About 2 weeks before the actual new year dates, things started mysteriously closing, tuktuk drivers started wanting a higher fare - the reason for this... Khmer New Year was upon us!
The actual date for Khmer New Year was the 13th, it is a festival in Cambodia and last for three days. Since we took the 3 days off to go to Thailand we stayed in the Group Home with the kids to experience a proper Khmer New Years!
About half the children had gone home to stay with relatives in their provinces which made everything a lot calmer, but it was strange atmosphere the house being so empty!
Our activities over New Year mainly resolved around the 'Wat' or pagoda where on the first day we went, the main worry was what to wear!! Some of the kids were in their school uniform whereas some were merely in their 'smart' clothes. (i.e their tops were tucked into their shorts). Upon getting there we saw that everyone was wearing a white top. Gwen was wearing white and I was wearing cream, so I think we just about got away with it!
Here we sat down in the Wat with all the kids while the ma's gave their offering of food to the monks and they did some chanting... I think more people were looking at us than the the monks so I'm not sure if it actually pleased Buddah or not.
Next it was a stroll around the grounds where the kids gave 100 riels to different statues, pouring water over their (and our ) heads as a cleansing ritual. After this was over we waited around to play some 'Traditional Khmer Games'.
This game consisted of being blindfolded then given a big stick. You are walked towards an overhead hanging pot, you then touch it with the stick and walk back three paces and are spun around 3 times. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to walk back towards the pot and with one almighty whack hit the pot and break it! Needles to say this game was only for adults (or older children) and 4 of us from the Group Home tried, and miserably failed. (The name of the game translates to English simply as 'Break the Pot'.!)
We thought the pagoda antics were over for the day, but that night as we were going to bed (at 6.30) a knock came on the door. 'Ma dow Wat?'. We exchanged glances and decided to join in the banter as the kids seemed so excited, plus we had been brushing up on our Khmer dancing earlier in the day. About 12 of us went in all, however when we got to the pagoda the scene was not at all what we expected!
The music playing as we walked over was a version of 'Put your f****** Hands Up', playing at full volume. All the youth of Takh Mao were there dancing around a tree and all the Monks were standing around looking as though they wanted to join in. It was really rather funny. We were soon in the spirit with our hands up and the ma's looked like they were enjoying themselves as well. The girls (aged 12 up) were also having an absolute ball! The music soon started to jump between traditional Khmer dance music and rave music, and when the Khmer music came on my girls all formed a line and danced so beautifully, making me feel like a proud mother. A man even came over and gave them free coke for it!
After a few hours we withdrew from the party and collapsed straight into bed!
The same routine happened every night through the New Years, though Gwen and I went for 2 nights and stayed in for two nights. The second night we were we even got recognised by a few people from the Mormon english class we attend which was lovely as they came over to say hi!
On the last day of the Khmer New Year we were again back at the temple during the day but this time we headed into the main temple which was packed full of Khmer people all wearing white. We weren't, nor were our kids so we were quite the colourful spectacle as we edged our way into the corner of the room. Soon a procession of monks walked into the room and it seemed custom to part down the middle of the hall and bow to them as they walked in. So this is what we did. They took their position at the front of the room and there were more prayers and chants and hand movements. I just picked someone who looked like they knew what they were doing and mimicked their actions.
After this service we were told to follow them outside where a monk sat in a really high chair and everyone splashed him with water, cleaning him and the statue of Budda. Loads of people then went to sit on the steps leading up to the Wat and soon the monks came with a hose and bucket of water and he soaked them all. Some even brought their bars of soap so they could really have a good wash! This again was all part of the cleansing process, and symbolises a clean fresh start for the new year.
Over the Thursday and Friday following the new years the children started returning to the group home one by one and its crazy how much you actually miss them when they go!
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Saturday, 26 April 2014
KOMPONG SOM. KAMPONG SOM!
Ever since our arrival at Group Home, we'd heard whispers and rumours of the so called 'Kompong Som' everywhere we found ourselves. All the children seemed to have this mutual interest in the mysterious 'Kompong Som' and we newbie volunteers were clueless as to what, why or when this meant. It was only recently that we found out that 'Kompong Som' is in fact the Khmer name for the province in which Sihanoukville lies, and here is where the beach is! After much asking around, we learnt that each year, Group Home organises a one night trip to the beach in Kompong Som, which is highly anticipated and regarded by all for a LONG time leading up to the event!
The dates for going were the 8th and 9th of April, and having only arrived back from Thailand on the 7th, it's safe to stay we were both pretty shattered! However, we jumped on the bandwagon and embraced the kid's holiday spirit, helping load the bus with plenty of water for the 5 hour trip down to the beach. There were two buses for us all, neither with air-con. Gwen and I both went on the bus with the smaller kids; Gwen at the very back had the joy of being right on top of the engine, along with the heat and noise from that. I was at the front of the bus, in the middle of two kids squished onto two seats, cosy!!!!
Five hours and plenty of toilet breaks later we were nearing the sea then suddenly we found ourselves at the top of a hill with the most beautiful view of the beach. An even better view I found was turning round and watching the children's faces as they saw the sea! Some were open mouthed, some had big smiles on the faces, some were squealing and some just didn't know what to say. It was a precious moment and one i'm not going to forget in a while.!.
As soon as we arrived at the hotel all the kids were changed in a flash and ready to go to the beach again and once there we ate and were straight in the water. (Some even ate their lunch IN the water!!).
I had a few funny experiences being with one of the younger kids, speaking Khmer to them and they'd be shouting 'MA' at me; the other Khmer people in the water looked totally confused!!
We hired some rubber rings for them, and most of the afternoon and next morning the older ones were floating around on them while the younger kids played in the shallow water.
Throughout the weekend I battled something i hate; seafood ...and there was a lot of it! For lunch when we first arrived there was, what seemed a tasty baguette, with crabsticks in it! Tea was in a seafood restaurant where I mainly got away with eating rice and veg, apart from the small squid like thing in my bowl, which was eaten with trepidation.
