I find Cambodia to be such a beautiful country. I don't know what it is, but I really like this country. From the beautiful landscapes, to the traffic situation, which I find so comical. I wish I had more photos to share. It's not uncommon to see a family of 5 on a motor scooter, or, a driver, a giant box and another person barely sitting on the seat holding onto the box with feet dangling out wide. Let's not forget the motor scooters piled as high as they are wide (maybe 3 feet on each side beyond the driver) with baskets, or styrofoam. Traffic is thick and busy in a lot of areas, making crossing the street its own task. You quickly learn to just go for it, sometimes you need to stop for a moment in the middle of the road, but other times you can keep on going while watching the traffic swerve gently around you, adapting to your walking path. This is also seen with traffic. A vehicle will wait to make a left turn, but then the driver will slowly edge their way through and other vehicles will either stop, or ride around the vehicle.
Not unusual to see a family of 5 on a moto
This is supposed to be a two lane street!
Outside of the comedy of the traffic there is the very sad issue of poverty. Children roaming the streets trying to sell books, bracelets, and other knick-knacks. People sleeping on the streets, women, children, babies. Poverty here is abundant. This month we are at Cambodian Hope Association, a children's home that gives kids the opportunity to get an education, and have a safe place to live. The teams that come to this orphanage help teach, and also help fund and support the orphanage. The money they pay towards food and rent also helps pay for food for the kids and helps pay the rent for the apartment which they have available for children who are older and attending university.
There are so many bright kids here! Some have aspirations to be doctors, pilots, and translators. We have been teaching the kids English and Bible here and also playing games and really loving on these kids. I was asked if I could teach guitar…..I only know guitar basics. Thinking that the kids wanting to learn wouldn't know a lot, I decided to try teaching…little did I know the kids knew as much, if not more than I did! That was a little bit of a flop, but at least I got to spend time with a couple of the boys practicing guitar. They even taught me how to sing “God is So Good” in Khmer (their language), and sing it with them. We also have drum talents on our team and Chanell (our team leader) was able give some of the children drum lessons.
The children at this orphanage are so wonderful. They are talented in music, art and dance. I am so amazed by the willingness of some of the kids to learn and their desire to study with us. They do go to public and private schools where they get very little, if any English. The only time they get to learn English is when teams such as ours come to stay and help.
We have gotten to have some fun experiences with these kids. Taking them for ice cream, having a pizza party, doing hair, playing games and sports, and just enjoying the children. I feel so blessed to have met these incredible kids.
