For anyone who wants to donate but would be more comfortable doing so via PayPal, I set up another donations page similar to the one I did while I was in Cambodia. Every little bit helps!! And please pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested.
Thank you!
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/13779
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
ACODO is flooded
I just got an update from ACODO (the orphanage where I volunteered in Cambodia) - the orphanage has flooded. Currently, the water is three feet deep, and they're expecting more rain. Neroli (ACODO's long-term volunteer) sent me an email that explains the situation far better than anything I could do, so I've copied it here. More recent info I received said that the water is "lapping at the steps" of the kitchen, and if the kitchen floods, they won't have any way of making their meals... also, because they aren't able to perform (the stage is flooded), they aren't able to draw tourists in, which is how they get most of their donations. (Not to mention that this is not tourist season, so it's been slow anyway.)
Even if you aren't able to donate anything, please send good thoughts their way!!
Neroli's email:
If you're able and willing to donate, or know someone who is, please contact me and I'll forward you the email with the attached credit card donation form (I can't find a way to attach it here) or email info@acodo.org and they can send you the info. If you're uncomfortable with that method, I'm happy to be the go-between; you can mail me a check and I'll make a donation for you.
I know I often feel awkward making really small donations, but our money goes so far over there. It only costs about $1 to feed one of the kids for a day. So every little bit really does help. And wouldn't, "I fed six orphans today" be a better pick-up line than, "Can I buy you a drink?"? *grin*
Even if you aren't able to donate anything, please send good thoughts their way!!
Neroli's email:
| Hi to all Just updating latest news from Siem Reap. We are in crisis mode at the orphanage as we are under water - well over 1 metre and rising. Stayed until after the dance show Monday evening, leaving about 8.30pm. There was a huge storm with heavy downpours later that night and the rain continued until early morning. On arrival at the orphanage there was water throughout the orphanage, though it hadn't at that point reached the office or other higher areas. Within a short period of time however the river burst its banks and the water rose rapidly. It was "all hands on deck" to move equipment, clothing, rice supplies etc to the 2nd floor of the accommodation quarters and then try to sandbag the front gate. Many hours and two trucks of sand later things had stabilised, though by this time the office was flooded and the water was lapping at the stage floor, the kitchen and sleeping quarters. The toilets also were unfortunately under water. It was a massive effort by all but the kids of course had lots of fun playing in the water, though they also worked hard in between. We left long after dark, wet and exhausted, praying the rain would hold off. Today the situation is a little worse and rain is predicted for the next few days - hopefully the forecast is incorrect. A couple of Dutch volunteers and a guest at my hotel (whom I took along yesterday) have been amazing. They have ordered another truck of sand and have borrowed or rented two water pumps. They have now gone into town to try to find more pumps. The water obviously is becoming smelly and bacteria-ridden. yesterday there were leeches (I speak from personal experience) and one of the kids caught a small fish. Today there may be perhaps snakes but I am hoping no crocodiles ha ha !! Saw a large commercial type water pump being delivered to the crocodile farm on the corner last night. We also have about 80 crocodiles backing onto the ACODO land. For now I must off - back to the orphanage to help. We are taking a bag of freshly made jam sandwiches for a treat for the kids. Looks like another afternhoon of wet clothes, slush and mud. |
Friday, August 13, 2010
Finally, the finale...
First, I think this post is amazing and sums up a lot of my feelings about travel. :) http://themightyjim.diaryland.com/020404_89.html
Now that I've been back for months and that Asia seems so far away and so long ago... I suppose it's time to write about the end of my trip!
