McGill Human Rights Interns

I have started blogging from Cambodia on my personal website, but will also be cross-posting many of these thoughts here. There will be a mix of travel writing and more substantial reporting once work starts at LICADHO next week. For now, I’ll kick it off with the following, which is also posted here:

This space is likely going to turn into a bit of a travelog over the next few weeks as I get settled in Phnom Penh. I will likely also make many comparisons between here and situations I have come across in my work in East Africa. While some of these comparisons might seem out of place, they are lending towards a richer experience and one which will likely allow me to develop a more substantial understanding of important similarities in developing economies, despite different cultural histories.

The first few days in Phnom Penh have been a whirlwind. I landed in the city Tuesday night; welcomed by the familiar wall of heavy heat and humidity. The din of the city was not masked by the darkness. Corners filled by moto drivers, tiny food stalls lit and busy, garbage on the streets – all much like Uganda. The area I will be living in is near the Independence Monument and basically in the city centre. There’s an open park nearby – something you would not see often in Kampala, but is common in Phnom Penh – which hosts an oval of joggers (whom I will join this evening) and, at its centre, open air aerobic and dance classes.

Continued.