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As part of PEPY's effort to learn more about what other organizations are doing in Cambodia, this morning most of our staff visited Digital Divide Data (DDD), a non-profit social venture based in Phnom Penh.
DDD provides high quality, cost-effective data-entry and digitalization services to both international and local clients. DDD aims to use technology to improve lives of some of the world's least developed nations by bringing well-paid technology jobs to countries where they didn't previously exist and to groups who struggle just to survive.
“The growth in population is very much bound up with poverty, and in turn poverty plunders the earth. When human groups are dying of hunger, they eat everything: grass, insects, everything. They cut down the trees, they leave the land dry and bare. All other concerns vanish. That’s why in the next thirty years the problems we call ‘environmental’ will be the hardest that humanity has to face.”
-14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
This quote by the Dalai Lama may be referencing either Cambodia’s past or the grimmest prospect for its future. In 2000, Cambodia achieved rice self-sufficiency, but as the population grows, water, food, and land become critical issues. Water tables on every continent are falling, and water shortages mean food shortages and increased incidences of disease. Cambodians already suffer from the ill effects of unsuitable water used for growing crops, drinking, cooking, and cleanliness. They must use water for these needs although the water contains arsenic, e. coli, viruses, and other bacteria. According to Resource Development International, one in five Cambodian children will die before the age of five, and the number one killer is diarrhea caused by bacteria in water and on food.
“We as people, even though it may seem insignificant, need to start taking small steps towards change. Everyday we should be doing something that means something, because if everybody does a little something then the whole begins to shift.”
It is simple truths like this from Mickey Sampson, the founder of Resource Development International, that make him so captivating. Sampson, a former university chemistry professor, moved his family to Cambodia 10 years ago and soon after founded RDI. A self-admitted science nerd with a short attention span, he overflows with ideas and captures the attention of all around, his speech jumping naturally from scientific to layman, from serious facts to self-deprecating humor. A tour of the RDI facility with Sampson is inspiring, and it is challenging to absorb the immense amount of information he is so eager to impart. Combining education, technology, and sincerity, Mickey and his team at RDI manage a wide range of projects that empower Cambodians to help themselves.
The PEPY staff is carrying boxes upstairs right now containing the first shipment of XO laptops for Cambodia! The "One Hundred Dollar Laptop" or "One Laptop for Every Child" project has chosen the PEPY Ride School as one of the first test schools. PEPY is also helping to distribute the 500 laptops to other test locations this week, so our plans are to sit around and eat pizza tonight while typing the serial numbers of the 500 laptops! fun fun! :-)
The following article was written by PEPY intern Mandy Gatewood.
Today I went on a long bike ride to Choeng Ek, the Killing Fields. The ride was a really good one, through small communities on bumpy dirt roads, rice fields being harvested on either side of the road, water buffalo staring stupidly at me as I putter by, the Children's Auxiliary of the Hello Mafia jumping out to pepper me with "Hello!"s and "How are you!"s. I stopped to 'chat' with some Khmer kids who crawled out from under a wall with a plastic bag full of fish and a long bamboo pole -- they'd been fishing for lunch, looked like. They were covered in smears of white mud and were barefoot and shirtless. Maybe 8 yrs. old. They asked for some water and I gave it to them. They tried to take my bottle, so I pantomimed that they could have a few drinks (tip up the imaginary bottle, say, "Glug glug glug") but then I wanted it back. They gave it back. I took their picture and showed them. They liked it. Then they started asking me for money. "K'mee-un!" (Don't have.) Bye, kids.
Hi, PEPY friends! Sok sabai ch'num t'may! (Or in English, Happy New Year!)
My name's Mandy and I've been interning at PEPY for two months. I'm really happy to be here, and am super-excited to be leading the Southern Cambodia Cycling Adventure from 16-24 February. It's going to be a blast as we cycle from Phnom Penh to Takeo, Kep (my favorite city in Cambodia so far), Kampot, and the gorgeous beach town of Sihanoukville. We're going to stop at RDIC, Cambodian Children's Fund, and local schools to teach environmental lessons. We'll also go snorkeling and take a trip up "HAUNTED" Bokor Mountain!