Constitutional Current and Street Swimming

This past week marked the 20th anniversary of Cambodia's Constitution. In 1993 the newly elected National Assembly was convened and UNTAC (the UN Task Force) started to pull out of the country. Fast forward to 2013 and last Monday when the new members of the elected government were sworn into the National Assembly... well 68 of them. Where were the remaining 55 members you ask? They were hanging out at Angkor Wat (about 340km north of the capital) in protest. The opposition party has made it clear time and time again, despite negotiations that seem to reach an understanding of the election results, that the July 28th elections were not free nor fair. The majority of the international community and human rights groups in Cambodia seem to side with this view although there has been some impatience to hurry up and work together already. (Conversely, China has publicly endorsed the official results issued by the ruling party.) So the National Assembly convened on Monday without the members of the CNRP who had won seats. Since then the leaders have agreed to resume negotiations (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-ready-talk), all the while encouraging demonstrations and protests from their supporters (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cpp-victory-ratified-cnrp-promises-more-protests-41898/). It is a vast oversimplification to say that as a result (cause and effect) there have been clashes with police, peaceful demonstrations and hunger strikes that have turned violent. But this has happened. And all of this in more urban areas where a variety of media sources and public opinions are more accessible. The news that is available to the rural populations is regulated by the government and limited. In my community there is a overwhelming majority of people who tell me that the CPP won. End of story. I have asked people what they think of the protests and demonstrations, the violence and the negotiations and I often come across a lot of confused looks. From my experience there is generally a gross unawareness of what is going on once you are removed from the capital and major city centers.

I do not know what will happen and when the two-party government will actually come together as exactly that - a two-party government. In the meantime there are seats that need warming. If the opposition does not warm them, it is unclear who will claim them.

While the urban areas are concerned with government leadership, the provinces are dealing with an uncertain situation as well: flooding. A generally mild rainy season has taken a sharp turn to severely swamped. Flooding has reached epic proportions in watersheds across the country and every time I check the death toll seems to rise (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/floods-could-surpass-%E2%80%9996-levels). Because Cambodia is primarily an agrarian society, these drastic change in weather have had some damaging effects on livelihoods.

Recently, I attended a training lead by a mixed team of host country nationals and foreigners (more on that later...). I got to talking with one of the foreigners and he asked whether I liked dry or wet season better. Having been born and raised in the greater Seattle area, I have a great appreciation for rain and its beauty. As I see the negative effects that the rainy season has on the less fortunate, I have come to realize how privileged I am to be able to say that I like wet season better; as I have the option to be removed from the elements if I so chose. I went for a long run in Siem Reap during a drizzle yesterday and got out past the city limits a bit and made the mistake of turning down a flooded street. I quickly found myself in water up to my knees. Along with others on bikes, motos, and in cars I waded through contaminated water comforted by the fact that I had clean drinking and bathing water to go back to when I returned to the guesthouse. I was able to laugh at myself and to joke with people gawking at me, the barang, very nearly swimming past their front doors.

swimming anyone? a flooded street in Siem Reap

Despite being a volunteer, I am comfortably living on a volunteer stipend that allows for me to come and go between what often feel like separate, disconnected or maybe even dissonant worlds. One in which flooding is a thing that is understood objectively or in theory, as an observer, and one in which the reality of the flooding has everyday implications. I met someone in the foreign service recently who addressed this concept by saying that "Peace Corps Volunteers are lucky to be in the field and to be working and living in that liminal space." While most days I feel extremely lucky, I also struggle to bridge and process those multiple worlds.

Look out for a less meta post on our first K6-K7 provincial meet up paired with more musings on different approaches to international development...