"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

Day 2
         Yesterday was our first full day at the orphanage, our first day we got to ride in a tuk tuk instead of a van, and our first day of physical labor. When we first arrived we got to play with the kids for about twenty to thirty minutes, then it was time for five of us (including me) to head to the garden and start upturning the hard, dry soil where the orphanage plants their vegetables, the other two would stay with the kids a little longer. Hot sun plus fire ants plus bent over shoveling dirt equals the Niagra Falls pouring from you. This job wasn't to be taken lightly considering this is where the orphanage grows all their vegetables, if we didn't do a good job on this, the kids don't get the amount of food that they really need.
         After our work was done it was time to play with the kids again, meaning we had a war of sorts. It started off as everyone drawing in the coloring books and a few kids playing with these little slingshot guns, then a few crayons started flying and Alex became an insane army general, who kept ordering the little kids to shoot crayons at the rest of the volunteers.
          Soon after calling a cease fire, we had the idea to start a limbo party. As more and more kids arrived from school, more and more kids began laughing and tripping beneath the limbo bar. We finally had to leave and all the kids were saying, "Good bye, I will see you tomorrow!" and as we drove away some of the kids would run with us until they couldn't anymore.

Day 3
         The thing that stuck with me from today was this, you never truly know the definition of the word "slum" until you walk through the scrap metal shacks, the skin and bone chickens, the gray and green trash filled water that slithers its way through the streets, and the children playing by its shore. We walked through the streets of the slum where most of the children at the orphanage grow up. Foul smells and horrid sights reminded me of what I'm working for, and why I'm here. But even in all the darkness, there were still blossoms of light. Small homes are being donated so families can have better living conditions, even with the little they have people will smile huge smiles as you walk by, and there is not only an English school but a library for kids. At the end of our trip we visited the school, where my new sister Srey Tok looked positively joyous to see me. There are three classes that the kids are put in, class one is for a low English level, level two is for medium, and three of course is for high (this class was two). After sitting through the end of class with them, the kids brought us over to the library and read to us. Not understanding a word I just smiled and said, "Good job!" when Srey Tok looked at me for confirmation. We finished our trip and headed back to the orphanage where the new garden was neatly planted, and where we started a new game where two kids would hit two long sticks on the ground together in a beat, the two people next to the sticks would have to step between them without getting their feet smashed. Our game ended and the kids practiced their songs for performances, and Srey Tok fell asleep in my lap. As the kids finished a faint patter began to sound on the roof, and than it got faster, and faster, and faster. But let me tell you, when it rains it pours. Despite the dumping rain everyone ran out into the down falling water and slid and fell around in the mud, then when we went to the well to wash off the dirty spots, the kids threw buckets of water at us. It was an amazing day, and as each day passes, the kids there steal another part of my heart.

The Killing Fields

                After our extremely long flight and about four hours of sleep, day one finally began. Our orientation was at Star Kampachea and gave us all the information we could possibly need. We went over the language, the history, and what to and not to do while we are here (as an example, girls cannot touch a monk). But once we left the orientation I was faced with the first emotional challenge- the Genocide Museum. The whole museum is made of the old jail cells used to house prisoners during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, and more importantly Pol Pot. Millions of Cambodians were murdered during Pol Pot's attempt to return Cambodia to year 0. The cells are lined wall-to-wall with pictures and stories of old prisoners, most of the pictures were mere mugshots, others were of the prisoners' corpses. Not only had our guide lost family members to the wrath of Pol Pot, but we also got to meet two survivors. I had expected both of them to be quiet and solitary- but they were so full of hope and joy that you couldn't help smiling. After our visit to the museum, we went to the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields were where soldiers of the Khmer Rouge would kill prisoners. A huge gold and white stupa looms over the entire memorial, it's walls filled with the skulls and bones of the people who died here. As we walked around the fields, we saw many different kinds of weapons that were used for torture. We listened to a recording while we walked instead of a guide, but it wasn't just facts, we listened to the stories of several different people who had survived. The many different stories didn't just put together a puzzle, sugar-coated and already thought-up, but instead it painted a picture straight from the survivors' minds. Seeing and hearing all these things really snapped some things into perspective- there's a reason why we're here, and we wouldn't be here if we weren't needed, so I'm going to do everything I can to make a difference in these kids' lives.

                  On our van-ride to the orphanage I really didn't know what to expect. We drove by fields of trash with little houses made of tiny scraps of wood and metal with people huddled inside them. I was worried that after losing the first Cambodia Team, the kids wouldn't want to go through that again so they would close us off. But the second our van parked outside the orphanage I knew I was dead wrong. Kids poured onto the sidewalk, waving and wearing the biggest smiles and saying, "Hello!" Eager to meet everyone I jumped out of the van and immediately little eight year old Tok was clinging to my hand, her big brown eyes shinning with pure joy. The kids all greeted us and brought us onto the stage where they literally do everything and started playing alphabet games with us. Tok was positively elated to be playing with me and she did not let go of my hand. We were practicing the alphabet when Tok wrote in the dirt in front of the stage, "I <3 YOU" After about thirty minutes of playing I got to meet an eighteen year old girl named Srey Nuch. Srey Nuch is the kindest person in the world, when I walk over to her she holds my hand and asks if I want to sit down. Whatever has happened in their lives does not effect how they act around us. For someone who has so little, it is amazing to see how much hope and joy those kids can express in the one hour we got to see them. When it was time to go we got in the van and the kids were holding our hands through the window and saying, "I'll see you tomorrow!" I don't know when we go back tomorrow- but I'll be thinking about it until it comes.      

My Last Night in America

I'm in Denver and spending my last night in America here. I've never felt this excited and nervous at the same time- but I know what I'm going to do and I'm going to give everything I have in me for those kids, and I hope it will be enough.

4 More Days

Only four more days until I leave for Cambodia and I am freaking out!!! My friends keep giving me weird looks because they'll hear me counting in Khmer under my breath, and today on my ride home I yelled, "Only four more days!" at some guy who was walking by. I haven't even met the kids but already they're running through my head all day...

The Count Down Begins......

Only a week until I go to Cambodia. I have all the supplies on the packing list, I have a pile of clothes to pack, I've finished taking my typhoid pills, I've studied the language and the history, and now all that's left is to study the currency and get on the plane! I've been reading others' blogs and my mounting excitement is making me feel giddy! :0

Cambodia's getting closer and closer, and the first team leaves Monday.... I'm getting a little nervous- but so excited!!! I'm still studying the history, language and currency, but there's so much more to learn. I'm starting to get a feel for what's happening- I'm a little late on the take- up though. :)