Letters to the Editor

We've abandoned the Old Guestbook idea and this section is now to be an old fashioned 'Letters (and E-mails) to the Editors'  section.  So send your messages to us at Editor@oldwoodbridgians.org.uk and we'll transfer them to this page and we'll add some cheeky comments too.  Over to you.

From Hannah Green (1996-2006)

Hannah was awarded an OW Travel Grant to assist her with her expenses to travel and work in Cambodia with a Charity called Magna helping children in many different ways.  Here is her report - great stuff Hannah!!

I have now been in Cambodia for just over three months and it seems a long time ago that we stepped off the plane into the sweltering heat. We were met by our country representative, Rupert, and taken to our guest house. He couldn't believe how quiet we all were but we were just amazed by everything we saw, things we have now grown used to.

The first thing that shocked me was the traffic. There seemed to be no road rules, with the continuous honking of horns and people travelling along on the wrong side of the road. Khmers seem to have an amazing ability to carry an incredibly large amount of things on a moto, (similar to a city motorbike). To date, the most people I have seen on a moto is 6 (admittedly three were children). However, seeing five grown men on a single moto was a shocker, the driver, three behind him and the fifth crouching where the driver's feet should be! Motos are how we get everywhere or occasionally a tuck-tuck, very rarely a car.

We had a day and a half in Phnom Penh before we all went to our projects and it was fairly overwhelming. Lauren, my project partner, and I had an extra day because our hosts were not ready for us. In that extra day we had managed to see a lot of the sights the city has to offer, including the Palace, Silver Pagoda, the National Museum and Wat Phnom (a temple). On our third day we were picked up and taken to our project in Tahkmoa, thirty minutes away from Phnom Penh. We are working for a Slovakian charity called Magna. It is a children's charity working with children with HIV/AIDS and it also runs a nutrition programme and a programme preventing mother to child transmission. Magna has two group homes for children with HIV, a hospital ward and a clinic where they teach and provide check ups for all the children.

Lauren and I live in 'Group Home 2' with eighteen children. We are very lucky as we have our own rooms and we share a bathroom. It did take some getting used to however. We get up at five o'clock in the morning with the children, if we didn't the water would run out so we couldn't shower. We eat rice three times a day which we are used to now but initially it was a real struggle. The children are lovely and very friendly. There is a couple who act as the parents and there are two other nannies to help look after all the children. All the children are on ARVT and medicine time is at 5:50 morning and night, everyday. The routine took some getting used to but it is pretty normal now. We have the weekend off, however it is very hard to lie-in because of the noise and the lack of water later on. Usually on Saturdays we go into Phnom Penh and do errands and see other Project Trust volunteers if they go there too. Sundays are usually taken up by doing washing and going on the internet in the afternoon to catch up with friends and family.

We live in the group home with the children so we are constantly playing with them and doing various arts and crafts activities. We also spend time in the hospital, Chey Chumneas, playing with the children there, often taking colouring books and pencils for them to use. At the clinic we teach English classes twice a week. In the past month we have started to do office work, putting all the data of each child onto the computer.

We also go on Home Base Care. This is on both the nutrition programme and the 'Hope For a Better Life' programme. We spend the afternoons with a social worker on their moto, travelling from house to house. With the nutrition programme we go to check on the health of children and give out food baskets consisting of sweet potatoes, pumpkin, canned sardines, olive oil and some sort of bean that can be made into lots of nutritious meals. With the HFBL we check on the children's health and also give them money. This is for transport to and from school and for the school fees themselves. The children in this programme are visited up to three times a week and every time their health is noted and also their ARVT medicine is checked to make sure it is being taken properly. This part of our work is really interesting as we get to see many parts of the city and countryside that most people never would. It is also unbelievable how people can live but they are happy people and they get on with it. 

On training we were warned about culture shock but so far things have been alright. Phnom Penh is actually a very small city and we are familiar with it now. The heat was horrible when we first arrived but we have acclimatised and it is also cooling down a little. The people here are all really friendly even though they stare an incredible amount! The food is fine, in the group home the meals are very plain and sometimes inedible but there are plenty of western restaurants in Phnom Penh if we are craving English food. So far the only thing I really crave is a good Cumberland sausage and orange juice. It is frustrating not being able to speak the language but after a two week language course our skills are picking up and we are able to get where we need to with it. Our knowledge of the language is steadily progressing.

