hi ppl, im back from cambodia, a trip that has widen my horizons even more, made me even more determined to do my part and share with others. do let me begin with afew scenes that are worthy to, of cos, share.
1. after spending 4 days physically building a wooden house with some (ofcos) professional help, we finally managed to get the basic structure up. as we were heading for phnom penh that day, we cudnt afford to stay longer to the full
completion. just before we left, the old lady whom we raised money to build the house for came across to all of us, stood and clasped her hands to her heart, spoke in khmer to thank us. it was about 5 full minutes filled with tears falling down her cheeks. the backdrop was her old small house whole roof was leaking water. you just dont know what to do and what to say. then, she just came up to each one of us after that to hug us and say oukun(thank you in khmer) from the bottom of her heart.
sometimes when you set off, you haf the feeling that you go there and they welcome you just because of your money or that you are just going there to show some face. it is such sincere gratitude from their hearts that you feel that you have helped in a small way and hope it will go a longer way for them.
2. a salesian nun(from india) was telling us not to feel small in the face of what she have done. she say that their work can never be complete without our help, they cannot dedicate their whole lives to helping in education (salesian sisters of don bosco help out with education specifically) without support from everyone. she told us about the gratefulness of the students we visited, the days we came lit a smile on their faces. they handle poor kids who do not even receive mainstream education and are living in squalid conditions in phnom penh. another nun(from manila) told of the sparkle she see in each of our eyes, the sparkle to share and she hope it will stay shining for as long to come. they welcome us back in the future.
im not catholic by any relation but it is the sharing, the work of the salesian sisters, the yarumal brothers in cambodia that i feel so much, so much for. they dedicate years to oversee education, agricultural development. most of them have never been back home for a really long time. it is them who really make you feel small in whatever you wish to share. they have reminded that its a reciprocal benefit and the smile that drives their everyday is something really i will not forget. i guess its these people that you meet along the way that gives you a different perspective of life, the extra added meaning. im humbled. i really am.
3. ang kor wat is a national tourist attraction that draws crowds from all over the word but the first thing you notice about siem reap is that its far from even singapore in 1970s. i dont know how best to describe siem reap, its just saddening to me that the influx of tourist is not even helping in anyway. the most beautiful building in siem reap is basically the airport which looks like the east coast resort, tat's all. the roads are atrocious, barely tar, without any demarcations on the floor. and that's really the first thing you should not expect to see.
ok. now for the pictorial story.
departed singapore 6am, reached siem reap 7am(local time).
greeted by the beautiful airport, we were still unaware of what was waiting for us, a city in ruins. ok, shudnt harp on it any more, we headed to ang kor wat without wasting much time on a taxi(there are no cabs for hail along the roads fyi, you gotta arrange them thru the hotel or find one at the airport, etc, with of cos a very jacked up price. the taxi for the whole day around a small area cost us 25usd. the entry fee for angkorwat is 20 usd.)
the ticketing office
Ang Kor Wat at the background
inside the ang kor ruins
im one of the scribers!
gigantic tree with gigantic roots, seeing is believing
we climbed this small knoll to get to this wonderful structure with very very steep steps. climbed up further to reach the top to be greeted by a wonderful sunset. (too bad no photo of that..)
and the food at a nice restaurant. the pumpkin stuff was really interesting, pleasing.. prices about 1-2usd per dish, with rice. so quite reasonable we tot.
we spent most of the day exploring the ruins of angkor, ate around, street side, restaurant etc. took a walk around the old market, ate dinner there before we walked along the streets all the way back to our lodging. we spent the night there watching singapore lose to thailand 0-3 before we had our beauty sleep to prepare for the long journey the next day.
a small camry was arranged to drive us to battambang from siem reap(35usd). the road was not ideal at all, totally dirt paths with potholes, diversions, ironically road works, and with 5 of us packed in a really small car. it took us about 4 hours to arrive in battambang before we hopped onto another arranged taxi(25usd) to bring us to pursat where we will begin our work. at Keo Mony, Pursat. managed by Father Hernan, CROAP.
here it goes.
a photo with the old lady and her old house
her kitchen
preparing the structure to mount on top of cement slabs
carrying up the wooden structure to mount onto the concrete
the pros at work
our nailing was so sucky soon we needed help!
the guy at the top is laying the zinc roofing. one of the 2 carpenters hired for the whole house
preparing the floor planks.
