On Monday, June 17th, we
returned to the orphanage where we were either put to work cleaning up trash or
adventuring through the slums to the school. I, along with three other
volunteers and three chaperones, were granted the opportunity to go to the
school. The school, located in the middle of the slums, was no more than two
rooms in which consisted of both a library and a classroom.
The walk alone was very powerful.
The journey through the slums in order to reach the school was a mesmerizing,
eye opening experience, thus illustrating how truly poor these individuals are.
As we made our way through the slums, streams of urine and trash sat below are
feet. Children naked and filthy ran through these puddles barefoot, witnessing
this made my heart sink.
When arriving at the school, Gitte
LaWare and I were able to work with the children one on one, teaching them
English. Over the course of the morning, we taught four groups of students,
each group contained three children. Here, we guided them on their
pronunciation and reading skills in English. To do so, we read to them, read
with them, and had the students read to us. Each individual was very ambitious
to learn English, I was incredibly impressed. The students presented themselves
with immense amounts of gratitude, making me all the more grateful to be
helping them. They honored their school work and urged us to further teach
them. The children were extraordinary students and it was astonishing to again
witness a situation where the people had so little, but took a copious amount
of pride in the things they do have. Today, their appreciation and pride took
place in the classroom where they were given an education that they valued at
large. Once returning to the orphanage, we began to clear the land that will
later be occupied by the girls’ house. We used machetes and cut the grass.
Tuesday, June 18th was
both a tiring and hopeful day. We began the day by visiting with the kids,
because they didn’t have school today. A group of students worked with the kids
as another group of us tackled the manual labor. All morning, we worked with
the contractor and our two precious tuk tuk drivers. We dug eight holes and
made cement. Don’t be fooled, these were very tedious jobs in which produced
large amounts of sweat!! Although it was exhausting, it felt great to get it
done.
Towards the end of the day, I asked
our phenomenal translator to help me interview a few orphans. I interviewed
both Phaneth and Sopia. I feel as if it is extremely important to learn about
these kids. Their stories are so inspiring, yet heart wrenching, they need to
be heard.
Phaneth is a sixteen year old boy
whose has five other siblings at the orphanage. His family used to live in the
city, but was asked to leave so the government could build a building. As the
family moved to the slums, the mother got a disease and the father left the family.
As a result, the mother asked the orphanage to care for Phaneth and his
siblings, for she couldn’t support them financially or emotionally. He hopes to
leave the orphanage in the next few years. His goal is to study in Phnom Penh to
become a teacher.
I also received the honor in interviewing
Sopia, a twenty nine year old man who is blind. He became blind at the age of
four, after an incident with fire crackers at his school. A few years later, he
was asked to leave the province, for he couldn’t make a living without a skill.
He came to the orphanage pursuing both English and music. Now, seven years
after his arrival, he strives in English and music. He believes that he will
move back to his province and become a teacher, for now he is skilled.
These past few days were great,
allowing us to further work with the kids in the orphanage and at the school. The
building of the girls’ house is very thrilling and hope filled. The interviews
were very inspiring and I hope talk with more children as the trip progresses. I
am amazed to be here and I am looking forward to what comes next.
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