On the evening of the first night we were invited to go with the older children to the beach, but after having a lie down and watching some cartoon network with the younger kids in our room we were so shattered that we were immediately asleep! Oops.
The whole trip lasted approximately 24 hours but it was amazing watching the children be so carefree playing in the water! Some of them were barely out of it during the time we were there!
We had all adopted the same seats throughout the journey so it was back on our squished seats for the 5 hour journey home of crazy asian driving!
The dates for going were the 8th and 9th of April, and having only arrived back from Thailand on the 7th, it's safe to stay we were both pretty shattered! However, we jumped on the bandwagon and embraced the kid's holiday spirit, helping load the bus with plenty of water for the 5 hour trip down to the beach. There were two buses for us all, neither with air-con. Gwen and I both went on the bus with the smaller kids; Gwen at the very back had the joy of being right on top of the engine, along with the heat and noise from that. I was at the front of the bus, in the middle of two kids squished onto two seats, cosy!!!!
Five hours and plenty of toilet breaks later we were nearing the sea then suddenly we found ourselves at the top of a hill with the most beautiful view of the beach. An even better view I found was turning round and watching the children's faces as they saw the sea! Some were open mouthed, some had big smiles on the faces, some were squealing and some just didn't know what to say. It was a precious moment and one i'm not going to forget in a while.!.
As soon as we arrived at the hotel all the kids were changed in a flash and ready to go to the beach again and once there we ate and were straight in the water. (Some even ate their lunch IN the water!!).
I had a few funny experiences being with one of the younger kids, speaking Khmer to them and they'd be shouting 'MA' at me; the other Khmer people in the water looked totally confused!!
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| Rubber Rings |
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| I got a MEGA burnt face. |
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| Playing in the water :) |
Throughout the weekend I battled something i hate; seafood ...and there was a lot of it! For lunch when we first arrived there was, what seemed a tasty baguette, with crabsticks in it! Tea was in a seafood restaurant where I mainly got away with eating rice and veg, apart from the small squid like thing in my bowl, which was eaten with trepidation.
On the evening of the first night we were invited to go with the older children to the beach, but after having a lie down and watching some cartoon network with the younger kids in our room we were so shattered that we were immediately asleep! Oops.
The whole trip lasted approximately 24 hours but it was amazing watching the children be so carefree playing in the water! Some of them were barely out of it during the time we were there!
We had all adopted the same seats throughout the journey so it was back on our squished seats for the 5 hour journey home of crazy asian driving!
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Thailand!
Forenote: This is a lonnnnnnnnnng blogpost and I got so bored writing it to the end. I hope you see past the spelling mistakes etcetc
With the month of April comes the Khmer New Year, a 3 day event which all Magna staff get off as a public holiday. We want to spend this time with the children, to partake in some celebration authentic Cambodian style, and some of the usual members of staff will not be coming into work, therefore we decided that it would be best to take our holiday a few weeks early. This allowed us to stay at GH during the new years, but in the meantime, we headed to the unknown lands of Thailand!
Our initial plan was to head to Koh Chang as we had heard good reports of the beaches there. Friday eventually came and as we waited in the Mad Monkey Bar for a tuktuk to pick us up at 8.30, the call came at 7.45 that there was a mini bus waiting for us. Our initial reaction was 'it's not for us'!. As we investigated further it turned out that the guys just wanted to be early so they could get home quicker, fair enough. So we hopped into the minibus and off we went to the bus station picking a few others up along the way.
The bus to Bangkok we had booked was a sleeper bus and cost $29.
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| Our 'Cabin' for the night |
The bus onwards to Bangkok was not quite the sleeper bus we had thought would continue the journey but a minibus where we were sitting near some very lovely Khmer ladies who thought our use of Khmer was good/bad/great/...? They seemed happy we were attempting their language anyway! The journey to Bangkok felt looooooooooooooong.
When in Bangkok we got a little lost on our search for the famous Khao San Rd. Bangkok is a LOT busier than Phnom Penh and we felt a little out of our depth not being able to say much more than 'Sawadika' to the locals. We eventually found our hostel - NapPark, ate food, browsed the stalls. We prepared ourselves for a night in the streets of Bangkok, found ourselves wandering around when we were suddenly beckoned over by a table of fellow travellers and this lot became our possy for the night. Highlights of the night included Gwen (in a hilarious fashion) eating 2 cockroaches, having a cake fight (it was someones birthday), Gwen making friends with a Thai girl named Rose who followed her the whole night and insisted on sharing beers with us. All in all it was a good night and we returned to our dorm very sleepy indeed.
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| Someones Birthday |
Earlier that day we bumped into a guy who pointed us in the direction of a backpacker travel agent, so off we popped into a tuktuk. This travel agent seemed to know what she was doing and recommended that we go to Ao Nang then Koh Samui instead of Koh Chang as it was more expensive. Taking her advise she sorted all the necessary arrangements within 50 minutes, in which Gwen and I went on a quick, and I stress QUICK, whistle stop wat tour of the city with our tuktuk driver.
Next thing we know we've arrived in Ao Nang
First impression of PhiPhi were Amazing and there were only going to get better! We had met people in Bangkok were gave us the name of some hostels so we strolled to the other side of the island (a whole 15 minute walk away) in search of somewhere to spend the night. It was a strange feeling walking along the beach with full rucksacks while everybody else was sunbathing in bikinis! We tried a few places with dorm rooms but they were all full until eventually we found one, it was a little down the road from the beach but one of the best dorms we''d stayed in yet, and I'm not just talking about the people!
With only one day on PhiPhi you'd think we would have immediately jumped into swimwear and headed to the beach, but instead we chose to have a sleep for most of the afternoon on a platform filled with cushions at the side of one of the beach front bars. Bliss!
Eating at around 8 o clock we became acquainted with the rest of our dorm at a restaurant then we headed out for the night.
While on PhiPhi most people we met recommended going to Koh Tao instead of Koh Samui, so once back in Ao Nang we rung the backpacker place to confirm the change with them got a bus sorted and off we went!!
