Sophorn

I had to go plow the rice this morning. My field and my hut are to the north.

I was plowing from 5:30 AM to 8:30 AM.

I plow by myself using buffalos. I don’t have a walking tractor.

How big is your rice field?

I haven’t finished plowing it yet.

It’s 2 hectors.

I haven’t finished plowing that rice field yet because it’s too big.

I’m finishing it tomorrow.

When I was in the 10th and 11th grade,

the school was too far away so I rode a bicycle to school. I left home at 6 AM. School started at 7 AM.

It was quite tiring because I had to leave home to go to school early in the morning. I would arrive home at 1 PM. It was rather hard.

My friends whose houses were far away from the school thought the same way I did

but for those whose houses were close to the school, they thought we were good at cycling

because we could cycle a long distance from home to school early in the morning.

Back when I was in school, I could meet new friends and we could communicate to one another.

More importantly, we could receive knowledge there.

We were happy because we had many friends. We could meet, talk, and joke together.

We had to take extra classes as well, but we couldn’t take them because the extra classes were held in the classrooms.

We had to leave school to come home right away. We would arrive home at 1 PM.

What were the extra classes like? Did you have to pay?

We all had to pay.

In every extra class subject that we studied, we had to pay.

At the time, there was an organization hiring teachers to come teach English in that village.

I didn’t get to study, though, because there were only accepting students below 10th grade.

I didn’t even know the organization was selecting students.

I quit school because my knees was starting to hurt.

Besides, I was young so I didn’t know the importance of going to school.

I had to get treatment for my knees. The pain lasted 2 to 3 years.

It still hasn’t completely healed yet. It’s joint pain. I have spent quite a lot of money for the treatment.

I’ve had to sell cows and buffalos to get the treatment.

I even had to get injections.

I was scared because I was told that it wouldn’t heal. They were going to amputate me.

I felt frightened.

When I was sick, I was told that there was someone else who had the same pain in the knee that I did, and he had to have it amputated.

I was frightened. I tried to find another treatment that doesn’t involve amputation.

I had to use expensive medication. One injection cost around 10 dollars.

My family couldn’t afford that so I had to sell my cows and buffalos to get my treatment.

My doctor charges me a lot of money. I’ve been told that this illness can’t be healed. Even up to now, my knees still hurt somehow.

Has anyone contacted you?

No, no one has taken me to get treated. I’ve had to go get the treatment myself.

I had to use my own money and borrowed from other people because I couldn’t earn enough money.

When I got the 10-dollar injection, the doctor told me that it would heal.

Although the swelling went down, I wasn’t able to walk.

I had about traditional medicine being advertised on the radio, so I went to buy it.

I felt better after taking the medicine, so I’ve been taking it till now, but it’s not fully healed yet.

When did they start hurting?

They started hurting quite a while back – since I was in school, in 2009.

They’ve been hurting since. I couldn’t walk.

I wanted to quit school. I wasn’t learning anything and my knees hurt.

I couldn’t catch up with the rest of the class and my legs hurt, so I quit. I didn’t feel any regrets.

Though I feel some regrets now.

What did you parents, friends and neighbors said when your legs hurt and everyone else is going to school?

They said it was a shame because I had studied that far.

When I told them that my legs hurt, they thought about it based on what they see.

No, because it was far. I told my friends to tell my teacher.

I also gave my friends the books that the school lent me so that they could return them.

The teachers didn’t come to ask any questions. It might have been because the school was too far away.

The reason why I quit school was because of my family condition.

After my legs got better, I didn’t go back to school; I helped earn money to support my family because we’re not rich.

Sometimes we have trouble making ends meet.

Besides, I was young; I didn’t think too much about studying.

I had to let it be.

It was tough for my family because we had to sell our belongings to get money, and we owed people money.

It felt—

I don't know

At that time, all of us were having a hard time. It was tough for our family.

We didn’t have money to spend and a family member was sick. We were facing my problems.

Why?

I thought it was the right decision to quit school because I was absent for a long time and I had this illness.

I thought it was right to not go back to school because I was scared of going back

I was embarrassed.

I couldn’t go back after being absent for that long.

Therefore, I stopped going back. I thought it was the right decision, but I don’t think it now.

No one encouraged me to go back to school after my long absence.

My parents didn’t let me go to school because I was out for quite a long time.

My neighbors said I shouldn’t have quit school because I’d gone that far.

hey said if I had stayed in school, I would have gotten a high position job.

That’s what they told me when I saw them.

I didn’t feel like going back to school when I had just quit and my knees were hurting.

It was because I had been absent for a long time.

When I was in school, I wasn’t an outstanding student.

