Cambodian Tales

Well, Jessamyn (my research partner and friend) and I have been in Cambodia for several days now. We have seen much adventure already, but are just barely starting to make some headway with the NGO research. We, unlike Quel's part of the research team in Mozambique, don't have one specific NGO that we are connected with. It took us several days to get in touch with the few contacts we have.
Today we met with a very nice man who is the head of an organization that works on community development here...in other words he does lots of training, consultation, and evaluation with various NGOs here. He talked about what the NGOs aren't doing and what he is trying to accomplish through his trainings. One major thing he does is to encourage them to adapt their services to the needs of the communities they serve rather than just the interests of the donors. He had some great ideas and indicated that he knows of no NGOs here that are really challenging the people they serve to serve themselves and move forward in their own way. This is part of what makes our research so daunting here. Few groups are actually running programs that are effective in helping individuals and communities develop self-reliance, and if they are no one knows about them. It is interesting to hear Cambodians talk about the problems they are facing and begin to better understand why it is so difficult for them to make important changes.
Our next research adventure will be on Wednesday. We are planning to head out to a village served by the Tabitha organization. We will be going out with them and we have no idea what to expect. Observation and curiostity seem to be our best tools for now.