raised $90,000 for five schools -- and quit her job to move here to work full time with Ly. She formed a board of directors for the PLF, which distributed school supplies to 1,955 children last fall.
''I believe the travelers who go to visit the temples at Angkor Wat understand they bear at least some of the responsibility to gently nudge these children toward school rather than reinforce the idea that it's good to stand on the corner and beg dollars from tourists,'' she said.
With such strong advocates, Don and I were excited to meet Ly and do our part. We arrived here to find a city undergoing massive change. The number of tourists visiting Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, has exploded in recent years, spurring an increase in hotels, shops, restaurants and other businesses.
While the influx of dollars has been good for many Cambodians (merchants prefer U.S. dollars to the Cambodian rial), it's disconcerting to see barefoot bicyclists ride past $800-a-night hotels. Young children hawk maps, books and trinkets near the temple grounds; tuk-tuk drivers fight over $1 fares.
That's not to say that Don and I eschew luxury (it was our honeymoon, after all). We turned down a $20 room at Ly's simple guesthouse, primarily because it didn't have a pool, which we considered essential to deal with the area's crushing humidity. At $95, our poolside room at Bopha Angkor was spacious yet not ostentatious, and the package included daily breakfast, a traditional Khmer dinner and a massage.
Just a few hours after we landed, we went to Angkor Wat with Ly's brother Dara as our guide. There are more than 300 temples in the complex, but Dara steered us to the ones that would provide the most interesting backdrops for my husband, the photographer.
As we sweated in the 90-degree heat, I asked Dara about his family's experience under the Khmer Rouge. He told us that his father, a teacher in Siem Reap, was among the first wave of educated people to be killed under Pol Pot's regime. As a result, Dara and his siblings were sent with their mother to the countryside to work.
It's a sobering tale, and we heard more from Ly over the next few days. Ly, who was 13 when the Khmer Rouge came to power, and her siblings survived, mainly because villagers would leave food for them at night.
''We were given this much rice,'' Ly told us, holding up the tip of her finger. Dara would ''crawl out on all fours, like a cat'' to get extra food; sometimes, actual cats or monkeys would have gotten to the rations instead, she said.
Still, the extra nourishment kept the family alive -- and the Khmer Rouge noticed. Officials asked her mother why her children were still alive when so many other youngsters had died, Ly said. When her mother refused to answer, she was horribly beaten.
Such atrocities were common in the Pol Pot years. Yet most Cambodians don't like to talk about the time under the Khmer Rouge, Carlson said. It's rare to find it discussed in schools, primarily due to the country's Buddhist beliefs, which hold that people -- even war criminals -- are responsible for their own karma.
Ly is different, Carlson said. She understands that it's important to talk about the past so it doesn't happen again. We were talking in Ly's van, on our way to deliver lunch to the 476 children at Knar school, out in the Cambodian countryside. On the road, we saw men on bikes toting crates filled with piglets and open huts with children playing in the dirt.
Cambodian families expect all children, no matter how young, to contribute economically, Ly told us. Which is why even the kids who are lucky enough to go to school attend for a half day; at home, they are needed for chores, farm work or other money-making ventures.
In addition to a donation made before our trip, we gave Ly $40 for lunch, which buys two noodle packets for each child. That's essential, Carlson said, because if the child received only one packet, he or she would take it home to the family instead of eating it. The school tries to feed the children at least once a day to make sure they have enough energy to learn, Carlson said.
We arrived at Knar School, which consists of several one-story classrooms. As Don carried the boxes of noodle packets into the rooms, the children's eyes grew wide. They straightened in their seats and thanked us by pressing their hands together and bowing.
Carlson and Ly showed us around the school and talked about the improvements that have been made. Incentives such as bicycles, uniforms and extra noodle packets show the families that there are tangible benefits to their children attending school, Carlson said.
''I would like to have my country be the same as the other countries,'' Ly said, with Cambodian children able ``to have good education to work well to get out from the poor life.''
