Showing posts with label PCV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PCV. Show all posts
Monday, February 10, 2014
Host Mom: Vannary
Host Mama Vannary
My host mom Vannary is known as the respected assistant director at the local high school but to me she is a modern day superwoman. She is an inspiration to me and I hope to many other girls and woman in Cambodia. She works, has a family, and still has time to expand her education on the weekends, which is why she will be speaking on a career panel at a camp in March. I want young adult Cambodians to see that it is possible to have it all, career, family, and education. Her most important job is instilling this hunger for life in her four daughters and she does it quite well.
My host mom is literally my source of strength during my service. She makes sure that I'm happy, healthy, always fed and worries about me just like I'm one of her own. She loves me without reservations and that is more than a volunteer or anyone could ask for. Although I look forward to the day where I return to the comforts of my homeland, I will be leaving a part of my heart here with her. She will always be my Cambodian Momma!
Kind. Intelligent. Respected. Boss.
Post provided by K6 PCV Jennifer Reinert; she is a Community Health Education Volunteer in Pursat Province
Friday, September 27, 2013
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all
Today's story comes from Peace Corps volunteer, Samantha Weiss, who is an English teacher trainer in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia.
Read more about her Peace Corps experience at her blog "I hope this cambodes well"
Host sister and I; I'm only 5'5'' yet I look like a giant next to your average Khmer woman
_____________________________________________________________________________________
When I arrived in Cambodia, during training, we had many sessions that touched on “being a female volunteer” and its ramifications. Throughout my travels, specifically during my time studying abroad in Morocco, I have experienced a variety of cultures’ perceptions of women, foreign and native. In Morocco, I stood out a lot, even when wearing the traditional djellaba (long cloak with hood) and it was uncomfortable for me to say the least. I have continued to be acutely aware of the way my gender affects the way others treat me as soon as I set foot in my new home for two years. Although women have more visible freedom here than I experienced in Morocco, I still find a quieter and culturally engrained stifling of women in Cambodian culture. That being said, about a year into my service, the way I perceived men reacting to me, was not my biggest frustration I faced day to day. The biggest affront I faced had to do with the way other women reacted to my presence.
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”
– from cambodes.blogspot.com
published June 24, 2013
Most of us were taught this when we were young. We feel fairly safe entering the world every day without brutal honesty and judgment hitting us in the face. We do our best to project ourselves confidently through our actions, speech and appearance, and hope to receive mostly positive responses. Most of us desire critical feedback, but only when requested, in order to grow and make improvements. I was working on a post about the things in my current life that I have become accustomed to living in a foreign culture that would still sound rather strange to others, but I put those thoughts on hold to address one of my biggest challenges I still face living here. This is something that I have not been able to get used to as merely a cultural difference. It’s often on my mind and I believe my thoughts on the issue to be evolving the longer I am here.
I realized recently that I have become more self-conscious when it comes to my physical appearance than I remember being in the last 8 or so years of my life. This has become more dominant in the past month or so, whereas at the beginning of my time in Cambodia and at site the constant comments about appearance didn’t quite penetrate my subconscious. When I first arrived, entering the market meant comments on my pointy nose and white skin (highly desirable traits) were coming from every which way contributing to how sa-at (beautiful) I was considered. While this got tiring and I even complained about constantly hearing how beautiful I was, it never quite bothered me the way it does when I’m told I am toe-at (fat). Other than being a rather unfortunate sounding word in Khmer, the labeling and judgment I assume comes with this comment is troublesome. Here being called fat is not the same as if a stranger were to do so in America, but coming from American culture, it doesn’t hurt any less when this word is slung at me. At first, I would always explain that I’m just bigger than Khmer people and I’m normal sized in other cultures, but when you hear this word often enough, it makes you wonder. I should explain that it’s not meant as an insult here; people would prefer to not be so skinny but their childhood nourishment of mostly rice stunts their growth quite a bit. Another thing to note is one day you may be fat, but the next you could be skinny again. I even start to believe that it’s possible I visibly gained 5 pounds from one day to the next.