Cue another 8 hour bus/boat ride. Upon getting off the boat at Koh Tao we were immediately inundated by taxi drivers all offering us to get to '…….. Beach'. Seeing as we didn't have a clue where we were heading, we liked the word 'beach' and this seemed to be the place to go, we jumped on the bandwagon and decided to go there. A guy offered to share his taxi and to spit the cost so in we jumped. This guy turned out to be Joe from London and then the three of us wandered about looking for accommodation. The first place we stumbled upon as we headed towards the beach was "Big Blue Diving' where we bumped into a few other from the boat and together we were all led away by a sweet talking rep from the diving school who managed to convince us all to go scuba diving the next day…
I have never even considered going scuba diving before nor know anything it entails and as we headed out on the boat I felt highly underprepared even after the briefing talk they gave us. Soon it was time to get all our equipment on and by golly that air tank is the heaviest thing I have ever had on my back, we had a weight belt on as well to keep us under the water and a buoyancy jacket for when we don't want to be under the water.
The scariest part of the whole experience was jumping into the water the first time as I was convinced that I would sink straight to the bottom. Upon expressing my fears and was assured that this would not happen and thankfully it didn't! Once resurfaced then we had to inflate our buoyancy jackets and this enabled peaceful floating on the surface without having to flap our feet about! There was 5 people in our group altogether with 2 instructors so I was feeling pretty safe. Once everyone was in the water we proceeded to swim on our backs to some shallow water where we could sit under the water and practice some necessary skills, such as getting water out of our goggles whilst still under water, cleaning the breathing tube thing, getting our air thing back if we take it out of our mouths and lose it, then also learning the hand signals we would use to communicate once under the water. On the way back to the boat we had our goggles on and were breathing with the tank to get used to it and I must say it is such a strange feeling, taking that first breath underwater just feels so wrong! But is was AMAZING!
If if I thought this was amazing much more was to be in store on our second dive going right underwater to the very bottom, swimming over coral, past loads of fish. Words cannot explain how cool it was!!!
The next three days on Koh Tao were spent with with Leo (whom we met while signing up to dive) and Joe and it was very good company indeed. We finally just chilled on a beach basking in the shallow waters. I didn't venture out to far because the first time I tried a fish bit me, causing a steady retreat.
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| Us with Leo, one of the most remarkable people we have met!!! |
It was a peaceful journey back to Bangkok, our only slight hitch was getting from the bus to the airport where the taxi driver first quoted us 4000 baht (£74) this was obviously ridiculous so we got the price down to 1000 baht, we got in then he clarified it was 1000 each! Tired and not bothering to argue we settled upon 1500 for the two of us then upon realising it was a meter taxi we instead asked him to turn the meter on. He said it was broken and this is where we should have got straight out of the taxi. He kept changing the story, one minute the meter was broken, next it was not on because it couldn't work outside Bangkok. In the end we gave him 1000 baht and he took off angrily. Don't know why because we were still overcharged by about 600 baht.
We then spent 6 hours sitting near check in for the gate to open.
Then HOMEEEE!
We then spent 6 hours sitting near check in for the gate to open.
Then HOMEEEE!
All in all we really enjoyed out tie in Thailand, thankfully we didn't have any problems with bus/transport scams like in other stories we've heard about! We met absolutely AMAZING people in Thailand, so shout out if you're one of them reading this and it was quite nice pretending to be a proper 'backpacker' now!
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Busy busy busy
Debbies
Last week at Debbie's we had the interesting addition of Nika, a Khmer lady who is a blind masseuse (and who also speaks fabulous English!) This was useful because she could translate between Debbies and Sothys brother, teaching him how to lead a dead-blind person as opposed to a blind person, the dangers to look out for while guiding etc.
English Lessons
I haven't really done an update about English Lessons in a while, because they haven't really been happening all too often. However recently this has all changed!! Ma Gwen and Ma Alison are out in force!! One of the caregivers also now comes to the middle English Class, this helps with discipline but also gives us a chance to bond with her since they speak no english and we speak little Khmer.
Gwen is going to work with this group while I work with the younger age group which is another challenge in itself! In most classes someone is crying because another child has scribbled on their work, or pushed them, or one loses interest and starts throwing things at the rest of the class. I'm hoping once they get more settled into the routine it'll become a lot less stressful.!.!
Swimming/Football
On Saturday the 15th March we went to the Olympic Swimming pool with 12 of the older children, Phearon (the GH manager) and it was a lot of fun!!! I'm unsure how clean the water actually was as it neither tasted of Chlorine or Salt but the day was enjoyed by all and after a lot of splashing, being pushed into the pool and pulling people out of the pool it was time to shower and get changed. After this we watched a football game which was taking place in the actual stadium, the match was between two Phnom Penh teams and I didn't really have a clue what was going on but it was a nice atmosphere and we spent a bit of money on tasty Khmer treats and drinks throughout the match.
Park
Since the school schedule swaps what time the kids go to school it was time again for another trip to the park! They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, (although we brought our youngest and most crazy/uncontrollable child who escaped from the park, took someones sugar cane juice and ran back into the park with it, cue chasing him around the park trying to apologise to the drinks owner. But hey hey all in a days work!) When Phearon joined us he did some races and assault courses with the kids which was very amusing to watch, see picture!!
After the park we went to the front of the Royal Palace and they chased pigeons for a while then returned home.
Gals Outing!
We tried to organise something for International Womans Day but didn't manage to get a speaker in the end. Still working on it though! Instead we took all the older girls for a treat to Lucky Burger where they devoured Chicken Thighs, bread, and who knows what else instead of their usual rice!
Last week at Debbie's we had the interesting addition of Nika, a Khmer lady who is a blind masseuse (and who also speaks fabulous English!) This was useful because she could translate between Debbies and Sothys brother, teaching him how to lead a dead-blind person as opposed to a blind person, the dangers to look out for while guiding etc.
English Lessons
I haven't really done an update about English Lessons in a while, because they haven't really been happening all too often. However recently this has all changed!! Ma Gwen and Ma Alison are out in force!! One of the caregivers also now comes to the middle English Class, this helps with discipline but also gives us a chance to bond with her since they speak no english and we speak little Khmer.