My study was quite poor because I couldn’t attend class as regularly as the others.

I wasn’t able to catch up. I wasn’t an outstanding student; my performance was rather poor.

I liked hanging out at the time. I was young, so I went out at night and I didn’t go to school.

Besides, I didn’t get certain subjects so I skipped classes, and that made me not know those subjects even more.

I didn’t study hard when I was in the lower grades, so it was hard when I got into higher grades.

Whatever you do, you need a strong foundation. I didn’t study hard when I was in elementary school.

When I got into high school, I was lost. I didn’t want to go to school, so my study had become poor ever since.

I was embarrassed because I couldn’t catch up. That along with my illness pushed me to quit school.

I’ve participated since 2010. I quit in 2006.

I joined the center as a volunteer in 2010. They were selecting people, and I applied.

I’ve joined and other organizations know me so they contacted me to go to trainings.

The trainings included topics like health and village agriculture.

There weren’t as many organizations as there are now.

I got to know other organizations through my participation, and I learned about social work.

I asked to become a volunteer and I’ve been doing social work ever since.

I’ve done social work with all the organizations because I think it’s very beneficial for my community.

When I work with the organizations, I’m also helping my community by gaining knowledge from those organizations.

I’ve done some work with organizations such as promoting human rights.

I was asked to gather the villagers to share what I’ve learned to them.

Some people in the village know me as a volunteer in organizations.

Although I don’t get any salary, I’m very happy because even if I can’t be a big help to society, I can still do whatever I can do help.

It’s a good and right thing to do because what we’re doing is legal. We’re not doing anything illegal.

I think I will continue my volunteer work.

I hope my community will receive good things

and I hope that our volunteer work will help the community change the bad points to good points.

We won’t continue forever. We will eventually have to stop. There are more and more young people now.

They will have to take over what we’ve done.

Where will you go if they take over what you’ve done?

We will stop. It’s not that we will stop completely; we will join them once in a while.

We can advise them based on what we’ve done – telling them the right way to do things.

After not going to school for so long and seeing my friends learning and being educated

I thought it would be good to do something good for the community through the various organizations that come here.

The organizations call us to go to meetings.

They call people to go to meetings. I knew them, and they were looking for volunteers at the time so I asked them to be a volunteer.

It’s not just me. The organizations let you be a volunteer as long as you do it. They tell you to create groups in the village or call people to meet up.

After doing it, we just write a report for them; that way, they gain their trust towards us.

They’ll continue their work with us. The important thing is to complete the tasks that they give you.

The tasks are not difficult.

They know that you’re in a community and your knowledge is limited; therefore, they give you tasks according to your ability.

Sometimes the organizations tell you to train youth groups about violence and conflicts. That’s how we get to know them.

When my legs were hurting, my friends understood.

They knew that I wasn’t able to continue going to school because I couldn’t travel to school.

They understood. They felt regret that I quit school.

Some of my friends felt sympathetic that I was sick and had to spend a lot of money.

That’s my understanding. All of us in this village have similar family condition so we understand how it is. It was okay.

In my opinion, there were many students going to school, but there were many dropouts as well.

Many of the dropouts are very young. Some drop out when they’re in the ninth grade.

Some of them drop out because of their living condition; some of them are young, so they skip classes when they go out.

They don’t dare to go to school anymore, so they drop out.

Some students fall in love and abandon their study.

It’s sad that they quit school at a young age.

Although I didn’t get to study much, I still felt regret to see that.

After deciding to quit school, the consequence is that I don’t get to study much, so my education level is low.

My knowledge doesn’t increase because I quit school.

I only know what I’ve been taught from school. I have even forgotten some of it.

I think I am able to do jobs that don’t require high education level such as computer or other skills.

If the requirements are too high, I won’t be able to do it. If it’s a community work requiring average skills, I can do it like everyone else.

I believe that I can do it. If we go in and learn from the job, we’ll know how to do it.

If we don’t know what the job is and we haven’t learned from it, then it’s hard.

If we learn how the job is done, then we can do it just like anyone else.

The beginning is hard, but it’ll be okay after a while.

The dropout rate has decreased a bit now because they have more understanding of it.

Some students learn from organizations that come to their schools.

The organizations raise awareness to the teachers. They understand a lot now.

The dropout rate has also decreased, though there are still dropouts.

I felt bored when I was in school because I wasn’t a smart student

I didn’t get the lessons. I was so bored when I was in school.

It was too complicated.

The road in front of my house wasn’t like this 10 years ago.

It was in pieces and water was flowing through.

It wasn’t a dirt road like it is now. It wasn’t as high as it is now.

You wouldn’t be able to drive through in rainy season. It was so difficult to drive through.

