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| The front of the Tabitha Office |
Today we met
Janne. Janne is the founder and director
of the Tabitha Foundation. A passionate
soul who is intent on contributing to (and encouraging others to contribute to)
Cambodians building back their dignity.
Janne is a most amazing woman.
She came to Phnom Penh in 1991 during the last days of the Khmer Rouge –
Western supported – government. She
spent her first 18 months’ worth of night sleeping in her bath because she woke
on her first morning to bullet holes in the wall 10cm above her head. She stayed, though. After a couple of decades of building houses
for poor, destitute, and fatherless families she has put a roof over almost four
million people’s heads. The website
tells me they have built for “463,136 families with 3,705,088
dependents from 1994 to date”.
Gosh.
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| Janne Ritskes |
Janne gave us the
orientation address which included some history, a few personal stories, and
The Rules. Recent Cambodian history is
not something we knew terribly much about, and it seems unbelievable that the
West supported and sponsored Pol Pot and his cronies even after they were
initially overthrown and after the first round of UN trials had begun. It all came to an end only when Pol Pot
eventually died in 1998. We all found
that a touch gobsmacking.
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| Story-telling |
She told us the
story of Vonne (I’m not sure how it’s spelt….).
Vonne was a child of four when she was separated from her mother after
watching her father and 6 brothers being shot in their home by the Khmer Rouge. From age 4 to 7 she was responsible for a
dormitory of babies under 12 months.
Each night, a baby died.
Horribly. When Janne met her she
had severe PTSD, believed she was intrinsically a ‘bad person’ and had
difficulty dealing with people in groups of more than 1. Vonne now works with
Janne at the foundation. This was just
one woman’s story. Of course, each
person over the age of 45 in this country has lived through a traumatising time
for individuals, and for the country as a whole. It will take a lot of healing.
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| Cutting and making |
And then, when
tears had been dried, and we had been reminded that these are a broken people
who will benefit hugely from the work that we are about to do, she told us The
Rules.
The rules for building
the houses in the village are designed not only to be culturally sensitive, but
also to be safe, as well as to ensure that we don’t leave any bad feelings
behind. They are many and varied, and
the ones I can remember go something like this:
- · Do not touch a person of the opposite sex. This should only happen if that person is the parent of your own still-in-utero child. It can look as if some people are particularly promiscuous if this one isn’t followed.
- · When a person hurts themselves by banging their thumb with the hammer, for instance, do not rush over to see if they’re ok – this is showing weakness, and they already believe that we’re big softies.
- · Do not pay any attention to, or admire, a child under the age of 2. The locals may think you want to take it away as payment.
- · Do not leave anything behind in the village, even a tennis ball etc, as it will cause tension amongst the villagers when we leave.
- · Do completely finish the bottled water. Don’t leave half-drunk bottles behind.
- · Do dress modestly covering shoulders and knees
- · Don’t share your food with the villagers as it may make them sick. If you accept food from them, it’s your own fault if you end up with crook guts.
- · Men should use the convenience of a bush, and not be surprised if others come along for the company.
- · Women should only use the convenience of a bush if they would like company and are prepared to spend up to 30 minutes chatting while squatting! There will be a closed off area prepared for us.
- · Do stop every 15 mins for water whether you think you need it or not.
- · Do not allow children in, or under, the houses while they’re being built – it could be dangerous.
- · Do leave your belongings on the table provided, no one will touch them while they’re there. Only leave your things elsewhere knowing that they will be taken.
- · Do hold on to your emotions. This is about them, not you.
- · Go with grace.
After looking
around the shop which was filled with beautiful silks, and products made by the
Cambodian women who were in and around the building, we shopped for bits and
pieces to have for lunches and snacks during the time we’re away. Many of the women are ex-sex workers. Another piece of Janne's contribution to community development.
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| Stitching |
We then took in
the Museum. A fabulous building set
around a delightful courtyard. It was
filled with antiquities from the Angkor Watt region and seemed similar in style
to some of the Egyptian pieces we’ve seen.
It was clearly a complex ancient civilization with engineering marvels
created at a time when the islands of Western Europe were still subsistence
farming – but more of that later when we’re in Siem Reap. Certainly a far cry from Pol Pot's goal.
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| The Museum Courtyard |
Tomorrow we begin
our journey North for 7 – 8 hours.
There’s little promise of a hot shower or flushing toilet, so any hope
of wi-fi will be slim.
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| Roof detail |
We’ll definitely
keep it written up, and will upload the next instalments as we can. See you on down the road!
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