Before I went to the orphanage, I had spent a few days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, exploring Angkor Wat. I met a new friend, ate bugs, gave blood at a children's hospital, was approached by hundreds of children asking for money or food, visited the landmine museum - sobering, and I've since been angry that the US is one of the only large countries who refuses to stop manufacturing and using landmines... I realize I'm no war strategist, but walking the streets of Siem Reap, where it seems that every fifth person you see is missing a limb that was blown off by a landmine that was set and forgotten about forty years ago... or reading about the child who died just a year or so ago on a farm where a mine had apparently been buried deep enough to have been missed for all these years... and finding out that there are an estimated ten million or more landmines still out there on the Thailand/Cambodia border alone... It seems ridiculous that a country who prides itself on being humane would be so willing to continue placing landmines that will still be killing children fifty years from now, even when current conflicts may have long since been resolved. *steps off soapbox*
As I mentioned, I spent several days wandering around Angkor on the back of a motorbike taxi I'd hired for three days. It was beautiful! The second wat (temple) I visited was one I wish I'd saved until the end. Every surface of Banteay Srei was so intricately carved - I didn't realize until later that this was not the norm, and that I should have spent much longer marveling at the incredible detail of every inch of the temple. It is believed to have been carved by women because of the delicate carvings. Absolutely gorgeous.
Bayon, in Angkor Thom, was fantastic - walking around, you're being looked at by dozens of giant Buddha faces. I spent a few hours here and were it not for the intense heat and the fact that I still had many more temples to see, I would likely have spent even more time.
Ta Prohm was pretty incredible, too. You may know it as the site of part of the Tomb Raider flicks... It's remarkable to see the massive fig trees that have grown into and become part of the temple.
I woke up early on my second day of touring to get to Angkor Wat before sunrise. I sat with hundreds (if not thousands) of other people at 5am, awaiting the sun, and it was well worth it. It was a gorgeous sunrise, and the early morning sun cast a light orange glow on the Apsaras that have been carved into the wall of the outer boundary to the temple.
The bas relief carvings in Angkor Wat were stunning. Luckily for me, I accidentally started with the two walls that are "not as impressive." They still wowed me, but when I got to the other two walls, I understood: these were incredible. The Churning of the Sea of Milk is one that I was really looking forward to seeing, but sadly, most of it was closed off so they could fix the leaking roof. The carving depicts a story of tug of war between the gods and demons with a serpent. As they tugged the serpent, it caused the sea of milk to churn, creating an elixir of immortality.
Thankfully, the Heaven and Hell carvings were open to the public, as this wall was the other said to be one of the best in the world. There were three levels, essentially Heaven, daily life on earth, and Hell. There are the 37 levels of Heaven represented, as well as the 32 levels of Hell, which are believed to be sin-specific. Not far into the carving, there is a trap door through which sinners are dropped into Hell... then you see extremely graphic depictions of the tortures of Hell. The scenes were violent and gruesome (see the below picture of someone's tongue being ripped out with pliers), but the carvings were intricate and gorgeous.
I stopped touring Angkor Wat a bit early and instead starting working with the orphanage. (I miss those kids!!) Since you've all heard plenty about that, I'll fast forward to Phnom Penh... I was only in town for about a day before flying back to Chiang Mai, so I hired a driver and headed out. I started at Pol Pot's Killing Fields... nothing I can say here will be able to adequately describe how I felt as I took in the genocide that occurred here a mere 30 years ago. (Skip this part if the kids are around...) There were giant holes in the ground which took me some time to really grasp; hundreds of people had been thrown into each of these mass graves after suffering unspeakable torture. In one grave, 450 bodies; in another, almost 200 decapitated victims; yet another had the bodies of 100 women and children, most of whom were naked. There was a "magic tree," from which a loudspeaker played music to mask the moans and cries of the victims who were being tortured and dying... and - perhaps the hardest thing for me to imagine - the "killing tree": executioners would beat infants' and children's heads against the tree and then toss their lifeless bodies into one of the graves. I can't even begin to comprehend the horrors that occurred in this place.
After the mass graves were found, there was a lot of controversy over what to do with the remains. There were so many things to consider: religious and spiritual beliefs, victims' rights to privacy, and allowing the public to understand the history so it will (hopefully) never be repeated. In the end, a compromise was made: a stupa was constructed to protect the remains from the elements, there were windows that people could look through, and that would be left slightly ajar so the spirits of the dead could come and go as they pleased. The lowest level of the stupa contains clothing of the victims; above that, at eye level and many levels above, are thousands of skulls, many of which had been smashed or shattered. These were grouped and labeled; the section that sticks out in my mind is the one labeled "Juvenile Females; 15-20 years old."