When I was cycling to school on the main road, I had to keep on walking my bike a while after riding it.

That road hadn’t been fixed yet when I was in the 7th and 8th grade.

It was a white chalk road. Then in 2002, I don’t know who fixed it; maybe it was the government.

They began fixing it, although it wasn’t as big as it is now.

Eventually, they began expanding the road until it is this big now.

I heard they were going to turn the road into asphalt rubber.

The road is road number 53A.

I heard that they were going to build an asphalt rubber road from here to Koh Kong.

I’m not lying; that’s what I heard. We’ll have to see.

This road is very beneficial for people in this village. It’s convenient for students and people doing business to commute.

There have been more people traveling in and out of the village.

There weren’t many people traveling through here, but the traffic now is almost like a market’s road.

People travel through all the time because the road is easy to drive through.

There are also disadvantages for the villagers.

If there isn’t any rain for several days, the road becomes foggy with dust.

The fog is so thick that you can’t see through when a car drives past.

It goes into our houses. It goes into the noses of villagers and people traveling through. That’s the advantage.

How has that affected the villagers’ health? Has anyone been seriously ill because of the dust cloud?

We have become sick. When the road was clouded with dust, everyone along the road caught a cold.

Some of them didn’t get severely ill, but some did.

Each illness varies. I think it was because of the dust cloud because it got into our noses, our food, our houses, and our clothes that we hang to dry.

It goes into my house and other people’s houses as well.

We couldn’t see anything. Dry seasons are very dusty.

Before the road was fixed, there wasn’t any dust cloud.

It has been dusty ever since the road got fixed.

People keep complaining about when we finally get the asphalt rubber so that it won’t be dusty anymore.

My family and all the other families keep complaining about that.

We have never requested a fire truck to come spray water on the road.

We have talked about it. Some have only talked amongst themselves.

No one has told the authority to bring a fire truck to spray water on the road for the villagers.

Some have thought of collecting money from villagers to buy water to spray on the road, but we haven’t seen the authority taking note of the problem.

Why are they not taking note of the problem?

I think it’s because they think they can’t afford to fix the problem.

This road is quite long.

When I go to meetings or events with the villagers, I always hear people say whatever you do, if it’s only you; one voice can’t accomplish things. If—

Okay, start.

If you follow me from morning, then you’ll see my daily activities such as plowing, feeding the pigs, feeding the chickens, building dikes, and other household chores.

The main problem for the villagers is their living condition.

As you can see, there isn’t anyone in this village whose living condition is great.

People here only get by on a daily basis; their livelihood is not that great.

That’s one of their main problems. Their family’s economy is a priority.

Along with their kids’ education.

If many of their kids are attending school, then they have to spend on schooling, and the family’s expenses.

That’s another one of the problems.

That, and their farms. If you want the commune leaders to do something for the community, you can’t just go and demand them to build you a road.

They won’t listen to one person’s demand.

That’s just like voting. Only the candidate with the most votes gets accepted to be the leader.

If you get fewer votes, you can’t be a leader.

If you want to do something, you have to have many voices being a part of it.

If you do something with involvement from others, you might make mistakes.

If you do something with many other people, everyone will benefit from it.

This problem happens to many people; that’s why it’s mandatory to have involvement from many people.

If you’re alone, it’s impossible, because you’re only one person.

Why do you think it’s wrong to have only one voice?

I don’t think it’s wrong, but you can’t fulfill a demand. Fewer people can’t get their demands.

How do you get many voices to make a demand to the authority?

If you want something from the local authority, you have to think about what is the main problem that is affecting the villagers’ livelihood?

Hence, we call the villagers in to figure out a way to get the local authority to help us fix the problem.

That means we have to meet and discuss first before we make a demand.

I think the demands in the commune are okay.

Our local authorities are quite easy-going.

Before, we lacked a water canal

So we raised that issue up during the commune meeting when they discussed problems that the villagers were facing.

The villagers raised that issue, and they responded.

It was just like before we had the road.

The villagers talked about the road problems, so they built a road in response to that.

Some problems can’t be resolved. There’s a limit to the commune council’s ability.

Some demands can’t be met yet. Some demands are fulfilled.

Some demands are rejected because the commune has to contact the higher level authority

so those demands are not met yet.

The climate here hasn’t been the same.

It has changed. It used to be dry every July.

But this year, it’s been raining till it floods.

There had never been flooding in this area until this year.

There was too much rain, so it floods.

Some areas have flooding, but some don’t.

As for the heat, the temperature only got to over 30 degree Celsius.

That was considered very hot.

But now, it’s gotten to 40 to 41 degrees.

That’s the temperature this year. It has increased a lot.

