Today is THE day. Andrew and I hurriedly type the last corrections, compare the Khmer and English version once again, make sure we have all the different contracts for the five different owners, adjust the layout, drive to the internet café to get the lease agreements printed (we do not own a printer), then drive back to the house by motorbike so our Cambodian advisor Seigh can pick us up in his car. The lease agreements are to be signed at the commune leader’s office. Along the way the contracts go into their folders and get counted and re-counted. When we arrive I notice the patch of dirt between me and the office. Because of the recent rains it’s about thirty meters long and unavoidable. While Cambodians seem to have a talent for walking on mud and exiting with clean feet, I have discovered a talent for wading through mud and exiting with no shoes. But today is no ordinary day and I am spared the embarrassment of having to fish my shoes out of the mud.
Most of the land owners are already assembled in the office. At a long table Andrew and I sit with the commune leader, his secretary, the village leader and a few of the owners. The others gather on a wooden bench against the wall. Some spouses and children also squeeze into the room. Except for two old whiteboards and a dusty wooden bookshelf holding stray papers, the room is empty. It’s hot too, of course. And there are no fans. Taking in the scene, I feel as if I’m in an old western movie.
We greet everyone and distribute the contracts. Only then are we told that one of the owners isn’t there yet; she’s still in a car about two hours away. And so the meeting is postponed till the afternoon.
We reconvene a few hours later, only to discover that while all the land owners are now in attendance, the village leader has left. We wait a few more minutes, at which point we are told the leader cannot return because he does not have a motorbike. We wait again as someone goes to pick him up.
Finally everyone is in attendance! The commune leader greets Andrew and me again and we begin to answer their questions. With sixteen people squeezed into the room, all competing to talk, and many questions having to be answered several times, the meeting progresses without incident and there are no major disagreements. The actual signing of the contracts takes over an hour; each one must be signed, stamped and thumb-printed in red ink by five or six people. Thankfully our Cambodian advisor Seigh keeps everything organized and running smoothly, knowing exactly who has to sign what, where and when, and not allowing for any confusion. (To his credit –with 25 different documents on the table, half in Khmer, half in English, and ten people dealing with them simultaneously that’s no small feat!) Only when everything’s signed do we make the first rent payment, and all the owners leave smiling. We re-organize our documents, thank the village and commune leader and say goodbye. At 5:47 pm I climb into the backseat of the car and finally exhale.
- Jenny
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