Worlds apart

There is a strange divide happening in Cambodia, particularly in its capital, Phnom Penh. The divide is not so much between rich and poor or urban and rural. Its between foreigners and locals.

THE WORLD OF THE LOCALS: Phnom Penh is a city of about 1m inhabitants. The majority of these are Cambodian nationals (Khmers) who are busy getting on with their lives. They might be street vendors, moto taxi drivers, shop keepers, street cleaners, builders, beggars or businessmen. They will probably hold down more than one job to support family members in the more rural areas. Their homes might be wooden shacks on stilts, simple apartments or basic concrete 'shoeboxes'. They will probably eat standard Cambodian food sold on the street corners and they will be expected to work hard for their share of the growing Cambodian economy.

THE WORLD OF THE FOREIGNERS: Phnom Penh is also home to more aid,development and mission workers than any other similar-sized city in the world (Cambodia has more development per capita than any other country in the world). For the foreigners, life is often very diffirent. Their jobs (probably not more than one) tend to have more amenable start and finish times. They will probably eat western food at one of the many western-run cafes and restaurants around town. They may drive their SUVs through the crowded streets where locals are cycling or moto-riding. They will probably live in a large concrete house, villa, apartment or mansion on the outskirts of the city.

The locals and the foreigners. At times they are literally worlds apart.

The challenge for us is to avoid failling into this trap of seperatism. It would be all too easy to spend time just with English speaking friends, eat familiar food at western restaurants, live comfortably in a secluded house - all the time avoiding any sustained contact with the real Cambodia and the real Cambodians.

By talking to neighbours, going out with work colleagues, eating at local places, walking around and sampling real Cambodian life, we are trying to bring these two worlds close together. But its tough, with these two groups of people, sometimes seemingly worlds apart.