We're here! We left New York Saturday night and, after an epic flight, arrived in Phnom Penh on Monday morning. The group was stoic about the grueling schedule (the on-demand movies didn't hurt) and arrived smiling, if a bit bleary-eyed. But there was no rest for the weary on Monday morning; after dropping off bags at the hotel, we hopped on 13 cyclos (bicycle rickshaws) for a tour of the city. It is monsoon season here, but the cyclo drivers were prepared with tarps, so the rain was not a problem. After the tour we had a nice, pseudo-Western dinner and then, finally, the sleep we had all been craving.
Today, at Shanti's apartment, we gathered for a group orientation. We discussed issues of safety, health, and culture shock, and brainstormed about our goals and expectations for the trip. Then we hired a few tuk-tuks (motor-taxis) to take us to Friends Restaurant for delicious tapas. Friends is associated with ChildSafe International (http://childsafe.com/), a group that fights against the abuse of children. All the employees of Friends Restaurant are former street children who have been trained in cooking. We then visited the Friends center, where Cambodian volunteers teach street children English, math, the arts, sewing, cooking, welding, and other trades. We will work more with Friends when we return to Phnom Penh.
In the afternoon we drove to Arn's house. Arn is an amazing person. His story is hard to put into just a few words; you can learn more about him from the film "The Flute Player," if you haven't seen it already. To put it very briefly, Arn was a child soldier under Pol Pot. After being orphaned in the genocide he moved to America, studied, and returned to Cambodia to preserve the traditional and contemporary arts. Arn played the flute for us, showed us a Khmer hip-hop video he's working on, and led a frank and moving discussion about Cambodia's future. On the way home, the students used phrases like "role model," "eye-opening," and "something I'll remember for the rest of my life."
All is well here!
Goodbye for now,
Andrew and Shanti
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Andrew Marantz and Shanti Sattler
This website is visited by the family and friends of participants in Putney Student Travel's Global Awareness in Action program in Cambodia to check in on the progress of the group.
Subscribe via email
Visit our website
Local Time in Cambodia
Flight Itinerary
Singapore
July 5: SQ25 JFK/SIN 9:05 P - 6:30 A on July 7
July 7: MI602 SIN/PNH 8:00 A - 8:55 A
July 30: MI632 REP/SIN 6:25 P - 9:35 P
July 30: SQ26 SIN/JFK 11:50 P - 10:50 A on July 31
July 5: SQ25 JFK/SIN 9:05 P - 6:30 A on July 7
July 7: MI602 SIN/PNH 8:00 A - 8:55 A
July 30: MI632 REP/SIN 6:25 P - 9:35 P
July 30: SQ26 SIN/JFK 11:50 P - 10:50 A on July 31
Trip Leaders
Andrew Marantz and Shanti Sattler
SHANTI SATTLER
Tufts University, B.A., International Relations and Peace and Justice Studies. At Tufts, Shanti developed a deep interest in international conflict resolution and global reconciliation initiatives. During college she worked in Cape Town, South Africa, as a research assistant to a former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and completed a senior honors thesis on issues facing war-affected youth in Northern Uganda. She spent a semester of her junior year studying in Valencia, Spain and participating in an educational exchange program in Morocco. She was a member of the International Student Planning Committee for the second Women as Global Leaders conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Following her graduation from Tufts, Shanti moved to Southeast Asia. She currently serves as the International Fellow-in-Residence at the International Center for Conciliation office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, assisting with community-based reconciliation projects with survivors of the Khmer Rouge and with an ongoing dialogue initiative with Cambodian and Vietnamese youth. She is proficient in Spanish and conversational in Khmer.
ANDREW MARANTZ
Brown University, B.A., Religious Studies and Literary Arts with Honors. Andrew spent the first semester of his junior year in Hyderabad, India, where he studied ancient Indian philosophy. He spent the next semester traveling throughout northern India, Thailand, and Japan. He then returned to Brown to continue his studies and to complete his honors thesis, a book-length essay about a prison town in upstate New York. After graduating, Andrew returned to South Asia to work on a cognitive science study at Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal. He has traveled to Israel, Hong Kong, Morocco, Guatemala, and France. He works as a freelance journalist and lives in Brooklyn, New York.