a small country town, is the silence and the new sounds it bring with
it - crickets, soft music from distant restaurants, the rush of the
ceiling fan. The sound of a dog scrummaging on the side of the road.
All of there are hidden in Phnom Penh.
Today has been quite busy, going from one meeting to the next. So I am
writing this reflection at the end of the day, and may need to split
into several installmets as my phone won't let me write an endless
note. Which is probably in the readers' favour.
In short, we net with four groups of people. Two missionary families,
one person who helped establish a local NGO, and a local pastor. I'm
going to refrain from using names on such a public venue as a blog.
The first meeting with the local NGO, but foreign founder, is someone
I've connected with before, and has connections in both the faith, and
human rights spheres. As such I admire his work very much and the
values he and his wife embody.
As i expected, Kampot is no stranger to land grabbing and the adverse
effects of economic land concessions. Mostly Korean and Chinese firms.
Agricultural and dams projects. Apparently 2000 Chinese workers live
around here to work on just one dam project alone. Communities are
constantly on the defensive, but have had some success. A couple of
months back one community marched on the governor and demanded a
solution or they would not leave. He signed a document giving them
their land back. You can probably find the article on my website from
last year.
From my respective, there is a great partnership opportunity with this
group. They have a good grasp of the issues and are looking to expand
operations in the coming years.
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