Sensory Overload

“Ottdei orkhun!” (“No, thank you!”) we find ourselves saying at least 6 times each a day to the tuk tuk drivers that call out as we walk along the streets near our house or near work. Continuous Traffic (mainly “Motos”) weaves its way around us as we cross the street, absorbing the sights and smells of the street food vendors, or the large open drains, and we wipe the sweat from our foreheads in the 33 degree heat of the day. This is Phnom Penh.

Our noses, eyes, brains and hands are overloaded with so many new experiences – it’s crazy and overwhelming but we love it. We know that we will settle in as time goes on and for now we are enjoying every day and the new things that it brings.

We have been here two weeks now. Within our first week we had moved into an apartment (link here -  Our apartment ), found ourselves a tuk tuk driver (the lovely Mr Kim), eaten amok almost every day, discovered $1.75 meals at a local restaurant, started work at Hagar – and had been given a lot of work to do. Logan had played a game of touch with some expats, we had checked out the local markets and of course we found a great place for a morning coffee AND somewhere to watch the Super 15. Our second week saw us setting up our apartment, accidentally walking into our first non-english-speaking Khmer BBQ restaurant curious as to what food was going to turn up in front of us, trying out the local gym “Muscles”, catching up with our friends Sam and Katy Ng, attending ICA church and a cell group and Karen was this morning at a girls’ time of discussion and prayer at a park on the riverfront.

Our first weeks at work have provided a similar sensory overload as we come to grips with our roles. Hagar faces challenges as a growing NGO and the two challenges that we are providing capacity in are marketing and fundraising (Logan) and governance structure and processes (Karen).  We have a sense that our skills and availability will be of real use to Hagar, we are going to be very busy, and we can achieve a lot in the time we are here.

Any sense that our roles were overwhelming was quickly put aside when we visited Hagar’s shelters this week with Sue Hanna, another Kiwi, who has worked with Hagar for 7 years.  She took us to the boys’ shelter that currently houses 15 boys who have been sexually or otherwise abused (some rescued from paedophiles). We met Boret, who runs the shelter and the house mothers who look after the boys.

She took us to the girls’ shelter that is next to the school that Hagar runs. We heard that there are girls as young as four in the shelter, and Danet (a quiet yet strong woman who runs the shelter) introduced us to one girl who acts as the arbiter of disputes in her ‘home’ (a home includes 6-8 girls of various ages and a house mother; the shelter is comprised of several of these homes) and if it can’t be resolved, she takes the dispute to the house mother. The big girls help the smaller ones and they operate as a family. We saw the housemothers laughing together in the kitchen and enjoying each other’s company as they prepared the evening’s meal.

Sue took us to the women’s shelter that is behind Hagar’s trainee restaurant and on the same premises as the career pathways unit that Hagar runs. We heard that at one time there were girls there, aged 12 and 13 with their babies. They’d skip up the drive when they arrived home from school and fetch their babies from Hagar’s early learning centre. We met the 15 case managers and a few of the 12 counsellors who have their offices at the women’s shelter premises.

Many of Hagar’s clients are also in care with wonderful foster families, or in group homes that Hagar supports.  Also, Hagar’s House of Smiles provides residential care for orphans with intellectual disabilities. Currently, Hagar has over 350 clients. Hagar is about restoring dignity in such a way that clients can stay in or return to the community, rather than be dependent in the long term. 

We were struck by the commitment, strength and capability of Hagar’s staff.  We were also impacted by the fact that some of the staff we met are ex-Hagar clients – people who have survived and who have walked the journey of restoration. By the end of that day, we were blown away and more determined to see Hagar continue to grow in its mission and work.