បើសិនជាអ្នកទើបដឹងខ្លួនឥលូវហ្នឹងបន្ទាប់ពីបានអានអត្ថបទនេះហើយ ថាអ្នកនឹងស្លាប់ថ្ងៃស្អែក តើអ្នកមានអារម្មណ៍បែបណា? តើអ្នកអាចប្រមូលស្មារតីខ្លួនឯងឈរឱ្យត្រង់ មិនស្រក់ទឹកភ្នែក និងមិនភ្លឹកនិយាយមិនចេញបានទេ? តើអ្នកគិតពីអ្វីមុនគេ? តើអ្នកអាចគិតឃើញទេថាអ្នកចង់ធ្វើអ្វីជាងគេនៅខណៈពេលហ្នឹង? ថ្ងៃនេះបានទេទូរស័ព្ទទៅម្តាយ ហើយក៏ទទួលដំណឹងបានថាមានបងប្អូនធ្លាក់ខ្លួនឈឺខ្លាំង។ មើលស្ថានភាពឃើញតែការវិវឌ្ឍន៍ទៅមុខជាអវិជ្ជមាន។ មិនជាមានសង្ឍឹមច្រើនថាអាចធូរស្បើយបន្តរស់រៀនមានជីវិតយូរអង្វែងទៅមុខនោះទេ។ រឿងដែលពិបាកទទួលយកជាងគេគឺរឿងដែលយើងម...

Intro On a crisp day in early August, 50 activists tore down a fence. They stormed through the barricade in the Bicol Region of the Philippines and ran towards the rice field beyond it. Then to the shock of onlookers, the group began to tear out the rice plants by the handful. They did this not because they were hungry or had any desire to eat the grain, in fact their motive was the opposite. The activists sought to destroy the crops because the plants were part of a field test of the geneticall...

ពេលដែលយើងទុនខ្សោយអ្នកក្តោបក្តាប់ព័ត៌មានបានហើយមានបុណ្សសក្តិអំណាចនិងរកឱកាសជិះជាន់យើង។ ខ្ញុំគិតថា "ទុនខ្សោយ" និង "ស្លូតត្រង់" គឺមិនដូចគ្នាទេ។ ភាគច្រើនគេតែងតែនិយាយថា "ពេលដែលយើងស្លូតពេក គេជិះជាន់យើងហើយ"។ ការលើកឡើងនេះវាហាក់ដូចជាបង្កប់នូវការយល់ច្រឡំ។ ខ្ញុំយល់ឃើញថា វាគួរតែពេលដែលយើង "ទុនខ្សោយ" នោះទេដែលយើងនឹងត្រូវបានគេជិះជាន់ ព្រោះថាពាក្យ "ទុនខ្សោយ" សម្តៅដល់ ភាពល្ងង់ខ្លៅ ភាពអវិជ្ចាមិនយល់ដឹងពីសង្គមឬច្បាប់ផ្សេងៗ អសមត្ថភាពក្នុងការក្តោបក្តាប់ព័ត៌មានផ្សេងៗ និងភាពក្រីក្រដោយសារមានសេដ្ឋកិច្ចផ្ទាល់ខ្លួនទាបដុនដាប...

ឥលូវឆ្នាំ2022ហើយ នៅមានក្មេងស្រីអាយុក្រោម ១៨ឆ្នាំ អត់បានរៀនសូត្រហើយត្រូវបង្ខំចិត្តមកធ្វើការឱ្យគេតាមផ្ទះដើម្បីជួយដោះទាល់ជីវិភាពគ្រួសារប្រចាំថ្ងៃ។ ខ្ញុំឃើញ ខ្ញុំជួបប្រទះ ប៉ុន្តែបានត្រឹមនឹកអាណិត ហើយតូចចិត្តព្រោះខ្លួនឯងអសមត្ថភាព គ្មានប្រយោជន៍មិនអាចជួយអ្វីបាន។ ពេលឃើញទឹកមុខក្មេងនោះធ្វើការងារទាំងស្រងូតស្រងាត់មិនដឹងថាក្នុងចិត្តគេគិតអ្វី។ ពេលឃើញក្មេងនោះទាញសៀវភៅមកអង្គុយអានយប់ឡើងតែម្នាក់ឯង មិនចុចទូរស័ព្ទ មិនមើលទូរទស្សន៍ បានត្រឹមមានអារម្មណ៍ខ្លោចចិត្ត។ ធម្មតាទេពេលនៅជាមួយអ្នកដទៃវាមិនដូចនៅជាមួយគ្រួសារខ្លួនឯង...

