Heat and COVID19
Hello friends and family.
I have been unsure what to post for the last few days, and I haven't been taking many photos - I always want to keep things on here interesting, even though I'm aware that most people just want to know if I'm ok.
So that being said, I thought I'd chat about two of the things that are most on the team's mind just now.
It's so hot! I knew it would be, but unless you have a fan directly on you, just sitting down makes you sweat.
This is a pretty normal forecast on my weather app, but this screenshot as you can see is from Saturday.
Cycling anywhere is hot. Especially cycling for lunch, because it's about 36-38°C between 11 and 3. There is zero air con here, so we're all grateful for the fans in the office. And a tuk tuk ride works well to blow some of the sweat away.
We all agree that over the last couple of weeks its gotten warmer. Each morning we have been doing something called High, Low, Hero - we all sit in a circle on the floor and say a good moment, a bad moment and a personal hero for the previous 24 hours. Every day we get at least one or two of the Khmer saying, "My low point is it's so hot (and it gives me the headache)."
A lot of the team are struggling to sleep. Because of the gaps in my walls and floor the temperature is nicer in my room when it's dark, but some of us live in houses made of bricks/concrete with no air movement. Our TL has said that if you have no work in the afternoon and you're struggling with heat and dehydration and tiredness, you can go home and rest or find somewhere cooler to work. Unfortunately, that does not apply to our subteam because we have to prepare every morning and we have sessions every afternoon. But so far it's ok and we're coping.
At least 3 times a day I have a conversation about coronavirus. Yesterday we discussed it in the office a few times, our students asked us about it in session and my host dad had a conversation with us about it at dinner.
These are uncertain times wherever you're living. Here we feel at least a bit safer than if we were home. Some of us are more worried than others - I think sometimes that reflects how worried our friends and family back home are. The question all of us keep asking is whether or not we will be able to leave on the day that has been planned.
Currently, VSO isn't ending its Cambodia projects early - from what we understand its safer here than it is in the UK. I think part of the issue is that we'll be travelling internationally.
It's hard to know the actual situation though, as we are fairly sure Cambodia is under reporting its cases. We get odds and ends of UK news about it, and we can't get the actual Khmer news about it unless we're told by our counterparts. Yesterday Cambodia shut all of its schools and universities early - they are two weeks away from what is basically their summer holiday. This is hard for the volunteering subteam as they work exclusively with schools, but it also makes us wonder whether there are more cases than the 15 or so that have been reported.
Cambodians just don't seem to travel as much as we do in the UK. I've said before that they think two hours to travel anywhere is ages and ages, but most of them just stay in their locality, which probably helps slow the spread of infection. We've also been told that the heat of this country kills the virus and prevents it spreading as much.
I think the hardest part is hearing how friends and family are affected by it. People that are at risk in my family or church. So many plans that are supposed to be going ahead that now are being questioned. Exams being cancelled which leaves the future uncertain. I get lots of emails from Uncle Dewi, my pastor, which shows how my church is being affected by it - but the verses on his emails are always an encouragement.
I'm bridesmaid for some friends who have plans to get married on the 2nd of May. They are asking for prayer about their wedding and I sent them these verses:
"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." Nahum 1: 7
I have been unsure what to post for the last few days, and I haven't been taking many photos - I always want to keep things on here interesting, even though I'm aware that most people just want to know if I'm ok.
So that being said, I thought I'd chat about two of the things that are most on the team's mind just now.
It's so hot! I knew it would be, but unless you have a fan directly on you, just sitting down makes you sweat.
Cycling anywhere is hot. Especially cycling for lunch, because it's about 36-38°C between 11 and 3. There is zero air con here, so we're all grateful for the fans in the office. And a tuk tuk ride works well to blow some of the sweat away.
We all agree that over the last couple of weeks its gotten warmer. Each morning we have been doing something called High, Low, Hero - we all sit in a circle on the floor and say a good moment, a bad moment and a personal hero for the previous 24 hours. Every day we get at least one or two of the Khmer saying, "My low point is it's so hot (and it gives me the headache)."
A lot of the team are struggling to sleep. Because of the gaps in my walls and floor the temperature is nicer in my room when it's dark, but some of us live in houses made of bricks/concrete with no air movement. Our TL has said that if you have no work in the afternoon and you're struggling with heat and dehydration and tiredness, you can go home and rest or find somewhere cooler to work. Unfortunately, that does not apply to our subteam because we have to prepare every morning and we have sessions every afternoon. But so far it's ok and we're coping.
At least 3 times a day I have a conversation about coronavirus. Yesterday we discussed it in the office a few times, our students asked us about it in session and my host dad had a conversation with us about it at dinner.
These are uncertain times wherever you're living. Here we feel at least a bit safer than if we were home. Some of us are more worried than others - I think sometimes that reflects how worried our friends and family back home are. The question all of us keep asking is whether or not we will be able to leave on the day that has been planned.
Currently, VSO isn't ending its Cambodia projects early - from what we understand its safer here than it is in the UK. I think part of the issue is that we'll be travelling internationally.
It's hard to know the actual situation though, as we are fairly sure Cambodia is under reporting its cases. We get odds and ends of UK news about it, and we can't get the actual Khmer news about it unless we're told by our counterparts. Yesterday Cambodia shut all of its schools and universities early - they are two weeks away from what is basically their summer holiday. This is hard for the volunteering subteam as they work exclusively with schools, but it also makes us wonder whether there are more cases than the 15 or so that have been reported.
Cambodians just don't seem to travel as much as we do in the UK. I've said before that they think two hours to travel anywhere is ages and ages, but most of them just stay in their locality, which probably helps slow the spread of infection. We've also been told that the heat of this country kills the virus and prevents it spreading as much.
I think the hardest part is hearing how friends and family are affected by it. People that are at risk in my family or church. So many plans that are supposed to be going ahead that now are being questioned. Exams being cancelled which leaves the future uncertain. I get lots of emails from Uncle Dewi, my pastor, which shows how my church is being affected by it - but the verses on his emails are always an encouragement.
I'm bridesmaid for some friends who have plans to get married on the 2nd of May. They are asking for prayer about their wedding and I sent them these verses:
"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." Nahum 1: 7
"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33: 27
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1: 7
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Psalm 18: 2
It's important to remember in these times of fear and uncertainty.
*******
I wrote most of this early this morning, and now at 9.17 my TL just told us all of our weekly sessions have been cancelled. So maybe we will be home sooner.
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