Gwen is going to work with this group while I work with the younger age group which is another challenge in itself! In most classes someone is crying because another child has scribbled on their work, or pushed them, or one loses interest and starts throwing things at the rest of the class. I'm hoping once they get more settled into the routine it'll become a lot less stressful.!.!
Swimming/Football
On Saturday the 15th March we went to the Olympic Swimming pool with 12 of the older children, Phearon (the GH manager) and it was a lot of fun!!! I'm unsure how clean the water actually was as it neither tasted of Chlorine or Salt but the day was enjoyed by all and after a lot of splashing, being pushed into the pool and pulling people out of the pool it was time to shower and get changed. After this we watched a football game which was taking place in the actual stadium, the match was between two Phnom Penh teams and I didn't really have a clue what was going on but it was a nice atmosphere and we spent a bit of money on tasty Khmer treats and drinks throughout the match.
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| At Olympic Pool |
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| GH kids taking over! |
Park
Since the school schedule swaps what time the kids go to school it was time again for another trip to the park! They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, (although we brought our youngest and most crazy/uncontrollable child who escaped from the park, took someones sugar cane juice and ran back into the park with it, cue chasing him around the park trying to apologise to the drinks owner. But hey hey all in a days work!) When Phearon joined us he did some races and assault courses with the kids which was very amusing to watch, see picture!!
After the park we went to the front of the Royal Palace and they chased pigeons for a while then returned home.
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| My crazy monkey |
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| Games and Races |
We tried to organise something for International Womans Day but didn't manage to get a speaker in the end. Still working on it though! Instead we took all the older girls for a treat to Lucky Burger where they devoured Chicken Thighs, bread, and who knows what else instead of their usual rice!
Friday, 14 March 2014
Phnom Penh hits Siem Reap!!!
So Friday the 7th of March brought the start of our first adventure out of Phnom Penh to the distant lands of Siem Reap. It also brought an 8 hour bus journey. The company offered wifi throughout the trip, which is theory is great. In practice not so much, yes it was connected to the bus's wifi but not to much more than that!
Quadbiking
After meeting up with the girls from Siem Reap we went for a 'Sunset Quadbiking Tour' which was simply amazing. We had to have a 'driving test' which consisted driving a few hundred metres down a track, completing a series of turns then voilaaaa! The tour brought us through the backroads of Siem Reap so we could take in the landscape, pass by horrendously skinny cattle and wave back at all the children who ran out of their homes to see the passing 'Barang'. Finally we stopped in a field where we and clients from what seemed to be a few other tour companies took in the beautiful Cambodian sunset!
It was definitely a fun experience and I would do it again without a quim!
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| We love Cambodia!!!! |
We went out on the Sunday to watch the Wales v England match in the six nations. Much to Gwen's dismay England won the match however the English people sitting beside us were absolutely over the moon!!!!! We then went out with the Siem Reap girls and bumping into a few rugby friends along the way heading back to the Mad Monkey at 1. Ready to rise at 4 for Angkor Wat!
Cinema
As a relaxing activity on Sunday afternoon we went to the cinema, Cambodian style. Where you chose a film and watch it in a private booth. Someone definitely needs to bring this idea back home!!!
Temples
I was awoken at 3.45 to the sight of Gwen and the guy in the bunk below mine trying to turn over someone who was snoring - with varying levels of success. Eventually the snoring ceased and Gwen and I began to pack for the day ahead.
We had rented bicycles for $3 the day before intending to cycle round the temples rather than pay $15 for a tuktuk, as we left the hostel and headed towards the gate we bumped into two complete strangers, (fellow travellers) who couldn't sleep. One of whom decided to hop on the back of my back and come to Angkor Wat with us, the more the merrier!!)
The road soon turned pitch black, with Gwen leading the way we could hardly see what was in front of us until a Cambodian man riding a bike came behind us and we decided to follow him instead.
Upon arriving at the entrance we were asked for our tickets, which we hadn't purchased. This then turned into a $3 moto ride each to the ticket office - whoooops! Turned out we'd cycled down the wrong road which would have led us there on the way.
I was awoken at 3.45 to the sight of Gwen and the guy in the bunk below mine trying to turn over someone who was snoring - with varying levels of success. Eventually the snoring ceased and Gwen and I began to pack for the day ahead.
We had rented bicycles for $3 the day before intending to cycle round the temples rather than pay $15 for a tuktuk, as we left the hostel and headed towards the gate we bumped into two complete strangers, (fellow travellers) who couldn't sleep. One of whom decided to hop on the back of my back and come to Angkor Wat with us, the more the merrier!!)
The road soon turned pitch black, with Gwen leading the way we could hardly see what was in front of us until a Cambodian man riding a bike came behind us and we decided to follow him instead.
Upon arriving at the entrance we were asked for our tickets, which we hadn't purchased. This then turned into a $3 moto ride each to the ticket office - whoooops! Turned out we'd cycled down the wrong road which would have led us there on the way.
We arrived for sunrise, which wasn't that spectacular as it was cloudy in the morning which made it great weather for actually walking and exploring the temples. Our favourite temple was Bayon as there was so much to it and different places to explore. We then cycled along the 'long' route around the temples complex around 26 km in total. By this stage it was warm, very warm in fact and the wind was blowing against our direction of travel which didn't help. Many of the tuk-tuk drivers that were going past shouted encouraging messages of support in their best English applauding their efforts, others just laughed at the two red, sweaty white girls cycling through the country.
We were back at the hostel by 12 our check out time and spent most of the afternoon sleeping on the sofas upstairs or chatting with people!
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| Site of Meditation |
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| Spot the Statue |
Night Bus!
We had slight apprehensions about the night bus as we were due to arrive in PP at 6am and head straight back to Group Home for a day of work right after. We desperately needed some sleep! And, to our surprise, sleep is most certainly what we got. For a cross country bus, driving along cross country roads, our journey back was one of comfort and pleasure, to say the least. We slept through 6 and a half hours and, to be frank, would happily have stayed on the comfy beds that made up the night bus a lot longer.