As a member of our team working with an agricultural cooperative to assist their members in implementing their lemongrass business, I am so happy, content, and proud to witness harvesting, packaging, and selling phase. My role is to help form producer groups, facilitate the growing, and finding market for our lemongrass. Ideally, my work will be considered a success if our farmers grow lemongrass and can sell them. It was a pretty difficult job given the fact that everything was sort of new...

កាត់ស្លឹកគ្រៃខុសប្រវែង។ អ្នកបញ្ជាទិញ ចង់ឱ្យកាត់ឱ្យវែងបន្តិច ដើម្បីឱ្យជាប់ស្លឹក ច្រើន ព្រោះគេត្រូវយកទៅហាន់គ្រឿង។ ព័ត៌មានផ្តល់ឱ្យអត់ច្បាស់ អត់មានប្រើ ខ្នាតជាក់លាក់។ ប្រើភាសា "កាត់យកលើធាងវាបន្តិច"។ ទំនាក់ទំនងប្រាប់ ព័ត៌មានធ្វើឡើងតាមទូរស័ព្ទ អត់មានរូបភាព អត់មានប៉ាន់គម្រូជាក់ស្តែង។ ដូច្នេះ ធ្វើឱ្យមានការយល់ច្រលំហើយប្រាប់តទៅសមាជិកខុស។ ម្ល៉េះហើយ ពេល សមាជិកធ្វើ គាត់កាត់ស្លឹកចោលច្រើនពេក ធ្វើឱ្យខាតគីឡូ។​ ឧទាហរណ៍ ពេលយើង កាត់ស្លឹកវាចោលតិច វាធ្ងន់ជាពេលដែលយើងកាត់ស្លឹកវាចោលច្រើន។ ធ្វើអ៊ីចឹង យើងចំណេញគីឡូ។ ក្នុង...

Your senior is supposed to fill in a document. He's busy, so he can't do it. He asked you to help fill it and send it to his work partner—a stranger to you—in a Telegram group where there are only your senior, the stranger, and you. You wrote a nice message addressing that stranger and sent the document file along with it. The stranger saw it. He didn't say a thing about it, but went on to talk about something else with your senior. Even your senior kept referring to you to handle it, the str...

Temporary Recharge A quiet house, a room, or a place. It is ok to have a few people who don't really care about what I am doing or want to talk to me all the time in the same place with me. I do need a good internet with fast enough speed for online movies or documentaries. I need some fresh and instant food already stocked in with some ice and drinks in the fridge. I can cook for myself whenever I am hungry and make a cold drink for myself whenever I am thirsty. A perfect evening would be...

Thinking about how to make money stresses me out. It stifles my excitement about the idea I have. I then ask myself, "Can I just do what I want to do without having to think about money? Is this even a legit or realistic question?" I have known and worked with/for people who get excited about any opportunity to make money. They seems to be quite embitious when it comes to obtaining money. I don't know if we are wired differently. Why am I feeling this way? I think I am not used to selling th...

Today I went out for a morning ride with a new cycling team. It was a first proper road riding after almost two years. I was not really at the level I was two years ago. We rode to Prek Ta Mek. I struggled a bit on there, but I managed to do a bit of pulling on the way back. Many riders have got stronger, I think, just because they have done a lot of riding for the last two years while I was away. We were riding at around 40Km/h on average for 50km. Somehow speed is what everybody is always bra...

