Ping Phnom: Expat Paul Eaton

Name: Paul Eaton
Age: 49
Hometown: Victoria, B.C.
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Job: Project field manager, Land Management and Administration
Project Canada

I moved here because I wanted to work internationally. This was about 15 years ago, and I’ve been coming back to Cambodia ever since.

The first thing I did was find an apartment. It’s now a guest house on a tourist street. Back then it was a much different situation: you could hear bullets flying a few times a week. There was no such thing as a tourist.

The biggest shock was coming to grips with a multicultural job in a country just beginning to put a civil war behind it. This was just after the Paris Peace Accords and the UN-supported election of the early 1990s.

The best thing about being here is watching a country come back to life after a period of devastation.

The biggest challenge has been understanding the Cambodian people. My work involves helping the government implement a program of land titles and better land management. There are times when we are in full agreement and times we don’t agree at all.

The biggest misconception I had was that the country could turn around in a short period of time. It’s going to take a generation or two for the Cambodians to get fully back on track.

The people are resourceful, capable and certain life is getting better.

Their biggest concerns are security, health and a plan for the future.

The standard of living is low. Cambodia has a small, very rich upper class. The middle class is tiny. The poor classes make up the majority of the population.

The food is fresh all year round; I haven’t eaten anything frozen or canned in ages. For the adventurous, there are provincial delicacies like crickets and spiders.

What B.C. could learn from Phnom Penh is how to bear adversity with a brave face and surmount seemingly impossible challenges.