Khmer Photoshoot

Getting my makeup done

A popular activity for foreigners in Phnom Penh is to get traditional Cambodian style makeovers and do a photo shoot. While these shoots are just for fun, they are similar to the photo shoots couples will take for their weddings. I discovered these shoots a while back from posts on Facebook, and have been interested ever since. So this past week when some of the SALTers invited me to join them for a photoshoot I jumped at the chance!

Selection of blouses

On Saturday afternoon, three SALTers, a YAMENer, another Service Worker, and I loaded up into a tuktuk to make our way to a photo studio. We were welcomed and ushered directly back to a room full of beautiful blouses, skirts, and jewelry for our makeovers. Two ladies at a time had their makeup done, while the others looked through the available outfits and picked what they wanted to wear. The makeup while heavy was pretty quick: powder, eye shadow, filled in eyebrows, eyeliner, fake eyelashes, lipstick and blush. After getting our makeup we each put on a blouse, some like mine had to be adjusted to fit. After the shirt came hair styling which consisted on making fake hair pieces and extensions with our natural hair, done without heat, to make fancy updos that pretty much only look good from the front. Then, we were wrapped up in silk skirts that were expertly folded and pinned in traditional styles over our shorts.* And then we were adorned with jewelry: tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and basically anything else that would make us sparkle.

Non-edited photo with Kaylee

Once we were all dressed, we went to the studio. We did a combination of single, pairs, and group shots. For my individual shots, the photographer posed me very specifically- feet, hands, head, shoulders, hips, the works. Some of the other ladies were given a bit more freedom to pose on their own. We were expected to come up with our group shots, though when we tried for more traditional Cambodian poses one of the staff helped us get our hands in the proper positions.

After we finished with pictures we changed back into our own clothes, and went through an overly complicated process of selecting three photos each to be edited in the Cambodian style, including adding a background, and printed. We were lucky enough to convince them to also give us the unedited copies of all the pictures, but they say they don't normally do that.

All in all the experience, while much longer than I expected, was an absolute blast. I learned a bit about traditional Cambodian fashion and the secret to all those formal hairstyles I see at weddings! (Answer: all the extensions.) I had a great with the ladies, and I now have a fantastic keepsake to give to my Cambodian friends!

Cambodian edited group Photo

*Pro-tip: wear leggings instead of shorts or jeans, less lumps and bulk that way.

WPM Domestic Violence Video

Many organizations in Cambodia collobrate with eachother to share knowledge and reasources. Recently USAID hosted a program to teach local NGOs how to create informative videos. Several of my co-workers at Women PeaceMakers joined this program and created (wrote, directed, edited, and starred in) this video about different types of abuse:

Conflict Management Workshops

Conflict Management Training participants

A few weeks ago, I was invited to go to with Women Peacemakers to Seda Commune, Camber District, Tboung Khmum Province to assist with the Conflict Management Training, one of the follow ups to the Community Nonviolence Workshops I attended in March. And by assist I mean, I observed the training and took pictures, while my amazing co-workers lead the sessions in Khmer and explained parts of the training to me in English.

Road to the school

We headed out off Phnom Penh, because the workshops were held from Saturday through Tuesday, and WPM did follow up interviews on Wednesday and Thursday. I returned to Phnom Penh on Monday though, because of work with my other organizations.

The training was held at a school building located in the middle of a field. Many of the training participants had met the WPM staff members on earlier trips, so I was the only person in need of introduction. The director excited explained that my name is Hannah, that I'm from America, and that I work with WPM part time. She then remembered that I can introduce myself in Khmer, so she had me repeat the information myself. I added that I have lived in Cambodia for one year. During the workshop, several of the participants made a point to come over and speak to me. One woman thanked me for working in Cambodia, one old man brought me a fruit and asked me if we have it in America, and one of the commune leaders told me that I was doing a good job respecting Khmer culture by wearing the traditional sampot skirt- but that I should wear long sleeves next time to really be a Cambodian lady.

Wearing my sampot during the workshop

The WPM Director and two of the staff members jointly lead the trainings. They taught the group about self-reflection, perspectives, stereotypes, prejudice, conflict, alternatives to violence, and many other things that I'm sure I was unable to understand with my limited Khmer. While much of Cambodian education focuses on rote learning, WPM makes a point of having their trainings be participatory. The students were encouraged to speak, hold group discussions, do small group work, play games, and use their creativity.