Father Hernan working with us to lay the floor
a final photo with the old lady and her grand daughter
planting the mango trees
the old lady hugging each one of us
our silhouettes against the setting sun, mission accomplished!
also, the money raised was used to repair another house for another old lady. (the repair was somehow tearing down the entire old house and building it again with the basic structure's integrity)
the old lady's kitchen
and the other cock things we did..
celebrating the end of 5 days
some monkey around the CROAP area
a cambodian student helping out in CROAP. very very nice guy!
of cos, what's a trip to cambodia without a visit to their floating villages. and its not one that has been made a tourist attraction. RAW. most floating villages are formed by vietnamese refugees who are kind of illegal immigrants status and haf set up their homes along the banks of the tonle sap river. they shift houses with the tide and basically, if they dont like their neighbour, they will just shift the position of their floating house.
now check this out, photo taken in a floating chapel.
father hernan was conducting mass at the floating chapel. before that, he was sharing with us a story that 2 months ago, a family was shifting their house and had accidentally barged into a policeman's boat. the next moment, the entire family was shot dead right at the place we were. and yet, life goes on for them, nothing can be done.
a govt school beside our CROAP accomodation. Keo Mony primary school. some random photos from there. the NUS medical students were there for some health education help out, apart from our group. nice place, nice people.
a translator volunteer. speaks chinese, english, khmer, vietnamese
kids in a local kindergarten. the teachers there are paid 10usd per month, fully sustained by CROAP organisation, not the government.. Helps 20 odd sutdents from nearby.. basically the strain is quite heavy on the teachers and stuff, CROAP is also too busy to dedicate time over to them, wad we actually did was to bring them some xmax gifts and hope they would enjoy it. maybe one day can be back there to help work it up.
it was a beautiful 5 days spent in Keo Mony, Pursat. the total experience that makes you not take things for granted in singapore. we played with monkeys, dogs, chickens, geese, cows, water buffalos, pigs, piglets.. ate so many different kinds of food, fed so well at CROAP, tried local sweet potatoes with the most dirty hands, slept in mosquito nets, washed clothes together.. really memorable.
but equally nice was phnom penh, and now for the journey to phnom penh!
the 4 of us squeeeezed at the back of the small camry car on the way to TownView Hotel, Phnom Penh
too lazy to rotate it :p
Ok we met up with my fren's church group to see what we could help out in the remaining days. our main project of the house has already been successfully completed and most of the other time we had in phnom penh was of cos, sight seeing, understanding the situation, savouring the nice local food fare and enjoy the people.
so understandably, most of the pictures here are photos of us monkeying around!
giving out bags of necessities to families around the area.. of cos, its me trying to snatch the camera view :)
playful kids with my sticker!
phnom penh airport.
me and eugene at the backdrop of the Don Bosco elementary school in PunChreh. behind you see a large pond, that's where the kids play, swim, bathe and almost, even drink.
the five of us with a beautiful lady! the 3 photos below are taken in a thai-chinese restaurant in a busy tourist street along the tonle sap river. very beautiful riverside dining.
a special dish. some bird..
me devouring it!
eat some KFC substitute at the top floor of a local shopping mall beside central market, overlooking the entire phnom penh. beautiful view, gd food.
tat's me and geoffrey
me and kian hong at the swensons in the same shopping mall
the 3 of us with central market as the backdrop. nice place, quite alot of stuff, but of cos not as huge as chatchuchak
a damn playful boy in the don bosco elementary school
our group with sister ophrini. i can and will always remember her smile, and the way she approaches her work. respect. bottom of my heart. she has touched me the most.
us with 3 of the salesian sisters
the 5 of us on the last day
HOME coming, taken at phnom penh international airport. job well done.
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