Not to end on a COMPLETELY depressing note, after I left Phnom Penh (and yes, I fulfilled my obligation and ate a big disgusting spider), I headed back to Chiang Mai, Thailand for the Songkran festival. It was, without question, the coolest party I've ever attended. It was three days of dancing, food, and one big crazy city-wide waterfight. I hung out with people whose names I'll never know... laughed, splashed, danced... I squirted thousands of random strangers with my watergun (complete with a tank on the back, Ghostbusters style), had countless buckets of water dumped on my head (ladies, my mascara never ran. Let me know if you want details. *grin*), gorged on incredible food, shared kind, almost intimate moments with people I'd never seen before and would never see again, and had not a care in the world for three solid days. Making this the grand finale of my three months in Asia turned out to be perfect. The several weeks prior had been incredibly emotional, so it was fantastic to be able to cut loose and focus on only one thing: FUN.
And for the rest of the pics of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MichelleSumner27/SiemReapToPost?authkey=Gv1sRgCI7M_dzA2_zYgQE&feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/MichelleSumner27/PhnomPenh?authkey=Gv1sRgCPrj2sHj7t3okgE&feat=directlink
Now that I've been back for months and that Asia seems so far away and so long ago... I suppose it's time to write about the end of my trip!
Before I went to the orphanage, I had spent a few days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, exploring Angkor Wat. I met a new friend, ate bugs, gave blood at a children's hospital, was approached by hundreds of children asking for money or food, visited the landmine museum - sobering, and I've since been angry that the US is one of the only large countries who refuses to stop manufacturing and using landmines... I realize I'm no war strategist, but walking the streets of Siem Reap, where it seems that every fifth person you see is missing a limb that was blown off by a landmine that was set and forgotten about forty years ago... or reading about the child who died just a year or so ago on a farm where a mine had apparently been buried deep enough to have been missed for all these years... and finding out that there are an estimated ten million or more landmines still out there on the Thailand/Cambodia border alone... It seems ridiculous that a country who prides itself on being humane would be so willing to continue placing landmines that will still be killing children fifty years from now, even when current conflicts may have long since been resolved. *steps off soapbox*
As I mentioned, I spent several days wandering around Angkor on the back of a motorbike taxi I'd hired for three days. It was beautiful! The second wat (temple) I visited was one I wish I'd saved until the end. Every surface of Banteay Srei was so intricately carved - I didn't realize until later that this was not the norm, and that I should have spent much longer marveling at the incredible detail of every inch of the temple. It is believed to have been carved by women because of the delicate carvings. Absolutely gorgeous.
Bayon, in Angkor Thom, was fantastic - walking around, you're being looked at by dozens of giant Buddha faces. I spent a few hours here and were it not for the intense heat and the fact that I still had many more temples to see, I would likely have spent even more time.
Ta Prohm was pretty incredible, too. You may know it as the site of part of the Tomb Raider flicks... It's remarkable to see the massive fig trees that have grown into and become part of the temple.
I woke up early on my second day of touring to get to Angkor Wat before sunrise. I sat with hundreds (if not thousands) of other people at 5am, awaiting the sun, and it was well worth it. It was a gorgeous sunrise, and the early morning sun cast a light orange glow on the Apsaras that have been carved into the wall of the outer boundary to the temple.
Thankfully, the Heaven and Hell carvings were open to the public, as this wall was the other said to be one of the best in the world. There were three levels, essentially Heaven, daily life on earth, and Hell. There are the 37 levels of Heaven represented, as well as the 32 levels of Hell, which are believed to be sin-specific. Not far into the carving, there is a trap door through which sinners are dropped into Hell... then you see extremely graphic depictions of the tortures of Hell. The scenes were violent and gruesome (see the below picture of someone's tongue being ripped out with pliers), but the carvings were intricate and gorgeous.
