Tag Archives: Phnom Penh

Introduction

 

My name is Pardis Lakzadeh and Im a graduate from the Faculty of Integrated Sciences in the area of Human Nutrition and Immunology. My focus was on understanding the impact of Nutrition on overall health and more specifically the relationship between nutrients and the immune system. I was first introduced to this area of research in FNH 355 International Nutrition, taught by Judy McLean herself! I was immediately taken in by the complexity of the problems surrounding nutrition globally, and was very impressed with the innovative solutions offered. This new found interest motivated me to follow up this course with FNH 455 Applied International Nutrition, and it was here that I first learned about Fish on Farms. I knew immediately that I would like to be involved and here I am 6 months later. Over the next few months together with Hellene Sarin I will be updating the blog posts and twitter account, to keep you updated on the exciting progress of Fish on Farms.

My name is Hellene Sarin and I will be working with Pardis Lakzadeh over the next few months. I am from Phnom Penh, and a fourth year student majoring in Natural Resources Conservation in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. Building on my experience from last summer in Cambodia where I was involved in the research evaluation of a voucher program for reproductive health, through qualitative research that has a strong focus on gender analysis with FoF, I hope to gain a better understanding of the problems that surround nutrition issues in a developing country. I am also really excited to learn more about Participatory Rural Appraisal tools throughout the project and how the integration of aquaculture into homestead food production works to improve nutrition and livelihood of the people.

Cambodia in Mourning

On Monday October 15 the former King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, died of a heart attack in Beijing at the age of 89. His son, King Norodom Sihamoni, together with the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister travelled to Beijing to bring home Sihanouk‘s body for funeral preparations.

King Norodom Sihanouk (Source: Chhoy Pisei/AFP/Getty Images)

More than 100,000 people lined the streets of Phnom Penh from the airport to the Royal Palace to pay respect for their former King. Mourners wore white shirts and black ribbons, and flags flew at half mast throughout the country.

Mourners line the streets of Phnom Penh to receive the body of their former King (Source: Vibol Phan / CityLife Magazine)

On Wednesday, the Kingdom entered a week-long period of mourning, and abstinence from celebration of any kind.

Sihanouk was a presence in Cambodia throughout his life, despite abdicating the throne on two separate occasions. He was involved in politics, the arts, and later in life in peacemaking after an ill-fated choice to back the Khmer Rouge regime in its earlier years.

The Fish on Farms team send our sincere condolences to the people of Cambodia during this difficult time.

Updates

Unfortunately the blog has been neglected lately due to other projects, such as working on our 6-month Interim Technical Report for the IDRC. It’s a huge undertaking, involving several people in Vancouver and Phnom Penh. Thankfully it’s coming together and should be a wealth of well-organized information on what FoF has accomplished in the past 6 months.

Yesterday we took a time-out from working on the report to go visit the National Institute of Public Health Laboratories (NIPHL) in Toul Kork, which is at the northern end of Phnom Penh. It was interesting to see where the blood collected in the field has gone to be processed, and what kind of machinery is being used. I took pictures that will appear on the blog later.

We also relaxed in the evening by watching a topically relevant film, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen“. The plot focused on a wealthy sheik in Yemen who wants to introduce the sport of fishing to his country, despite the geography of the region. While there were some obvious differences between a film set in the Middle East and what we’re accomplishing in Cambodia, the sheik makes an astute observation when he says that his project will address the growing need for sustainable food sources and that a river will provide not just fish, but water to the region that can be used to grow fruit as well. Our fishponds will be working in tandem with homestead food production to create a symbiotic relationship between aquaculture and farming to ensure year-round sustainable production of nutritious food. Pretty smart, don’t you think?

Baseline: Day 16

Our last day of baseline has come and gone. Given how smoothly every day had gone, it was surprising that we had a few minor problems on our last day. The village we were going to had the same name as a village in another district, so we got lost. Then we had to track some mothers down in the rice fields, which set us back a few hours. Of all the days to run into problems, Day 16 was probably the best because we weren’t rushing to get anywhere in the afternoon.

Leaving the field was bittersweet for me. I truly enjoyed being immersed in a culture and lifestyle so completely different from my own. The stories I heard were incredible, and I can’t wait to see how FoF impacts the lives of the people we met. However, I’m happy to be back in Phnom Penh, where my food options are more diverse.

I’m taking this weekend off, but check back Monday for a new post and some videos.

Getting Started

Welcome to the Fish on Farms blog! This blog will be chronicling the very exciting Fish on Farms (FoF) project, which is being jointly conducted by the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Helen Keller International (HKI) in the Prey Veng province of Cambodia.

First, a brief introduction to your blogger over the next few months. My name is Carly Isman, and I am a 4th year student in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, studying  Food, Nutrition, and Health. I’m in Cambodia from June through August to cover everything FoF-related, from press coverage to our baseline survey, which is coming up very soon! For those of you with shorter attention spans, I will also be tweeting.

In the short week that I’ve been here, a lot has happened. Most importantly, I met Dr. Christopher Charles and Ms. Kyly Whitfield, two people from UBC who will be here in Cambodia to work on the project and who have already been hard at work to get FoF organized. I attended my first Nutrition Working Group meeting, where I got to hear about several projects relating to nutrition that are currently underway in the country. I’ve been to HKI’s offices twice to meet the people who are working on FoF and to hammer out the details for the baseline survey. On top of all of that, I’ve been exploring Phnom Penh and learning about the city’s charming idiosyncrasies.

FoF has been in the press twice in the past week, which we’re very excited about! The International Development Research Center announced our project in a press release, while The Vancouver Sun wrote an article about our project. I’ll be discussing these in more detail later, but right now it’s dinner time (both for me, and for the mosquitoes who will inevitably eat me while I’m eating).