Today the morning started off with another trip to the markets for our usual morning coffee/sugar cane juice and donuts. It was delicious as usual and helped to wake us up. Once we finished our coffees we explored the markets and some of us bought amazing fresh fruit, hats and string to make bracelets.
After that we hurried back to the centre for breakfast. We ate our fruit at the table, sharing it between each other and experiencing the different fruits of Cambodia. They all tasted fantastic and refreshed us after the hot bike ride back from the markets.
Following our usual routine, we set off for another amazing day at the orphanage. Today Andy used his fabulous engineering skills and taught the kids how to make little planes out of balsa wood. It was good for us to finally teach them how to do something without them just beating us in everything. The kids all loved making the planes, initially being the older boys but more and more kids joining in the fun. Of course, the craft ended in a massive elastic band fight and the kids surprising us once again with their skills to make elastic band launchers with the left over balsa wood.
While this elastic band war was taking place, half of us went to a school set up for kids whose family can't afford to send them to school. The village is out of Takeo, called "Little Po". I get to go there tomorrow....another busy day.
Jasmine
Friday, 13 July 2012
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Going Well
All good here and the Lawley students have been fantastic with the Cambodian kids.
Off to visit a school tomorrow that has 250 students, in one class! I am sure that more info will be blogged shortly.
Off to visit a school tomorrow that has 250 students, in one class! I am sure that more info will be blogged shortly.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Gabe-day4
Our second day in Takeo and it feels like we've been here for a week. Everyone is so friendly and it already feels like home. Each day we are experiencing new parts of their culture and learning things about them and ourselves. Monday the 8th started off early with most people going to the market at 7 in the morning, I've been told it was great but unfortunately I had prior arrangements with my pillow. They bought delicious fresh cooked donuts for the equivalent of 13 cents and delicious sugar cane
Half the people went to the bike shop to get their bikes fixed whilst the other half went to the orphanage for half an hour before lunch and siesta. Lunch was a sandwich subway dreams about creating. Most people did not take advantage of their siesta but instead played intense games of spoons, with dire consequences. The loser had to put on more and more winter clothes depending on how many times they lost consecutively, not what you want a 35 degree day with high humidity. We were delayed by heavy rain but we soon left for the orphanage to connect with the children.
After our hectic bike ride on the way to the orphanage, in which Lynne suffered a brutal crash and had to go home for some betadine and bandages. At the orphanage we were immediately greeted by the Cambodian kids huge smiles, warmth and want to help us. They helped us put our bikes in the right spot even fix some bikes. After signing in, it was straight onto the soccer "field" next door that was largely comprised of puddles, mud and rocks but we still manages to have a great game of soccer, boys against girls and some of the orphans to help the girls out. The girls, aided by some star players came out victorious. I was very surprised how good all the kids were a playing soccer and it seems that just 6 months ago they went all the way to phnom penh for soccer and won a championship. Everyone soon tired out and then the soccer match degraded into an all on all mud fight that lasted 2-3 hours. There were no survivors. Everyone was mudified. The war finally ended (after many great battles such as the fall of Ben West, the destruction of Jasmine Pietrocola's clothes and many more) due to the Cambodian kids. Calling it quits for showers. And then there was rain! It poured down and it cooled everyone down and brought a smile to everyones faces. The rain did not stop the fun and everyone kept on playing and connecting. We set off for a cold shower to get the mud and grit off. Dinner was beef curry/laksa that was delicious. We then chilled and unwound until our debriefing meeting were we reflected on the day and planned for another day in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
Half the people went to the bike shop to get their bikes fixed whilst the other half went to the orphanage for half an hour before lunch and siesta. Lunch was a sandwich subway dreams about creating. Most people did not take advantage of their siesta but instead played intense games of spoons, with dire consequences. The loser had to put on more and more winter clothes depending on how many times they lost consecutively, not what you want a 35 degree day with high humidity. We were delayed by heavy rain but we soon left for the orphanage to connect with the children.
