Just had two days down in Sihanoukville for the AVC. It was great to see all staff and volunteers together discussing the future.

I worked with 9 others on a session about communication between different cultures. It was well received but I am still amazed at just a few peoples attitude. Mind you I expect they are amazed at mine.

Our session:

1. Role play - I was the well meaning volunteer who was going to do so much - in fact I was going to change the world!! I would do training on my areas of expertise, I would ........ My poor project assistant couldn't get a word in edge ways and because I spoke so quickly she could not understand me either!! I was changing my plans and doing all the well meaning but inconsiderate things possible (like cancelling a visit to a school on the morning of the visit because I was too busy working on a training session) My training was all in English and I hadn't shared it with my PA so she didn't understand it and to cap it all everyone I was training had had similar training the week before!! Obviously on the other side there was Sheila who was working with her PA and when he didn't understand something she explained it to him. You get the idea.

I was very proud of it (I wrote that bit) and almost everyone said it was great and really showed the conflicts that can arise, when an international volunteer doesn't talk to and listen to everyone else in the partnership. It also showed that it was important for the nationals to ask questions and for the partners to say what they want - rather than just accept what we want to do. However one international volunteer said it was good of me to show that some of the PAs weren't good enough at English to do the job!!!!!!! I think she missed the point of the whole play. As she went on to say that she would say something several times to her PA and that he still doesn't seem to understand. I did feel that maybe saying it in a different way may have helped.

2. We had a panel discussion using questions sent to us by all the volunteers - well 15 of them but that's not a bad return!!

3. Group discussions about different scenarios showing some of the issues that have arisen in Cambodia in the year Sheila and I have been here - we put most of those together. This part went on for longer than I thought it would, when I was putting the session together - but they were all so enjoying the discussions that we just let them get on with it.

Once a teacher always a teacher so I had 2 more activities that were not needed but it's better to have too much prepared and not use it all than a session to drag. Almost everyone said they would have liked more time - so we all feel the session went well.

The thing I liked best was the number of Cambodians who actually said to us that they could follow it all, whilst most of the international volunteers were also fully engaged.

Oh yes - Bunthorn and Thailong (Sheila's PA ) actually facilitated it. Aren't they good boys.

Straight after the conference I jumped into a sleeper bus and arrived in Battambang well refreshed, if a little untidy, at 7am this morning. When I say sleeper I mean sleeper. I had a 3 foot wide bed (had to share it) but it was a very comfortable bed.

I am now having breakfast and will have a quiet morning waiting for Ann to arrive.