It’s because we have our provincial radio station.

They broadcast heat warnings.

If the day is going to be too hot, the radio will let us know that the temperature will exceed 41 degrees.

They tell us to be careful.

There was flooding a few years ago. It flooded below my house.

The water got to here as well, but there had never been any flooding in this month.

It’s only this year. There’s too much water.

In the years before, there would only be this much water in September.

There’s too much water and too much rain this year.

Before, if there was a drought or anything, they prayed in their traditional way.

They prayed, got possessed by spirits, or gave offerings to the pagodas to ask for rain.

But now, they meet up and discuss; they close off the water canal.

There was a drought the year before as well.

There was no water, so they closed off the water canal to keep water for crop irrigation.

But before that, they prayed in their traditional way to ask for rain when there was a drought.

They also prayed when there was a flooding.

If there’s a drought, they go talk to the local authority to ask them to help get water for their rice fields.

In the previous drought episode, they asked the authority to build a water canal, a reservoir, or a pond to store water in case of droughts.

We got the water canal and reservoir this year.

Those who have money would dig a pond near their rice field to get water.

Some have water pump for their farms.

I think if there’s a drought or any problem, the villagers have to know how to work together with the local authorities

to find a way to solve the problem rather than just talk about it.

If there’s a problem, we’ll find the solution quicker if we all work together.

However, if we only complain about how hard the problem is

the problem would still be there.

If we work together to solve the problem when we face it, we can help solve it.

What about organizations and NGOs?

As for organizations and NGOs

when they come here, we make requests.

When they come to the village and see the situation

we tell them that our families are facing certain problems due to natural disasters.

We always request items, cash or other aids from organizations for those facing the problem.

We tell the organizations about the problem.

As for drought, I think first, it’s climate change.

Climate change is due to deforestation. I never encountered droughts when I was young.

It’s only these past few years that we’ve been having droughts.

It used to rain whenever it was time.

That was because trees attract rain.

Now that the trees are gone, it hasn’t been raining as much.

Sometimes it rains early in the month or irregularly.

This community has lost about 50% of its forest.

The forest used to be so thick, but from what I see now, there aren’t many trees anymore.

There isn’t any tree this big now. There are only trees this big.

The trees have decreased drastically.

Deforestation is due to people.

Some people cut them down and sell them.

Some cleared the forest.

Some delivered the land to private companies. We’ve lost our forest.

There isn’t any land concession here

but some villagers own land that is near the border of Pursat Province.

That affects them because their land and their farms are being taken and turned into land concession and yam farms.

That’s the land close to Pursat Province.

The company came here to track the GPS on the villagers’ land.

The villagers went and filed a complaint at the provincial hall.

I don’t remember the place.

The provincial hall.

Yes, the provincial hall.

They filed a complaint there and a provincial Excellency came to help keep the companies away.

Many students came to measure the villagers’ land so that they could get their land registered.

They got their land registered, and the land concession has withdrawn.

Though there might be land concessions in other communes.

I don’t know because I don’t know much about other communes.

I heard that there were companies going to demolish the land there

but there isn’t land concession anymore here in Anhchanh Rung Commune.

There are villagers here and villagers elsewhere coming in to cut down the trees.

The villagers here cut down the trees to use as firewood.

They build kilns, so they sell firewood.

As for villagers outside of this village, they come to cut down the trees here to make firewood

because their village doesn’t have any tree.

Some people buy land in the forest, so they cleared the trees to farm.

We don’t have big trees in our community forest anymore because people keep chopping down the big trees.

We only have the small trees.

Right now, we’re requesting that the Ministry of Agriculture recognizes and makes our community forest official

because although we have a community forest, we only have the temporary permit.

It’s not official yet.

We’re demanding recognition from the provincial authorities that we do indeed have a community forest.

We have noted the exact border points.

The companies that were going to do land concessions have also withdrawn from our community forest.

'Do they arrest anyone?

Yes. They transport logs, charcoals and rosewood trees, but I’ve never seen the authorities putting a stop to it.

The loggers might pay some cash. Maybe that’s why I don’t see the authorities stopping them. They transport firewood.

What do the villagers usually do for a living?

Besides rice farming, the villagers plant crops or raise animals.

Some go to work for others.

Besides rice farming, they know how to make kilns and charcoals.

Those are their jobs besides rice farming.

As for youths who are dropouts, they migrate and find work far away.

They come back after a few months.

I have never been in a political campaign parade. I’ve joined the political activities, though.

I’ve joined when the political leader called the villagers to meet up and listen to their political policies.

I’ve partaken in my favorite political party’s meeting when they discuss their policies.

