Where Blogging Starts in the Provinces

In time I was training some young people in Kampong Speu to blog, I saw that the internet line was bad and only felt that my blog training was not well done there. Now, I think that this matter should be taken seriously by CIC centers

For the last 10 days, I was in Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng and Takeo and I did go CIC offices to check more than just my email. For Kampong Cham, I find the line is really good though the operator said sometimes it is also down. Students were coming in and out and, interestingly, a distant learning program (of the International Institute of Cambodia (IIC) with the cooperation of the Community Information Center funded by The Asia Foundation) is run here via the center’s internet. They had finished the first online-course very recently and an officer from Phnom Penh was interviewing candidates for the next round of the course.

I arrived in Svay Rieng province the evening of the 18th and arrange a brief training to create a blog for the Youth Council of Cambodia in Svay Rieng – www.yccsvayrieng.blogspot.com. Only one computer could be used for the training because the line was bad. Participants said that for about a month they could only check email but not send email out! On the evening of the 20th, I met with some other 10 young people at another CIC center in Takeo province. I started the training from 6:30pm till 8:30pm (I was busy with my program in Kirivong district till 5:00pm). The line is a little better than in Svay Rieng since we can use four computers, the others with internet link did not respond to blog program.

I found out that internet line should be improved so that young people are not feeling bad each time they want to use internet. Some computers in Svay Rieng, Kampong Speu and Takeo are really old which does not support some internet program. As I know, the Asia Foundation set up the centers, and I certainly expected better quality computers and software update as I saw in Kampong Cham. Internet fee is still very high at CICs in some provinces - 1US$ an hour.

There is not installation of Khmer Unicode yet in CIC computers in Kampong Cham and Svay Rieng. In Takeo, there is only one computer was installed, but it does not run properly. I can not view my Khmer blog www.khlog.blogspot.com. The www.khmeros.info has made tremendous effort in Khmer Software and especially Khmer Unicode which allows young people to enjoy putting themselves on internet – especially via blogging. For students in countryside, getting themselves on radio or TV show is very excited. Then, getting themselves read around the globe through their blogs is greater and encouraging for both their experience and education.

As the only internet center in a most of the provinces in Cambodia, CIC centers are the main places to make use of www.khmeros.com effort and to promote blogging.

After two hours we had created www.ycctakeo.blogspot.com www.cam-nature.blogspot.com www.sihanoukville.blogspot.com in Takeo. There are very little posting in the blogs and I hope to meet each province team leader to make their blog better. And I did not bring digital camera with me during the trip – still no pic.