When I asked Leah about what I should translate and what I can skip in those interviews we conducted, she said without looking at me but her smart phone, "Translate what Sreymom said." I felt as if she was being a boss, an employer, or a customer, who is giving me an attitude. I felt like she told, "Don't ask too much. Just do what I said." Then she added, "The good thing is that you are being paid. I think it is 40USD per interview. With that you can buy yourself a bed." I felt like she said ...

Business Plan. What is a business plan really? What is the use of it? What part of it do you indeed find helpful or useful? From my past experience and with my current level of knowledge regarding the topic of "business plan", what I have found handful are the introduction (who we are, vision, mission, goals, activities), customer identification, market study, financial projection, and business model canvas. What usually tends to happen is that we forget about the business plan after we start...

Selling lemongrass. The work that I am doing now in an agriculture cooperative is to people to buy lemongrass from our members. For the last one week, we have sold one of our members' lemongrass, farmer A, 30kg a day to a collector in a local wet market near by. He pays us 700 Riel for 1 kg. We decided not to negotiate the price with him yet, because we want to build relationship with him and let him know we want to work with him long term. Today I called another member, farmer B, to ask if sh...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] You have no idea how many time I uploaded my work on Facebook or YouTube and re-uploaded them and uploaded them again. I am talking about Facebook page cover picture. I changed the mission and vision at least 5 times before I found the acceptable, for myself, version. I used to think about just using Dassatek to share my life experiences and lessons and think that I don't need to think too much about what the audiences want. My mindset was like this, "Here is my l...

[Stream of Consciousness] I don't know why I keep coming back to writing. I don't know if I really enjoy writing. But I keep telling myself that I want to develop a writing craft, and I want to be a writer despite the fact that I have never really been a formal or professional writer. What I have normally done is journal writing. Only lately I think for the last two years, I have looked into personal writing or creative nonfiction writing which is more structured and purposeful than my journa...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] There are days when you feel like "Oh shit, it's already 3:47PM. I have not done what I am supposed to do. Instead I have been scrolling through YouTube videos, from Thai 'The Wall' series to professional athletes' prank videos 'The Return' by Redbulls. I am not productive at all today. What is happening with me? Where are my motivation to write; I should be writing articles? Why am I so undisciplined, unlike when I was training as a national road cyclist?" Tod...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] I have programmed myself to be driven, committed, determined, and persevered to do something if it is related to what I want in life or my goal. Because of that working for other purposes, which aren't aligned with my dream, would drain me to a point where all I could feel is bitterness. I guess it is because I am doing something for myself. For example, when I set myself a goal to the Olympics, I was mostly motivated and discipline to do what I thought it would ...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] My upper back and shoulder felt sore when I woke up this morning. I don't know what that is a sign of. Emotion wise, I felt kind of empty, not motivated, or not excited about the day. I also felt like another 7 months with the AC feel so long, and I don't know what to do. Right after I made my bed; well I don't really have my personal bed. I just sleep on a kitchen bed in Pu Den's house. So by making my bed, I mean to move my mattress, pillows, blanket, and mo...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] Feeling down seeing other post about achievement! There are five groups working in five different agriculture cooperatives under CPSA. In the last two days, I have seen two posts about one of the groups having successfully signed two buy-and-sell contracts with their customers while my team has not made any progress in the last 2 weeks. In addition, I found about an agriculture cooperative in Battambang called Tasey. They are doing vegetable production business...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] Feeling very uneasy discussing about the correct way of writing "compost" in Khmer! I was discussing with a friend today, Monorrom, about this word. We found out that people have written it in three different ways, (1) "កំប៉ុស", (2) "កំប៉ុស្ត", (3) "កំប៉ុស្តិ៍". Number (2) is written in Biology Dictionary English-Khmer 2013. Number (3) is found in Agriculture Technical Dictionary of RUA featured by ACIAR. And number (1) is the simplest and most straight forwar...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] This evening I went to the supermarkets, Aeon and Makro, with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We went pass a car showcase. My uncle said to his daughter, "You should get a car". His wife, my aunt, was not 100% supported the idea. She thinks that owner a car just adds up unnecessary expense and it is better to use that money to pay for the house or food. My cousin thought that she couldn't have a car because her income is not enough to effort it and especially the gas...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] I am tired to be a leader. I am exhausted. I am tired of being anxious about not meeting the deadline and not succeeding in the project. I am tired of trying to drag my teammates to try harder or to help think. I am tired of trying to make sure things are not going to turn south. I am tired of trying to get everything to go in according to plan. I am tired of trying to always initiate. I am angry when I have to be unhappy, anxious, and worried, when ot...