When people are constantly commenting on my appearance or clearly sizing me up with their eyes, my gaze turns inward more than ever. Comments like these have felt more noticeable as of late because the receiving line of housewives and yeays (grandmas) that keep my host sister company as she works have become more vocal. The front of my house is my host sister’s tailoring business. She sits at all hours of the day at her sewing machine working. The front of our house thus serves as a gathering point for women, babies, yeays and anyone else who’s looking for a place to gossip and ongui lang (sit-play). Anytime I exit the house, I am subject to their comments which used to be more asking where I was going and at this point are strictly regarding my appearance. This can get old quick and obviously kind of frustrating. My host sister is very understanding of difference and Western culture in a way that most Khmer people aren’t, so she is not one to launch these comments at me. However, this doesn’t lessen the onslaught from the others. Fellow PCVs and I have expressed concern that we will also lack the filter expected in American culture upon returning home and will blurt out blunt judgments as we have become accustomed to receiving here.
I started to think back on the last year before I moved to Cambodia and how my perception of my body image could have changed so drastically in this transition. Prior to this, my vanity was under my own control. I was never big into mirrors and didn’t spend too much time in front of them. I would spend 5-10 minutes getting ready every morning; I would dress myself without a mirror (maybe a bad choice), put up my hair and add some jewelry. I used clothing and jewelry to express myself and my individuality to my students, within the limits of business casual, who were my audience every day. I would spend the next 12ish hours focused on my work, my students, my lessons, my co-workers, coffee runs for a break/meetings, and daily tasks. My own appearance didn’t enter those 12 hours as I wouldn’t hear comments (aside from the occasional 7th grader pointing out a zit on your face) about my looks and my mind and body were completely consumed by my job. Besides, in American culture, friends and co-workers are expected to compliment rather than insult.
This weekend on a bike ride, I was listening to a TED talk titled “What is beauty?” where a model was giving her thoughts on the modeling industry’s standard of beauty. She remarked on how the public is unaware that models are in actuality the most insecure women on the planet. She said she feels insecure because she has to think about what she looks like everyday. This comment resonated with my current situation because I effectively have to put on armor before exiting my room each day in preparation for what someone might say about me. Their looks and opinions, whether or not they are founded in truth, are the reality of my life as a strange foreigner in a superficially homogenous culture. My difference draws attention and interest everywhere I go; I’m still trying to figure out how to accept that.
I just returned from some time away from my site spent in America, other areas of Cambodia, and Thailand traveling with my family. During that time I got some perspective on the way image is conceived of in Khmer culture. I learned to not take it all so personally, but it also reminded me of the reality of living in the Cambodian countryside. As many PCVs say, I may be the first and only foreigner some Cambodians I meet will encounter. When I can zoom out and see the larger context, I realize that it’s really not about me. I try every chance to use these comments as teaching moments, especially when it comes to the 40 young girls I work with at the nearby orphanage who are struggling with their own ideas of beauty.
Sam and her students at Camp GLOW
_____________________________________________________________________________________
By Samantha Weiss, K6 volunteer
Read more about her Peace Corps experience at her blog "I hope this cambodes well"
Host sister and I; I'm only 5'5'' yet I look like a giant next to your average Khmer woman
_____________________________________________________________________________________
When I arrived in Cambodia, during training, we had many sessions that touched on “being a female volunteer” and its ramifications. Throughout my travels, specifically during my time studying abroad in Morocco, I have experienced a variety of cultures’ perceptions of women, foreign and native. In Morocco, I stood out a lot, even when wearing the traditional djellaba (long cloak with hood) and it was uncomfortable for me to say the least. I have continued to be acutely aware of the way my gender affects the way others treat me as soon as I set foot in my new home for two years. Although women have more visible freedom here than I experienced in Morocco, I still find a quieter and culturally engrained stifling of women in Cambodian culture. That being said, about a year into my service, the way I perceived men reacting to me, was not my biggest frustration I faced day to day. The biggest affront I faced had to do with the way other women reacted to my presence.