Monday, 10 March 2014
'Ma Blue Bum?'
First off, let me say that this working week hasn't at all been exciting. But every memory counts so here we go! :)
Activities
Group Home Movie NightOn the evening of Monday we put on a movie (Kung Foo Panda) for the Group Home Kids, it was Khmer so went down an absolute treat! We tried to make popcorn but sadly this did not turn out as planned and most of the kernels didn't pop! :( However the kids were very content with eating the un-popped kernels doused in sugar, so they were happy.
Football at River
Since the Group Home got new footballs it has been a much loved source of entertainment, so on Wednesday morning Gwen and I with 7 children in tow headed down to the river to play a few games. It didn't turn out to be football, but just games with the ball. But thats all right.
Debbies
On Thursday we went to Debbies, we now bring the child who's dead blind and his brother. This is so they can learn to communicate with each other because after Magna closes (which will happen eventually) what will happen to him. Deaf organisations will not take him because he's blind. Blind organisations will not take him because he's deaf. Solution???!!!?!?!?!
Pancakes (again)
We made more pancakes (again) because the kids liked them so much. Also because apparently we did pancake day 2 weeks earlier. Oppppppps. Oh well, more pancakes for us.
Like I said, no biggies this week, not much drama. Just chillllllin. Then we went to SIEM
REAP!!!!
P.s 'Ma Blue Bum?' is a quote from one of our boys who thought Gwens bum was blue. Guess the primark leggings with a blue in the bum won't be making an appearance again!
Activities
Group Home Movie NightOn the evening of Monday we put on a movie (Kung Foo Panda) for the Group Home Kids, it was Khmer so went down an absolute treat! We tried to make popcorn but sadly this did not turn out as planned and most of the kernels didn't pop! :( However the kids were very content with eating the un-popped kernels doused in sugar, so they were happy.
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| Yummy Popcorn... |
Football at River
Since the Group Home got new footballs it has been a much loved source of entertainment, so on Wednesday morning Gwen and I with 7 children in tow headed down to the river to play a few games. It didn't turn out to be football, but just games with the ball. But thats all right.
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| We did play with it too! |
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| Football turned photoshoot! |
Debbies
On Thursday we went to Debbies, we now bring the child who's dead blind and his brother. This is so they can learn to communicate with each other because after Magna closes (which will happen eventually) what will happen to him. Deaf organisations will not take him because he's blind. Blind organisations will not take him because he's deaf. Solution???!!!?!?!?!
Pancakes (again)
We made more pancakes (again) because the kids liked them so much. Also because apparently we did pancake day 2 weeks earlier. Oppppppps. Oh well, more pancakes for us.
Like I said, no biggies this week, not much drama. Just chillllllin. Then we went to SIEM
REAP!!!!
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| One of my favourite photos :) |
P.s 'Ma Blue Bum?' is a quote from one of our boys who thought Gwens bum was blue. Guess the primark leggings with a blue in the bum won't be making an appearance again!
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Shout out to Anti Meg and DDD
First off to Anti Meg and DDD, caru chi. There's nothing more enjoyable than after a stressful hour of manic finger painting, retreating to our room opening emails downloaded and reading a delighting tale of the youth of DDD and taking note of the valuable life lessons that can be learned. This is a shout out to show our love, portray our enjoyment and say keep them coming. Always a highlight of a day.
Pancake Day
Our first GH cooking adventure was in the form of pancakes. Because it was pancake day and we didn't want to miss out!
This was eagerly anticipated by both of us and after a slightly stressful experience with the budget finally managed to grab hold of our requested $10. So off we popped to Lucky Supermarket with one of the older girls and Thea, the teacher of the younger kids. There was a surprising array of pancake mixes so we opted for one that we just had to add water too, less stress for everyone.
We got back and the pancake making got under way. It was fun and it was yummy!! (with surprisingly little drama occurring.)
Desk Officer Visit
Friday the 21st of February was another much anticipated date our desk officer visit! Heloise watched us go about our daily activities in the home such as taking some of the kids to the park. Then we went for PIZZA. We stayed overnight at the Group Home then met Heloise at the Mad Monkey from where we took a trip to the Russian Market. Involving a loooooong walk, getting lost a few times, asking for directions, finding ourselves on a street where another smaller local (cheaper) market is and generally having a lovely long conversation!
Amok
After the Russian Market we made our way to Imma's house where we met her husband Charles, (who is the most knowledgable man i've ever met!). It was lovely being in a proper HOUSE, where you can see things like toasters, and kettles. MADNESS
The food was absolutely amazing! A mango salad to start with, then fish amok followed by pastries and tea. We felt like a noble guest at the kings banquet.!
I have to say in this project we always feel extremely looked after by the adults who are around us. Imma and Charles are just simply amazing, if we have anything that needs finding or need an answer for something Imma is on the case. e.g. we mentioned we'd like a kettle and all of a sudden we're being brought to an electric shop to look for one. Didn't find one that suited the bill then when we're in Browns saying bye to Heloise and Imma pops in what does she have for us A KETTLE! (Thats one example in a fair few I can think of). Debbie, who works with the child who is deaf blind remembered the passing conversation we had about nits then has someone go out and buy us nit shampoo, her husband made us toast, tea, gave us juice. Then just before we left they set us up with a tub of chocolate brownies. yes.... CHOCOLATE BROWNIES. Needless to say they were gone in about an hour.
Sorry it's been a short and not very informative update. Hopefully next week we're getting strict with English Lessons, i.e. attendance, homework. We'll see how that goes.
Cheerio
Pancake Day
Our first GH cooking adventure was in the form of pancakes. Because it was pancake day and we didn't want to miss out!
This was eagerly anticipated by both of us and after a slightly stressful experience with the budget finally managed to grab hold of our requested $10. So off we popped to Lucky Supermarket with one of the older girls and Thea, the teacher of the younger kids. There was a surprising array of pancake mixes so we opted for one that we just had to add water too, less stress for everyone.
