RETIRED...to Peace Corps!

[thenukeman]

 Thanks Nukeworkers and My Left wing friend DW. Thank You UnCaBuffalo for getting Nukeworkers together on a good project.  
You can see the Right Door is NM for Nukeman and DW for Dave Warren on the Left.  We argue alot in PolySci.  But when the Right wing and Left Wing Got together we  helped made this project fly along with many other Nukeworkers.  The Nukeworker sign can be seen on this too.  OK  this is not Polysci so lets not make any Poly  Sci comments here.  Just want to point out a good thing done by all!!!!!!!  Click on this picture to  see DW, NM and Nukeworker sign clearer, can even click twice to make bigger

[UncaBuffalo]

Thanks Nukeworkers and My Left wing friend DW. Thank You UnCaBuffalo for getting Nukeworkers together on a good project.  
You can see the Right Door is NM for Nukeman and DW for Dave Warren on the Left.  We argue alot in PolySci.  But when the Right wing and Left Wing Got together we  helped made this project fly along with many other Nukeworkers.  The Nukeworker sign can be seen on this too.  OK  this is not Polysci so lets not make any Poly  Sci comments here.  Just want to point out a good thing done by all!!!!!!!  Click on this picture to  see DW, NM and Nukeworker sign clearer, can even click twice to make bigger

Thanks again to all the NukeWorkers who made that latrine possible! 




...and, if anyone wants to do a similar project:

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1165

[UncaBuffalo]

WOO-HOO!  We have liftoff on the sports court construction!  


Dump Trucks!!!  

           Bulldozer!!!  

                      Dudes leaning on shovels!!!  










Sorry for the (over-)exuberance, but those of you who have been keeping score at home know this one has been a bit of a for the past six months.  It's a HUGE relief to finally be breaking ground.

Thanks to everyone who donated to make this possible!  I will be posting pictures soon and often!  

[UncaBuffalo]

It's been a great month...lots happening:

http://www.nukeworker.com/pictures/thumbnails-579.html

The U.S. Marines and Navy sent a medical mission to conduct 'exchanges' with various hospitals and medical centers in Cambodia.  They had been to my district last year to perform a public clinic, and returned this time to allow six area health centers to participate in a one-day exchange.  It was held at my high school, so nice to be a part of it.

Work on the high school sports court continues...foundation is in place and dirt brought up to grade.  I will post pictures of the students moving the dirt...  Now the masons are positioning rock so they can begin pouring the slab.  Thanks again to all who donated to make this sports court possible.

The Samarky Primary School well project was delayed for about a week while the drilling rig was repaired.  We were able to complete the well and pad last week!  Thanks to those who contributed to the well fund to make it possible.

The school year is drawing to an end and some of my co-teachers took me up to Bokor Mountain National Park to celebrate.  It is beautiful up there...nice to see an intact forest. (Unfortunately, that is the first intact forest I have seen in Cambodia, as logging...legal & illegal...has pretty much decimated the rest of the country's ecosystems.)



I have another latrine project (for a primary school up the valley) in the proposal stage...and will post pictures of it, the well project, and the continuing sports court work as they become available.

Thanks again for all the support (emotional and financial) you have been giving me and my community!  

[UncaBuffalo]

...and, if anyone wants to do a similar project:

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1165

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1217

[UncaBuffalo]

Some people have asked about cost-of-living and cost-of-travel in Cambodia, so...

(Note:  My Cambodian co-teachers are paid between $65 and $105 per month.)


Housing:  I pay $100 per month, which gets me a furnished room (bed, chair, table) with use of a squat toilet and splash bath.  Electricity, water, and one meal per day included.

Locals can get a small, two-room house for about $30 per month.

(Note: This is housing costs in a village.  For Phnom Penh muliply by five to ten)

Guesthouses ($6 to $8 per night with hot water and fan.  Add $5 for A/C)


Food: Meals served with unlimited hot or cold tea.

Breakfast...plate of rice with a few bites of meat or egg and about 1/4 cucumber. ($0.75)

Lunch/Supper...unlimited rice, with a plate of whatever the restaurant cooked...usually 2 or 3 dishes to choose from.  ($1.25)

Snacks -
     Noodles...fried or in soup  ($0.75)
     Cambodian crepe  ($0.75)
     Soda pop  ($0.38)
     Pack of cookies or crackers ($0.25)


Transportation:

Longer Distances - Bus or share taxi ($0.75 to $1.50 per hour)

Short Distances - Moto ($0.25, plus $0.10 per km)
                     - Moto-Cart ($0.50, plus $0.25 per km)

[UncaBuffalo]

Been down for about a week with dengue fever, but back to my village now... 

Got another latrine proposal approved:  http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1247 

[Bigchris]

Sorry to hear you have "breakbone" or dengue fever. It is notoriously painful and hard to treat. Due to the ban on DDT, many people suffer needlessly.

Thank God for bathrooms when we need one. I hope that the Nukeworker crew can throw some spare change in to get the next one built. One hour of OT would mean a lot to your friends in Cambodia.

I hope you get well soon.

Bigchris

[UncaBuffalo]

Sorry to hear you have "breakbone" or dengue fever. It is notoriously painful and hard to treat. Due to the ban on DDT, many people suffer needlessly.

I hope you get well soon.

