Thoughts Archives - Sally Hetherington

Cambodia, Developing countries, Development, Empowerment, Human and Hope Association, Poverty Tourism, Thoughts, Voluntourism

Treating Children as ‘Team Building’ Activities

April 23

One day in February 2016, Human and Hope Association was approached by a tour company in Phnom Penh. They wanted to bring 15 tourists from India to Human and Hope Association to “teach, play with the kids and do something competitive” so that those tourists would have ‘team building’. If we allowed them to do that, they would give us a donation in return. I was absolutely mortified. I had known that this was common practice with some tour companies, however, we had never been approached to ...

Cambodia, Developing countries, Development, Hope Handicrafts, Human and Hope Association, Social Enterprise, Thoughts

Celebrating Five Years of a Life-Changing Sewing Program

April 1

From my initial days at Human and Hope Association, I had always planned to get a sewing program up and running. I knew that English classes weren’t for everyone, and for those villagers who were over eighteen and hadn’t finished school, sewing was the perfect skill. The great thing about sewing was that it was a skill that both men and women in Cambodia worked in. When driving through town, you would often see tailor shops with males sewing front and centre. There were no gender ...

Cambodia, Thoughts

Ghosts in Cambodia Part Two

March 17

There is a belief in Cambodia that when a person dies, they wander around the village as a spirit until the proper rituals have taken place. If the proper rituals are not performed, the deceased will not be able to move onto their next life. When a person dies, the family brings the body home and washes, dresses and places it into a coffin. Dissection or removal of the organs is a big no-no, as this would affect the rebirth of the deceased person. From the very first day of the person ...

Cambodia, Thoughts, Women

Let’s Talk about Sex (in Cambodia)

February 3

I once asked my former workmate how he managed to have sex with his wife when they only had one bed which his young son also slept on. “When my son falls asleep at night, I carefully push him to the end of the bed, then I have sex with my wife,” he answered, making me wish I had never asked the question. I also asked this friend if he slept with prostitutes. He darted his eyes from side to side, bowed his head, and answered yes. I asked him why. He told me it was out of respect for his ...