After our hectic bike ride on the way to the orphanage, in which Lynne suffered a brutal crash and had to go home for some betadine and bandages. At the orphanage we were immediately greeted by the Cambodian kids huge smiles, warmth and want to help us. They helped us put our bikes in the right spot even fix some bikes. After signing in, it was straight onto the soccer "field" next door that was largely comprised of puddles, mud and rocks but we still manages to have a great game of soccer, boys against girls and some of the orphans to help the girls out. The girls, aided by some star players came out victorious. I was very surprised how good all the kids were a playing soccer and it seems that just 6 months ago they went all the way to phnom penh for soccer and won a championship. Everyone soon tired out and then the soccer match degraded into an all on all mud fight that lasted 2-3 hours. There were no survivors. Everyone was mudified. The war finally ended (after many great battles such as the fall of Ben West, the destruction of Jasmine Pietrocola's clothes and many more) due to the Cambodian kids. Calling it quits for showers. And then there was rain! It poured down and it cooled everyone down and brought a smile to everyones faces. The rain did not stop the fun and everyone kept on playing and connecting. We set off for a cold shower to get the mud and grit off. Dinner was beef curry/laksa that was delicious. We then chilled and unwound until our debriefing meeting were we reflected on the day and planned for another day in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
Anna- Day 3
2012- Day 3
Morning: After a well deserved sleep at the hotel in Phnom Penh, the early birds in our group went with Lynne to the local markets where nobody speaks English. We all met back at the hotel to walk to Bojangles for breakfast. There was a choice of either Western or Asian style breakfast. All the fruit juice was freshly squeezed and the lemon juice was absolutely amazing. After breakfast we all piled into the buses for a trip to the outskirts of Phnom Penh and the CHOICE Centre.
CHOICE Center: CHOICE is an Organisation that aims to support poor families as an entire unit instead of taking allowing parents to give up their children to orphanages. The Organisation is involved in a lot of preventative work such as contraception, regular medical and dental checkups as well as providing clean water. Our guide Richard took us to the shanty towns on the outskirts of the city. Walking through the village was a eye-opener, everyone was so friendly despite the fact we had nothing we could give them. We learned a lot about the rural way of life seeing the families working to gather the rice, drying it on mats and taking goods into market. After seeing the village we went to the Centre to meet the the children. Their English was not very good so communicating was a bit of a struggle at first but everyone were definitely eager to make the effort. We met a baby that recently had an operation to repair a cleft lip and she looks well on the way to recovery despite being extremely underweight. We were told some of the other children's stories and after some fun and games it was time to say our farewells and head back to the big city for the last time.
Afternoon: Arriving back at the hotel it was a relief to see all the luggage had already been loaded onto the buses. After quickly restocking on water we all piled back into the buses for the journey to our next destination, Takeo. By this time we were all exhausted and fell asleep fairly soon after our stop to the bakery. Despite the heat the scenery was wonderful, rice paddies and lotus fields lined with palm trees and the hills in the distance. The entire trip was about two hours and we had a warm welcome when we arrived. We rushed to find the best rooms and explore the balcony and veranda before rushing off again. Half of us went straight to the New Futures Orphanage while the rest of us went off in a Tuk Tuk to buy push bikes. They were assembled right in front of us and after fixing faulty brakes we set off to join the others at NFO.
Evening: We quickly learned the road rules, the most important being that pushbike riders are second class citizens and the best method is to just look like you know what you are doing and NEVER EVER stop pedaling. Our route to the orphanage took us through roundabouts, gravel roads and along the river before finally turning down the dirt road that led to the orphanage. We all made it in one piece and were immediately greeted by friendly smiles, questions and dozens of names. We quickly became fast friends with all the children despite having to leave after only fifteen minutes as it was dark. The boys checked all our lights (half of which were not working at this point) and we waved goodbye. After an alternatively frightening and relaxing ride back in the dark we quickly parked the bikes and sat down to dinner. Soon after we met up on the balcony for a debriefing and discussion on thoughts and feelings for the past few days. The most popular topics were the delay in Perth, the amazing food, apparent chaos of the roads and market and of course the immediate connection with the kids. We then retreated to our rooms to shower and fall into bed.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
Morning: After a well deserved sleep at the hotel in Phnom Penh, the early birds in our group went with Lynne to the local markets where nobody speaks English. We all met back at the hotel to walk to Bojangles for breakfast. There was a choice of either Western or Asian style breakfast. All the fruit juice was freshly squeezed and the lemon juice was absolutely amazing. After breakfast we all piled into the buses for a trip to the outskirts of Phnom Penh and the CHOICE Centre.
CHOICE Center: CHOICE is an Organisation that aims to support poor families as an entire unit instead of taking allowing parents to give up their children to orphanages. The Organisation is involved in a lot of preventative work such as contraception, regular medical and dental checkups as well as providing clean water. Our guide Richard took us to the shanty towns on the outskirts of the city. Walking through the village was a eye-opener, everyone was so friendly despite the fact we had nothing we could give them. We learned a lot about the rural way of life seeing the families working to gather the rice, drying it on mats and taking goods into market. After seeing the village we went to the Centre to meet the the children. Their English was not very good so communicating was a bit of a struggle at first but everyone were definitely eager to make the effort. We met a baby that recently had an operation to repair a cleft lip and she looks well on the way to recovery despite being extremely underweight. We were told some of the other children's stories and after some fun and games it was time to say our farewells and head back to the big city for the last time.