Bigchris

Thanks!  I am almost back to normal and they released me back to my village, so life is good.  It's been an incredibly heavy year for dengue here and we've had several PCVs who got it so bad they had to be medevac'd to Thailand as a precaution (to be near a safe blood supply in case of need for a transfusion.)



Unfortunately, the general Cambodian population doesn't have access to that level of health care:

http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/asia/319386-dengue-fever-kills-60-children-in-cambodia-between-january-and-june/

Between January and June, dengue fever killed 60 children in Cambodia, which is up from 23 deaths during the same time period in 2011.

According to the National Center of Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, there have been 15,597 cases of dengue fever between January and June, representing a 239 percent increase year-on-year. There were 4,604 cases of dengue fever during the same time period in 2011...

[surf50]

Interesting article about using genetically modified mosquitoes to combat Dengue fever, and the resistance towards this technology..
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_specter
(sorry, could only get the abbreviated version for free)

Feel better soon.

[UncaBuffalo]

Interesting article about using genetically modified mosquitoes to combat Dengue fever, and the resistance towards this technology..
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_specter
(sorry, could only get the abbreviated version for free)

Feel better soon.

Thanks!

...for the link and the get-well! 

[Bigchris]

Been down for about a week with dengue fever, but back to my village now... 

Got another latrine proposal approved:  http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1247   

Hello UncaBuffalo,
I hope that you are recovering. If I could, I would like to mention the health benefits of your latrine project. As I just left a small deposit there, (the non-smelly kind), I can attest to the fact that I feel great, both physically and mentally, about having done so.
I encourage our friends here to visit the bathroom site and leave a little something. http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1247
Bigchris

[surf50]

I encourage our friends here to visit the bathroom site and leave a little something. http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1247
Bigchris

OK, Done.

[Cathy]

Rich & I both left a small deposit and would like to encourage others to donate!

[UncaBuffalo]

Thanks to all who have made donations to the Latrine project!  Construction started last Sunday and they are making such good time that they think they might finish tomorrow!  They just have a little more stucco & tile to do and then they can paint it.  Sorry I haven't been able to post any pictures...the upload function is having problems.  Hope all donors got the pictures I emailed?

Thanks again! 

[UncaBuffalo]

Thanks to all who have made donations to the Latrine project!  Construction started last Sunday and they are making such good time that they think they might finish tomorrow!  They just have a little more stucco & tile to do and then they can paint it.  Sorry I haven't been able to post any pictures...the upload function is having problems.  Hope all donors got the pictures I emailed?

Thanks again!  

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1303

Thanks again to all who chipped in to make that possible!  



...and thanks to everyone who supported the sports court!  We have begun pouring the slab and will finish it in the next week, if the weather and other variables remain favorable.  

[UncaBuffalo]

Got approval for another well-drilling project:  http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1307

[UncaBuffalo]

...and thanks to everyone who supported the sports court!  We have begun pouring the slab and will finish it in the next week, if the weather and other variables remain favorable.  

Well, we had a long delay due to the rainy weather.  But I sure won't complain, because that meant the villagers finally got to transplant their rice.  Usually that happens in May or June, so...very late this year.  If the drought had continued, the food supply was going to be tight.  They expect a reduced crop this year, but hope to get 70% of normal, so everyone hopes that will be enough to get us through until next year.

Anyway, the slab on the sports court is finished.  We just need to fabricate and hang the backboards, paint the lines, and start playing some hoops!  

Thanks again to all who contributed!  

[UncaBuffalo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/opinion/cambodias-brazen-un-bid.html

[Camella Black]

Sounds like things are going well there. Glad y'all finally got some rain. I have enjoyed photos and look forward to more. Is there anything I can send to children or you as a treat? I'd love to send a huge goody box or whatever. Keep up the good work.

[UncaBuffalo]

Sounds like things are going well there. Glad y'all finally got some rain. I have enjoyed photos and look forward to more. Is there anything I can send to children or you as a treat? I'd love to send a huge goody box or whatever. Keep up the good work.

I sure appreciate the goody box offer!  But, with postal prices so high and the availability of nearly everything in Phnom Penh, it never makes any sense to me to have stuff sent over.  Even a small box from the States costs around $50 in postage.

Thanks again for the thought! 

[UncaBuffalo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/world/asia/obama-in-cambodia-sidesteps-the-ghosts-of-history.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

Note:  This is NOT intended as any kind of political statement, but merely a reminder that Cambodia still has issues...and that some of it's historical issues were caused by people outside of its borders.

Note 2:  And, as stated before, such is only my opinion and in no way reflects the opinions or policies of Peace Corps.

[UncaBuffalo]

http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodia-remains-amid-twenty-worst-corrupt-countries/1559666.html

[hamsamich]

https://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?feature=watch

check out this channel on youtube.  all kinds of good stuff.  right up your alley and maybe others interested in this post.  I don't even watch cable anymore.....netflix and youtube.  They have a good one about all the crap china is building, but no one rents it!  ghost cities....probably some good stuff on cambodia I haven't checked yet...

[UncaBuffalo]

https://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?feature=watch

check out this channel on youtube.  all kinds of good stuff.  right up your alley and maybe others interested in this post.  I don't even watch cable anymore.....netflix and youtube.  They have a good one about all the crap china is building, but no one rents it!  ghost cities....probably some good stuff on cambodia I haven't checked yet...

Looks like good stuff, but I'm using a really slow modem, so...guess it'll have to wait 'til I'm home...

Thanks for the thought!