I stopped touring Angkor Wat a bit early and instead starting working with the orphanage. (I miss those kids!!) Since you've all heard plenty about that, I'll fast forward to Phnom Penh... I was only in town for about a day before flying back to Chiang Mai, so I hired a driver and headed out. I started at Pol Pot's Killing Fields... nothing I can say here will be able to adequately describe how I felt as I took in the genocide that occurred here a mere 30 years ago. (Skip this part if the kids are around...) There were giant holes in the ground which took me some time to really grasp; hundreds of people had been thrown into each of these mass graves after suffering unspeakable torture. In one grave, 450 bodies; in another, almost 200 decapitated victims; yet another had the bodies of 100 women and children, most of whom were naked. There was a "magic tree," from which a loudspeaker played music to mask the moans and cries of the victims who were being tortured and dying... and - perhaps the hardest thing for me to imagine - the "killing tree": executioners would beat infants' and children's heads against the tree and then toss their lifeless bodies into one of the graves. I can't even begin to comprehend the horrors that occurred in this place.
After the mass graves were found, there was a lot of controversy over what to do with the remains. There were so many things to consider: religious and spiritual beliefs, victims' rights to privacy, and allowing the public to understand the history so it will (hopefully) never be repeated. In the end, a compromise was made: a stupa was constructed to protect the remains from the elements, there were windows that people could look through, and that would be left slightly ajar so the spirits of the dead could come and go as they pleased. The lowest level of the stupa contains clothing of the victims; above that, at eye level and many levels above, are thousands of skulls, many of which had been smashed or shattered. These were grouped and labeled; the section that sticks out in my mind is the one labeled "Juvenile Females; 15-20 years old."
Not to end on a COMPLETELY depressing note, after I left Phnom Penh (and yes, I fulfilled my obligation and ate a big disgusting spider), I headed back to Chiang Mai, Thailand for the Songkran festival. It was, without question, the coolest party I've ever attended. It was three days of dancing, food, and one big crazy city-wide waterfight. I hung out with people whose names I'll never know... laughed, splashed, danced... I squirted thousands of random strangers with my watergun (complete with a tank on the back, Ghostbusters style), had countless buckets of water dumped on my head (ladies, my mascara never ran. Let me know if you want details. *grin*), gorged on incredible food, shared kind, almost intimate moments with people I'd never seen before and would never see again, and had not a care in the world for three solid days. Making this the grand finale of my three months in Asia turned out to be perfect. The several weeks prior had been incredibly emotional, so it was fantastic to be able to cut loose and focus on only one thing: FUN.
And for the rest of the pics of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MichelleSumner27/SiemReapToPost?authkey=Gv1sRgCI7M_dzA2_zYgQE&feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/MichelleSumner27/PhnomPenh?authkey=Gv1sRgCPrj2sHj7t3okgE&feat=directlink
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Cambodia, you confuse me
I was trying to figure out how to sum up my experiences over the past week, and I decided to copy and paste an email I sent to the folks the other day (with a few edits and some added notes):
Been a frustrating few days - plus I got rather sick - but I'm fine. Really glad I brought those antibiotics with me. All is well, and today was much better. The kids are having a BALL at the beach. (I had to leave and join the check-internet group because I was stung or bitten by something in the water and needed a pharmacy.) I have really fun video of them running and screaming into the ocean! And the guy with the snazzy camera is going to share his pictures, so there should be some great ones.
I've been "showering" out in the open, standing in the mud, in a sarong, using well water and a plastic bucket... for several days. And have been going to the bathroom in the woods amongst the trash and the mosquitoes and the fire ants... Last night we got to our new location and got to use a private bathroom with fresh water - it only had a squat "toilet" and had rusting metal "walls" and no floor, and you still had to dip water from a bucket to pour over your head, but my first thought was "hooray for a proper shower!!" Guess it's all relative. And showering in private is seriously underrated.
