Balance.

In Kampong Tralach, a tiny village not all that far away, there’s a primary school Mr. Thomas once found. Heritage Line has established a ‘pro bono illiteracy project’ there. He intends to widen the project to a high school a few miles down the road. It's still early days.

Just three classrooms, just three teachers and, once a week, a boat-load of tourists.

There were a few presents left over from the farce the day before. I hung back, just as the group was clambering into ox-carts for a ridiculous hoof-parade through the countryside to a temple and a fruit-feast at one of the few temples left standing after Mr. Pot and his cronies had been through.

The teacher was opening the single plastic bag of goodies. One by one she took out each little packet of pencils, each eraser, each little book and held each item up for her class to see.

The squeals of delight brought tears to my eyes.

‘Whoaahhhh! went the children as five gaily decorated pencils in a packet were displayed.

‘Whaaa-a-a-h,’ they squealed as a picture book was opened out for everyone to see.

‘Wo-o-o-owwww!’ they shouted as a brightly colored pile of erasers fell onto her desk.

I couldn’t help but think we had our timing all wrong. Instead of sullen acceptance, here was joy - instead of cruel defeat, here was the power of giving. The conspicuous kindness was absent, the vulgar, self-serving charity was gone – all that was left was a classroom full of happy children and a tiny packet of pencils clasped in equally tiny hands.

The donor was nowhere in sight. He or she was trundling through town in an ox-cart, blissfully unaware of the joy their perfunctory gift had given, of the power of a pencil, the bliss of a book.

Can you hear it?

‘Wo-o-o-owwww!’

I still can.

Dogster, as a former professional messenger, merck's is the predictable off-the-point, self-involved way to kill the person bringing the message.

I admire your brilliant eye-witness account of this travesty. Well told. Good reporting.

I was reminded of Petra, Jordan, where our Bedouin guide told us the real story of the sad, gimp-legged boy in tattered clothes who begged among the ruins. Turns out he was the son of a highly-placed, highly-paid security cop who took the kid out of school at age 8 so he could produce even more money for his pop.

Unfortunately, I can feel the resistance to a Fododerer cruise growing.

What? You've given up on the Fododerer cruise? I haven't. I figure we just have to watch this account unfold, decide if this is it, and if not, look at other options.

maybe a fodorite cruise could stop each day at one of these venues and dogster could lead an eye opening tour...

Honestly, Dogster, I missed the gift giving at the orphanage. I took the requisite pencils, but I was interested in the snapping pictures of children...again...click, click, click. I do appreciate the inside information however. Mr. Rithy did talk about the school Jayavarman has adopted as its "project." Honestly, if I want to have my students help Cambodian students, are you suggesting that we would be more directly effective by contacting Heritage to find a way to connect with the school we visited later?
The ox-cart parade may have seemed ridiculous, but I enjoyed talking to a young man who had just completed classes at that school about his hopes for attending university some day. Please assure this naive traveller that it may be true and not another ruse. I refuse to give up all hope.
And...yes, I am one of the 4 Americans fortunate enough to meet Dogster...and Bob...on this journey. (The other pair of Americans are seasoned observors in this part of the world.) Oh, please, Mr. Dogster, let me keep just a modicum of starry-eyed wonder intact by the time you finish.

ned, only slightly off-topic here, but take a look at www.theplf.org Here is a tiny charity doing outsized work in Cambodia. And they encourage donors to do hands-on work with the children and the schools.

Kathie, thanks so much. I am a middle school teacher with 13 students in my advisory group. The kids always end up throwing together some kind of project that seems to be an afterthought really. I want to share the website and some of the experiences from Cambodia and see if they are moved to go beyond egotism to help others. I looked at your suggested site and it gives me some ideas for planning another trip to Cambodia. Dollars will have to do for now as my school year starts in less than a month. Thanks again.

I haven't quite given up, Dogster. I am actually quite looking forward to one. But I wonder if your honest account has confirmed some pre-conceived ideas elsewhere.

I think if you don't go, where's the fun?

Agreed, LA. Let's no yet abandon all hope.

Thanks for telling the story Dogster, so sad, BUT as you have written there are genuine organisations out there.

Wonder if the cruise boats can be urged to avoid such places. Your story is an important one to tell. Thanks for the enlightenment.

There is so much more I could say about that story, dgunbug [and others]. It'll have to wait until I do the final version and bung it in the Dogster Chronicles.

To answer your specific question. THe raw fact of the matter is that three people can stop this any time they want. The General Managers of Pandaw, Heritage Line and La Marguerite.

There is a great deal I could say about why they probably won't. Let's wait and see.

Sorry I veered off topic from the J'man cruise, but where could visitors to Cambodia be taken where exploitation would not eventually become an issue?
I'd welcome a chance to cruise a second time with all of you, but I have 3 more years till I can retire. June, July and August are the only months I can travel extensively. I will enjoy your posts...and the Love Boat cruise developments...surreptitiously.

Dogster, your trip reports are always enlightening! You always tell it like you see it. It isn't all rosy!

Hard for a tourist to know the worthy charity from scam. Thanks to Kathie we gave to plf and ate the lunch we donated with the children. Tourists must rely on their guides to know what to do..is a problem.

ned, the charity issue isn't an issue about Cambodia, as such, but is about any very poor country where largesse is bestowed without thought or planning. All of these cruise ships donating piles of "stuff" several times a week has little chance of being successful and is a magnet for corruption.

For donations to be useful, they must be targeted at a need (e.g., school supplies for x number of kids once or twice a year, furnishing desks or one meal a day, etc) and must not be more than can be absorbed or used by the targeted group. So cruise lines wanting to have positive impact would need to adopt a number of schools/orphanages, etc. and would need to be involved enought to monitor what they need and to monitor whether the goods are getting to the children. That should be easy to do with stops there a couple of times a month (as dogster noted).

The PLF has people who live in the area delivering services and goods, and monitoring their needs and use, so is an easy way to donate and know your money is going where it needs to go. Ther are, of course, many other worthy programs who also monitor the needs and use of the donations.

I may well have to leave this post at this point. I'm off to Kathmandu tomorrow. You'll have to log in to the website in a while to read the rest. I'll let you know when it gets finished.

I think you've had your money's worth...

Let me also report that finally I found THE massage therapist at a place called Mr. Foot who climbed on me and put my back into alignment. After a lot of grunting and groaning, the pain simply disappeared. I feel incredibly liberated. So that was my 'happy ending'.

I could have kissed him - but he was tiny, quite ugly and rather too hairy for that.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this report, dogster. Enjoy Kathmandu!

My best to you and kimmyejones. Remember to pack your tiara.

Have fun. Are you headed back to the Courtyard? As I mentioned up-thread, Michelle said "hi".

Where would we find Mr. Foot? I may find I need him myself.