Safety & Security

Recently I went for a walk down the dirt road I lived on for the first few months at site, it winds back through rice fields and houses. While walking I ran into my old neighbor. She asked me if I was afraid to walk alone and I naturally said no and continued on my way. I passed a few more houses with people who waved and asked where I was going. I kept walking and was invited to sit and "talk play" with a family, so I did. When I got up to go with the intention to walking farther they scolded me and told me to go home because it was 5:00p. They seemed to be looking past me so turned and saw a random guy sitting on his moto just staring at us. Or me rather. I had seen him ride his moto past me at least 4 times while I was walking. So, I turned around and walked back towards town. Then I started thinking again about the question "are you afraid?" and why I am not. It occurred to me that people like that family are why I feel safe walking alone on backroads.

Now I am sitting in a hotel room in Siem Reap and thinking about why I feel perfectly safe leaving my moneyand passport on the night stand and my laptop and ipod on the bed while in a huge tourist town on one of the bussiest weekends of the year(Water festival). I think last night is a pretty good illustration of why. My roommate and I came back late after going out dancing to find that they had pulled the gate over the doors shut. Getting locked out of your guest house could be cause for alarm, but they knew we were out and left the gate slightly open so we could get back in. The two women who run the front desk were asleep on cots in the lobby and we did not want to wake them so we hopped behind the counter to look for our key. We could not find it. Naturally I am thinking...well if we could get in and just jump behing the counter then anyone could do it...But eventually we woke one of the women and she laughed, lifted up her pillow, and handed us our room key.

When we all first got to country we were told, as were PC trainees all over the world I am sure, that the best way to ensure our personal safety was to build relationships in our communities. After a little over a year I can say I think they are right.I feel safe walking alone in my community because I cannot go 10 feet without being greeted, asked where I am going, or asked to join a family in whatever they happen to be doing at the time (usually eating rice or talk playing). Moreover they warn me when something is off (subtly, but still). I feel safe leaving my valuables in a hotel room in Siem Reap because the ladies downstairs call me sister, know where I live and who I came here to visit, and sleep with my room key under their pillow!