Tuesday, the 11th of September dawned bright and sunny. By 7.00 am, all three of us were at the airport. As I bid Theresa and Gabby a safe and good journey home for a week's break, I was thinking 'gosh! they'll have a lot to accomplish in that one week.' As for me, I was looking forward to a quiet and restful week in Battambang, having only to work with Sovin and Thida on an English programme for the Parish children aged between 4 and 6 and 8 and 12.
Leaving them, I went on to the Capitol Bus Station for my bus to Battambang. I was not looking forward to the five and a half hour's bus ride alone with only a few isolated words of Khmer to get by. Imagine my pleasant surprise to be greeted by a familiar face. Kim Sol, one of our recent course students was returning to Battambang with Ron, his friend after a 'vocation retreat'. It felt so good to have Kim Sol and Ron look out for me especially when we took our comfort and lunch breaks.
Vuthy, the youth co-ordinator took me to the Presbytery. After dinner, Fr. Totet and I discussed the Parish English Programme. It was a pleasant and entertaining evening. It ended with Fr. Totet mentioning that he would be visiting Sneng village and Pailin city the following day with Vuthy and Kam Thong, the catechism teacher and he invited me to ' come and see'.
The next morning, Vuthy, Sovin and Thida arrived promptly at 9.00 for our first session. A major part of the morning was spent on information gathering and discussion regarding the elementary education system especially for the target age groups. After a short break, we gathered whatever resources we could from the library. Sovin and Thida had to work on materials for the 4-6 and 8-12 respectively. We agreed to meet again on Friday.
Come and See
After lunch on Wednesday, we left for Sneng village, our first stop on the way to Pailin city, which is 70 km from Battambang. There were white fluffy clouds in the sky and the scenery was a welcome change to the usual flat green padi fields albeit good for the eyes.
The road is heavily used and in bad condition as it is the main road that the trucks use to carry goods to and from Thailand. We soon arrived at Sneng village, a newly discovered community of three baptised Catholics. The matriarch is 91 years old, partially blind and deaf. After her return from the States after the Pol Pot regime, she gathered her family and relatives regularly at her house to pray and spread the faith.
Fr. Totet greeting the matriarch
It is said that after 40, what we are and who we are is reflected on the face.
Once a week, Kam Thong would visit this new community for prayer and catechism lessons. One of the priests would go along if available and mass would be celebrated. On weekends, one has to get in early to get a place. It looks like a Church will have to be built in the near future! The third baptised Catholic is a young man (behind the 2 old ladies), baptized as a child but yet to be confirmed. Prior to the return of his grandmother he had never attended mass. Before mass began, Fr. Totet taught the assembly how to make the sign of the cross, the correct gestures before the proclamation of the Word and the meaning and significance of the different parts of the mass.
The community was very loving and pressed us to stay. It was not easy to pull ourselves away but to Pailin we had to go.
Pailin- City of Landmines
It took us 3 hours to get to Pailin, travelling along the muddy and bumpy dirt road (It rained the night before), dodging and skirting the de-mining work that is in progress.
Welcome to Pailin city
I was curious about Pailin, the stronghold of Pol Pot during his regime. It was a dangerous place then as it is now with land mines all over the place. One has to be ever wary even when moving around one's own compound.
The main road is dusty with shop houses on either side. Prices of properties have escalated many folds.
There are plans in the pipeline to build a 4-lane highway to replace the current dirt road and the shop houses will lose 10 metres of their frontages.
We arrived at the Church on the main road, a rented house whose lease would end September this year.
The Church has been looking urgently for an alternative place. Currently there are 25 Catholics and it augurs well for the church to see how young they are. The youth soon gathered with Vuthy to select and practise the hymns for mass.
During mass, I took a head count and was surprised to see that the males out number the females by three is to one .
We stayed the night at Pailin and returned the next day to Battambang. I treasure the memories of new friendships, the smell and the sights.
On Friday, it was back to working on the English Programme. Sovin and Thida were very conscientious students. They did their homework well and we were able to complete the first draft of the English Programme for the target age groups.
End of year graduation ceremony for the children at Tapung Village
It is amazing how fast one fits into the community; it was only late Tuesday that I arrived. Yet, Saturday morning saw me making my way to Tapung to join in their end of year graduation ceremony. Five of our "student-teachers" who attended the course on "Strategies to enhance their teaching of English", were part of the teaching staff. It was a grand affair and the Church was packed to overflowing.
The first item was a traditional Khmer dance.
The toddlers grabbed the best seats.
The programme ended with the presentation of certificates to the awardees. Fr. Totet was called to do the honours. The top three students were awarded prizes and a certificate of commendation to the best student.
Proud Yorm, looking on
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons we were back to working with Sovin and Thida to tie up the English programme.
A traditional Khmer engagement ceremony
How time flies. In between working sessions and participating in the activities of the diocese of Battambang, I've come to Monday, my last day in Battambang. I would never in my wildest dream have dreamt that I would see and experience all that I had in the last 5 days. Yet, Monday topped it all - a romantic heart-warming cultural experience. Ratha, a teacher teaching English in the Grade school was getting engaged and I was invited to 'come and celebrate'.
We arrived in Chom Naom village at Liam's house and joined in the procession. Liam, the groom was flanked by his parents and immediate relatives, bearing gifts for the bride.
Soon we arrived at the bride's house, a traditional Cambodian house built on wooden poles. After asking for permission, the entourage proceeded up the stairs. When we got into the room, all the gifts, which were in sets of two, were already displayed and the parents and elders of both bride and groom were in their positions. After delivering a speech of auspicious blessings, the master of ceremony began listing the attributes of the groom. He assured the bride's family that Liam is of excellent character and is unattached. He then sought to know from the bride's elders if the bride is also of good character and unattached. When this was affirmed, the second part of the ceremony continued with the MC passing a traditional tea set to the groom who presented it to his mother and the second tea set to the bride's grandmother.
Tea ceremony
A lively dialogue followed to set the date for the wedding and the amount for the dowry for the bride's family. Once settled, a 'deposit amount' (named by grandma) was presented to the bride's grandmother.
'milk' money
The bride was brought up by her grandmother. The MC then laughing said, 'the "dowry" is handed over but where is the bride?' All this while, the bride was in her room with her female companions. At this point, the bride made her appearance.
Beautiful Ratha in her traditional finery
The ceremony continued with the blessing and exchanging of rings.
Blessings by four priests
The engagement ceremony ended with a meal for all the relatives, neighbours and guests. What a memorable celebration! After congratulating the engaged couple we took our leave. As Fr. Pedro, the parish priest of Chom Naom was with us so I got to see the church.
The Church of St. Theresa
On my last afternoon, I continued working with Sovin and Thida on 'lesson planning'. What a packful six days in Battambang. My anticipation of a quiet and restful week did not materialise but what a blessed and meaningful week.
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