When people see me going to meetings with organizations, they think I’m a staff.

They think I probably have money.

They don’t know.

Some know that I’m a volunteer and I don’t have any money; I don’t get any salary.

Some people think I’m probably rich because I frequently go to meetings.

That’s what they think.

Some people know, so they understand.

Some people don’t understand community service.

They don’t get why we work without getting paid.

They think it’s better to work other jobs or do some business.

Some people think differently.

Some people think I’m a staff and that I have a salary.

Some people understand; they know that I’m a volunteer. I don’t have any money.

They know that I’m volunteering for the village. It’s not a job.

Some people don’t get why we volunteer when we’re not being paid.

They think it’s better to find another job to earn money.

They wonder why we keep on doing this when we don’t get any money.

Some people think like that. Some people understand, so they don’t say it.

For me or for everyone?

For you.

I think I have more power than before because I have more social knowledge than I did.

I have some knowledge on legal issues.

I don’t know much, but it’s not that I don’t know it at all.

When we raise issues, the leaders think we might have high education.

We know a lot about what goes on in society. That’s our power.

We have created saving groups

we have organized community arts event where we gather youth in the community to compose poems, songs and movies.

We have also worked with the local authority to promote the declaration of human rights in the village.

We have celebrated International Human Rights Day, which we organized in this village.

We requested to the donors to get money to organize the event.

We cooperated with the local authority, and they were happy to work with us.

We have organized forums.

We have participated when the organizations invited us to host forums in Phnom Penh or in the provinces.

Our group has been a part of many events.

We stood out the most during the ASEAN Conference in 2012.

That's one of our proudest moments.

People from 10 countries participated, but our group stood out the most in Cambodia.

I’m happy to volunteer in the community.

I’m also concerned because our education level is limited

our education level is low, so what we can do in the village is still limited.

Our knowledge is low, so there are some tasks that we can’t do.

We don’t meet up as often, so I’m concerned.

I’m afraid that our group will disband because our members have to move far away with their family.

We don’t get paid for what we do.

When we work an unpaid job

Living conditions are very important

Some members work jobs that can pay them and they leave this place

That’s my big concern.

It’s currently rice-farming season

So sometimes the members can’t meet up

We can’t meet and discuss. That’s my concern.

Yes

I have my parents and an aunt who is living with me

I have 5 siblings. I’m the second child.

My brother finished his bachelor degree

He has a family and a job in Phnom Penh

My younger sibling is also married.

The two youngest are studying

My family and I farm rice

and we have other minor jobs to make a living

The livelihood of the villagers here has improved now

It’s not as bad as before

Sophorn Take 8.

How do you feel when you volunteer for the community radio station?

I’m very happy. (inaudible) I’m quite concerned. (inaudible) …buy the programs that we produce.

We can’t do what we want to do. (inaudible) We don’t meet up as often. That’s my concern. (inaudible) Our group disbands because the members have to move far away with their family and they can’t meet us anymore.

We don’t get paid for what we do. When we do unpaid job; living condition is very important. Some members go have jobs that can pay them; they leave this place. That’s my big concern. It’s currently rice-farming season, so sometimes the members can’t meet up.

We can’t meet and discuss. That’s my concern.

Finally, can you tell us about what family background? How many siblings do you have? What do your parents do? You don’t have to give us their names. How is your livelihood? What does your family do for a living?

How are your siblings’ studying? Okay?

Yes. I have my parents and an aunt who doesn’t have a family yet, living with me. I have 5 siblings. I’m the second child. My brother finished his bachelor degree. He has a family and a job in Phnom Penh. My next younger sibling is also married. The two youngest are studying.

My family farms rice and other minor jobs for a living. The livelihood of the villagers here has improved now. It’s not as bad as before.

Thank you!

We got it in 1979. The government gave us the land.

We took whatever land we got. The rest was up to the government.

It varied from family to family. Everyone got the same.

It was a rice farm that was used since Pol Pot Regime.

They came here and already saw the rice farm.

It’s been a long time – since 1979.

That’s all. They added one or two.

Did they buy more?

They bought more

They haven’t made it for us yet, but they recognize that it’s our land

No one has gotten it yet. They gave us the temporary permit already

The local authorities have recognized that it’s our land. If they don’t recognize it, then they have to give us the land register.

My land is 2 hectors big.

Field land?

Yes, field land. I don’t have any farm land.

I don't know.

I’ve only heard about paying some amount of money for one hector, but we only plant our own rice.

We don’t get much because the soil isn’t that good; it’s sand. We only get 2 or 3 tons per hector.

How many tons does your family consume in a year?

My family needs 3 tons to consume and to sell.

Consumption only.