My current comprehensive reading pace is 4 pages in an hour. Comprehensive Reading. I read comprehensively by stopping frequently and asking what I have just read (almost after finishing every paragraph). I also take note on the margin of the text book for better understanding. I use digital drawing board to take note on a digital textbook. From this data, I can calculate how many hours I need to spend each week (7 days) to cover all the reading material (assigned number of chapter). This can ...

I decided to not continue working with an agriculture cooperative (AC), which I am working for, after my contract with Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture is over at the end of 2022. I want to start my own regenerative farm. Having made up my mind on this matter, I become less motivated to work on the lemongrass project with the AC in the moment. I am not excited anymore. Now the tasks have become purely my responsibilities to fulfill well. My body is still in the AC, but my mind ...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] Taking online class at UoPeople while working full-time is not easy. I am not even attending the university full-time. I am already taking only one course per term whereas a full-time student can take up to four courses per term. This term I am taking Basic Accounting (BUS1102). From my personal experience, it is different from the other courses I have taken. Instead of reading one chapter per week, I am assigned to read two chapters a week. That's a lot of read...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] Comparing myself to other people makes my life feel bitter. Is this just me? Or is it the case for everyone? Sometimes seeing people with money, wealth, fame, power, and influence dating pretty high class girls, riding expensive cars or motorbikes, wearing expensive brand clothes, eating out at fancy restaurants, visiting expensive attracting places, and staying at luxurious hotels makes me want to experience the same things. I am confident to say that it is n...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] My cousin volunteered to help organize Bun Phum. This is the first big event that he sought out for the information, applied for, and got selected. I should have acknowledged it in front of him and given him a kudo. He did well. Good job to him. I didn't do with him, but I can say it to him when he is done with Bun Phum and back home. I can take him to go for a walk or a drink. Also, today is his birthday. I didn't say many nice words to him. I was joking with...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] Working on a lemongrass production business in an agriculture cooperative, I am responsible for putting together a financial projection for each potential producing member so that they can see, for that much amount of land they have, how much they can generate as a revenue, how much they need to spend, and how much they will make as profit. This analysis is very crucial to convince agriculture cooperative members to join the producing groups and start growing lemo...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] It is difficult and maybe even rare to discover someone or a group of people you like and want to work together with toward pursuing a common goal or purpose. I have found just that group of people whose energy, life and work values and principles, mindsets, and visions are very similar to mine. Yet, I don't think it is the right time to share my dream and start working on it with them. Why? I don't have solid credibility in term experience, wealth, and success t...

[Stream of Consciousness - SC] What is my goal for spending 1-2 hours every night learning about market gardening? In the next 6 months, I will transform Pu Den's backyard (in an agriculture cooperative in Kompong Cham) into a market garden that generates side income to sustain its operation and demonstrates to the villagers this new way of regenerative gardening. The extra income here is not really the main objective. What I find very valuable is the experience I can get from this opportuni...

To write everyday is not easy, but I think it is also not impossible. Well at least Seth Godin has proven it possible. I really have no clue what I am going to write now. I am just literally writing what is in my head. They might not be useful to anyone, but I think it is at least useful to me. "Getting started is often the hardest part. Once you start, it's easy to keep going." I read this from a book called "The Motivation Myth" by Jeff Harden. Hence, the goal for today or for this article...

[Stream of Consciousness] Instead of living my life now, I am thinking. I still don't truly get this. It feels like a romantic idea. It feels too good to be true to many people including myself sometimes. Or at least that is just how it feels for me now. Visualizing it just makes me feel happy, free, light, and relieved of all the burden, the expectation, the desire to become someone the society view as normal if not someone who is successful, the constant anxiety about the future security an...