We got back and the pancake making got under way. It was fun and it was yummy!! (with surprisingly little drama occurring.)
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| Pancakes went down a treat! |
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| Cooking Pancakes on the Stove! |
Friday the 21st of February was another much anticipated date our desk officer visit! Heloise watched us go about our daily activities in the home such as taking some of the kids to the park. Then we went for PIZZA. We stayed overnight at the Group Home then met Heloise at the Mad Monkey from where we took a trip to the Russian Market. Involving a loooooong walk, getting lost a few times, asking for directions, finding ourselves on a street where another smaller local (cheaper) market is and generally having a lovely long conversation!
Amok
After the Russian Market we made our way to Imma's house where we met her husband Charles, (who is the most knowledgable man i've ever met!). It was lovely being in a proper HOUSE, where you can see things like toasters, and kettles. MADNESS
The food was absolutely amazing! A mango salad to start with, then fish amok followed by pastries and tea. We felt like a noble guest at the kings banquet.!
I have to say in this project we always feel extremely looked after by the adults who are around us. Imma and Charles are just simply amazing, if we have anything that needs finding or need an answer for something Imma is on the case. e.g. we mentioned we'd like a kettle and all of a sudden we're being brought to an electric shop to look for one. Didn't find one that suited the bill then when we're in Browns saying bye to Heloise and Imma pops in what does she have for us A KETTLE! (Thats one example in a fair few I can think of). Debbie, who works with the child who is deaf blind remembered the passing conversation we had about nits then has someone go out and buy us nit shampoo, her husband made us toast, tea, gave us juice. Then just before we left they set us up with a tub of chocolate brownies. yes.... CHOCOLATE BROWNIES. Needless to say they were gone in about an hour.
Sorry it's been a short and not very informative update. Hopefully next week we're getting strict with English Lessons, i.e. attendance, homework. We'll see how that goes.
Cheerio
Friday, 14 February 2014
Ma Doc Da
HOSPITAL
So the week 3rd-7th Feb, Gwen wasn't feeling so tip-top. Then eventually on Friday (7th) Romain, Denisa and the Doctors at Magna (amazing people) diagnosed her with dehydration and we were sent to hospital where after a quick belly poke they put her on a drip.
The hospital was lovely and clean and I had the most AMAZING cheese baguette. That night the Dr and Imma both came to visit and we were feeling very loved! Imma took me to Lucky's where she bought us Crackers and Water (Gwens strict diet instructions from the Dr who gave the drip) then we settled down to sleep. (I had a campbed in the corner).
After this brief stint in hospital Gwen was thankfully feeling a lot lot better so she was discharged and we carried on our weekend. :D
which consisted of...
HOTEL 9/ SATURDAY
We arrived at Hotel 9 mid afternoon and had a quick wifi session then went to the Boulevard to do some shopping. I forgot to bring a bikini and this hotel had a SWIMMING POOL- something we've been craving since we have got here. We also found a beautiful little clothes shop where Gwen purchased a few items to cheer herself up - and we will definately be going back here.
We ate tea at Top Banana then headed round to Score! Sports Bar and Grill to watch the Ireland v Wales match (Alison v Gwen). Ireland won!!! Although I can't rub it in too much since I don't have the first notion about rugby.
We got back to the Hotel about midnight and then went for a swim! (Which was amazing) Then slepppppt.
On Sunday we met Imma for Lunch and she brought us to a fabulous cafe called Blue Pumpkin. Here you sit on a bigbig sofa and put a little table over your legs which you eat off. Amazing.
ACTIVITIES AT GH
We tried finger painting again as most of the older children were in a meeting and there was only a few of the well(ish) behaved little ones and Vannak to supervise. This time it worked a treat! (Until Danith started tipping the paint pots upside down.)
We organised a trip to a park in Phnom Penh, the two of us and 14 kids. What can go wrong? Turns out nothing did and we all had a fabulous time! We did run out of water though, but luckily Phearun dropped by on his way to the GH and saved the day. We then brought them across to Watt Phnom and we had a walk round there.
In the end there was 14 sleepy children and two very sleepy volunteers in the tuktuk home.
Thursday the 13th was spent doing valentines related activities. The children got a talk from Phearum about it while we were at the hospital in the morning then we did a craft with them in the afternoon.
We wanted there to be hearts so we came up with the idea of each child decorating a heart, putting it on string then hanging them all from a coat hanger so they'd all be together and be a decoration from the home. We sought out glue, stickers, feathers, pom-poms, pens, pencils - basically anything crafty and trouble free we could find. (e.g. no scissors). Had all the templates and string cut out before hand being ultra organised and heyheyhey another successful craft.
Today (friday the 14th) one of the girls brought us snake hunting. Gwen had her hiking boots and cap on in preparation for the trip, but lo and behold we went down the lane next to the house and peered in their garden to a shed where apparently there was a snake ( we never saw it.)
We also went down to the river this afternoon to witness a chinese celebration where men turned into monkeys and cut their toungues off. We missed it (by two hours) so we still don't quite grasp the concept. However we did have a lovely afternoon with the children and Phearum sitting by the river drinking cool icey drinks.
This week we found out that Doc Da means 'watch cartoons'. We have watched Despicable Me 3 times this week already.
So the week 3rd-7th Feb, Gwen wasn't feeling so tip-top. Then eventually on Friday (7th) Romain, Denisa and the Doctors at Magna (amazing people) diagnosed her with dehydration and we were sent to hospital where after a quick belly poke they put her on a drip.
The hospital was lovely and clean and I had the most AMAZING cheese baguette. That night the Dr and Imma both came to visit and we were feeling very loved! Imma took me to Lucky's where she bought us Crackers and Water (Gwens strict diet instructions from the Dr who gave the drip) then we settled down to sleep. (I had a campbed in the corner).
After this brief stint in hospital Gwen was thankfully feeling a lot lot better so she was discharged and we carried on our weekend. :D
 |
| Feeling Good |
which consisted of...
