Firstly, apologies for the late post; a
combination of laziness and laptop troubles have contributed to this and I can
only apologise!
But moving on! After saying my goodbyes to
my friends, Serei (a representative of the Cambodia Volunteer Foundation) picked
me up and we were on our way to the Green House (my home for the next couple of
days). Before I continue, I’ll explain a little about the organisation and how
I got involved with volunteer work! The Cambodia Volunteer Foundation (CVF) is
the in-country partner of the volunteer agency I actually applied through –
International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ - http://www.volunteerhq.org/). I’d always fancied
volunteering in an orphanage in a developing country and after fairly extensive
research, IVHQ stood out as one volunteer agency I could trust, and it seemed
that the money they charge you actually goes to the right place. I chose a two
week volunteer placement in Cambodia (location to be confirmed on arrival) – costing
around £450 (£200 of this was programme fees, the rest going to the orphanage
and towards my food/accommodation on placement). Anyway, after the initial
application process (all online) I was put in touch with CVF and led through
what to expect. I have to say, the whole way through this, IVHQ (and CVF) were
amazing – giving me useful/informative advice about Cambodia, the placement and
what to expect, but also replying very speedily and helpfully to any emails I
sent with concerns or queries. I will definitely volunteer using them again!
After arriving at the Green House (a little
hostel CVF arranged us to stay in) I dumped my stuff, met some of the other
volunteers then we went out to dinner – a nice but uneventful evening. The next
day our orientation began. It had outlined in the volunteer booklet that
training would last two days and would cover a lot of aspects of Cambodian
culture as well as the different placement types people would be doing. Day 1
consisted of general Cambodian information, as well as some useful safety tips.
Very interesting to learn more about Cambodian – or Khmer – culture. I also found
out that I was to be placed in a rural town called Pursat along with only three
other volunteers. Also on this day, we had a language lesson and blimey is Khmer
difficult! On Day 2 we only had the morning as orientation, then left for
Pursat around 12.30 on a 4 to 5 hour coach.
We arrived and Good Lord it was flooded! I
couldn’t believe it! All four of us were staying with Dr and Mrs Leng in their
home. It was lovely! Initially, I was a little nervous about staying with a local family in
terms of their language and what their home may have been like, but I was
really happy with where I was placed. And the Lengs were so friendly! Due to the nature of Cambodia’s rainy season, a lot of
homes were built on stilts or on slight inclines of earth to avoid flooding in
their homes, so we were ‘upstairs’; this floor contained a charming balcony,
the kitchen, dining area, our bedrooms (I ended up having my own room) and two
bathrooms.
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| Like a paddling pool down there! And one of the roads we had driven along was like a little stream! |
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Our home stay!
(And Mrs Leng out front) |
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The balcony! On the right is what is usually a very productive sewing station; they
seem to make/alter monk robes as their business |
We were left to get a little settled, and
then Serei picked us up in a tuk tuk and gave us a little tour of Pursat.
Conveniently, Pursat was Serei’s hometown so he knew all about it and could
answer any questions we had. First impressions: very small and we didn’t notice
any kind of western shops/food outlets at all – not a bad thing! It felt like
we were definitely in ‘real’ Cambodia, and thinking about it now, I’m glad that
was the case because it afforded us a good glimpse of Cambodian life. Here are a few snaps from around Pursat:
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| A girl and her cow |
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| Main road junction |
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| Cows everywhere |
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The Ice Cream Man!
And for some reason the jingle he played was an
instrumental version of 'Colours of the Wind' from Pocahontas |
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| Local mansion |
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| The only tourist attraction in Pursat |
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Now these kids, without fail, every morning ran out
of their house to wave and shout 'Hello!' at us and then
stand there waiting for us to do something exciting as we
were crazy foreigners. So adorable |
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| The end of town |
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| Just outside town, people seemed to live in small wooden shacks |
Serei also outlined our work schedule; one
of the other girls and I were paired in one of Pursat’s orphanages whilst our
fellow volunteers were placed in the other. We were to work three hours in the
morning, have a long lunch break, and then return for three hours in the
afternoon before calling it a day! Our jobs would mainly be teaching English
and then playing with the kids. Sounded simple enough! When we visited the
orphanage only briefly to meet Borin, the director, and a few of the kids I
definitely felt like Maria meeting the von Trapp children for the first time.
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| The entranceway! |
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The orphanage
(rice outside to soak up the flood water) |
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| The interior! |
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| One of the bedrooms |
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| Our classroom |
The orphanage we were volunteering at was
called the Centre for Orphans and Poor Children. Not all children living here
were orphans, but those that did have families were placed here because (for
whatever reason) their families couldn’t provide for them. I absolutely loved
my two weeks here. The children here were so friendly and welcoming and loved
playing games and colouring in with you, and it also felt really good to ‘give
something back’ as people put it. Honestly, two weeks wasn’t long enough! By
the end I was really getting to know the children and their abilities and would
have loved to stay longer – but home was calling pretty loudly by this point.
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Ali (my fellow volunteer) and the class
during an English lesson |
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| Left: skipping rope fun; Right: pre-paper plane contest! |
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| My little camera man, Roth Na, and I |
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Holding their colouring books we bought them
- they were mad about Disney princesses! |
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The older boy was one of my fave kids: Ly Hemg;
the little girls and boy weren't technically our students
so I never learnt their names! (And then me in the
background with Meline who would NOT let go!) |
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| Meline and I! |
Video 1: Roth Na behind the camera
(I got a lot of useless videos like this)
Video 2: Roth Na again, but this time a bit better!
Alrighty, so only one more post about my
travels before coming home now: a road trip one of my fellow volunteers and I
took on our free weekend whilst in Pursat to the nearby town of Battambang!
See ya next time!
xoxo
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