We are finishing up our one month in Kampong Thom, Cambodia! We leave on Tuesday and head to Siem Reap and Bangkok for one week of rest and debrief before heading to Ratchaburi, Thailand for two months. These pictures are from our sweet time at New Hope for Orphans, where I have experienced love, joy, pain, frustration, and so much growth. This month was a blessing in a million different ways. I hope this photo blog gives you a small glimpse into life here!
Our first night at the orphanage! The kids put on their nicest clothes and surprised Stephanie with a birthday party, complete with a cake and soda that was shared with all! It was a sweet welcome.
This was one of our first days in Cambodia! We went on a walk with the kids to see their school, and when Kat showed interest in these beautiful flowers, the kids started putting them in our hair! Later we learned that in Cambodian culture, only royals wear flower crowns.
English class! On this day, we taught days of the week. The kids are so smart and work hard! When we give them the option of a fun game or continuing school, they almost always want to keep learning.
This is Samyung! He is new to the orphanage and has not begun school yet, so during our English classes, he and I work on the alphabet. After he traces every letter, he looks up at me for approval and a high five!
We hosted a movie night, featuring the crowd favorite The Incredibles! It was so fun to watch the kids laugh and relax.
Evening football (soccer) games in the rice fields! This is such a sweet time to have fun and have friendly/fierce competition with the kids. They are also really tough- if we accidentally kick them, they brush off their pain and ask us if we’re okay.
This past week consisted of manual labor, shoveling and moving dirt to lay the foundation for a new fence around the property. The kids worked alongside us and are such hard workers! It was fun to spend time with them this way and see them in a new light. They also took such good care of us, making sure we weren’t too hot and were protecting our skin.
This is my sweet team, sweaty and joyful after climbing 1,000 steps up a mountain! These girls pour into each other and those we are serving so well, and I’m learning so much from doing life with them. God knew what He was doing when He put us together!