Khmer Rouge Trials

The security guard handed me back my purse, and the next guard ushered me into the auditorium. I was handed a pair of headphones and a handset with which to listen to the simultaneous translation. My eyes swept over the room, from the hundreds of empty seats to the glass wall separating us from the courtroom. As I took a seat in the middle of the room, my companions from Youth for Peace (YFP) and Peace Institute of Cambodia (PIC) joined me, with their own headsets. I studied the courtroom before us, it almost felt like stage. On the opposite wall there were the emblems of the United Nations and the Kingdom of Cambodia, framing the official emblem for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). In front of that, facing us, were two rows of seats with computer screens. Facing these, close to the glass wall, were two tables, an elderly man was seated at the one on the left, while the one to the right was empty. There were rows of seats to the left and right, facing towards the center, filled with men and women in suits and robes, some black, some purple. Seated against the wall on the left was a group of men and women, the women in this group all wore hijabs. After a few minutes, everyone in the court room rose, as did everyone in the auditorium with me, while the judges entered the room and took their seats. The head judge reminded us why we were there: to hear a witness for the prosecution for the allegations of genocide against the Muslim Cham people during the Khmer Rouge Regime against Noun Chea and Khieu Samphan.

Stupa at the Killing Fields in Choeung Ek.

While the Khmer Rouge Regime, officially known as the Democratic Kampuchea, officially held power from April 17th, 1975 to January 7th, 1979, political and military turmoil in Cambodia has prevented those responsible for the atrocities committed by the regime to be brought to justice. The ECCC was launched as a hybrid national and international tribunal in 2006, after almost ten years of planning and negotiations between the Cambodian government and the United Nations. The courts were established to try "the senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea... who are alleged to have planned crimes or given orders to commit crimes, as well as those alleged to be most responsible for committing serious crimes.”¹ 36 years have passed since the Khmer Rouge was toppled, and many of the former leaders are elderly or have died, thus it was decided that only people who are still alive can be tried; there will be no posthumous trails. This means that even though Pol Pot was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Kampuchea, since he died in 1998, he can not be tried by this court.

The court is unique. It is a hybrid international and national court functioning under a civil law system. This means that the lawyers, judges, and staff are a mix of Cambodians and internationals, and that proceedings are conducted in Khmer, French, and English with use of simultaneous translation. Because the crimes the defendants are being tried for were committed in the 1970s, the court also interprets both Cambodian and International law as it existed during that period.

The ECCC has handled four cases, against eight named accused, and has completed one case. Case 001 tried Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, the former Chairman of Phnom Penh's security prison, which is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Duch was convicted of crimes against humanity and grave breeches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and sentenced to life in prison in 2012.

Case 002 was originally accused four Khmer Rouge leaders of “crimes against against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and genocide against the Muslim Cham and Vietnamese”²: Noun Chea, former Chairman of the Democratic Kampuchea National Assembly and Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, Khieu Samphan, former Head of State of Democratic Kampuchea, Ieng Sary, former Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea, and Ieng Thirith, former Minister of Social Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea. However, the proceedings against Ieng Sary were terminated in 2013 after his death in March, and Ieng Thirith was found unfit to stand trial due to dementia in 2011. Ieng Thirith died this past August. Because of the breadth of this case, it was split into two trails, Case 002/01 and Case 002/2.

Prison cells at Tuol Sleng.

Case 002/01, against Noun Chea and Khieu Samphan, “primarily focus on the forced movement of the population of Phnom Penh and later from other regions…, and related crimes against humanity as well as the alleged execution of at least 250 former Khmer Republic soldiers.”³ The accused were found guilty of crimes against humanity and were sentenced to life in prison. Both accused have filed appeals, the decision for the appeals is expected in 2016.

The proceedings I witnessed were part of Case 002/02 against Noun Chea and Khieu Samphan. They are currently standing trial for “allegations of genocide against the Muslim Cham and the Vietnamese, grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, forced marriages and rape, purges, persecution of Buddhist, as well as other crimes against humanity.”⁴ The testimony I watched was of one of the few survivors of the massacre of the Muslim Cham people. The witness, an elderly gentleman, told the court how the Khmer Rouge soldiers had come into his village, and the subsequent actions they took against the Cham. He told about how they declared that the Cham ethnicity was no more, that they were all Khmer. They banned Muslims from practicing their faith, banned prayers and head coverings, and even forced them to eat pork which is a sin in Islam. He also told the court about how the Cham people were later gathered at the local Watt and massacred. He and his wife hid in the bushes while they listened the screams and cries to Allah of his friends, neighbors, and family as they were murdered by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. He and his wife hid in a near by lake for almost four months. They were later saved from being killed, along with a group of Khmer, by the Vietnamese.

The witness, who is also a civil party in this case, was questioned by civil parties lawyers and lawyers for the prosecution during this session. While this trial began in October 2014 there is still no clear end date.

