We are here now in month 7.. Cambodia!!!! I can’t believe how time is just flying by.
I am literally in the process of posting a Thailand video I made but with spotty internet and access only once a week it may not be possible until later this month or next month. (Sorry) I did want to post though just an update about this month. I have been placed on an all new team after stepping down from team leading after six months. I am now on a team with Casey, Owen, Zach, Nikki, and Alex. (follow them!) We are team Turn the Page!!
We are living in the village of Kampot which is in the southern most tip of Cambodia; two hours outside of the capital city of Phnom Penh. We are partnered with a ministry started by a man who was a former Tuk Tuk driver/ high school drop out/non-believer turned missionary/nonprofit director/father to 5 orphan teenage boys. He was called back to Kampot full time in 2010 to teach English and serve his once home town. When he speaks he has such a heart for what he is doing and the people around him. During our orientation he said “we are like family; what I have I share with everyone”. This mentality is not the norm in my every day life. I am more accustomed to; “I earned this” or “I deserve this”. That is not what seems to be the Cambodian way.
So this month my new team and I are teaching several English classes a day. I am partnered with Zach; and him and I go to the public school in the mornings where there are literally hundreds of kids that just swarm us when we get dropped off and pull us to come and play and then into their classrooms. There is no set curriculum so we teach math, parts of the body, reading, and many other things. It is really chaotic but so much fun!! The kids have more energy than I can even muster up in my little finger. 🙂
We also teach classes back at the compound where we live in straw type huts. The kids are so eager to learn; they go to regular school during the day and then come to our classes at night to receive extra practice. I love these kids already! The first day I asked the kids what they wanted to do when they got older and their answers just made my heart smile because they still have their innocence and are still dreamers. They answered with doctors, famous singers, and dancers!
I am enjoying this month thus far and my mom said to me; “the kids will teach you a lot” and I think she is exactly right.
Thanks for reading!
Katelyn