HOTEL 9/ SATURDAY
We arrived at Hotel 9 mid afternoon and had a quick wifi session then went to the Boulevard to do some shopping. I forgot to bring a bikini and this hotel had a SWIMMING POOL- something we've been craving since we have got here. We also found a beautiful little clothes shop where Gwen purchased a few items to cheer herself up - and we will definately be going back here.
We ate tea at Top Banana then headed round to Score! Sports Bar and Grill to watch the Ireland v Wales match (Alison v Gwen). Ireland won!!! Although I can't rub it in too much since I don't have the first notion about rugby.
We got back to the Hotel about midnight and then went for a swim! (Which was amazing) Then slepppppt.
 |
| Midnight Swim at Hotel 9 |
On Sunday we met Imma for Lunch and she brought us to a fabulous cafe called Blue Pumpkin. Here you sit on a bigbig sofa and put a little table over your legs which you eat off. Amazing.
ACTIVITIES AT GH
We tried finger painting again as most of the older children were in a meeting and there was only a few of the well(ish) behaved little ones and Vannak to supervise. This time it worked a treat! (Until Danith started tipping the paint pots upside down.)
We organised a trip to a park in Phnom Penh, the two of us and 14 kids. What can go wrong? Turns out nothing did and we all had a fabulous time! We did run out of water though, but luckily Phearun dropped by on his way to the GH and saved the day. We then brought them across to Watt Phnom and we had a walk round there.
In the end there was 14 sleepy children and two very sleepy volunteers in the tuktuk home.
Thursday the 13th was spent doing valentines related activities. The children got a talk from Phearum about it while we were at the hospital in the morning then we did a craft with them in the afternoon.
We wanted there to be hearts so we came up with the idea of each child decorating a heart, putting it on string then hanging them all from a coat hanger so they'd all be together and be a decoration from the home. We sought out glue, stickers, feathers, pom-poms, pens, pencils - basically anything crafty and trouble free we could find. (e.g. no scissors). Had all the templates and string cut out before hand being ultra organised and heyheyhey another successful craft.
Today (friday the 14th) one of the girls brought us snake hunting. Gwen had her hiking boots and cap on in preparation for the trip, but lo and behold we went down the lane next to the house and peered in their garden to a shed where apparently there was a snake ( we never saw it.)
We also went down to the river this afternoon to witness a chinese celebration where men turned into monkeys and cut their toungues off. We missed it (by two hours) so we still don't quite grasp the concept. However we did have a lovely afternoon with the children and Phearum sitting by the river drinking cool icey drinks.
This week we found out that Doc Da means 'watch cartoons'. We have watched Despicable Me 3 times this week already.
Friday, 7 February 2014
Last Two Weeks
Wooooooahhhhhh, two weeks seems to FLY by here!!
Phnom Penh.
On the weekend 24th to 26th January we stayed in Phnom Penh. The Friday night was spent in the 'Blue Dog Guesthouse', the mattresses here were so thin that every spring could be felt through it however I strangely liked it as it felt like the mattress I had in summer up at the cottage. The second night was spent in the "Little Banana"in a cute little dorm room. It had 7 mattresses on the floor a bathroom and not much else, but for $4 a night what else would you expect? We really liked this place so will definitely be going back in the future. On the Friday night we had our usual pizza treat, eating at the Top Banana and here we met Tyler from Canada. The next morning we ate breakfast with Alice from England then all spent the day at the market and in a cafe together. Then at Little Banana we met Tim from Germany and Dennis from Russia, and it was these two we went to a rooftop party with in celebration of the Chinese new year. The party was good, the music a bit odd. It was a mix between cambodian remixes then suddenly changed to meditation music... but the view from the rooftop was pretty good. After we hung out with some Khmer people who Tim and Dennis knew, and very nearly got brought to a karaoke place (luckily it was full).
We also went to The National Museum with Antoine, who is interning with Magna. It was quite interesting, if you like statues of Buddas. Because there were a lot of statues of Buddas! Or Budda-like objects. The gardens were nice and there was a monk casually sitting beside the pond. This is becoming normal for us now (gradually). Here we got our palms read for one dollar each. I was a bit apprehensive because i'm not sure about anything like that but after watching Gwen and Antoine (and seeing what a load of rubbish it is perhaps due to difficulties in communication) gave it a go. Basically, I might travel somewhere foreign (who knew!), I need not worry about money and in order for happiness I need to get married soon.
Going into Phnom Penh is definitely a good way to meet people and it's exciting to hear about other people's travels and where is good for us to go.
Swimming.
For the last few years, the Magna volunteers have been bringing Sothy, who is deaf-blind to a place called Hotel 252 to swim. This gives him the rare opportunity of getting out of the Group Home. We rang up the manager to try and get this started up again, however she informed us that two summer volunteers (not from Project Trust) had brought children but not Sothy, they had made quite a bit of noise, left balls lying around and generally made a racket - resulting in complaints from the residents of the hotel. They wrote to Magna but got no reply, we asked about but no-one seems to know of anything. We are currently looking for somewhere else to take us and have sent e-mails out, but so far no replies.
Debbie
We finally got to meet up with Debbie this past thursday, who works with Sothy on using sign language so he is able to communicate with his peers. We arrived just as breakfast was finishing and I got to eat TOAST with JAM and drink APPLE JUICE. Toast has never tasted so good.!
The first session was just mainly playing, next lesson more work to be done. I enjoyed going to Debbie's as it's a relaxing chance to get away, but also nice seeing Sothy being able to play without his toys being scrambled for by the other children.
English Classes
We are making slow but steady progress with English Classes. The first week went well, then the school timetable changed and its hard to know who's coming and who's going. The kids here only go to school for half the day and each month that swaps. So if you went in the morning you not go in the afternoon etc. But some of them changed and some of them didn't, slightly disrupting our carefully made timetable of who should be in class when....
Also, sometimes a few of the kids seem to nap when they should be in classes, so we may have to make it a later class. We'll see how things turn out...
