On Soap boxes, soil, Q-tips, and kittens

One thing I love about living in Cambodia is that we live so much closer to the earth, and haven’t taken so many steps in an effort to fool ourselves that we can live lives completely removed from the natural ecosystems around us. The organization I am partnered with (ODOV) spends a good part of their time convincing farmers to work with natural systems and cycles in order to improve their farming practices, food availability, nutrition, and save money. The principles are so simple yet so marvelous: save your compost and pig manure to make natural fertilizer (thus saving money, improving the soil, keeping your yard clean, and helping to grow vegetables); grow vegetables, herbs, whatever you want; feed the crop residue (leftovers) to the animals; throw any extras into the fish pond to feed the fish; if you’ve been having a lot of rain, use some that has collected in the fish pond to water crops; raise chickens for the eggs, they also help keep insects down in the yard; grow fruit trees in your yard because they’re just delicious. I’ve already described the virtues of living outside in a previous post, and realize that is not possible everywhere, nor is rising and sleeping with the sun (though that would be a good excuse to sleep in until 8 in the winter). But there are many other ways Cambodians, though they do live in ecosystems engineered in part by people, do not distance themselves as much from the natural world. Rarely riding in closed vehicles means you appreciate the difference between the clean country air and smelly city air a lot more. Who needs a fridge when you buy what food you need just for the day, giving the leftovers to the cat and dog (and don’t tell me about time saving weekly shopping trips- we all know you always have to go back out the next day for something you’ve forgotten). ALL of the garbage is either burned on the side of the road or dumped in the river- gives new urgency to “reduce, reuse, recycle” when you see exactly what happens to every water bottle and Q-tip you throw away.

I’d love nothing more when I get home to have my own garden, grow some of my own vegetables, compost, and be woken up by my own rooster. I speak with the utmost humility, knowing I still have so much to learn and unlearn, and all too aware that I have so often failed in my role as a steward of God’s creation. Living in Cambodia where you can see and smell the garbage being burned, see the devastation of industrial farming and mining, but also see the wonderful orchestra of people, land, plants, and animals living out on rural farms, has brought me closer to understanding God’s heart for his children and the Earth. I’m not saying we should all drop everything and go live in self-sustaining communities pocketed around the world. But I am saying that we need to be aware of the impact of our life-choices, and make life-choices that demonstrate stewardship of this planet. We can all do things like buying in-season vegetables, bringing our own cup to Tim’s, making our own coffee from fair trade beans INSTEAD of going to Tim’s, volunteering to wash mugs after church instead of everyone using disposable cups, stop assuming that the government has policies to prevent anything bad from happening to the environment or banned all harmful substances, and educate ourselves. I think most of us (myself included), would like to think of ourselves on a scale of environmental mindedness from 1-10 (1 being drives a hummer, 10 being a reclusive permaculturist living miles from civilization) as being a comfortable 6 or 7 (extra points for you if you know what permaculture is).  Maybe it’s time we re-think this whole “points” idea and simply ask ourselves “with the resources and abilities I have, and by my daily actions, am I being a responsible steward of the planet? Do my choices promote the wellbeing and livelihoods of people around the world for this and future generations as much as possible?” Often we miss the mark and fall short. I know I do. But there is grace, and little-by-little, hope for change. And I believe we can find that hope by understanding God’s heart for the world.

Off the bunny trail and back to Cambodia… I’m also not suggesting that Cambodia is a shining example of excellent environmental stewardship, only that I’ve learned so much about what environmental stewardship really means. I’m keenly aware of the environmental problems facing nations such as Cambodia, which are emerging in terms of economic growth and consumerism without the infrastructure, environmental protection policy, or previous experience on how to deal with such an influx of people, industry, and the associated environmentally hazardous material and chemical bi-products, and trash. I am become more and more convinced that in the future, I would like to be involved in a project with the goal of helping to conserve and regenerate local ecosystems while at the same time, improving the livelihoods of people living there. If we do not keep in mind the natural ecosystems, we are forever needing to supply inputs to fill in for what we have destroyed (be it water filtration, pollination, water management, soil nutrients, medicines, food). To quote the Discovery Channel “The world is just awesome”. It’s about time we really realized that. And how can we really realize that without it changing us somehow?  

Sorry for such as long rant. We all need to get up on soap boxes every now and again. On a cheerier note, let me tell you about all of the celebrations I went to this past week. On Monday I went to the engagement ceremony of my host-family’s nephew. 40 or so people from my village got all dressed up, hopped on motorbikes, and drive to the bride-to-be’s hometown. It was only 9 in the morning, but we all sat down to eat and drink. The future bride and groom walked around (she was in a wedding dress) and ceremoniously poured drinks for everyone (for which we paid 1-2 dollars) as a way to help cover the cost of the ceremony and help them to save up money I suppose. All of the women then brought baskets of fruit and cakes up to the house, and a select group of people sat in the stifling upper room for the actual engagement ceremony. It was mostly village grandmothers and immediate family of the two young people, but since I had befriended a grandmother on the drive up, I was pulled along to witness the ceremony as well. I’m afraid I didn’t understand a word of it, but it seemed the parents were more involved than the kids were, and there was a lot of speaking and praying by an elderly man. When it came time for the couple to take photos putting on the rings, they were poked and prodded from every side by these grandmothers each trying to get them to pose in the way they each thought best. Then thankfully it was over, the baskets were emptied (there must have been at least 2 dozen), refilled 1/3 of the way with a sampling of the different fruit and cakes, and then we all went home. I guess the bride’s family will be eating apples and cakes for days on end; so much food was brought!

That same evening, I went to a co-worker’s sister’s wedding. A lot of ODOV staff went out together, and we sat down at the same table to eat. Then, some of them went home, but I stayed with the rest to dance! We danced and danced. No one would let us stop! They kept saying “1 more!” and pulled us back up to dance in circles around the table holding fruit right in front of the speakers. I was finally starting to get the hang of the dancing by the end of the night and had a great time! By the end of this day, after two long ceremonies, I had terrible blisters on my feet, but it was worth it!

Tuesday, I went to a very different ceremony; a funeral for the grandmother of ODOV’s director. She was 83 years old, which in Cambodia, means she’s lived through a lot. Again, most of the staff went along as well. The whole funeral was three days long, but the part we went to was a supper celebration. There must have been hundreds of people there coming to pay their respects.  We gave some money at the door, were blessed by a monk, and sat down to eat rice porridge together. ODOV’s director and his wife stopped serving tables and came over to join us.  We didn’t stay for too long, and when we left, more people were streaming in to take our place. I love that about Cambodia. How in times of celebration or mourning, the whole community comes together. Every time a relative of an ODOV staff member is getting married, we’re all invited! Maybe it’s because it’s a small town, maybe it’s because it is Cambodia, and maybe it doesn’t matter. As long as I can still have the privacy and aloneness in my room when I need it, this warm-climate approach to community is certainly growing on me.

Well, I’ve now written nearly two pages, so I’ll save everything else I was going to say for next time, and promise that it won’t be as long as a month before I write again! Also, be ready for some extremely adorable photos next time- the cat at our house just gave birth to kittens a few weeks ago! So much happiness!! Pictures soon once they stop hiding!

All the best,

Rebecca

If you are wondering why we are all laughing, it is because this shot was so obviously and ridiculously posed.
After two days of soil and water management trainings, we all went to a village to put our learning to the test: we analysed the situation, and discussed possible improvements.

See how we are all hiding from the sun?? Well, and microorganisms in the soil don't like to be baked either.
Keep your soil covered!!!

Strangest fruit I've ever eaten. Don't even know how to begin describing it.