Early rise once again, the team recovering from first day of building and getting ready for the next one, all tired and hot from the heat and humidity. We embarked on a 45 minute bus trip back to the village to continue our project. We all lacked energy and plugged in our iPods and earphones on the bus, wondering how the day would go.
After getting off the bus, we were greeted by familiar faces and many hugs and smiles. We set to work where we left off and continued building until lunch where we swapped jobs. A group of us helped prepare lunch for us whilst the rest of us worked through. One group focused on the house build which consisted of; nailing the floor boards and window frames. The other group focused on; sawing bamboo, cutting recycled water bottles to use as pots for the plants and hanging those off the outer and inner frame of the green house. The group that worked on the green house dug a trench and prepared the ground using compost for planting. The approximate time of growth is three months for various of plants to cover the green house and five months to bare fruit.
During the second rotation, a few students went off to meet the locals in the village whilst others continued the two sections of the jobs. Three of the children that we had been playing with took us to see their homes and meet their families. They each told us a story, Janpolla, Samime and Nuong. Janpolla is eight years old and has a five month old brother. Samime is fourteen and has an eleven year old brother. Nuong is thirteen and has a five year old brother, twenty three year old sister and a brother. Her mother is now a grandma – her sister gave birth to a girl who is two months old.
Most of the women in the village got married at fifteen and have never been outside of their village. Most of their husbands work on the farm which they stay on but come back at the end of rice harvest which will be in around a month, meaning they don’t see them that much and the women are by themselves most of the time. When we asked the kids what they might like to be when they grow up,my of them said that they wanted to be a tailor and others wanted to be a nurse or a teacher. It was very enlightening to hear that they shared some of our own aspirations.
Throughout the build, the team has had great communication skills and teamwork. Everyone has worked together to either put down the floorboards or put together the framework of the bamboo greenhouse. Within only two days, we are well on the way to giving a family a new start. Everyone is surprised at what we have achieved and are excited to be finishing tomorrow and handing a completed house over to a local Cambodian family in need.
Written by Anita Condello and Max King