I've been sleeping in the back of the cattle truck, which is far less comfy than on the ground, but had a mosquito net and a bit of privacy, so I can't complain. Last night and tonight we (the other female volunteer and I) slept on a picnic table. Yesterday I was blessed by monks with holy water and flowers (and candy! They flick water at you, and toss flower buds... but this time they also threw mint chocolate candies. Awesome.) I've been to markets where you brush past pig heads as you walk by, and saw a girl sitting on a table, oblivious to the fact that her foot was in a pile of intestines. There are dried fish everywhere, and between that and the butcher section and the fermenting vegetables... well, let's just say it's rough on an empty stomach at 7am. There are tons of people, and you walk over gutters and gaps in the cement, some of which have boards laid over them, though there are still random holes, so you have to watch your step. Plus there's lot of stuff overhead - bags and electrical cords and food and light fixtures - all of which is hung at a height that allows people to both walk under it without hitting their heads, and be able to reach it without a ladder or stool. Sadly for me, I'm taller than most Cambodians, so I walked through the market hunched over to avoid hitting my head. And poor Dustin, one of the other volunteers, is tall even by western standards, so he was practically bent over at the waist trying to navigate the market maze.
We found out today that several of the kids have lice. The pharmacy doesn't have anything to help, so we're trying other places. I'll be doing a major shampooing myself after I leave, just to be safe.
The worst part has been the locals. I was really excited to go to a village where not many tourists go... I'm still glad that I did - it's been quite an experience (I've only told you about a few of the highlights) - but I was SO ready to leave the last town. People aren't used to seeing white people, so everywhere you go, they stare at you. During the evening dance performances, we literally had groups of people circle around us and just gawk. Funny for awhile, but it gets old. I've been slapped and pushed by people who just wanted to see the reaction, and people "accidentally" touch your hand or brush against you as they pass... They point and laugh and gawk... some of them smile and are just curious, but overwhelmingly, I thought people were incredibly rude. The final straw for me was on our last full day in the town - I was feeling lousy, and was debating whether I was bad enough that I should try to see a doctor, and decided to break from the crowd of kids for a bit... I went to sit at a local "restaurant" with some tea, and got up to use the bathroom. There were basically two stalls, and at one point I looked up to see that the guy in the next stall had climbed up on the water bin to watch me go to the bathroom. I was furious. Couldn't wait to get out of that place. Thankfully, the town where we are now seems to have nicer people. They still stare, but that's it so far.
Cambodia in general places far lower value on women than men. Women serve their husbands, and husbands' friends, and always eat last. They are submissive, and often are beaten if their husband feels it's what should happen. There are people who understand that it's not how it should be, but they seem to be the minority. If a woman is beaten and goes to the police, she'll (at best) be ignored. It's really horrible to see... so many people walking around with battered and bruised faces and no one pays any attention.
There is more trash on the ground than you can believe. It's everywhere. In some places, you can barely see the ground through the trash. (The other day, I saw a monk squatting in a field full of trash, with his bright orange robe stretched to make a privacy tent for him while he went to the bathroom. Would have been an interesting photo.) The people who try not to leave trash everywhere will pull it into a pile and burn it - plastic and all. The smell is overwhelming. Though it's sometimes masked by the smell of raw sewage. Cambodia is not an easy place to be!
A couple of days, while the kids were out fundraising, I sat on a tarp with the women and helped prepare the food. It's no small feat, preparing three meals a day for 80 people! Between making sure the kids are clean, fed, dressed (for the day and for the shows), rehearsed, etc., these ladies work non-stop.
[Added this morning]:
I left the kiddos last night; it was hard to say good-bye - even harder than I thought. It ended on a great note, though - right as they were leaving the beach, so everyone was smiling and happy. I would admit to lots of tears as I was saying goodbye, but I don't cry, so I won't. :) I did promise to come back to visit... all these cuties looking at me with sad faces, looking hesitant, asking, "See you again?" And one boy said quietly, "You go; I am unhappy." How's a girl supposed to say no to that?
So, now I have committed to coming back to a country about which I have seriously mixed feelings, to see kids for whom I have nothing but love and admiration. I will head out in a few minutes for Phnom Penh, and I hope to spend the four hour bus ride sifting through my thoughts and processing the past few weeks.
