After a bumpy bus ride we split into two groups into two different villages. We were welcomed warmly by all the families and quickly got into the work. Firstly we looked at the family’s old and small house they lived in and then we had to take it down. The family’s old house was tiny – a little shack to house seven people, which had to be rebuilt every 18 months. This is their old house:
We then all worked together to place up the frames of the family’s new house. It took a lot of teamwork but eventually all the nails were in and the frames were done. After this we split again into two groups: one group stayed and continued to work on the house and the other group got a tour of the whole village by some of the locals. This tour was very eye opening to us as we saw how people in Cambodia live and what little they have. Everyone we met were very friendly and inviting despite our big language barrier. To communicate to a 17 year old girl, we used an English book with pictures which she was learning from to ask questions about her, her family and their community. Once we finished our tour and went back to the house, we saw what the other group had accomplished. They had started on the roof and it started to look good. We all get very excited to see the finish product.
Gradually the children became less shy and we got to communicate and play games with them, such as hokey cokey, duck duck goose, happy and you know it, ring a ring of roses and head shoulders knees and toes. The kids really enjoyed playing and they were so happy, smiling and we were laughing together.
After this we had some lovely lunch that the locals had made for us. This gave us energy to get back into the hard work. We then as a group started to finish the roof and started to build the floors. At around 4 o’clock it was time to say goodbye to the families, pack ourselves up and go back to the hotel. After a hard day we cooled off in the hotel pool and are now about to head off to dinner. After dinner we are all excited to go on tuk-tuk tour around the streets on Siem Reap. We can’t wait to get back to the village over the next two days and finish the house.
By Jessica Ball and Tayla Rainsbury.