Mass burial pits at the Killing Fields in Choeung Ek.

The court is still in the investigative process of Cases 003 and 004. In March 2015, Meas Muth, former head of the Navy of Democratic Kampuchea, was charged in Case 003 with “allegations of homicide as a violation of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code, multiple categories of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.”⁵ Im Chaem was charged in Case 004 “with allegations of homicide and multiple categories of crimes against humanity.”⁶ Ao An is also charged in Case 004, with “premeditated homicide as a violation of the 1956 Cambodian Penal Code and multiple categories of crimes against humanity.”⁷ Another suspect is currently under investigation, but their name remains confidential and they have yet to be charged. The investigations of these cases are currently only being conducted by the international court as the Cambodian government is officially against the investigation.

As I watched and listened to the court proceedings, the witness described the conditions he and his wife had lived in, in order to survive. The amount of translation needed slowed and complicated the overall process. On several occasions the witness did not seem to understand the question and proceeded to go on tangents, which were interesting and created an in depth picture of what happened, but often didn't answer the presented question from the lawyers. After the trail concluded for the day, with plans for a week of recess, the group I was with from YFP and PIC was taken to talk to some of Public Affairs interns about the court system and process, and even discussed the process with one of the prosecution lawyers, a gentleman from the US.

Visiting the ECCC was a reminder of the complexities of living and working in a post conflict, post genocide, society. I will be interested to see in the years and decades to come, how stories of victims and survivors are presented, along side the stories of those charged and convicted by the court as perpetrators.

1An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

2An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

3An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

4An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

5An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

6An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

7An Introduction to The Khmer Rouge Trails 6^th Edition, Public Affairs Section, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

1 Year Down, 2 to Go

MCC Cambodia and visitors from the Board

Every time I was asked "how long have you been here?" this summer I always felt like it was a surprise to myself to reply "almost a year." Well officially, it has been one year since I came to Cambodia. A year ago today I said goodbye to my parents at the airport and got on a plane to the other side of the world. I remember being very excited until the plane was flying and it finally hit me that I was going to Cambodia, a country I'd never been to in a part of the world I'd never been too or studied in any significant way for three years. I remember sitting in the plane thinking to myself, "What have I done?"

Well, despite my fears, I'm still here and going strong. The year has had many ups and downs: frustration over language study, being driven insane by my host siblings, ice cream outing with the other Service Workers, sleep overs with the SALTers, lonely evenings in my apartment, parasites, colds, minor moto accidents, cultural misunderstandings, eating strange new things, falling in love with tropical fruits, movie nights with friends, delicious dinners and long talks, unexpected trips, beautiful places, and not so beautiful ones.

Reflecting on this past year, all I can do is smile and look forward to the unknown adventures that the next two years will hold.

Bat Phnom

View from my host family's house

Phnom Penh from the River

Royal Palace

Takeo Province

View from my apartment

Sunset over the Gulf of Thailand in Sihanoukville

Attending a discussion the Women's Rights with WPM

Khmer wedding with MCC Staff

Field visit with WPM

River dolphin watching in Kratie

Horseback riding in Sihanoukville

Airport goodbyes with the 2014-2015 SALTers

Taipei, Taiwan trip

Monks processing in front of the Royal Palace

Community Nonviolence Workshops

Community Nonviolence Workshop in Sapour Village

Prepping for workshops

Here in Phnom Penh, I work with two different organizations, Women PaceMakers (WPM), Returnee Integration Support Center (RISC), and I have just agreed to partner with a third, Peace Institute of Cambodia. I spend my working hours split between the organizations.

Rumpeak 2 Village

I have been especially busy with WPM. In December and January I helped to write a grant application, a progress report for another funder, and a completion report. Since then I've written a concept note for a potential funder, and have worked on the 2014 annual report. Though most of my time is taken up with writing, and leading English conversation classes with my coworkers, recently I was able to go with several of my coworkers to conduct some pre-workers out in the province. 

Workshop in Rumpeak 3 Village

WPM conducts workshops focused on peace and women's issues. Out in the provinces WPM does women's rights and conflict management workshops, while in Phnom Penh we conduct workshops for empowerment of young adults and active non-violence. Before conducting new full length workshops, especially in the provinces, we first conduct always a series of "pre-workshops" in order to introduce ourselve to the communities and to get to know their specific issues.

Rumpeak 1 Village

This past month, I joined with two of my coworkers and the WPM director as they conducted such pre-workshops in 8 different villages in Tboung Khmum Province, which is about a three hour drive from Phnom Penh.  Over the course of three days we conducted 8 one hour long pre-workshops. The workshops were conducted in homes, at schools, and even at two Mosques. All of the workshops were conducted in Khmer, so I didn't understand much since my Kmher is so limited, but the villagers seemed to appreciate that I could introduce myself and tell them where I'm from. To make myself useful I played photographer for the week, taking pictures of the workshops and villages we visited. 

