NGOland is like David Bowie's Labyrinth

In Phnom Penh, or PP as we all affectionately refer to it, many of the NGOs are within a 5 km circumerference. UNIFEM is a hop, skip and a dash away from my IOM office. As is the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNESCO. Save the Children Australia can be seen from where my old room was at the Golden Comfort. I think UNICEF is the only one which makes life a pain, since its situated at the other end of the city. All of this is being soaked right now in the first rain of the day, which I suppose is what spurs me to write this post instead of reading a quarterly report from the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, better known as NCHADS.

I liken NGOland to David Bowie's Labyrinth because navigating it as a newbie to the environment is a bit daunting and restrictive. Walls smack right in front of you when you think that you have a novel idea. Differentials in which of Cambodia's 60 days worth of holidays are recognized by which organization are like growths of ivy that suddenly prevent you from making big steps. And of course, there are the monsters that try to drain you of your already pauperized resources at every turn. What is a newbie to do?

Well, patience is key. Not getting driven from your purpose is also important. Marketing and communications appear to be what program directors and project managers seem to be blessed with here. They are essentially very talented salespeople who make it easy to buy that dress that you don't really need and will never actually wear. Because HIV/AIDS can be such a broad topic, its often easy to forget your true purpose, which in my case is to decrease the risk of health issues as migrants and other mobile populations make it from source to destination. I feel like things happen fairly slowly as well. However, those feelings are probably rooted in the fact that I have yet to meet with UNAIDS, as I think they are stuck in Geneva for a UN employee pomp and circumstance at the moment. The HIV/AIDS component of my work rests on seeing them first.

UNAIDS therefore would be my Holy Grail. Or perhaps some sort of chalice holding the elixir of life for the HIV/AIDS component of my project. Once I get clearance to go ahead on attempting to get funding for HIV/AIDS and migration health promotion materials my work life more or less becomes a snowball rolling down the Alps. Hopefully I won't get too drunk from this elixir of life.

***

It is currently 1420hrs in PP. It's been raining on and off for the last hour. Really hard rain too. The kind that feels like hail pounding at the back of the neck but in actuality are large drops of water hitting you at full force. I wouldn't mind leaving now and bringing home work with me. Tonight's a fairly packed evening as well:

630pm - meeting with Meta House re: me, Cambodia, filmmaking and new media
9pm - goodbye party
12am - Elsewhere party - 300 drunken expats in a chic club? I'm there.
3am onwards - recovery

Oh my goodness, the lightning has started. I don't really have enough cash to get home on a tuktuk. Walking home will not be fun.