Hi everyone,

I cant believe i have been here for only a week - i have done so much since i got here. i have been very lucky to have had a group of american college students staying at the centre for this week so i have been able to tag along with them on some of tehir activities. it was very ironic - theyr were staying at the same place i was in phnom penh - and i got talking to them, but we did not realise we were travelling to exactly the same place. we went to a circus one night together - that's a right a circus in the wilds of cambodia!!! it is pretty random, a big circus tent out in the countryside of battambang province it is a awseome ngo that has a massive rehabilitation program for kids and teenagers, and part of it is training as performers which generates income. it was like a circus sol ei or however u spell it - no animals just people, doing acrobatic tricks, it was really really good. they ahve been all over the world performing, and in cambodia it is free to go see them!

last night we went to a pancake house - i got really excited to be having western food and not rice... until i saw the cow intestines and stomach that u were supposed to eat it with!! needless to say, i did not eat much that night!

the centre has been really busy, with the 14 college students staying, there is also a guy from cambodian television filming the centre. so i was a star on cambodian tv!! there are also two girls from phnom penh uni, studying psychology who are volunteering with the 25 girls who have been sexually abused and are staying in the centre. the 25 girls are all around my age and are great fun to hang out with - even though we dont speak the same language we still have a good laugh together. an important aspect of the centre''s program is teaching human rights and encouraging justice, so some of the girls have been supported to go to court and prosecute against their fathers/stepfathers/nieghbours who have sexually abused them. this is a huge thing for cambodia, where impunity is part of the culture, and sexual abuse is so widespread. most of the girls are doing really well in teh centre, and are able to make an income. there is one girl who is mentally ill from her experiences, but she is still very sweet and i think is benfitting from the program at the centre.

today there will be two peole arriving from spain - as one of the major donors are spanish. so i will have a good chance tp practise my spanish! there is another school group coming in july, i think of younger school kids but i am not sure where from. it is good for the centre, on average they get 200 visitors every 3 months which gives them some income, i will be putting together am article to send into the lonely planet so hopefully ptea teuk dueg (the name of the centre, it means the coconut house) will be in the next lonely planet.

i have been learning a bit of khmer language, because there is not much to do at night here - no TV/computers/few lights/no english books - we often just sit and talk, there are only a couple of the staff who speak english so i have been exposed to khmer constantly. my tragic attempts at pronounciation get lots of laughs!!

my english classes are going well, really challenging but good. i have been starting to help more and more in the office as well, i will be putting together a proposal for a grant from USAID, which is ridicously complicated and to be done in ENglish but supposed to be aimed at local cambodian NGO's - not very clever of USAID.

anyways i better get back to teh cnetre.. i only have access to internet in the town centre, which is 15 mins on a moto (motorbike that acts as a taxi, there are no helmets and it was a terrifying exerience at the start but i am used to it now..dad dont have a heart attack they are good drivers here)

would love to hear how things are going in OZ, missing everyone

love t