The month of May was a month of undeniable hope and joy. My team partnered with the Dequitos in Siem Reap and served the kiddos of Eli International School.
I spent my mornings wrangling kindergartners and dancing to the alphabet song.
These precious ones would call me “Teacha Emily” and sometimes hug me. John, the tallest of the boys, was also the king of the funny faces. Originally, I was going to be with the middle class, but when my teammate was sick at the beginning of the month, I got the chance to hang out with these sweet ones.
Here we are again with the lovely Teacher Lordas. How this woman does not go crazy listening to children’s music all day, every day still amazes me. Within this picture, we have three kids from Cambodia, one from India, one from South Korea, one from Russia, one teacher from the Philippines, and an American.
This is Blue. His first day at school, he made his presence known by running full speed into the courtyard dressed in blue from head to toe. He is brilliant and charming and told me all about Aliens vs. Predators and Jurassic World. He also begged me to play “Cops and Thiev-es” everyday.
By the end of the month, Blue had received his uniform and was fitting right in with the other kids. I asked him to take a picture with me on our last day, and this is what happened. 100% Blue. He stole a huge piece of my heart.
This is C.J. Whenever I was sitting at a table, on the swings, or really anywhere, he would start to bring me flowers. He would suddenly appear next to me with a small white flower, lay it beside me, and run away, only to return two minutes later with another. His smirk is one of my favorite things.
Tiny kiddos with storybooks was the best time of the day. We learned about unicorns and butterflies and how they helped their families and communities, and then we challenged the kids to do the same. These kids are going places.
On Friday nights, we would go to a neighborhood about 15 minutes from the school and hang out with some of the local kids while others had ukulele lessons. One particular Friday, I had tried to play with a few kids, and they all ran away. I had even asked a teammate if I looked particularly scary that night, and I felt a little rejected and unlovable. Right in the middle of dealing with those lies, these two little boys ran up to me and laughed and giggled with me for 45 minutes. By the end of the night, we had taught each other how to say “sky” in our respective languages and we celebrated by “clinking” our plastic glasses of orange pop. They also prepared me to hold twins if that doesn’t skip a generation.
Our off days had plenty of adventure with Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world, in our backyard. The complex is beautiful in the midst of a dirty city, but the most beautiful parts were the touches of Jesus we saw in a path that was shaped so much like a cross it was impossible to miss and the chopsticks with the Christian fish on them in the gift shop. I loved that Jesus was making his presence known in a place where people come to worship the god within themselves. I couldn’t deny his presence in that place.
Finally, one of my favorite things about Siem Reap was the coffee shop scene. The coffee was fantastic, and each place had it’s own charm and vibe. My personal favorite was Footprint Cafe, but that’s just because I love being surrounded by books.
Siem Reap, Eli School, the Dequitos, and Trupingse Village hold so much joy, and I’m incredibly thankful to have been a part of this sweet community for a month.