Afternoon: Arriving back at the hotel it was a relief to see all the luggage had already been loaded onto the buses. After quickly restocking on water we all piled back into the buses for the journey to our next destination, Takeo. By this time we were all exhausted and fell asleep fairly soon after our stop to the bakery. Despite the heat the scenery was wonderful, rice paddies and lotus fields lined with palm trees and the hills in the distance. The entire trip was about two hours and we had a warm welcome when we arrived. We rushed to find the best rooms and explore the balcony and veranda before rushing off again. Half of us went straight to the New Futures Orphanage while the rest of us went off in a Tuk Tuk to buy push bikes. They were assembled right in front of us and after fixing faulty brakes we set off to join the others at NFO.
Evening: We quickly learned the road rules, the most important being that pushbike riders are second class citizens and the best method is to just look like you know what you are doing and NEVER EVER stop pedaling. Our route to the orphanage took us through roundabouts, gravel roads and along the river before finally turning down the dirt road that led to the orphanage. We all made it in one piece and were immediately greeted by friendly smiles, questions and dozens of names. We quickly became fast friends with all the children despite having to leave after only fifteen minutes as it was dark. The boys checked all our lights (half of which were not working at this point) and we waved goodbye. After an alternatively frightening and relaxing ride back in the dark we quickly parked the bikes and sat down to dinner. Soon after we met up on the balcony for a debriefing and discussion on thoughts and feelings for the past few days. The most popular topics were the delay in Perth, the amazing food, apparent chaos of the roads and market and of course the immediate connection with the kids. We then retreated to our rooms to shower and fall into bed.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
Ben West on day 2
2012- Day 2
After the wonderfully explorative adventures of yesterday it seemed that everyone was happy just to be off the ground so most tolerated the extremely standard airplane food and went around their business of sleep to their hearts content on the 5 hour plus trip. Now being someone who has never left Australia before every little new thing such as the slightly moldy smell of the airport to the disorienting squatting toilets stood out. But other then that an airport is still an airport so siting in it for the 4 hour interval at Kula Loopa was just as bad as anywhere else made worse by the soggy croissant for breakfast and confusing structure that looked the same from the four different angles. But those who went to the noodles house for breakfast assured me it was wonderful.
The first step off the plane at Cambodia was like being slapped in the face. The heat, humidity and smell was overpowering. But there was no time to take it slow and enjoy it all, we were jumping straight in. From lunch in the Bodhi tree, we had to try and keep our food down as the tuk-tuk driver took us on a suicide run to S-21 where the horrific genocide was displayed from the Khmer Rouge era. So from there we followed in the foots steps of the many misfortunate souls who had been taken to the Killing Fields and saw the dimpled land of many mass graves as well as the ways in which they were killed.
After the sad but educational day it was nice to help out some street kids as we met for dinner at Friends, a place run by homeless and/or uneducated children. There we had some of the best mango chicken ever to compromise the sweet ice cream that followed as we walked back to the hotel.
Because of the hassle with the flights and sleep deprivation most of the day was very tiring and blurry for some but worth it as we all crashed that night with enthusiasm.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
After the wonderfully explorative adventures of yesterday it seemed that everyone was happy just to be off the ground so most tolerated the extremely standard airplane food and went around their business of sleep to their hearts content on the 5 hour plus trip. Now being someone who has never left Australia before every little new thing such as the slightly moldy smell of the airport to the disorienting squatting toilets stood out. But other then that an airport is still an airport so siting in it for the 4 hour interval at Kula Loopa was just as bad as anywhere else made worse by the soggy croissant for breakfast and confusing structure that looked the same from the four different angles. But those who went to the noodles house for breakfast assured me it was wonderful.
The first step off the plane at Cambodia was like being slapped in the face. The heat, humidity and smell was overpowering. But there was no time to take it slow and enjoy it all, we were jumping straight in. From lunch in the Bodhi tree, we had to try and keep our food down as the tuk-tuk driver took us on a suicide run to S-21 where the horrific genocide was displayed from the Khmer Rouge era. So from there we followed in the foots steps of the many misfortunate souls who had been taken to the Killing Fields and saw the dimpled land of many mass graves as well as the ways in which they were killed.
After the sad but educational day it was nice to help out some street kids as we met for dinner at Friends, a place run by homeless and/or uneducated children. There we had some of the best mango chicken ever to compromise the sweet ice cream that followed as we walked back to the hotel.
Because of the hassle with the flights and sleep deprivation most of the day was very tiring and blurry for some but worth it as we all crashed that night with enthusiasm.
Lynne- Sent from my iPad
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