Day 5 & 6: Caring for Cambodia

These were our last two days spent in Cambodia and ultimately the purpose behind the entire trip. We used these two days to volunteer and help out at The Amelio School (built in 2003). Visiting the school as a small group (5 volunteers) allowed us to really get involved and make a noticeable difference for the teachers and administration of The Amelio School.

First we unloaded and reorganized all the uniform donations and toothpaste/toothbrushes made a shopping list of items the school needed more of. Between the children’s class sessions and during recess we were able to go out and play with them on the playground until they had to return to their classes. Right before school ended for the day the we were invited to sit in during the last 15 minutes of the kindergarten class. This was absolutely one of my favorite parts of the trip.

The kindergarteners were adorable and although they didn’t speak English most quickly became very friendly towards us and even allowed us to practice counting with them and play games. We spent our last day by getting an earlier start and completing our shopping list of supplies to donate to the school. After finding everything on the list we spent the entire day finishing different projects the teachers needed to help prepare them for later in the week. Finally we took a quick shower and caught our 6:30 pm flight home to Singapore. http://www.caringforcambodia.org/

Day 4: The Sunrise Children’s Village in Cambodia

We made an unplanned visit to the Sunrise Children’s Village (an orphanage in Cambodia operated by the Australia Cambodia Foundation inc.) “Sunrise is a non-religious organization with centers outside of Phnom Penh and in Siem Reap, providing shelter, food, clothing, education, medical/dental care, and vocational training, while nurturing the traditional Buddhist culture to orphans and disadvantaged children and youth in Cambodia.” We had passed by the center days earlier, but couldn’t visit due to the holiday so we decided to return (today) during the morning visitor hours and learn more about the organization. After learning about how the organization begun and where it was founded we asked if there was anything we could do to help. The gentleman working was grateful for the interest we had taken and showed us a list of supplies that need to be replenished. The list included items such as: cooking oil, canned fish, salt, sugar, oyster sauce, instant noodles, and diapers. We then spent the next couple hours shopping for enough supplies that would last the orphanage a few months. www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org

Day 3: The Floating Village in Tonie Sap Lake, Cambodia

The second day we visited the ‘Floating Village,’ a village entirely made up of people who live their entire lives in their boat located off the coast of Boeung Tonie Sap (Tonie Sap Lake Cambodia).  The Tonie Sap Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, but experience extreme changes in size depending on the season.  During the wet season the lake reaches nearly 12,000 km2, but during the dry half of the year the lake shrinks to as small as 2500 km2.

When we arrived the boats were arranged creating almost a canal through allowing others to float and conduct business/trading/selling amongst them. We hired a woman to drive us in her boat through the village, which allowed us to witness the daily lives of these people without interfering. It is so hard to imagine how these people live their entire lives on water without knowing a life any different.

Day 2: Temple Touring through Cambodia

We spent our first full-day in Cambodia doing what anyone tourist would gladly do, touring some of the most beautiful temples in South East Asia. In a single day we managed to visit 3 temples, one of which is called Ta Prohm, where Angelina Jolie filmed “Tomb Raider.” Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in of the same condition that it was found: a photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings.

After traveling all over Thailand, I had thought I had seen enough temples for a while, but I am so happy I didn’t let that stop me from visiting the temples in Cambodia. These were much different from the Thai temples which looked extremely gaudy in comparison to these Cambodian ruins made out of stone carvings and held together by gravity (not a single nail used). It was obvious that these temples were ancient because enormous trees had literally grown over parts of the temple leaving areas covered in moss and tree roots.

Day 1: Flight to Cambodia

My trip to Cambodia was much different from any of my other South East Asia adventures. This time we would be spending 5 nights in the same city. Prior to this excursion the longest we stayed in one city was no longer than 3 nights before moving on to another city or county… talk about travel ADD. We were also going with a friend of mine (Alexa’s) family friend Darla, her daughter, and daughter's friend. Alexa and I have only been living in Singapore for about 4 months, but Darla and her family moved to Singapore over 13 years ago and have been visiting Cambodia often. Darla had been involved with an organization called Caring For Cambodia and invited Alexa and I to join her as we send a week volunteering with Caring for Cambodia. Caring for Cambodia is a nonprofit, non-governmental charitable organization created to provide educational opportunities for children of Cambodia. The Cambodian Government requires students to be wearing navy and white uniforms to attend school, so our trip really began back in Singapore where Darla was able to collect donated uniforms from her children’s school in Singapore. In addition to the uniforms, we were fortunate enough to have Procter & Gamble donate over 1,000 tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes to the children of Cambodia. Naturally we had to pack very light to allow us enough space in our luggage for the uniforms, toothbrushes, and toothpastes to Cambodia.

We arrived in Siem Reip, Cambodia early Friday evening. After connecting with our driver and traveling to our hotel we immediately ate dinner and made arrangements for the rest of our days in Cambodia. Our intentions were to go on Monday directly to the original primary school built by Caring for Cambodia, drop off the supplies and assist the teachers and faculty however they needed, but little did we know Monday was a Cambodian h holiday and the school was closed. So now we only had 3 days to spend at the children’s school, but on the bright side this allowed us a full-day to explore Seim Reip.