Journey Through Laos and Cambodia

This is a diary of my current experience working in two developing countries in south-east Asia. Its not a 'travelogue' in the usual sense of the word, more a factual account of my experiences and impressions of working with the people to develop and run a technology-based business.

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Back in Phnom Penh. May 26th 2004.

Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia's fast-rising-phoenix-from-the-ashes capital. I've been here for a couple of weeks, helping with setting up new IT systems and with defining customer jobs. One good thing about the move is that I've seriously upgraded my living arrangements from crusty guest house to plush two storey air-conditioned guard-patrolled locked compound. I feel so.... protected. I'm staying with one of the project managers who kindly offered to put me up. He is also a US diplomat and USAid official, hence the swanky living scenario. The neighbourhood I'm in is full of places like this. Like many third world cities, Phnom Penh provides stark contrasts of mansions side by side with poverty. Not that I'm complaining, I've been busy enough not to have time to get too philosphical about the state of the world.

The work has been pretty hectic, there's a lot more to do in the environment of a business in a developing country, and the biggest challenge is probably involving the employees, both Lao and Khmer, in decision-making; its all very well to put something in place for them, but unless they're involved in the decision-making, I don't believe they truly learn. It seems to have been a pattern with lots of development projects around the world: give them all this wonderful stuff, but then somehow expect that they can figure it out themselves. It can be hard given cross-cultural communication, but also very rewarding, particularly when they start to resolve problems themselves.

Communication with the Khmer is easier than with Lao. They are more direct and I think its in part due to the difference in political and economic environment; Cambodia has a wild-west frontier feel, due to a combination of open market and corrupt government. Laos also has a corrupt government, but is stuck in communist-era stagnation and paranoia. Lao people are great, but their tendency to excruciating politeness can lead to some tortured exchanges in the work-place.

Phnom Penh is a big city, with about 2 million inhabitants, and it makes Vientiane look like a village in comparison. It doesn't have the same small cirlce of ex-pats that Vientiane does - in Vientiane there are a couple of places you can go where you're pretty much guaranteed to see the same faces. Phnom Penh has a bigger ex-pat community, though it is much more scattered. Its not so obvious who is a tourist, who is a traveller and who is an ex-pat here; in Vientiane, the backpackers are really easy to spot, they exude a layer of crustiness, but you don't really notice them here.

I will be finishing up with DDD in July. The project is almost finished, its basically a matter of making sure they can and know how to use the new system, and figuring out how to use it to manage customer projects. Its been a fantastic experience, at times really hard, and at times really rewarding. I could stay on longer if I wanted, in a developing country there's no end of work that needs to be done, but at the end of the day I don't have the inclination to go native, so staying here long-term isn't an option I want. Also, I've observed that most of the ex-pats are either young 20-somethings, or settled with families, so it can feel a bit odd if you fall between those two worlds. The experience has also taught me how much I appreciate friends and family, that's too important to me to be away for a great length of time.

So I'm looking forward to the cool foggy air of San Francisco, taking a stroll in Golden Gate Park, and seeing some decent live music (what passes for music here is frighteningly bad, its actually given me nightmares). I don't have a definite return date yet, but most likely mid-to-late July. And anyways I'm not quite done here yet, there's still some work to be done, and maybe a few days lying on a beach to boot. I'll be sending out another update soon. And, everyone, let me know how you're getting on.