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”
– from cambodes.blogspot.com
published June 24, 2013
Most of us were taught this when we were young. We feel fairly safe entering the world every day without brutal honesty and judgment hitting us in the face. We do our best to project ourselves confidently through our actions, speech and appearance, and hope to receive mostly positive responses. Most of us desire critical feedback, but only when requested, in order to grow and make improvements. I was working on a post about the things in my current life that I have become accustomed to living in a foreign culture that would still sound rather strange to others, but I put those thoughts on hold to address one of my biggest challenges I still face living here. This is something that I have not been able to get used to as merely a cultural difference. It’s often on my mind and I believe my thoughts on the issue to be evolving the longer I am here.
I realized recently that I have become more self-conscious when it comes to my physical appearance than I remember being in the last 8 or so years of my life. This has become more dominant in the past month or so, whereas at the beginning of my time in Cambodia and at site the constant comments about appearance didn’t quite penetrate my subconscious. When I first arrived, entering the market meant comments on my pointy nose and white skin (highly desirable traits) were coming from every which way contributing to how sa-at (beautiful) I was considered. While this got tiring and I even complained about constantly hearing how beautiful I was, it never quite bothered me the way it does when I’m told I am toe-at (fat). Other than being a rather unfortunate sounding word in Khmer, the labeling and judgment I assume comes with this comment is troublesome. Here being called fat is not the same as if a stranger were to do so in America, but coming from American culture, it doesn’t hurt any less when this word is slung at me. At first, I would always explain that I’m just bigger than Khmer people and I’m normal sized in other cultures, but when you hear this word often enough, it makes you wonder. I should explain that it’s not meant as an insult here; people would prefer to not be so skinny but their childhood nourishment of mostly rice stunts their growth quite a bit. Another thing to note is one day you may be fat, but the next you could be skinny again. I even start to believe that it’s possible I visibly gained 5 pounds from one day to the next.
When people are constantly commenting on my appearance or clearly sizing me up with their eyes, my gaze turns inward more than ever. Comments like these have felt more noticeable as of late because the receiving line of housewives and yeays (grandmas) that keep my host sister company as she works have become more vocal. The front of my house is my host sister’s tailoring business. She sits at all hours of the day at her sewing machine working. The front of our house thus serves as a gathering point for women, babies, yeays and anyone else who’s looking for a place to gossip and ongui lang (sit-play). Anytime I exit the house, I am subject to their comments which used to be more asking where I was going and at this point are strictly regarding my appearance. This can get old quick and obviously kind of frustrating. My host sister is very understanding of difference and Western culture in a way that most Khmer people aren’t, so she is not one to launch these comments at me. However, this doesn’t lessen the onslaught from the others. Fellow PCVs and I have expressed concern that we will also lack the filter expected in American culture upon returning home and will blurt out blunt judgments as we have become accustomed to receiving here.
I started to think back on the last year before I moved to Cambodia and how my perception of my body image could have changed so drastically in this transition. Prior to this, my vanity was under my own control. I was never big into mirrors and didn’t spend too much time in front of them. I would spend 5-10 minutes getting ready every morning; I would dress myself without a mirror (maybe a bad choice), put up my hair and add some jewelry. I used clothing and jewelry to express myself and my individuality to my students, within the limits of business casual, who were my audience every day. I would spend the next 12ish hours focused on my work, my students, my lessons, my co-workers, coffee runs for a break/meetings, and daily tasks. My own appearance didn’t enter those 12 hours as I wouldn’t hear comments (aside from the occasional 7th grader pointing out a zit on your face) about my looks and my mind and body were completely consumed by my job. Besides, in American culture, friends and co-workers are expected to compliment rather than insult.
This weekend on a bike ride, I was listening to a TED talk titled “What is beauty?” where a model was giving her thoughts on the modeling industry’s standard of beauty. She remarked on how the public is unaware that models are in actuality the most insecure women on the planet. She said she feels insecure because she has to think about what she looks like everyday. This comment resonated with my current situation because I effectively have to put on armor before exiting my room each day in preparation for what someone might say about me. Their looks and opinions, whether or not they are founded in truth, are the reality of my life as a strange foreigner in a superficially homogenous culture. My difference draws attention and interest everywhere I go; I’m still trying to figure out how to accept that.