Chinese New Year Party
On Thursday the 26th February we celebrated the Chinese New Year (Year of the Horse) at the Group Home with a partyyyyyy! First we watched cartoons for a while, then played games - blind mans bluff etc, then was a traditional dance show from the older Magna Kids and they were really good! We had a BBQ for tea then spicy curry and baguettes. Then was the time to give everyone a present.
Since we wern't here for Christmas they kids didn't have it but Magna had bought each child a teddy bear, our job was to create a big heap of them on the floor then each clid came up and picked one. And it went rather well :) The children were so excited and it was so warming to watch the gratitude spread right across their faces! Then A LOT of dancing. There kids love to dance. And Khmer dancing at that. Which involves a lot of animal like movements and twirling of the hands...
Phnom Penh.
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| Playing Pool at the Little Banana |
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| Gwen the Professional Pool Player |
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| I also won quite a few cans of orange soda, here we are celebrating. |
We also went to The National Museum with Antoine, who is interning with Magna. It was quite interesting, if you like statues of Buddas. Because there were a lot of statues of Buddas! Or Budda-like objects. The gardens were nice and there was a monk casually sitting beside the pond. This is becoming normal for us now (gradually). Here we got our palms read for one dollar each. I was a bit apprehensive because i'm not sure about anything like that but after watching Gwen and Antoine (and seeing what a load of rubbish it is perhaps due to difficulties in communication) gave it a go. Basically, I might travel somewhere foreign (who knew!), I need not worry about money and in order for happiness I need to get married soon.
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| Front of the National Museum |
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| Gwen, Antoine, Me |
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| Big Budda. (Notice monk left hand side) |
Swimming.
Debbie
We finally got to meet up with Debbie this past thursday, who works with Sothy on using sign language so he is able to communicate with his peers. We arrived just as breakfast was finishing and I got to eat TOAST with JAM and drink APPLE JUICE. Toast has never tasted so good.!
The first session was just mainly playing, next lesson more work to be done. I enjoyed going to Debbie's as it's a relaxing chance to get away, but also nice seeing Sothy being able to play without his toys being scrambled for by the other children.
English Classes
We are making slow but steady progress with English Classes. The first week went well, then the school timetable changed and its hard to know who's coming and who's going. The kids here only go to school for half the day and each month that swaps. So if you went in the morning you not go in the afternoon etc. But some of them changed and some of them didn't, slightly disrupting our carefully made timetable of who should be in class when....
Also, sometimes a few of the kids seem to nap when they should be in classes, so we may have to make it a later class. We'll see how things turn out...
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| Teacher Gwen |
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| Blue Lemons |
Chinese New Year Party
On Thursday the 26th February we celebrated the Chinese New Year (Year of the Horse) at the Group Home with a partyyyyyy! First we watched cartoons for a while, then played games - blind mans bluff etc, then was a traditional dance show from the older Magna Kids and they were really good! We had a BBQ for tea then spicy curry and baguettes. Then was the time to give everyone a present.
Since we wern't here for Christmas they kids didn't have it but Magna had bought each child a teddy bear, our job was to create a big heap of them on the floor then each clid came up and picked one. And it went rather well :) The children were so excited and it was so warming to watch the gratitude spread right across their faces! Then A LOT of dancing. There kids love to dance. And Khmer dancing at that. Which involves a lot of animal like movements and twirling of the hands...
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| Teddies for Everyone |
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| Chinese New Year Celebrations in Takhmao |
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| After seeing the dragon. We were all so excited there was no time for shoes! |
Friday, 24 January 2014
MA!
This week was fairly quiet at the GH.
English
We've been running a few English Lessons this week for the eager ones who want to start early. All in all it's been a pretty pleasant experience. We found that most of the younger ones can't read english and their only grasp of the alphabet is singing the song. Ask them to draw an 'L' on the board they can't. So we might have to get back to basics with them. Every evening we have been giving the older (advanced) group a lesson. We covered sentences such as "I am very/ I am not very... hungry/full/happy/sad etcetc. Also looked at Nouns/adjectives and Verbs and did reading with them. I'd like to look into getting proper reading books. i.e. 9 copies of the same book they can read then we look over in class, but the budget may not stretch that far.
Activities
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| Artistic |
We also tried finger painting with about 10 of the kids, all started well then chaos. A lot of paints got mixed, the patio has a bit of paint on it, so do my jeans. Maybe stick to pencils and crayons for a while longer.
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| At the Park |
Food this week hasn't been to awful. The Ma's have taken to making us something different than the kids, not sure why as sometimes theirs looks muchhhh nicer than ours.
Gwen also tried a coconut, and the juice is pretty nice! We ate a lot more deep fried bananas. Tried our first proper Khmer Street Coffee (2000 riel). Had a weird cold desert which I can only compare to the inside of a pavlova. Got given a wooden stick where you peel back the bark and inside is sweet rice and coconut. Sweet rice balls with coconut on the outside in thick creamy coconut milk. (yum). Also a ... burger..., apparently their Chinese and consist of a doughy bread (if you can call it that) and the weirdest meat inside, and inside that meat is egg. Odd. Can't say we ate those as eagerly as the kids.
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| The 'burger' |
Hospital
This week we were meant to start going to the CCH hospital which isn't far from the GH. We got brought for a 10 minute tour on Monday, then went on Tuesday - only to be told that there was nothing for us to do but we come along to the adolescent group counselling on Thursday Morning where they were going to learn about weening babies to porridge made from their mothers milk. So we went along. Watched some Mr Bean and then it got started. The whole thing was in Khmer, but we got the jist of it. In the 2 hour sessions there was 2 snack breaks, one for the rice/coconut balls the second for the burger, thing. Oh there was also crackers to eat at the start of the session. I swear these people don't stop eating.!
I think we go next week every morning to do activities with the children who are waiting for their appointments.
We started cleaning it, then some of the kids thought it looked an interesting activity and decided to join in. We gave the camera to one boy which resulted in loadddddsssss of pictures of the bathroom being cleaned. But now it's clean. :)
Lastly, the other night we also found a HUGE spider in our room. Gwen swiftly captured it and released it into its natural habitat.
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