The children seemed to love school, showing off their uniforms and books. An impromptu game of soccer ensued, with Don in the thick of it. It was an emotional sight for me, which sparked later discussion: Although we had been together several years, Don and I had never talked about the greater good we could accomplish as a couple.
It's a conversation that all newlyweds should have, wherever their honeymoon takes them. For us, road-testing our fledgling marriage in an underdeveloped country not only gave us the adventures we sought, but also set the course for a more permanent path. And that's definitely a trip worth taking.
IF YOU GO
There are no direct flights to Siem Reap from the United States. You can fly there from various Asian cities, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
We stayed at Bopha Angkor (www.bopha-angkor.com), booking the ``Poolside Evasion package.''
We booked Ponheary Ly as a guide by e-mail (ponhearyyahoo.com). Ly charged us $145 for 2 ½ days of touring, which included three half-day sessions at Angkor Wat, the visit to Knar School and a visit to the floating village on Tonle Sap lake.
Information: Ponheary Ly Foundation, www.theplf.org; www.tourismcambodia.com; www.angkorwat.org
BY CHRIS GRAY
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.miamiherald.com
Cambodian government ends 2-month ban on rice exports
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The Cambodian government said it will resume rice exports after its two-month ban came to an end Monday.Prime Minister Hun Sen said there was no rice shortage in Cambodia and that the ban, imposed March 26 to ensure a stable supply of the country's staple food, had helped stabilize
domestic prices.Beginning Tuesday, rice exports can be resumed for some 1 million tons of milled rice Cambodia has in excess of its needs for domestic consumption, he said.Cambodia produced a surplus of nearly 1.6 million tons of milled rice from last year's farming season, he said. But he added that exports must not exceed the total amount of surplus until the new harvesting season begins in December.Hun Sen said that more than 500,000 tons had already been exported before he imposed the two-month ban.The export ban primarily stopped rice from flowing to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. Since the end of the harvest early this year, Cambodian farmers living in provinces bordering the two countries have been selling rice in large quantities across the borders, attracted by high prices.In Phnom Penh markets over the weekend, a kilo of low-grade rice was selling for between 1,800 riel (US$0.45; ¤.29) and 2,000 riel (US$0.50; ¤.32), little changed from before when the ban was imposed. Earlier this year, rice of this quality cost about 1,300 riel (US$0.30; ¤0.19) a kilo.Cambodia is a minor rice exporter, shipping about 450,000 tons of milled rice last year, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate. Neighboring Thailand exported 8.5 million tons, it said.Hun Sen's government has also advocated creation of a cartel of rice-exporting countries with Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. But the idea appeared stalled after Thailand dropped out.
by AP
http://www.pr-inside.com
domestic prices.Beginning Tuesday, rice exports can be resumed for some 1 million tons of milled rice Cambodia has in excess of its needs for domestic consumption, he said.Cambodia produced a surplus of nearly 1.6 million tons of milled rice from last year's farming season, he said. But he added that exports must not exceed the total amount of surplus until the new harvesting season begins in December.Hun Sen said that more than 500,000 tons had already been exported before he imposed the two-month ban.The export ban primarily stopped rice from flowing to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. Since the end of the harvest early this year, Cambodian farmers living in provinces bordering the two countries have been selling rice in large quantities across the borders, attracted by high prices.In Phnom Penh markets over the weekend, a kilo of low-grade rice was selling for between 1,800 riel (US$0.45; ¤.29) and 2,000 riel (US$0.50; ¤.32), little changed from before when the ban was imposed. Earlier this year, rice of this quality cost about 1,300 riel (US$0.30; ¤0.19) a kilo.Cambodia is a minor rice exporter, shipping about 450,000 tons of milled rice last year, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate. Neighboring Thailand exported 8.5 million tons, it said.Hun Sen's government has also advocated creation of a cartel of rice-exporting countries with Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. But the idea appeared stalled after Thailand dropped out.
by AP
http://www.pr-inside.com
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