It is not the safest of places to be but we know what we have to do to stay safe. We are rarely out after dark in Tahkmoa as dinner is at 4:30 and the children go to bed at 6:15. However it is becoming more common for western expats (as the rich Khmers are now so untouchable) to be pulled off motos in bag snatching incidents. Just recently a French lady was dragged off the back of a moto when people tried to snatch her bag. Sadly she died when struck by oncoming traffic. We are all now very conscious of what we carry, very rarely do we carry a bag, but if we do, it is never attached to us so we would be ok if the bag was snatched. But generally it is fairly safe here.

I am having a great experience out here, especially as Asia was never a place I really wanted to go and I knew nothing about Cambodia.However things have not been plain sailing. Within our first two weeks of being at our project Misha, the man who was looking after us, was tragically killed in a motorbike accident. This hit me really hard as no one actually really knows how he died and I had expected to see him for the whole of my year. This meant that our bosses had to fly back to Slovakia with the body and sort things out. A trip that was supposed to be only two weeks turned into five weeks.

In a difficult situation we really needed to sort out our project. As a new placement for that year there were a lot of teething problems and also the timetable needed to be adjusted as we were doing things that we just hadn't come to do. So it took nearly two months for our project to really start to pick up. After having several meetings we now have a new timetable that should hopefully work better for us all.

Cambodians seem to love holidays. We have had so many already. The most important one is called Chnum Ben where the lives of deceased ancestors are celebrated. Everybody gets dressed up and goes to the local Wat (temple) or to the provinces to celebrate the holiday with their family. To the Wats they take with them lots of rice and they offer it to the monks and burn incense sticks. Living with the children meant that we got to go with them and experience this festival too. Although it was a little strange and we didn't understand why some things were done, it was really interesting to experience their culture in more depth.

Another holiday was the water festival where there are hundreds of boat races from all of the provinces. It is a festival to celebrate the end of the rains and to bring good harvests, but really it seems like a good excuse for Cambodians to have a good time! The city population doubles in size over the three days and it was so busy on the water front we had to get there early in the morning to be able to see anything.

I still can't believe that it is nearly Christmas! I have never liked the idea of a hot Christmas but here I am! There are now seven Project Trust volunteers in Cambodia. Three are definitely staying in their project for Christmas day itself and I think the rest of us will be spending the day on the beach! Very strange but it should be fun.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this update.

From Emily Skinner (1999-2006)

Emily was awarded an OW Travel Grant to assist with her expenses to become involved with Volunteer Adventures and their Youth Outreach Programme in Buenos Aires.  This is her first report with more to come - we hope!!

So its day 4 of my Volunteer placement in Buenos Aires and as promised here is an update of what I’ve experienced so far thanks to my Old Woodbridgian Travel Grant...

Having flown from South Africa on Sunday volunteering began straight away on the Monday. After a brief 'orientation' at the language school, where I met my fellow volunteers, we set off on the 15 minute walk which takes us to the villa - ironically the word they use here for shanty town - where we were to be helping out at a soup kitchen for children of the area.

Even though we volunteers are always with an Argentinean lady from the language school, for security purposes we never enter the villa until an adult comes and collects us to escort us through the streets to the soup kitchen. We certainly arouse a lot of interest as we pick our way through the dirt track streets, covered in litter and broken glass, but as we walk the children we work with come running out of their houses to greet us and hold our hands and hug us as we walk en masse to the tiny room, 'el comedor', where we do our work.

This week there are 5 of us volunteering, all girls at the moment, and apart from me they are all Americans. The soup kitchen actually feeds over 100 children from the area. Our job however is to run a sort of kids club from 5.30 to 7.30 each day, to organise activities and teach the kids each day before their meal.

The club is open to any children of the area, although attendance currently runs at about 23 kids, mostly under 12 years old. At first I was surprised to hear that we only work for 2 hours with the kids each day...but after my first day I understood why! It’s absolutely exhausting! Today I'm going two hours earlier however to help with the preparation of the meal too.

