Volunteer Stories  Marina Ocampo in Cambodia
Volunteer, in the Khmer language, means person with big heart. One of my biggest challenges in Cambodia was explaining to my colleagues why I would leave my comfortable Canadian life in exchange for dusty roads and a diet limited to rice and fish. I don’t think they have ever felt that my explanation of wanting to "have new experiences, share knowledge and build capacity" was sufficient!
Nearly two years ago I came to Cambodia, ready to immerse myself in the realities of a developing country. I was told that in Cambodia, the majority of people live on a dollar a day, 80% have no access to clean water, and 20% are malnourished. So imagine my shock when I found myself in a kind of Asian Las Vegas, neon lights and all. I was posted to Siem Reap, a small town near the famous Angkor Wat temples, one of the world wonders. But, Siem Reap is not Cambodia, not by a long shot.
The real Cambodia is just ten minutes drive from the city, with all its grim reality.
I am a VSO Information and Communication Advisor for the Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project, attached to the Project Implementation Unit in the Siem Reap Provincial Department of Fisheries. I am one of the five VSO volunteers working on this project, in five different provinces around the lake. Our main job is to assist fishing communities around the Tonle Sap Lake in organizing and managing their resources.
It is true that I eat a lot of rice and even more fish. But, the fish is fresh and delicious, and eating it while sitting on a straw mat with everyone else has its particular appeal.
My VSO placement will finish in few months. I will leave Cambodia, but Cambodia will always be part of me. And I will leave part of myself here: in the community ecotourism operation that I have organized and in the little Canadian flags hanging in the Tonle Sap villages.
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