Eve of Leaving

FRIDAY, JULY 16

We made the trek back to Phnom Penh from Ban Lung today; the almost 600 kms of feasting our eyes on the sights of Cambodia.

During our time here, we have had various responsibilities. Reanne, for example, has been filing all our pictures. (No small task!) She was working on them with the laptop during our trip this afternoon. Some of us were looking over her shoulder, and recalling the names of the people and communities in the photos.

When I saw the face of a staff person from one of D&P’s partners that we met on the very first morning of our very first day out in the communities, I had two reactions. First, I had a sensation of seeing a picture from the distant past. These past 16 days have been chalk-full of learning, with so many new experiences that 2 weeks ago seems like 2 months ago.

My second reaction was one of happiness for having met that person as well as many other strong Cambodian community leaders. On a solidarity trip like this, we are privileged to meet so many dedicated, altruistic people in a very short space of time.

This evening, on the eve of our leaving, we had one last meeting in order to summarize our Cambodia experience. We met with development personnel: Sambath Mam, executive director of DPA (Development and Partnership in Action), and Bunchhoeuth Keng, country director of CORD and Dennis McMahon, Senior Capacity Development Advisor for CORD. My reactions from the photos I saw earlier in the day brought clarity to the closing comments this evening, with yet more fine people.

by Armella Sonntag