Cambodia4Kids.Org

Exploring Adoption Posts About Widget Campaign: Thank you!

Laura Christianson, author of the "Exploring Adoption Blog" has written a great review of the widget fundraising campaign on her blog.  I'm linking to her because I know some of the readers her are adoptive parents like me. Her blog focuses on information relevant to couples who are considering, in the process, or already adoptive parents.  It's an excellent general adoption resource.

Online Sexual Harassment of a Blogher in Cambodia

The Cambodian Blogosphere is, for the most part, a warm and supportive online community of Cambodians in Cambodia and spread around the world, ex-pats in country blogging about their experiences, and others like me who are interested in the country's beautiful culture.

Sadly, there is a dark side.   Read about it over at the blogher site.

A Speedy Recovery to Phatry

I just read with horror about Phatry's moto accident:

my motodop, sophanny, was a very cautious driver. he had a helmet (i didnt) on and was not speeding. when we cross chroy changvar bridge, he was extra careful of the traffic and the limited visibility that the area is accustomed to.

we spotted the restaurant to our left. he slowed down, signaled with his lights and his left arm for a turn. while both of us looked back, a lightning flash of a moto pulverized us causing all 4 involved to fly out. i was in shock.

i fell on to the hard paved cement. initially, the adrenaline numb all the cuts and burns on my arms. i recovered my bag, a shoe that flew off my feet that now rips at the tongue, and checked around for my valuables. by this time, several dozen onlookers have congretated to the scene of the crime.

He goes on to describe his injuries:

pencil length streak on the back shows a deep blue bruised. my left leg seems worst than before. i can't put too much pressure while walking. the big cuts on my right arm is still visible but starting to regenerate itself. the left pain above my ear is still the same. i am thankful that i only escaped these cuts and sprains. in all honestly, without a helmet and the velocity in which the other moto was going, i anticipated the worst.

I remember when I was in Cambodia teaching ESL at the village school, the head of the english program arrived on his motorbike, wearing a helmet.   We talked about what a good role model he was for students.   

Earlier this year, I had bookmarked Jackie Chan's wear a helmet campaign that he conducted a year ago.  I didn't blog about it at the time because the campaign was over.  Everyday more than 3 people are killed and 100 people injured in Cambodia in traffic accidents.  Most of the injuries and death could be avoided with the use of a helmet.

Technorati Tags: cambodia

Update from Clogger

Some update from Lux Means and the Clogger group.

Youth Vision has started college at Norton University and is studying IT. I hope there are continued blog posts.  (Our family is sponsoring a young person at Norton, but in accounting.  She lived in the orphanage where my daughter lived and let you know more as I soon our first letter.  I wish she could blog.)

Sambath of Cannetwork is conducting a workshop in Modol Kiri, a Cambodian province of
forest.

Congratulations to Global Voices!

Ethan Zuckerman lets us know that Global Voices has won a Best of the Blogs award from Deutsche Welle!  Ethan points us to comments by Lisa Stone, of Blogher and one of the judges.

Sweet Cucumber Archives Available!

From an email from Mr. Guy, Sweet Cucumber archives are now available!

More Jinja Naked

Jinja tries and succeeded in getting our attention with this headline:  Jinja Naked.   He provides a summary of the names proposed for the Cambodian Blogs Community site that came out of the blogger meetup last week.

(I didn't write the word, our Cambodian culture teacher did.  He was having some computer problems so he had to hand write it.)

New Blog: Ankgor Watt Rocks

Discovered a new blog today, Ankgor Watt Rocks, by a Cambodian living in California.  Some nice photos of Cambodia.

Can the Cambodian Blog Explosion Inspire Vietnam!?!

Wanna's dairy points to a Vietnamese blogger's reaction to the Wired article, the title of which translates to: " Blog cất cánh ở Campuchia."  Wanna kindly and expertly translated the Vietnamese into English.

The blogger suggests that his country is falling behind Cambodia in the area of the blogosphere and was surprised to learn that "Cambodia even has its own Wiki's page, listing Clogs(Cambodian Blogs)."   However, the blogger was most impressed with the fact that Cambodia's leader (ex-King) has a blog.

Not to be outdone by Cambodia, this blogger would like see the Vietnam Blogosphere get more attention: "Why don't we set a campaign, promoting Blogs in Vietnam, and advertise to the World as Cambodia? And, we could, at the mean time, voice to the World to know more about Vietnam."

Technorati Tags: cambodia

Radio Open Source

Chris Lydon's Open Source radio show is planning a show about the .   There is a discussion board and if you want to add your thoughts about the Cambodian Blogosphere,  check it out.  Here's the framing:

We’ve been told there’s an emerging blogoshpere in Cambodia. We’re less interested in the, “hey! digital media technology is spreading to the Third World!” factor, and more interested in the notion that Cambodians are using online writing as a way of dealing with their painful, not often discussed past. Their blogs are recording personal and collective memory, sorting through the country’s history of brutal repression under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and talking openly about wounds that have never really healed.

If you’re a Cambodian blogger, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re a Cambodian living here in the US, we’d love to hear from you as well. What are your observations on the way your country has changed in past decades? Is this generation bringing a new or different kind of awareness to the history of South East Asia?

Technorati Tags: cambodia