My first day was certainly nerve wracking but already I can feel my confidence with the children growing as my Spanish de-rusts after 6 months of not being used and the children and I get to know each other. By our second day they were chanting 'Que no se vayan!' when it came for time for us to leave...that basically means 'Please don't go!’. It was incredibly touching to see how much they appreciated us being there. I was also very impressed to see their keenness to learn...when we told them they did not have any homework to do for the next day they began chanting 'We want homework!’.

As volunteers we are very much encouraged to contribute to the organisation of the activities the children do. As we all only started this week we have been just getting settled and sussing out the situation, but I hope next week to come up with some new activities for them. With practically no facilities and the children understanding very little English it is certainly a challenge...but their enthusiasm is really encouraging and I think the very least I can do is try! The sort of activities we've done so far include English reading, playing Twister, teaching them to sing 'Heads shoulders knees and toes', drawing...Any suggestions of activities would be very much appreciated.

Apart from that my accommodation in a hostel is great, located very centrally and full of fellow volunteers with whom I am enjoying discovering the delights of the city in my spare time.

So that’s the latest. Will keep you updated as events and adventures unfold. Thanks so much for helping to make this all possible. I hope you agree, from what I have told you, that this cause is certainly very worthwhile and very much appreciated by the children.

Adios por ahora

From Rachel Stratton (1988-1999)

Rachel applied for and was awarded an OW Travel Grant to assist her fund-raising efforts so she could not only tackle the rigours of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, from October 4th-22nd 2006, but also raise money for the St Luke’s Cancer Fund, Royal Surrey Hospital. Here is her story - it sounds like a wonderful experience.

I caught my first glimpse of snow-capped mountains peaking through the clouds as we flew into Kathmandu and I knew the previous 9 months of fundraising and physical training had been worthwhile. Tired and jetlagged we arrived in Kathmandu with one night in civilisation before saying goodbye to beds, running water, toilets and clean clothes for 2 weeks.

The trek took us through diverse landscapes, starting in lush green foothills with views of waterfalls, rice terraces and even monkeys. The path, which consisted of worn cliff edges at times, is the trade route between the villages. As we passed locals walking bare foot carrying items such as tables and chairs, 5m long pipes and caged chickens strapped to their backs, our state of the art walking boots, breathable t-shirts and rucksacks seemed slightly unnecessary.

                                                       View from Thorong La pass over the Mustang Valley

As we rose in altitude the landscape became sparser, breathing more difficult and the cold nights set in. Temperatures varied from 28°C in the daytime at low altitude, to -10°C at night at high altitude. The cold nights contributed to my poor sleep patterns, which were made worse by perpetual barking of local dogs, cockerels, yaks invading camp, snorers within the group and breathlessness at high altitudes. However waking up to stunning views of some of the highest mountains in the world, any feelings of tiredness soon disappeared.

The greatest challenge of the trek was the penultimate day of walking, the final ascent, an 11 hour trek over Thorong La pass, known for being the longest pass in the world. Setting off at 5am we left the green Manang valley behind us, up a steep dusty grey terrain to endless false summits. After walking uphill for 8 hours through avalanche fields and over dusty paths, we reached our summit at 5460m. Many trekkers do not reach this altitude without taking Diamox, a drug to prevent the effects of the altitude, offloading their rucksack to a porter or even having to resort to being carried on horseback. On reaching the top I was relieved not to have needed any of these aids, but at the same time felt exhausted and elated, but also saddened at the realization that trip was coming to an end. 3 hours of steep downhill walking took us into the bleak dusty Mustang valley.  

On reaching our stop for the night on the final trekking day, we discovered that rather than camping, we would be staying in a hostel, each room with an ensuite bathroom. I had never been so excited at the prospect of washing. That evening a traditional Nepali feast was organized, with singing and dancing giving us an opportunity to thank and say goodbye to the porters and Sherpa guides who helped us complete such an amazing challenge. The next day we returned to Kathmandu where we had a day to explore city life before flying back home. 