Consumption only, we need one or one and a half ton.

We don’t have much left because we don’t have much money.

We sell the rice to get money. We only keep enough to eat.

When do you usually sell the rice?

We sell the rice in dry seasons because there are many events and weddings.

We sell the rice to give money to the newly wed.

That uses up a lot of money. We also spend on household items.

We don’t have much money. We can’t hire someone else.

If there are few members, then it’s enough. But there are 8 members in my family; it’s not enough.

I want to hire, too, but they have their own rice field.

Who would I hire?

Everyone here works on their own farm. There’s no one that we can hire.

We keep our own seedlings to plant every year.

After harvesting, we keep a part to use as seedlings, and a part to consume and to sell.

Can you tell us the seedling selection process?

After harvesting, we select the seedlings.

We normally keep 3 wooden baskets of seedlings separate and keep the rest for consumption.

It’s hard because it’s farming season now.

If I get called for a meeting or a training, then I’ll miss working out my farm.

I have to put this work on hold and let my family do it.

t’s not that we stop doing it, but we take out one manpower for that meeting.

If the meetings are too frequent, then I miss out on this work every day.

It’s okay if it’s not seedlings transplanting season.

It’s farming season. I have to manage the time.

If I have a meeting in the morning, I have to wake up at dawn to plow.

I would then stop at 8 or 9 and go to the meeting.

It’s okay if it’s dry season.

Sometimes if I sacrifice this work too much and we don’t have any money, they also scold at me.

They say I waste this work and don’t get anything back in return.

They would only scold me for a bit.

There’s nothing I can do; that’s the way it is.

It’s okay if it’s not farming season. They don’t think it’s troublesome.

It’s okay if it’s once in a while, but they start complaining when it’s every day.

They’re older now. When I go, they have to farm on their own.

What do you think?

There’s nothing to think. I explain to them.

I tell them what I learn from the meeting.

Then they’ll understand. They will let me go.

They won’t blame anymore as long as I don’t go to the meeting and not know what was going on.

Although there’s water now, there’s usually a drought every year. There hadn’t been any rain till the day before yesterday.

It was dry. We only got the water from the rain from the day before. (inaudible)

I think the climate here is quite good, though I don’t know how it is at someone else’s farm.

I think it’s okay here because there’s enough rain in the farming season.

People get to farm their rice.

The water canal is quite tough to use because there’s only water when it rains.

It was dry before. It wasn’t until the rain the day before that it got some water back.

It was dry. There’s no water when there’s no rain.

The water canal can’t store the water alone. We need to have reservoirs, too.

I have requested to the local authorities when there’s any problem such as drought during farming seasons.

I have asked them to find a solution for the farmers

so they can finish their work in the farming season and not have to stop working because there’s a drought.

I’m concerned about it, too. I’m worried that they will do give me the land possession certificate.

I only heard that the company had come for the land concession, but when the people went to file a petition to the authority

they said they couldn’t take responsibility for the case as the people didn’t have any official possession certificate.

I’m worried that such cases can happen on me someday. It has happened in some provinces, but not yet here.

Yes, it hurts. Every time I overwork, my knee hurts; and my bones, too.

There is quite some difficulty.

Have you seen any doctors yet?

I’m thinking of having it checked after planting seedlings.

I had it checked once around 6 years ago when it first started aching.

So, after planting the seedlings, I’ll have it checked.

Is it still hurting like it used to?

Not that much. It only hurts when I work too hard.

Back then, I could never even walk when it hurt. It only hurts sometimes now.

Can you tell me in details how it hurts you?

The joints hurt. It usually does at night when I work too hard during the day time.

It hurts like there is something stuck in the bone.

Have you been fighting with it all these times?
Yes.

It hurts too often that I get used to it now already. I can fight with it.

Still, I’m afraid that it becomes worse someday. I can’t see the future. That’s why I want to see a doctor after planting seedlings.

Sophorn!

Huh?

Have you eaten?
- Not yet.

Go buy

a pack of MSG

2 packs of Tiger Cake

a pack of coconut jelly, and buy some snack for the rest of the money.

Buy the MSG at the place you told me the other day.

How much?

2500 riels.

They are all delicious.

Oh, did you get the plastic bag torn off?

No, it’s okay.

Are they Khmer bills?

Pick one.

Yes.

Here, for yesterday as well.

Aunty, do you want some Nom Bahnjok? Do you want dessert instead? What dessert?

Bring me 500 riels, too. I don’t have enough.

I’m taking these 2.

Take another pack. You still have 600 riels for the change.

Wait!

Why do want to keep the change? It’s not much. That one is 2500 riels. How many do you want? 300 riels?

