Cambodia: Last Days at the Orphanage

Saying goodbye is always difficult, but yesterday it was so much more than that.

I am so proud of myself and everyone that is on this trip with me. We were able to improve the lives of many children in different aspects; love, laughter, building them a new house, and giving them something to hope for.

These children have been able to change my life, and yesterday was such a rewarding day. Everything we have worked for has been accomplished, along with incredible new friendships that will last a lifetime. Every hug we were given from every child just proved how far we had come and truly how much of an impact we had made. As the sun went down, the laughter began to simmer, and the sound of tears slowly replaced it. Every hug we gave meant so much more than it did earlier that day, because for most of us, it would be the last one we were able to give. Every tear just proved how much this trip really meant to the children, to us, and to the chaperones.

Before going on this trip, our idea of love was different. I thought I was fully aware of what love was, but it’s so much more than that. The kids that we worked with at the orphanage had never been given love, but were filled with it. They taught us a new idea of love and gave us a new perspective on everything we thought of as normal. I am eternally grateful to all the children at CPO, and I am so glad I was given this opportunity.

Cambodia: Day 11 & Day 12

Day 11

Finding paint, sheets, and pillows in Cambodia is not nearly as easy as it would be in America. Instead of just stopping by Walmart like we would have, our group spent a very long time in the Russian Market, bargaining and trying to find what we need. About two hours later, we figured it all out and took the pillows and the sheets to the orphanage. After we delivered everything inside, the girls would make their bed, set up their mosquito nets, redo their beds again so it was perfect, and then would stay and play in there for hours. Tonight will be the first night the girls will get to sleep in their new house! Srey Neath had me sit and lie on her bed, and look out the window so I could see what she would see every night. All the girls are so extremely excited to have their first room ever and for some of them, their first beds ever. They have even put up a sign on the door that reads (in Khmer) “No Boys Allowed! Take Your Shoes Off Before Coming In!” It’s truly amazing that in a week we were able to build something from the ground up that would bring this much joy to these children.

Day 12

This morning Krissy and I taught in the classroom. We taught 3 different classes, each an hour long. Usually when we teach in the classroom, the children memorize each vocabulary word, or sentence, or whatever their unit is on. This method works well sometimes, but the children do not really get an understanding of what they are saying or speaking; they are simply memorizing not knowing the true meaning of the words. Krissy and I decided this method was not the method that we would use. When the sentence was, “The dogs go in.”, we had each kid repeat then we would ask, “Do the dogs go in?”, with their response being, “Yes, the dogs go in.” We would then ask a different question, “Do you have a dog?” or other questions just so they could comprehend what we were asking instead of just memorization. This method works very well, and I know these kids went home knowing something, not just memorizing it.

In the afternoon, we finished painting the girls’ house. On the way there Krissy and I had a really amazing talk about how normally when people find out that we are going to an orphanage in Cambodia, they ask if we are planning on adopting any of the kids, or planning on bringing some back “…so they can have a better life in America.” We were talking about how frustrating this really can be, because just like this girls’ house has shown us, we don’t need to bring a child to our country to have a better life. We can put in our time and our energy to build things, clean things, make things, or just spend time with these children, loving them, and that is what makes a child’s life better. Not just bringing them to a country with lower poverty rates. Having this conversation really opened my eyes a little, because every single day these children are so incredibly happy and even though most of them don’t have a loving family, they have each other, and now they have us… and that is what makes a child’s life better.

I am so grateful I got to know these children and have relationships with them that will truly last for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to spend these last 2 days with them.

Cambodia: Day 9 & Day 10

Day 9

Our project is almost at an end! We have come so far; less than a week ago, I picked up trash and pulled the grass out of a large rectangle area, and today we finally put up the last of the walls. I can feel the excitement in the air in the orphanage every second we become closer to being finished. The girls look into the windows and today they played ring around the rosy with Lisa Marie inside the new house when all the concrete was dried. It is so exciting that we have not only made an emotional impact on these children, but a physical one as well.

I started to make friendship bracelets with Roat and his brother Ret. They taught me how to make a
certain type of bracelet that spirals around itself. Roat and his brother Ret are probably the most talented people I have ever met in my entire life. It’s strange to think that even though we don’t speak the same language, we are able to build friendships that will last a lifetime.