I look back on my experience and something that really took me by surprise was how relaxed I felt throughout the trip. Something I would expect from a beach holiday, but not two weeks of intense hiking and camping, especially in a new country with different cultures and routines. However, the Nepalese were so kind and laid-back that there was nothing to worry about apart from staying healthy, keeping fit and enjoying yourself. Another surprise for me was how I really enjoyed camping, which from Duke of Edinburgh experiences of howling gales blowing away our tents on the north Norfolk coast, I was not expecting. However, hot tea brought to our tents every morning, along with stunning mountain views were probably largely responsible.

From Olivia Newell (1992 - 2006) and Helen Dewberry (1999-2006)

These two OWs applied for and were granted an OW Travel Grant which they used to assist their expenses in their journey to the Wildlife Friends of Thailand Rescue Centre. Below is the story of their adventure.

In the summer we undertook the rewarding experience of volunteering at the Wildlife Friends of Thailand Rescue Centre. The centre is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals previously exploited as pets or used for profit within the tourist industry. We travelled to the sanctuary on the Kao Look Chang Temple grounds in the Petchburi province of Thailand, approximately 160 kilometres south of Bangkok. The centre was founded five years ago by Dutchman Edwin Wiek with the objectives of rescuing wild animals, educating the local population (particularly children) to stop cruelty to animals, alerting tourists to the illegal trade of wild animals for the pet and entertainment industries, prevent hunting and promote conservation of local habitat, and to start up a release program. It began with the rescue of Meow the tiger, who was chained outside a petrol station to attract custom, and now has very poor motor control due to malnutrition. Most of the animals have been abused in similar ways, and have various disabilities.

We spent three weeks at the centre working with other volunteers from across the globe and the Thai staff performing daily tasks involved in the running of the sanctuary.

                 Food preparation time for the primates                                                       Cheeky, the orphaned Macaque

The primates were fed twice daily, this job involved the preparation of exotic fruit and the distribution of the bowls; this task sounds simple enough however there are one hundred and fifty primates at the centre. There were two main types of primate; gibbons and macaques. The macaques have a life span of about 20 to 40 years and the intelligence of a nine year old human child, the human characteristics were at times uncanny. Many of these animals stress problems were pronounced because of their high level of intelligence and previous abuse. One such macaque, Phoebe, who injured herself in an escape attempt was listless and unresponsive. The gibbons are said to have the intelligence of a 7 year old child and live into their forties in captivity. The centre has constructed seven gibbon islands in the lake opposite the main compound, this allows the gibbons to move about freely, to establish territories and mates, and to live a life similar to a life in the wild. The islands are used as stepping stones to release, where possible.

There were fourteen bears at the centre of two types; Malayan Sun and Asiatic Black. These live for about 25 years and feed mostly on fruit. Volunteers cleaned and fed them twice daily. Many were kept for the tourist trade, and Bouncer is missing a leg after being caught in a bear trap for three days. Most have stress related behavioural problems owing to being removed from their mothers too early. Adult bears are often used for bile for oriental medicine.

                      Sun Bear awaiting rescue                                                                          Helen with Ollie the Otter

Other jobs included regular cleaning and watering. Special duties involved the other animals at the centre; civet cats, Meow the tiger, Dundee the crocodile, Iggy the iguana, Monty the mongoose, mouse deer (deer the size of rabbits!), Sam the ex-‘beach pony’ and Christmas the guinea fowl. One particular duty was ‘enrichment’, which is carried out at most large enclosures where animals are kept in captivity where welfare is taken in to consideration. This involves providing challenges and distractions that test the animals’ minds. For example live fish for Ollie and Olivia the otters, a football for Kot the macaque and ants’ nests for the bears. Other than the scheduled jobs there was always opportunity to help with specific animals needs and improve the enclosures. One such animal was Matty an angora rabbit whose fur had become badly matted due to living in a muddy enclosure; we washed and trimmed her fur.

We would like to thank the Old Woodbridgians for their contribution to our valuable and rewarding experience. It opened our eyes to the cruelty and kindness of the current state of animal welfare in Thailand. The Wildlife Friends of Thailand are always looking for volunteers and donations, their website is www.wfft.org.