I just returned from some time away from my site spent in America, other areas of Cambodia, and Thailand traveling with my family. During that time I got some perspective on the way image is conceived of in Khmer culture. I learned to not take it all so personally, but it also reminded me of the reality of living in the Cambodian countryside. As many PCVs say, I may be the first and only foreigner some Cambodians I meet will encounter. When I can zoom out and see the larger context, I realize that it’s really not about me. I try every chance to use these comments as teaching moments, especially when it comes to the 40 young girls I work with at the nearby orphanage who are struggling with their own ideas of beauty.
Sam and her students at Camp GLOW
_____________________________________________________________________________________
By Samantha Weiss, K6 volunteer
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The Spotlight is on...HAYLEY KNICELY!
Hayley paired up with another PCV, Amanda Arand to teach a health lesson at Camp GLOW in Kampot
Our blog has focused on Spotlighting exceptional Khmer people. Today we're switching things up and Spotlighting our first Peace Corps Volunteer!
Hi there, my name is Hayley Knicely and I am a K6 CHE volunteer. I am currently starting my second year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia and am getting started with all sorts of fun projects. I live in Kampot Province not far from beautiful Kampot town. Currently, I work at the health center in the mornings 5 days a week. However, this previous school year I also taught health education classes to grade 12 students two days per week. In the afternoons, I fill my days with chores, reading, playing with my siblings, and planning secondary projects.
My current project is helping to develop the library at my school alongside students and faculty. We have already cleaned out the room, arranged the tables, chairs, and the librarian’s desk; and started painting some of the walls. This week we will begin drawing the mural for the library on the outside of the room and painting that as well. The only thing the library is lacking is books! Please help and make a donation so the students at Hun Sen Trosek Korng can expand their knowledge through reading!
To donate to Hayley's Library Development project CLICK THIS LINK!!!
Another secondary project that I am working on is a program called PD Hearth. This was originally set up in PC Mali, but has taken off here in Cambodia as well. Essentially, I have been meeting with two different villages, Phnom Doic and Tuk Graham, to discuss the need for young child and infant nutrition lessons. Initially, myself alongside the village chiefs and health volunteers weighed a sample of children in both villages and found that upwards of 30% of them were underweight. We then decided to apply for the grant and will eventually hold trainings and bor-bor (rice porridge) feeding sessions. Our hope is that the children who are currently underweight will gain weight and mothers will be educated on better ways to keep their children healthy.
What activities related to Gender Development are you involved in?
This past June my province-mates and I put on a Camp GLOW at our provincial town which is a camp designed to empower and educate girls on leadership, teamwork, and even some health lessons. I invited 11 young ladies from my grade 12 classes to spend the 3-day weekend with close to 50 other girls from around the province. Not only did they get to make new friends, but they also had the opportunity to prove to themselves and others, that they are strong and beautiful and can do whatever they set their minds to. One of my favorite moments was when we hosted a yoga session and the female Khmer instructor said:
“Most Khmer women are scared of exercising because they think if they get strong they will not be able to have children. I explained to these girls that I am a woman, I am strong, and I just gave birth to a healthy son 6 months ago.”
I feel like moments like this show women in Cambodia that they can do just as much, if not more, than men!
How did you get to where you are today?
I joined Peace Corps almost immediately after graduating from college at Elon University in North Carolina. I majored in Exercise Sport Science and triple-minored in Public Health, Sport and Event Management, and International Studies. During my senior year I kept tossing around ideas of going to grad school for Physical/Occupational Therapy, Public Health, or doing volunteer work. I eventually decided grad school can always wait, but an experience like the Peace Corps can’t. So here I am!
What kind of advice do you want to give the youth of Cambodia?
Never stop dreaming, creating, and working hard!
What is your favorite thing about your country?
My favorite thing about the USA would have to be the season: fall. I love when the air starts to get chilly and you can bundle up with hot tea and a good book. I also love anything and everything pumpkin! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin carving, the list can go on!
Anything else? Weird hobbies or talents?
I used to play competitive table tennis with my dad and brother and would travel to different states to compete. I was in a step-dancing competition my sophomore year of college with the brothers of Sigma Phi Beta and we won first place!
Spotlight interview provided by Hayley Knicely - She's so nice! ;)
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