Give me the pack for the 600 riels then. Pack them in 2 packages separately.

How many do you want?

Here, 200 riels.

The amount of the cake keeps decreasing.

I’m not messing with you. I’m just talking about the seller that keeps decreasing the amount of it.

It is pretty much less now for 1000 riels.

What do you think about our radio drama yesterday? Do you think it can be finished any time soon?

I think it’ll be soon so that it can be broadcast soon as well.

And what do you think about changing the voice actors yesterday? Do you think it was difficult?

I think it was difficult because we had to go back and forth.

So, what do you think then?

I’m not going to say much, but switching voice actors made it difficult.

The voice recording might be easy, but it will be difficult for the editor.

I think so because it was very random.

It was complicated.

It was almost going to be finished already when I was there.

But Chhang Theang and the others in the village haven’t voice recordinged as well.

They have once, haven’t they?

They have, but it isn’t enough yet. It was only for stage 2.

There was a clip about the village’s chief. The chief turned out to be female at the end of the sound clip. It’s not reasonable.

I support the part, but the village’s chief voice shouldn’t have been female, or do we call her Mr.Village’s Chief, too?

That’s why I’m telling you that we need to voice recording again.

It shouldn’t be voice recordinged again.

Chap Seng told me that he was too busy to voice recording it either.

I think we have cooperated pretty well, but it’s just that the drama wasn’t supposed to be that hilarious.

It was because we knew how to use the correct terminology and hilarious language.

It was fun for the rehearsal part, but for the real one, I felt like we couldn’t add some fun to it.

We didn’t have much fun during the voice recording, but during the rehearsal, we had quite lots of fun.

I think it would have been great if you were the main voice-actor in the drama.
Related to what?

Related to anything. What I’m saying is, if they want to provide education or recommendation, I’d be glad to get it.

It’s hard for me to talk about it.

Because if I talk about it, we might have troubles.

Do you know what kind of troubles they are? For example, violence.

There was a family which the members didn’t get along, and they always used violence.

First, we shall explain them why they shouldn’t continue doing so.

However, if they don’t listen to our advice, we should report them to the neighbors and the authority to take part in the intervention on them.

This is about violence. Is there anything else?

They are the same. We should always help those who are in troubles.

Of course, everyone is equal. No one’s better.

I think so. If I could take a role as an educational actor, I’d be very glad to do it.

Are you afraid that they would criticize us? Have you ever thought of that?

Well, for some reasons, it’s good that they criticize us because we can learn from critiques and do better in the future.

But if we don’t involve their critiques into our thoughts, we will never know what we do is right or wrong.

So, you are thinking that if you can do this, it will become your very first achievement?

I’m very proud even though I’m not the main actor. I’m still glad to be in the position.

How did they not know about this from the start?

No one knew about it.

He minds too much. He shouldn’t haven minded with such things.

I mean, if he was upset because he couldn’t be the main actor, he should’ve put himself in the others who didn’t get to be the main actor, too.

He should’ve understood that we didn’t have that kind of feelings.

Do they only want the voice from Hout? Not only a word or two?

We should share. Sometimes, my voice is pretty much in the drama. Same as FM102, each of the staff has their own story, and they also get a chance to talk about it.

The one talking about their story has to be the main actor, and does each of the others.

Or it’s just that they don’t need to be the main actor, but the one that talks the most in the drama.

He wasn’t supposed to be upset and mined such thing.

I don’t know because they were voice recordinging the whole time, not me.

Really?

Yes.

Why did they make her the voice actress for the village’s chief?

Some actors didn’t get to talk much.

Just like me.

A word or two then that’s it.

I’m too lazy to think about it.

Someone’s calling you.

Related to the article…

What?

Related to the article,

What about it?

How much do they charge for it?

I haven’t met them yet. I have to scrutinize the article.

I think I can get to work on 2 articles.

Is that so?

The more I write, the more I know about it.

Work on an article a day and revise it.

I think so. I think you’ll get to work on article a day.

Including the voice recording?

Yes.

I can do it.

Well, you can earn 100 Dollars already for this month.

Try to get an article for a day.

If you were (inaudible), you could get a few articles already.

Maybe 150 Dollars a month. 5 Dollars a day so that is 50 Dollars for 10 days.

Can you teach me someday?

I’ll teach so that when you don’t know about something later on, I’ll charge you for helping.

If one of you asks me for help, I’ll charge you.

Will you charge?

I’ll charge 2 Dollars.

Yes, 2 Dollars is fair enough.

Can it be 1.5 Dollars?

How can you charge 2 dollars for this little thing?

I’m actually the one writing it.

That’s because I told you to study, but you didn’t.

I don’t remember, that’s why I’m asking you to show it.