[Added in Phnom Penh]:
The four hour bus ride was exactly like everything else in Cambodia has been for me: not what I expected. About halfway into the trip, our bus broke down. Twice. The first time, they were able to get it started again, but ten minutes later, it went kaput. Everyone got off the bus and beelined for the shady spot in what was essentially someone's front yard. After a few minutes, we were told to collect our bags. No idea what they were planning (this was the 4,583rd time I've wished I spoke Khmer in the past few weeks), but when a van taxi stopped to pick up passengers, I negotiated for a seat. Little did I know what I was in for... Every time we passed a village or town, or cluster of houses, the driver tapped the horn twenty or thirty times to see if anyone was looking for a ride. Several times, we picked up passengers, until we had TWENTY-TWO people in a van built for eleven. I ended up sitting on the gap between two seats - there was a four or five inch gap, so I had half a cheek on either seat for about two hours. And don't even get me started on how the two seats weren't the same height. Good grief. My leg was asleep about ten minutes into the drive. Non-stop adventure, I tell you. :) Eight hours after the start of my "four-hour" bus trip, I'm now safe and sound in Phnom Penh, and I decided to make a pit-stop for coffee and to look up where I am and where I'll stay tonight. Tomorrow, I'll hire a driver to take me to the killing fields and Tuol Sleng before heading off to the airport. Should be a sobering and heart-wrenching finale to my time in Cambodia. Then I'll head back to Thailand - Chiang Mai, via Bangkok - and hope that the protests don't get worse in the next week. Several people died in the protests in Bangkok the other day, and I can't imagine that did anything to calm the fury. I've really been looking forward to the light-hearted, cheerful celebration that is Songkran, and I'm crossing my fingers that political strife won't turn it violent.
Been a frustrating few days - plus I got rather sick - but I'm fine. Really glad I brought those antibiotics with me. All is well, and today was much better. The kids are having a BALL at the beach. (I had to leave and join the check-internet group because I was stung or bitten by something in the water and needed a pharmacy.) I have really fun video of them running and screaming into the ocean! And the guy with the snazzy camera is going to share his pictures, so there should be some great ones.
I've been "showering" out in the open, standing in the mud, in a sarong, using well water and a plastic bucket... for several days. And have been going to the bathroom in the woods amongst the trash and the mosquitoes and the fire ants... Last night we got to our new location and got to use a private bathroom with fresh water - it only had a squat "toilet" and had rusting metal "walls" and no floor, and you still had to dip water from a bucket to pour over your head, but my first thought was "hooray for a proper shower!!" Guess it's all relative. And showering in private is seriously underrated.
I've been sleeping in the back of the cattle truck, which is far less comfy than on the ground, but had a mosquito net and a bit of privacy, so I can't complain. Last night and tonight we (the other female volunteer and I) slept on a picnic table. Yesterday I was blessed by monks with holy water and flowers (and candy! They flick water at you, and toss flower buds... but this time they also threw mint chocolate candies. Awesome.) I've been to markets where you brush past pig heads as you walk by, and saw a girl sitting on a table, oblivious to the fact that her foot was in a pile of intestines. There are dried fish everywhere, and between that and the butcher section and the fermenting vegetables... well, let's just say it's rough on an empty stomach at 7am. There are tons of people, and you walk over gutters and gaps in the cement, some of which have boards laid over them, though there are still random holes, so you have to watch your step. Plus there's lot of stuff overhead - bags and electrical cords and food and light fixtures - all of which is hung at a height that allows people to both walk under it without hitting their heads, and be able to reach it without a ladder or stool. Sadly for me, I'm taller than most Cambodians, so I walked through the market hunched over to avoid hitting my head. And poor Dustin, one of the other volunteers, is tall even by western standards, so he was practically bent over at the waist trying to navigate the market maze.
We found out today that several of the kids have lice. The pharmacy doesn't have anything to help, so we're trying other places. I'll be doing a major shampooing myself after I leave, just to be safe.
The worst part has been the locals. I was really excited to go to a village where not many tourists go... I'm still glad that I did - it's been quite an experience (I've only told you about a few of the highlights) - but I was SO ready to leave the last town. People aren't used to seeing white people, so everywhere you go, they stare at you. During the evening dance performances, we literally had groups of people circle around us and just gawk. Funny for awhile, but it gets old. I've been slapped and pushed by people who just wanted to see the reaction, and people "accidentally" touch your hand or brush against you as they pass... They point and laugh and gawk... some of them smile and are just curious, but overwhelmingly, I thought people were incredibly rude. The final straw for me was on our last full day in the town - I was feeling lousy, and was debating whether I was bad enough that I should try to see a doctor, and decided to break from the crowd of kids for a bit... I went to sit at a local "restaurant" with some tea, and got up to use the bathroom. There were basically two stalls, and at one point I looked up to see that the guy in the next stall had climbed up on the water bin to watch me go to the bathroom. I was furious. Couldn't wait to get out of that place. Thankfully, the town where we are now seems to have nicer people. They still stare, but that's it so far.
