As a group of 15 individuals, we all said our farewells to parents and loved ones on a cold Thursday night. Little did we know that our adventure to Cambodia was going to begin with a screech of tyres, a long night at Perth airport, a day at a Burswood hotel and the cancellation of our planned Friday activities in Phnom Penh. At this point I have to say the assistance rendered by the staff at Travel Hotspot in Northbridge was nothing short of outstanding. It was only due to their constant phone calls we were kept informed of the developments at the airport, and it was they who ensured we all had a decent lunch. A call or letter of thanks is certainly warranted. Other people on our flight did NOT receive information nor lunch and were quite disgruntled (and hungry) by 8pm Friday night. Any way we finally boarded and arrived 25 hours late in Phnom Penh. Our itinerary was modified to accommodate our shortened time in PP. This was now the new beginning of our adventure...
We completed 1.5 days in PP before going to Takeo...which ever person thought they would get out of this trip without regular history lessons was sadly deluded...really why would they think that, with me around?? I think it would be safe to say everyone now knows a great deal about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide perpetrated upon the people in the 1970s.....as well as the Ancient Khmer kings, slavery, mythology, Hinduism and Buddhism..
Many things our group did or saw were confronting, all we're meaningful and hopefully most were thought provoking. Our team members are returning home with a different view and vision of the plight of so many people in the world, in particular in Cambodia.
The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge for some came home in a personal sense only yesterday, when the older NFO kids opened up to tell stories of their own parents and their involvement or conflict with the Khmer Rouge. After becoming so close to these kids over the last two weeks the reality of war became exactly that - real and personal. This development was after our visit to the Landmine Museum just out of Siem Reap. Realising that Cambodia is third in the world for deaths from landmines and seeing the impact on children and adults alike is very confronting, and this is the daily life of so many Cambodians.
Our visit to Siem Reap was the final chapter to our trip. We took 10 NFO Orphanage kids to SR for a four day holiday. They, like many other Cambodians had never been to SR to see Angkor Wat, despite the fact that Angkor Wat is on their national flag and the most important cultural point in their country. It is simply too expensive for Cambodians to travel there. We visited many temples - but only a small handful of what is available to view. They are all mesmerizing in their own way. We had many lessons - personal, historical, economic, geographic and emotional. Then this morning the NFO kids had to return to Takeo on our chartered minibus. They will be home by 7pm today, but the first hour was probably a very solemn ride. There were many tears on both sides of the cultural divide when they were leaving. Not one dry eye was maintained.
(I would like to add here, trying to co- ordinate a party of 31 is EXTREMELY hard).
Our main port of call - NFO orphanage in Takeo - now seems so long ago as we have been so very busy - day and night. Mt Lawley should be proud of our kids who went there. They had certain jobs to do, however other jobs took priority. Another group had taken off all the cladding from a major building, which included the NFO classrooms and the personal room of the security guard - Sow. The interior of the building was exposed to the monsoonal downpours which begin about 3pm - daily.... then the group left, much to the disgruntlement of others. Our kids saw the need to fix it immediately to protect the rooms. They worked like Trojans for two days, in teamwork and got it done. This meant some of our activities were shelved ( like teaching the kids Aussie rules football!... Nat and Mark the balls are still there!). DIY renovations, measuring, sawing, loading, hammering, ordering more wood etc...are all now part of the skills repertoire of our Lawley kids.....maybe we should hire outlives out...? There were many fun moments which I am sure everyone will hear about from our kids. Many of these will be displayed in a photo gallery by the end of the week.
We are returning exhausted - physically and perhaps emotionally for some. But we know we achieved a lot. All members of the team are returning home a more worldly person, certainly with a greater understanding of those with a whole lot less than us.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
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