Khmar Chum Village

Though I couldn't understand much, I appreciated the opportunity to witness village life and to watch how the villagers interacted with one another, and to participate in the work of WPM.

Khmer Wedding

Wedding Venue

Yesterday, I attended my first Khmer Wedding. And by attended, I mean I was a guest at the dinner, which is a very small part of the wedding. I still don't know all the details of what happens at a wedding, but I do know that the ceremonies start for close family and friends the evening, then begin again the next morning with a fruit procession prior to breakfast. There are other ceremonies throughout the day, up until dinner, which is the part that most of the guests (normally numbering around 200 people) are invited to, which is followed by dancing. All these events include several outfit changes for the bride, groom, bridal party, and close relatives. While I do hope to attend more part of weddings in the future, I did enjoy just attending the dinner reception for my Rep's sister.

At the wedding with some of the MCC Staff

Khmer weddings are not only long affaires, they are also very formal- especially for women. Men can get away with just dress shirts or traditional style silk shirts, slacks, and dress shoes (no ties necessary), but women go all out. Many female guests go to the salon to have their hair and make-up done professionally, including up-dos, fake eyelashes,and lots of powder. Dresses are extremely formal. Wedding guest attire for women ranges from traditional (or modernized traditional) style blouses and silk skirts, to extremely formal (and often slightly gaudy) gowns, to western style short dresses. These dresses are often either made specially for the wearer by a tailor, or are hand made at a market and tailored to fit.

Posing with MCC Staff

Since it was my first wedding, and I've been warned that I will probably attend many over the next 2.5 years, I bought myself a locally made gown. One of the other MCC Service Workers kindly accompanied me, and we walked around one of the markets for a few hours looking at and trying on dresses, until I circled back around to one of the first ones I tried on. I considered getting my hair and makeup done, but I decided just to do it myself- especially since not much can be done to dress up my hair as short as it is.

Inside the wedding venue

I arrived at the wedding, which was held in a fancy tent on the street in front of property owned up the family, by tuktuk with some of the other Service Workers around 5:30pm. We were greeted by the bridal party and other members of the family at the entrance, which was also set up for formal photography. We then found a table and waited for the other MCC staff who were attending, as well as some representatives from our partner organizations, to arrive.

Dinner at the wedding

Once our table was full, we were served our 7 course meal. Each guest had a glass, a plate, a bowl, chopsticks, and a soup spoon. The food was placed on a turntable and we each served ourselves by picking what we wanted up with our chopsticks. I am still not very adapt with chopsticks (ok, fine, about all I can manage to eat with them is noodle soup) so I tried to be patient with myself. The meal included cashews, fish, duck, noodle salad with shrimp, and several other mostly meat dishes- the last dish before desert though was the obligatory rice. While we were eating a band played for us.

Our table spent some time chatting after we finished eating, but we soon all decided that we were not going to stay for dancing- we all had to work the next morning. So we gave the family our wedding presents (envelopes with money, as is expected), took pictures with the bride and groom, took some more group pictures, and then were on our way. The other Service Workers and I were give a ride to the MCC office by some friends, and then drove our motos home- which was a feat in my gown.

My 1st Apartment

My bedroom, as seen from the balcony

Part of my balcony (it wraps around the front too)

Kitchen and front door

Kitchen

Living room

Host Sibling Cuteness

My host siblings are adorable little trouble makers. There are two girls who live in my house, a 5 year old and a 7 year old, and a 6 year old boy cousin who lives downstairs.

A few weeks ago we were playing outside, so I offered to buy them ice cream. It was cheap and they enjoyed it, and really I bought it because I wanted ice cream. Last week, I was in my room reading, while Maac was outside, and the three children were in the living room. I could hear the children playing around and I kept hearing the words the word "eat" followed by a word I didn't know. A few minutes later, they burst into my room, and kept repeating this phrase. I told them I didn't understand. So they told me, "Go outside! Go down[stairs]!" I surrendered, grabbed 2 dollars out of my purse just in case, and allowed them to drag me down the stairs, thinking that we were going to sit with Maac. The two older ones took me hands, and the younger one held her sister's other hand, and they marched me out past where Maac was sitting, and down the street. At that point I realized what they were doing. They were taking me to the only store on the street that has ice cream. I was being forced to buy them ice cream. The ice cream was super cheap so I bought it for them ($0.25 per prepackaged cone), and chatted with the shopkeepers while they started eating. When we got back to the house, Maac had come inside and I'm pretty sure the first thing they said to her was "Look, Hannah bought us ice cream!"