Day 10

Today was so much fun! We put in the bunk beds and cut out windows in the girls’ house. We were all inside and the girls would stand outside and watch us put their beds together. In the second half of the day, Meaghan and I went to the school and taught the children for the afternoon classes. We switched off; I taught the first class, and the second class Meaghan taught. I worked in the preschool/ “library” and somehow by some miracle I got 7 screaming children to all sit down in a circle and go through colors, numbers, clothing items, and different emotions for about an hour. I have fallen in complete love with every child I meet and I can’t wait to continue making memories with them.

Cambodia: Day 7 & Day 8

Day 7

After finishing today’s manual work, I was able to work in the classroom. There is a school close to the orphanage in the slums that most of the children from the orphanage attend every day. Working in the classroom and teaching students was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences I’ve had. I stood at the front of the classroom and helped the children pronounce words such as sharpener, school bag, pencil, chalk, etc. While I taught the students, I also taught the teacher at the same time. Some of the children, such as Levin, are able to speak English better than their English teacher. It’s really hard to see that they are unable to strive higher and push themselves because their teacher can’t teach them further. Levin is so talented and has been studying English for the past 3 years, and every word you teach him he remembers and repeats again and again. At the school we practiced sentences such as, “Grandma’s hobby is cooking.”, or we would work on crossword puzzles with the vocabulary words they learned that day. At the end of each hour, when the class was over, the students would all stand up, bring their hands together underneath their chins (as if they were praying) and recite “Thank you teacher. Good luck to you teacher. See you on Monday.” It was incredible how much these children love school and given the circumstances of where they live, there’s a copious amount of children that value their education.

Day 8

Every day that we put forth the effort and help to build and finish the girls’ house is another step closer to improving the lives of these children. We are almost finished with the girl’s house; today we put on the walls and finished the flooring. I am so immensely excited to see the finished product and when the girls finally realize that this is what we have put hours and hours in of our energy and love and they will be so happy.  

Today we also gave out some clothes that were donated for the girls at the orphanage. I have never seen a little girl as happy as Sachia was when she got all her clothes. Every time Keelin gave her a new shirt, one by one, she hugged her and folded it nicely and tucked it away into her cubby. It’s amazing that such a small gift to us means the entire world to these children.  

Cambodia: Day 5 & Day 6

Day 5

One of the most rewarding feelings in the entire world is knowing  you have positively impacted a child’s life, and that neither you or them will ever forget. Today I was able to teach the Cambodian children that live in the slums English and help them read and write. Every single time they said a word and got it right they would smile and ask for more help. Every child I saw today is so eager to learn. Some of the children are actually better at speaking English than their teacher is, which is why it is such a big help for us to be able to take the children to the next level, and teach the teacher too. We were able to help the children read books in English in the library and really focus on pronouncing every word. I wish that everyone in the world would have the drive to learn that these kids do; in order to go to school in Cambodia, you really have to want it. These children inspire me and make me want to do better, live every day in the moment, and focus on the good things in life.

Day 6

Progress has been made on the girls’ house!! We worked on it for most of the day today: setting the bricks, starting the roof, and finishing the wood work. The girls would sit and watch us for a while, looking at their new house being built. They would laugh, and smile, and cheer our name whenever we would nail something or saw something. It was so rewarding that the girls were excited about their new house being built and they made it fun and easy even though it was hot and sweaty. I actually love doing manual labor because it is the most accomplishing feeling after you are done. We have already gotten so far and seeing the final piece almost done is so amazing.  I can’t wait for the moment when we show the girls’ their new house, and they can see all the hard work we have put into it.

Cambodia: Day 3 & Day 4

Day 3

Today was very successful! Our new project is to build a house for the girls to sleep in and basically for them to have their own room. Right now, the boys and girls both sleep together on the main area in the orphanage on the stage. Our Cambodia team split up into 2 groups today; the team that worked with the children in the slums and helped teach them English, and the other team who started on building the house for the girls. I was on the team that started on the house and we cleaned up the trash, deweeded the area, and started mowing the lawn by hand. Normally it would have been extremely difficult, but knowing that this would help the children and that they were so excited about their new houses made it fun and well worth it. After we finished clearing the area to build tomorrow, we got to play with the kids. I sat down with Nirot and Srey Noun and tried to teach them how to say "AMURICA" and in a few hours everyone in the orphanage was screaming "Amerrrrica!". I am so so excited to see the look on their face when we bring them to their new house. 