Cambodia in general places far lower value on women than men. Women serve their husbands, and husbands' friends, and always eat last. They are submissive, and often are beaten if their husband feels it's what should happen. There are people who understand that it's not how it should be, but they seem to be the minority. If a woman is beaten and goes to the police, she'll (at best) be ignored. It's really horrible to see... so many people walking around with battered and bruised faces and no one pays any attention.
There is more trash on the ground than you can believe. It's everywhere. In some places, you can barely see the ground through the trash. (The other day, I saw a monk squatting in a field full of trash, with his bright orange robe stretched to make a privacy tent for him while he went to the bathroom. Would have been an interesting photo.) The people who try not to leave trash everywhere will pull it into a pile and burn it - plastic and all. The smell is overwhelming. Though it's sometimes masked by the smell of raw sewage. Cambodia is not an easy place to be!
A couple of days, while the kids were out fundraising, I sat on a tarp with the women and helped prepare the food. It's no small feat, preparing three meals a day for 80 people! Between making sure the kids are clean, fed, dressed (for the day and for the shows), rehearsed, etc., these ladies work non-stop.
[Added this morning]:
I left the kiddos last night; it was hard to say good-bye - even harder than I thought. It ended on a great note, though - right as they were leaving the beach, so everyone was smiling and happy. I would admit to lots of tears as I was saying goodbye, but I don't cry, so I won't. :) I did promise to come back to visit... all these cuties looking at me with sad faces, looking hesitant, asking, "See you again?" And one boy said quietly, "You go; I am unhappy." How's a girl supposed to say no to that?
So, now I have committed to coming back to a country about which I have seriously mixed feelings, to see kids for whom I have nothing but love and admiration. I will head out in a few minutes for Phnom Penh, and I hope to spend the four hour bus ride sifting through my thoughts and processing the past few weeks.
[Added in Phnom Penh]:
The four hour bus ride was exactly like everything else in Cambodia has been for me: not what I expected. About halfway into the trip, our bus broke down. Twice. The first time, they were able to get it started again, but ten minutes later, it went kaput. Everyone got off the bus and beelined for the shady spot in what was essentially someone's front yard. After a few minutes, we were told to collect our bags. No idea what they were planning (this was the 4,583rd time I've wished I spoke Khmer in the past few weeks), but when a van taxi stopped to pick up passengers, I negotiated for a seat. Little did I know what I was in for... Every time we passed a village or town, or cluster of houses, the driver tapped the horn twenty or thirty times to see if anyone was looking for a ride. Several times, we picked up passengers, until we had TWENTY-TWO people in a van built for eleven. I ended up sitting on the gap between two seats - there was a four or five inch gap, so I had half a cheek on either seat for about two hours. And don't even get me started on how the two seats weren't the same height. Good grief. My leg was asleep about ten minutes into the drive. Non-stop adventure, I tell you. :) Eight hours after the start of my "four-hour" bus trip, I'm now safe and sound in Phnom Penh, and I decided to make a pit-stop for coffee and to look up where I am and where I'll stay tonight. Tomorrow, I'll hire a driver to take me to the killing fields and Tuol Sleng before heading off to the airport. Should be a sobering and heart-wrenching finale to my time in Cambodia. Then I'll head back to Thailand - Chiang Mai, via Bangkok - and hope that the protests don't get worse in the next week. Several people died in the protests in Bangkok the other day, and I can't imagine that did anything to calm the fury. I've really been looking forward to the light-hearted, cheerful celebration that is Songkran, and I'm crossing my fingers that political strife won't turn it violent.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Munchkin Beach Trip
The first few days of this trip were pretty tough for me (details in another post; this one's for the good beachy stuff!), but seeing the kids climb out of the trucks, strip down and run screaming into the sea instantly made it all worthwhile. They were giddy! They ran, jumped, skipped and did cartwheels to the water... then splashed, dunked, giggled, squealed and searched for sea creatures. They dug up clams and crabs, starfish and sandollars. They found dozens of these weird little animals none of us could identify - shaped a bit like tiny horseshoe crabs, and looked like porcupines. The kids were enthralled!
