Beginning of October, Kimsreang Kun, our Country Manager, left Cambodia for the first time in her life. In order to join our National Leadership Conference, she got on the plane and flew 15 hours to ‘the other side of the world’ and had a trip of a lifetime. This post is written by Kimsreang and tells about her experience in Australia.
This trip is the first and most amazing trip for me in my life. I can say that I’m a lucky girl and that not many Cambodian people ever have the chance to visit another country.
There are many things that I have learnt form this trip.
1. Australia is very wonderful country. It is very big, clean, has green everywhere and with nice and comfortable houses. Some part of Cambodia, such as Poipet town is very dirty. You can see waste everywhere in the city, no trees, bad roads and most of the people here live in a very small house. Some houses do not have a bedroom and people just sleep and eat in the same place. Also Cambodia has many beggars with very dirty and broken clothes. I saw few beggars in Australia and they were wearing the same clothes as me and played music on the street. I can understand that Australia’s economic is very high and that there is a very low unemployment rate.
2. Even though Australia people look very busy and not so friendly as Cambodian people, I like that everyone is serious, on time and feel responsible for their work. In Cambodian culture, people never respect time or datelines.
3. I felt very safe while i was in Australia. I could keep my money in a back pocket or carry my bag on the side of my body without worrying. This, I never do in Cambodia because my money will get stolen, someone can take my bag, or I can get robbed on the street if a motorbike rips my bag.
4. I did not need to discuses the price of taking a taxi. When I go out in Cambodia we need to disuses the price before and we need to be careful all the time with the motor taxi, tuk tuk driver and car diver as some of them a bad people who try to rob you on the way. In Australia i did not worry about this.
5. I was very surprised that most old people who are already retired still spend their free time to listen what is going on in poor countries. Like in Rotary Clubs, where i did some speaking engagements. In Cambodia old people never care about what is going on with other countries. They only care about their family and only want to stay in the pagoda.
6. I noticed that every house has many books and that most people like reading on the tram or bus. In Cambodia just a few people read books. I feel that Australian people have a high knowledge and have good education. For example, Anna’s Mom is the same age as my mom but she is very different as she likes reading and knows about what is going on in other poor countries.
7. The last thing that I was very excited about is that i visited the house of a poor Australian family. I can say that the house that they are living in is bigger than my house and looks much nicer. Anna’s Mom told me that this family is supported by the government. I think the Australian government takes very good care of their people.
Before my trip I never understand why Australia still has NGOs. I think it is a developed country, so they should not have any poor people. After i visited I understand that they still have some problems with people who need extra support. Especially about the difficulties with the Aboriginal people I had never heard before.
Finally I would like to thank all the people who helped me with a place to stay in Australia.
If you have any questions for Kimsreang, please email info@carpetsforcommunities.org
