All is well in Cambodia! Today was a full work day; half at the actual village then a few hours at Sustainable Cambodia, an organization located here and supported by several associations around the world such as Rotary Club, etc.
In the village, our committees each work on the projects that they have prepared for– the Health Committee taught health lessons and yoga to the kids. The community members just soak up everything we teach them, they absolutely love to learn any and all English. Construction has been going on all week, we cleared the area around the school for the garden and room for the future reading shacks. As of today, the fence posts are all done, but barbed wire is still being put up. We painted the school as well for a project after earlier this week having made concrete for the front step area. Our Vocational Committee has been teaching women how to sew, and they are working on simple pillow dresses and headbands.
Another neat experiences is that several of our Team members and Mentors were able to take the bikes that we are going to donate to the village and visited nearby homes. Most of the parents were out of the home doing work, but we talked to any families that were home. We would ask questions in English, the translator would translate, etc. It’s been unique hearing the stories told; many of the people HAVE been involved or experienced the Khmer Rouge. We’ve learned a lot about their culture asking questions and for some of these people it has been their first time seeing Americans.
Lunch has been at the Pagoda, the community worship center, with PB&Js as the meal everyday. We usually get an hour to an hour and a half for lunch as a break from the heat/work. More construction happened after lunch, then we headed back to the hotel. We had some time to shower and clean up before visiting the Sustainable Cambodia campus. We switch off between “teaching” the kids and playing with them! Our teaching at Sustainable Cambodia has mostly been asking them questions in English and since the kids are older- in their mid-teens- they can respond decently well in English back and forth. Our goal has been to let them practice their English with us as much as possible.
Dinner was at seven, we had pizza!!!! To actually have American food was absolutely amazing and hugely appreciated! We are having fun and loving the culture and learning so much about these Cambodian people.