The other night I was again in my room reading. Maac was out and my host sisters were in the living room playing. I'd go out and join them periodically, but not as much as they wanted. Suddenly, I heard the younger one scream. Not a play scream either but a scream that said something was terribly wrong. I hadn't heard a crash or bang or anything like that so my actual first thought was that they had set something on fire, since the 7 year old is allowed to use the lighter. I jumped out of my bed and ran into the living room. The two girls were laying on the floor, they took one look at me burst into giggles. I tried to impart to them that doing that kind of thing was bad, and returned to my room. Upon my return, the youngest started screaming again. I mumbled about the boy who cried wolf to myself while I settled onto my bed.

I'm so glad to have these children in my life. They love to mess around, and have now gotten into the habit of begging me to buy them ice cream ("Me, me, me, ice cream?!"), and I can't imagine doing this host family thing without them. They love to practice speaking English with me and are delighted when I speak to them in Khmer.

Goal for the coming week: to get them to stop asking me what I'm doing when I'm in the bathroom.

Khmer Letters

The ones in blue I got right on the first try

Today was a milestone moment in my Khmer writing class. I have officially finished learning all the consonants and vowels! I even was able to write most of them without help.

Nyam Baay! Eat rice!

In Khmer, you would never just say "I eat" (knom nyam). "I eat" must have a food or drink attached to it, for example coffee, or cake, or fruit. If you mean to describe eating a meal though you say "I eat rice" (knom nyam baay), because it's not really considered a meal if there's no rice (rice noodles sometimes count). Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are, respectively, morning rice, afternoon rice, and evening rice. Rice dishes are typical eaten with a spoon. If you have a fork it is used only to assist in putting food on your spoon, it is not put in your mouth. I have yet to be given a knife to use during a Khmer meal. Noodle dishes, though, especially soups, are eaten with chopsticks. I have no ability to use chopsticks, so whenever I eat noodle dishes I end up using them like a fork. I think I'm getting better at controlling them though!

Kuy teav, picture from Wikipedia

For breakfast most days I go out to a haang baay (rice shop aka restaurant). Many people eat breakfast at restaurants here- because it's cheap and cooking breakfast is labor intensive. Common breakfast dishes include rice porridge, rice with pork (or chicken, or egg), ramen noodle soup, or a rice noodle soup (the soups can be with or without meat). I haven't gotten used to the idea of eating rice for breakfast, so I order the rice noodle soup, called kuy teav, without meat everyday. I told one of my Khmer teachers that I get it without meat and he told me that the staff at the restaurant must think I'm very strange. I really love this soup. It's a light broth, thin rice noodles, green onions, a little lettuce, bean sprouts, and something else that I haven't figure out what it is. Most mornings I add lime juice, sriracha, soy sauce, and fish sauce to it to add flavor. I've also seen people add hoisin sauce, salt, and pepper to it.

Lok Lak, picture from Joy Ceira Cooks

I generally eat lunch at the MCC office, with the other service workers and staff. The housekeeper cooks all of us lunch everyday. Lunch normally involves rice, some stir fried vegetables with either fish, chicken, or tofu (most often fish), a soup, and fruit. I have been unable to get myself to like the soups that aren't based around rice noodles, but I do enjoy the rice dishes. One that we had earlier this week, called Lok Lak, included beef, raw veggies, french fries, and an egg, all topped with black pepper sauce. To add any wanted flavor to these meals there is always soy sauce, fish sauce, hot chili sauce, and fish sauce with extremely hot chilis.

My host mom makes dinner in the evening. Dinner usually involves one or two stir fried dishes, normally veggies with a little bit of meat (usually chicken or pork). Often my host mom will also serve some shrimp or small crabs. We all gather on the floor of the main room in the house to eat. Everyone has a spoon and a bowl (well, I'm always given a spoon, a fork, and a plate), and we serve ourselves food. Since I am a guest, my host mom always insisting on serving me rice (adult women normally get their own) and serving me way more than I could ever eat. I always smile and laugh and tell her that she has given me too much, then I either give some of it to my host sisters or return it back to the rice cooker.

Bubble (Milk) Tea

Along with meals, I do a little bit of snacking. My host mom keeps fruit around the house and encourages me to eat it while I'm studying. The other week she was so concerned that I was hungry that she bought a bunch of banana's to keep in my room. There is also a shop around the corner from the office that sells deep fried bananas. I've also become a big fan of iced milk tea, with or without bubbles, so I end up buying it more than I probably should.