I have a utopia. This utopia is called Stepping Stones Preschool. It is my little piece of heaven here in Cambodia. The first day I went to the preschool I was hooked. The students: Srey Kah, Tobey, Lychee, Visoth, Kin Eng, Kin, Nary, Alex, Sophie, Caleb, Sok Moeun, Isaac, and Sam are just precious. I have enjoyed getting to know them. The place has grass and trees(banana, coconut, and papaya). It even has a bungalow for the lower students that plays pleasant music at all times. The reason that I go to the preschool is that it is a ministry through the church for the richer part of the population in Phnom Penh. The church wanted to reach out to the rich and this was a perfect way. It is a very peaceful place. It is a break from the reality of Phnom Penh. I love the city, but I like a break from the noises and the smells.
I go to my utopia every morning, so I don¡¯t get to do a lot of other ministries until Tuesday. Part of the team was 
going to the slums in the afternoon. When this ministry was described, I knew that I just needed to experience it. We set out at 2:00pm in a Tuk Tuk. The slums here are not a section of a town. The slums are randomly placed throughout the city. The slums we went to on Tuesday had nice buildings on all sides. If you did not know that they were there, you would miss them. As soon as I stepped out of the Tuk Tuk, I was wondering where I was. I was still in Phnom Penh, but a totally different world than anywhere I had been so far. I was very uncomfortable. As I started down the street, I could see the garbage. The houses were made of tin and consisted of three sides. I got to see all of their possessions in their very small room that equated to my bedroom in my house in the United States. It was so strange to see this. As I continued to walk, I saw babies that were naked and even 5 year old children without clothing. The clothes that the children had on were very dirty and old. They were not like the clean clothed children of the preschool. The children did not wear anything on their feet. I started to 
wonder why I had come. I was out of my comfort zone. We continued going in further. I watched where I stepped since there was muddy dirt and trash everywhere. I was afraid to step on something that would not come naturally. I was actually afraid to step at all since I did not know what had made the dirt turn to mud. We finally go to the place for the bible study. The place we played had no tress or bungalow or nice music. It had dirt, standing water, and a really bad smell. The children crowded around a small wooden platform. The children did not venture far way from where we were at. We were able to color and paint fingernails on the platform. I was in total discomfort. My world was shocked. How could this happen?
My world was changed on that day. Good and bad things happen in all places you stay or live. It is just that most of the time, you only see the good. It is easier to look for the good. How many times do I only see the good? I feel that as Americans, we tend to only look for the good and the happy. I don¡¯t want to see the bad that causes me discomfort. I hope that I will start to look for all the sides of the city and reach out to everyone.
