Here I am in Kampong Cham which is a city on the banks of the Mekong River. Like most Cambodian cities it is a mixture of French colonial, modern, wooden traditional houses and sad to say shacks.

We arrived early afternoon yesterday (4am start!!) so I got a chance to walk around, skype Nancy and get back to my room to watch a storm come right down the Mekong - yes I have a balcony overlooking the river. In the evening I sat on the same balcony watching the fireworks for the late King's birthday. (See the photo album)

I am here for a conference on how they collect data and use it to plan for the coming year. So far it has been very interesting in several ways. They have been very honest about the situation Cambodia finds itself in; openly admit they are one of the few countries where education is not compulsory and that this has led to a rise in the number of out of school children. This afternoon we will be talking about the actual data.

Two other things I have learnt is that:

1. Working through a translator is hard work.

2. Conferences about data are very similar right around the world - they start with someone telling you that you have to do better and then show you a Powerpoint with graphs on that are so crowded that even if you could read the language you can't. (Poor Bunthorn - he is still getting to grips with education terms and we end up here with POEs, education ministers and the rest!!) They then tell you that they are changing the way they collect the data!