A tattoo on the mind (Sander)
Arriving in Cambodia in the first week of the new year I was picked up by a student already working for Kamworks. A nice and comfortable way to get your first impressions. The first 3 months of my internship I lived in the Solar Campus, very basic housing powered by solar energy. While the showering with a little bucket took some getting used to the life in the province was very nice.
We had a fun group and worked together on our separate projects. I started my internship designing moulds for the solar home system. The designs were send for manufacturing to Vietnam and I could pick them up some time later. A working trip to Saigon, an always welcome distraction and my first experience with the full blown craziness of south east Asia. From the iron mould we made the plastic moulds for the Solar Home System and we pulled some nice quality products from the moulds. It’s a very good feeling to see that the things you design on your computer work out in practice.
Kamworks advocates itself as a green company, but when arriving in the morning the slow stokes of the diesel generator can be heard from behind the building. A solution had to be found and with 40 donated solar panels some concrete and steel my next project was born. The next couple of months we worked hard in the burning sun to construct a solar roof to make Kamworks a true self supplying, green company. We dug deep foundation holes, poured concreted welded steel and constructed roof framing, a dream of every mechanical engineer. And the good thing here in Cambodia; no building permits required. You got the steel you got the tools, you can start building. The result was a fully operational solar array which can be spotted with Google earth.
Cambodia is a great place to be. After 3 months I found an apartment in Phnom Penh and lived in the capitol of Cambodia for 150$ a month. In the weekend I went with friends to other cities; swimming in Sihanoukville, hiking in Kampot, checking out the temples at Siem Riep, or just having a drink in one of the beer gardens. The biggest highlight of my stay in Asia is my motorbike ride through south Vietnam. I had two and a half week of holidays and went to Saigon to rent a motorbike, riding 2500km in 2 weeks, seeing almost everything in south Vietnam amounted to the best motor trip in my life. In the 7 months I have lived and worked in Cambodia I learned a lot, experienced more and enjoyed everything (excluding my stolen passport ). In one word: awesome!
Name: Sander Roosjen (Dutch)
School: Twente University (Netherlands)
Project: Solar Home Systems (SHS), Solar Roof
When in Cambodia: 08-01-2010
Living in Cambodia: 29-07-2010
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Sarin Sok (30) foreman workshop
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"Ever since Arjen in 2000 started installing solar power systems in Cambodia as a volunteer - at first at the orphanage where I grew up, later in other places - I have been assisting him. I was educated at the technical school in Phnom Penh and worked as a maintenance mechanic in the orphanage, so I already had a technical background. When Arjen started Kamworks in 2006 he asked me to be the foreman of the workshop, so that is what I have been doing for the past years. I check all the tools and I see to it that our people do their job the right way. Cutting steel for instance is difficult because you have to be very precise. I help people with that. The bulk of our work is to install the solar systems, but whenever a customer orders a large amount of MoonLights, we all chip in. Over the years I found out that people are very different, some are very flexible and some are not. Now I have learned how to deal with that. I like installing solar systems because it is renewable energy, good for the environment. The other really good thing about Kamworks is that it provides the children of the orphanage with job opportunities, because in Cambodia it is not very easy to find a job if you don't have a family."
"After I graduated from the technical school in Phnom Penh I got a job working for a Japanese firm that was building a bridge in Cambodia. When that job finished I found a new job working as a body guard for a casino near the Thai border - no technical job. In 2007 the casino closed down in and I went back to Sre Ampil, the place where I grew up in the orphanage. By then Arjen had started Kamworks. I asked him whether I could work there, because a technical job on the long run is better than being a body guard. There are less people skilled to be a technician, so there is less competition. Kamworks is a good company, I can improve my techniques here. Whenever I do something wrong, people explain to me what I should do differently so I can learn. I already learnt a lot. Before I had never heard of solar power, now I can install solar systems. And I am also better at welding than I was before. The directors have good ideas and they want to develop the company, expand it. So I am confident there is a future for me at Kamworks."