Some of them had as much fun in the sand as they did in the water. They made sand sculptures, used fingers and sticks to draw pictures in the sand, buried themselves and each other, sprinted up and down the beach, and watched in amusement as starfish dug their way back down into the sand.
I wish I could send you all some of the fantastically fun moments that were had in the water... I *do* have pictures from shore that I'll send soon, and I got video of the first few minutes after we pulled up to the beach, with all the kids sprinting to the water with big grins and flailing arms. To those of you who helped make this happen - know that you've given huge smiles and carefree laughs to some incredibly deserving kids.
Friday, April 2, 2010
SO CLOSE!!! And a couple videos :)
Wow!! What a great way to wake up; we only need $50 more and these kids are headed to the beach!! (And if we make that goal by 9pm EST, several people will double their donations!)
I was finally able to get a couple of videos up - they're short, but it's all I can do with connection speeds out here. :) I'll keep working to see if I can post more. (These two literally took all night.) If not, I'll get them up in a week or so when I get back to Thailand.
THANK YOU!!
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/9698/
http://ww
http://ww
I was finally able to get a couple of videos up - they're short, but it's all I can do with connection speeds out here. :) I'll keep working to see if I can post more. (These two literally took all night.) If not, I'll get them up in a week or so when I get back to Thailand.
THANK YOU!!
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/9698/
http://ww
http://ww
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Please... and thank you
To all of you who have donated or helped spread the word about needing some funds for these kids, thank you. Thank you for the obvious and most important reason that you're doing something wonderful for children who need it, but thank you also for reminding me that people are good. I've seen a lot of heartbreaking things since I've been in Cambodia, and sometimes it's hard not to get cynical. Then there's all of you...
Since yesterday when I posted the note about the sponsor backing out on the kids, there have been over $400 in donations, with several people offering to double their donations if we get to the necessary $1500 by 9pm tonight (your time). Not to mention how many of you immediately sent out notes to your friends asking for their help. Over the past few hours (since you guys on the other side of the world have been awake), there has been a constant stream of donations, forwarded pleas, and well-wishes. Some of them have come from people I have never even met. (In fact, another $100 has come in since I started typing this message.)
I've been all sappy, misty-eyed smiles today... Thank you for that.
We're at nearly $800 at the moment (over halfway there!), but that means there's still $700 to go in the next 10 hours! (Though you're certainly not cut off from donating if you don't make it by tonight. *grin*) Please consider donating if you haven't already, and pass the message along!
Again, thank you. It means more than you know, to me... to the people at ACODO who work so hard to keep things running... and especially to the kids.
Since yesterday when I posted the note about the sponsor backing out on the kids, there have been over $400 in donations, with several people offering to double their donations if we get to the necessary $1500 by 9pm tonight (your time). Not to mention how many of you immediately sent out notes to your friends asking for their help. Over the past few hours (since you guys on the other side of the world have been awake), there has been a constant stream of donations, forwarded pleas, and well-wishes. Some of them have come from people I have never even met. (In fact, another $100 has come in since I started typing this message.)
I've been all sappy, misty-eyed smiles today... Thank you for that.
We're at nearly $800 at the moment (over halfway there!), but that means there's still $700 to go in the next 10 hours! (Though you're certainly not cut off from donating if you don't make it by tonight. *grin*) Please consider donating if you haven't already, and pass the message along!
Again, thank you. It means more than you know, to me... to the people at ACODO who work so hard to keep things running... and especially to the kids.
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About Me
- sumsumterp
- Interpreter. Lover of mountains who's happy to be back in CO but really misses DC. Traveler with an extra-squishy soft spot for orphaned kids.