Marriage:
Our Phnom Penh guide Long shared with us some information about marriage. Before, all marriages were arranged but now only 15% are. Seventy percent are love based. They do meet with the fortuneteller to make sure everything lines up right. He meet with a fortune teller to arrange his wedding ceremony and the first thing asked of him was the year he was born. I cannot remember what the animal sign was but whatever it was he was responsible so all was good. His wife to be matched up well. In their culture the man pays for the wedding and sometimes there is a dowry paid but none in his case. He showed us pictures of all the wedding outfits. I think the wedding took three days and they wore 7 different outfits during that time. They paid over $1,600 to rent all of the outfits.

Education:
There is public education but also private is available. Long’s son will turn three January 1st. They have him enrolled in an American School. They are hoping to have him get some of his schooling in the US. Long had a sponsor in Tampa through an Australian NGO who paid for his university education.

Healthcare:
Long says healthcare is poor and very expensive and paid for by the individual. We asked if he has insurance he said OAT provides health insurance for only him and only for when he is on the job.

He said the highest death rate is during childbirth especially in the rural areas. They do not get prenatal care and have no hospitals so are delivered by midwives. The second is “non-communicable diseases” which I think is smoking, drinking etc. and the third was dysentery caused by the contaminated water especially with children under the age of five.

Elderly:
The expected life span is 65 for men and 72 for women. Again children take care of their parents as they age.