Gerald Flynn

Photo Essay: Behind the Scaffolding

In Cambodia, construction workers and their families often live inside the buildings they are constructing, despite dozens being killed in building collapses in recent years. Few labour protections leave them vulnerable to site accidents and exploitation.

Community fishery patrollers drive back to Kampong Kbeung village in a modified boat confiscated from illegal fishers that is now used by the patrol team. An increasing number of illegal fishers are modifying the hulls of their boats so that they can outpace the community patrol boats. (Andy Ball)

On Patrol, a Mekong Village Tackles Electric Fishing Scourge

Volunteer community patrollers along the Mekong aim to stop a rise in illegal electric fishing, which harms river ecosystems and livelihoods that rely on protected fisheries. But the sale of outlawed gear allows the dangerous practice to continue.

Toem Vi is surrounded by family members outside his house in Takeo province’s Angkor Borey district on January 15, 2021. (Heng Vichet/VOD)

Fisherman Beaten Almost to Death by Fisheries Officers, Witnesses Say

“The engine died. There were three of us on the boat, including Toem Vi, but they didn’t ask questions. They just started swinging sticks,” recounted Saroeun. Vi lay on a bamboo platform set outside his home, blood congealed around an open head wound.

Sean Bopha of Comped explains the composting process and how it could be expanded throughout Cambodia, in Battambang on November 6, 2020. (Gerald Flynn/VOD)

As Trash Woes Pile Up, Community Efforts Fill In the Gaps

From organized volunteer cleanups to commercialized plastics recycling, community efforts dotted across Cambodia seek solutions to the 4 million tons of waste produced annually, which is filling up volatile dumpsites and soiling the natural environment.

An edjai scours Battambang’s landfill for salvageable goods, on November 6, 2020. (Gerald Flynn/VOD)

Scavengers: An Overlooked Backbone of Cambodia’s Waste Management

Analysis of the edjais and their impact on waste management throughout Cambodia is limited, but their haphazard scavenging for valuable waste buttresses the country’s waste management, says Kathrin Eitel, a research associate and anthropologist working with the University of Frankfurt.

A Medical Waste Management Unit worker navigates the waste-strewn warehouse floor of the Dangkor landfill in Phnom Penh on April 9, 2020. (Gerald Flynn)

Medical Waste Collectors: Cambodia’s Unseen Front-Line Workers

On the front lines of Cambodia’s fight against Covid-19, the five-man team responsible for disposing of all of Phnom Penh’s medical waste says they are poorly equipped, uninsured and at risk of infection, but few recognize the challenges they face.