i shall blog about my trip to cambodia for the past 7 days
as my memory is still fresh now haha
Day1-basically there's nothing much on the first day. spent the whole day on the plane & bus. reached ParkLane hotel at night, dinner & reflection. seriously, i don't know what's the point of having such a long late night reflection when we just step into cambodia.Lols. By the way yvette & jovy are my roommates for the whole trip yeah! We were so excited that we can't sleep for the night, spent lots of time of having heart to heart talk with them. Anyway, the hotel is quite big & very comfortable. We got all the facilities that we need.
Day2-visited the famous AngKor Wat & 2 other temples which i can't remember their names. all of them are amazing & magnificent! The temples have many intricate carvings & Buddha statues. Although many pieces of the temples have already fallen off but they still look very grand. During the trip, we met a lot of little kids who begged us to buy their stuff like bracelets, flute,postcards etc with tears in their eyes for some of them. We all feel very bad for rejecting them as some of them run around bare footed & they need to beg everyone they meet so that they will have the chance to get US$1 or 2 dollars a day. But to think about it, how much can we help?Our teachers also told us before the trip that if we buy from them, we are actually encouraging this kind of activities indirectly. Although it is heart hurting, we have to say "no". Still, these kids are very persistent, they followed us all the way until we board the bus. That day was quite tiring day for us. At night, we were brought to Lucky Mall. Basically, there is nothing much inside except for a supermarket, similar to the ones in Singapore. We bought things we need for the next few days at Siem Reap. Before going to bed, we have our normal reflection session.
Day3-Early in the morning after breakfast, we headed to Savong Orphanage. On the own way there, i am actually quite scared because it is the first time in my life that i am going to visit a orphanage. I am not sure what i am i going to do & how to interact with the orphans. Will they be able to understand me due to the language barrier? Will they be just like us?or different? Will they welcome us? These thoughts just run through my mind like many others too. The unexpected thing is that the orphans are actually uber friendly! Before we even enter their gate, some of them ran up to us to welcome us. I was quite taken a back by their friendliness. Then a little girl took my hand & looked at me with her cheerful smile on. Immediately, all the bad thoughts are gone & i smiled back. There are 2 girls in the orphanage & many other boys aged between 3 to 17? The 2 girls are actually quite attention seeking, they kept on asking us to hug them, carry them & hold their hands. For the rest of the days , they are just bascially like that & not active in participating in the activities that we planned for them unlike the boys. To be honest, i am quite irritated by them after awhile. After that, we are splited in 2 groups. Half of us are gonna to help in building the concrete floor while the other half have to play with the orphans. So i was in the building team. I will not write in details what we did but it is definitely not easy to work under the hot sun, we were sweating like hell. My hands got blisters, nails got scratched after umpteen times of passing pails by pails of soil, rocks & sand. By noon, we took 20 min bus ride to our usual restaurant & had our lunch there. After lunch, Mr Savong, the founder of the orphanage told us about his life story & work carried on as normal after that. Like 3 or 4 in the afternoon, we went to Savong School where Mr Savong provide free education to the people. The school is very small with only 3 classrooms, a library, 3 computers & an office for Mr Savong. Mr Savong actually built the school & hire teachers to teach the students there with the help of volunteer groups. The students need not have to pay a single cent! Not many people has a great heart like Mr Savong huh? He is a person who deeply believe in education. We often take education for granted because everyone in Singapore are given the chance to go school. We often complain there are too many tests, lessons are boring & stuff like that . But to them, education is a privilege! I am surprised by their " thirst for knowledge". After visiting the school, the Cambodians & some of our students had a volleyball match. Obviously, they won because volleyball is a favourite sport in Cambodia, they play it almost every day?? Later, i went up to the rooftop with some girls & witnessed the mesmerising sunset. It is really beautiful! Words just can't describe. After which, dinner, reflection & sleep. During the reflection, i actually understands why the kids wanted to seek attention. It is because no attention is given to them & kids need attentions. When we are young, we often seek our parents' attention too, did we?
Day4-At the orphanage but i am playing with the orphans today! To start off, we did morning exercise & followed by football! To be honest, it is the first time that i put my heart into the game because you know, i am not really a sports person & football in definitely a big no-no to me. However, i actually enjoyed it very much with them although it is tiring under the hot sun(: You know how much i hate the sun right? After which, we had colouring, poems & rhymes, games etc. Then, lunch & went to the local wet market to buy 8 packets of 50kg rice, oil, chilli sauce, soya sauce, msg, clothes, shoes & 10 bicycles for the orphanage with the money we earned during canvessing. The orphans are very happy to receive our gifts especially the bicycles because they need not have to walk long journey bare footed to & back from school. I am happy to see them happy(:(:(:(:
Day 5- our last day at the orphanage, we played with the kids for the whole day. Before we go, we taught them how to brush their teeth. They look super cute when brushing their teeth haha!!! Anyway, the classroom is finally done after 2 days of work. I felt a sense a accomplishment! After which is the farewell, the part which i hate the most. I told myself that i can't cry many many times because what i wanted to leave behind is the happy times we spent together. However, i failed when i saw most of us & especially the orphans broke into tears. I realised the strong bonds we shared & the love for each other at that very special moment. Till now, everything is still like yesterday, i will never forget how they make me feel, how they touched my life. Big thanks to them for letting us to step into their life & make a impact. I love them<3 On the way back to hotel, some of us still can't control our feelings & cried all the way. Mr Savong then phoned us to tell us that the orphans are still crying also, that makes us cry even louder man. I hope they will not forget us just like i will never forget them.
" People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you make them feel"-by Bonnie Jean Wasmund.
Dinner was international buffet & performance. We didn't really watch the performance because we are all very busy eating haha;D & that marks the end of time @ Siem Reap.
Day6-Ready at 5.45am & had a 6 hours bus journey to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Straight after that, we check in to the hotel, the hotel is not as grand as the Siem Reap one. Headed to the Genocide Museum which was a former high school that was converted into a prison & interrogation centre during the Khmer Rouge Period. We saw photos, painting & artefacts of how the victims were tortured. I don't have any special feelings but just sad & disgusted by the way they torture the people. Our tour guide at the museum actually cried while she was explaining then we realised that her husband & children were all dead under the rule of Pol Pot. She actually walked through that tough period by herself, there is much hatred inside her i think. I admire her courage for being so brave cos it is not easy to carry on when all your love ones are died. If i were her, i don't think i will be able to make it.
Day7- Our last day at Cambodia. Headed to the Killing Field where Pol Pot slaughtered his people without mercy in their thousands & buried them in mass graves. We actually saw the skulls, bones & clothes that are left behind. I quite scared actually cos it is HUMAN bones & skulls we are talking about! After which, we went to Central Market for last min shopping, everything is so rush. Then, lunch followed by reflections & thank you session. We took some photos & headed to the airport. We all don't want to leave Cambodia & each other. Throughout the 7 days, new friendships are born & old friendships flourished. But still, we had to say goodbyes.
Ya, basically that's what we did in Cambodia. Today went school to have our last session with ms arakah. She broke into tears while doing her reflections. She was actually touched by our love for orphans & friendship like she never did for her trips with other grps before us. That makes us, the girls cried also! I actually still feels like i am in Cambodia now, everything is so unreal. I really miss them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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