Where are you going, girls?

Are you going to Bes Pak?

Hi!

Hurry, it’s hard for them to take a video of your hip.

They are finding lobsters.

Why don’t you make stirred lobsters today?

I suggest putting a lock for the door.

That one.

No, not the lockers but their doors. I haven’t seen it locked. I’m very worried about it every time I eat since I first bought it.

I think it’s okay because there hasn’t been anything bad here.

No, we have to be careful and prepared, because if there’s problem, there’s nothing more than just feeling regret.

Before leaving, everyone must keep their stuff in the right place as I will lock the door.

I’m informing you now, and since we’re here together, all of you are aware of this.

But if u still put the key everywhere after I give u several times, it will be hard for me when I’m asked about the key.

First thing first, before going home, the one holding the key must make sure to lock all the lockers.

Don’t we have a schedule for that? Can’t the one responsible on each day give the key to him afterward?

We do have that kind of schedule, but to make it more convenient, the one nearest here will get to keep the key.

If we keep it to the schedule, it’d be hard for us when the key holder comes here late.

I’ll be the one holding it, but each of us who takes responsibility on each day can take the key from me.

It’s not a problem. You can keep it, but you have to make sure that you bring the key home.

Do not leave it here. You must make sure to lock all the lockers.

No, it was because people were still using the lockers yesterday, that’s why I couldn’t lock them.

We can see that it’s a problem for you because when they leave, you will still have some other work to do.

So, the one guarding the place must keep the key and give it to him or Yon as their houses are near.

And for the one to guard the next day, they can take the key from him or Yon.

That’s easy.

But if Yon takes full responsibility, there will be no one to help locking the lockers.

That’s good.

I’m trying my best to settle and help everyone to have the easiest way.

That means, every time you take something out of the locker, you must bring it back before the one guarding go home.

And those who don’t lock the lockers after using it, must leave their stuff outside the lockers.

We do that to make everyone understand that these are not an individual’s properties but a community’s one.

But what if they still need to use the stuff even after the one guarding go home? What should they do?

And they don’t have the key to the lockers because Yon brings it home with him. It was like that yesterday.

Another thing, Yon should give the key to the one who still needs to use the lockers.

Doing so, they can lock them properly.

If the lockers aren’t locked, we wouldn’t feel secure. I understand that.

I’m still worried though because every time I go eat there, I can still the computers and other valuable tings there.

The lockers can be broken very easily if it’s without lock. The lock of the outside door helps it more secure.

Even though, bad things haven’t happened, but we have to be prepared and more careful.

And what can we do when there’s something happening?

Who to blame when things happen?

We can’t do anything, see?

I can ask a handyman to fix the door in the afternoon and have it drilled.

The key is with me already, but there’re still problems.

There are many groups in our community, so sometimes when the one guarding gets switch

they should open the lockers for the other to check whether or not there are enough materials in there to avoid losing things and accusing other.

Have you noted down?

Yes, we have because when someone wants to monitor our items in our community

we must be able to show them what we have.

Then the next one to guard must check the following items whether or not they are still there as noted.

And if the any item isn’t in the locker, they must be informed of the one who takes the stuff.

We must be responsible because they are ours, not just one of us.

If we can take of care, the donor will be satisfied and continue to help us. That’s it from me.

As we have brought up a point, let me bring out another point.

Regarding knowledge, DCV or other NGOs tried to call us for a course, but they couldn’t find that many, just 1 or 2.

However, those who got to go there were representatives of our community.

Those who passed were the ones we selected and sent from here.

So, I’m asking the ones getting the knowledge from DCV to share what you have studied.

And if the 4 of you don’t help us until the organization select us to go again, it won’t be that quick for us to develop.

So, the 4 of you should share your knowledge with us and the other 30 of us.

If we wait for them, it’s not going to be busy. That’s why we have to share to the people in our community.

Mostly, we can do it 70%.

The ones to get training and education from other institutions, we have a meeting for them with the people to exchange knowledge and experience.

There are 2 ways in providing the knowledge, the easy and the hard ways.

About the computer, it’s a bit hard because there’s only one computer.

And when it’s time for the other’s turn, it’s hard for them to use.

Thus, there’s only a meeting that we can share about. If you got 10 points from them, there should be about 5, 6 or 8 points.

If there’s anything you need, just raise your idea.

We will try to give more support We can give software or technical support.

One more thing, the schedule you told me about is wrong.

Think of like this, we can share the knowledge when it’s dusk. We can come and sleep at the center at night.

There aren’t that many women that can come and sleep there.

I know there are still problems, but we are trying to make it better as you.

There are people that can come on time because they have to guard.