Day 4

I've known these children only a few days and I'm in complete love with every one of them. Today Keelin and I started to help the children learn colors, sentences, body parts and clothing items. We would point to one of my socks and the children in our group (Sachia, Yoma, Heang, Srey Na, Chy Nai) and all the kids would say "Pink sock!", and we would point to Keelins shirt and they would say, "Blue shirt!" and so on. Throughout the day Keelin and I would take children with the translator, Sok Ti, and we would talk to kids one-on-one and find out their stories. We talked to a bunch of different children but one of the most interesting stories was Lavin's story. He's a really quite shy boy that doesn't socialize quite as much as some of the other children but his story is inspiring. His mom died from an illness when he was young, and his dad lives with his little sister. During the mornings he teaches English at the school in the slums, and in the afternoon sometimes helps his dad clean shirts and spoons. He speaks English so well, which makes sense since he's been studying English for the last 3 years. 

I am so excited to be part of this journey and I am so thankful. 

Cambodia: Day 1, & Day 2

Day 1

Imagine having everyone in your family killed and tortured for no apparent reason.

This is what most Cambodians have to deal with every single day, and yet they still persevere and continue their lives happily and in great joy. Nearly half of the entire country of Cambodia (4 million people) were killed off by the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot.

Today we went to the S-21 prison, one of the many torture chambers and jails for many innocent Cambodians. Formerly a high school, Pol Pot created this compound and killed nearly 20,000 Cambodians, with only 7 survivors. We got to have a tour and saw the jail cells people were kept in, and the actual rooms and beds people were killed and tortured in. 

It was so challenging to see the pictures of the hundreds of innocent Cambodians killed off, just because they were intelligent, looked different, or anything other than being completely dumb. It was so overwhelming to think that one man could change the history of the entire country. 

After going to the S-21 prison, we went and visited the Killing Fields, where they would take more people and prisoners and slaughter them off. We saw areas where the Khmer Rouge would beat children, babies, men and women until they died, and then left them in a little hole. It was so incredibly hard to imagine someone being able to murder millions of people, just because they might have thought of revolting against the Khmer Rouge. In one of the areas we went to, we were told that Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, had a motto: "It's better to kill an innocent, then miss a criminal" This sentence was so powerful to me; the fact that Cambodians were slaughtered and murdered just because he didn't want to miss a criminal. He would kill babies in case they sought revenge later in their life, children too.

It is so immensely hard to react when you hear stories about this. 

After learning the history of Cambodia, we went and visited the orphanage we would be working at for the next couple of weeks. We met the children, drew pictures, played volleyball, laughed and had so much fun in the short time we were there. When we first arrived, the children greeted us so happily and hugged us and kissed us, without even knowing our names. I love them already even though I met them so briefly. I am so excited to be on this journey. 

Day 2

Today we went to the orphanage all day. After a very warm welcome from everyone, we started to clean and disinfect the entire place. My group started with cleaning the "stage" and living room area where the children eat, sleep, play, and dance. We swept and scrubbed the floors until they were clean as they could be. It felt so rewarding when the children would come and help us clean, and we were able to teach them that being sanitary and clean was a priority. After most of the orphanage was cleaned, our group started delousing the children. We had an assembly line of children getting deloused, combed, manicured, and cleaned up. I worked on delousing the children first, and it was so rewarding when they would understand what we were doing and then thank us so gratefully afterwards. The look on their face when we would help clean their hair, nails, and hands were surprised; they had never had anyone help them stay clean and be completely nice to them before in their lives. 

After we cleaned up the children and the orphanage we played with the kids. I bonded with a girl named Srey Noun and Srey Neath right away, and was asked to be their "sister". Some of the boys would help me pronounce words I didn't know, and then laugh and make fun of me when I completely got the words wrong. I have instantly fell in love with these kids and everyday I look forward to see them again.