The three youngest in the children’s home were a trio of five-year-old boys, the Three Musketeers. Som Nang, Tola, and David were always together when they were not in school. They spent the most time with us as well. David picked Jenny as his favorite. Som Nang is my little boy (see E.G.R. – Extra Grace Required). Tola loved everyone and would take turns crawling into laps and giving hugs. These three were so much fun and so full of energy! The loved to climb on us for hugs and loved technology. The kids often asked for movies or games on our computers and phones.
To better engage the kids and spend time with them we brought out paper and markers, crafts, and Uno. The Three Musketeers took to Uno very quickly. With the language barrier we explained the game with gestures and demonstrations. We would hold the discard stack in one hand so we could move it from kid to kid so they would know whose turn it was. Khmer has it’s own way of writing numerals so the Roman numbers were English practice for the kids as well. Teaching them was practice for us in speaking Khmer numbers. I can now count to seven very well thanks to dealing.
Soon every time we saw the Three Musketeers they would run to use crying, “Sista! Sista! Play game. Beer.” What!? The first time I heard them it caught me off guard for a second. They were able to gesture and point enough that I understood they wanted Uno. They knew some English and were fun little teachers of Khmer. However, when I’d ask, “Beer in Inglee?” they were completely confused.
Finally, I asked John, one of our translators what beer meant in English. Beer is cards.
They got so good that they were teaching the bigger kids. By the time we left they had learned strategy. I was encouraged to see that they cheered for each other and rarely did someone get mad or frustrated at loosing. All of the kids loved Uno, but not like the Three Musketeers.
“Sista beer!”
