Author: Philip Walsh

Another 6:30am wake up for the sleepy Pagodas to prepare ourselves for the last day of the community build. After a quick breakfast, we set off on a rainy adventure to the village. Halfway towards the village, half of the group jumped off the bus to purchase some gifts for the family from the market. We bought blankets, mosquito nets, bicycles, rice and cooking utensils for the villagers. The other half of the group enjoyed a nice dance party in the middle of the bus while we waited. This intense time for dance battles was so enjoyable for the group and it was hilarious seeing the teachers’ dance moves. The bus ride was also a chance for young inspired singers to show us what they got with thrilling goose-bump filled performances. Meanwhile, on the outside of the bus it was pouring down with rain, flooding the streets. 

Once we arrived at the village we set off to finish the house. Whilst the tin was getting put around the outside of the house, some of the Pagodas said their final goodbyes to the little children, enjoying our last moments with them. When the house was done the group performed a ceremony to handover the house and gifts to the family. The family was very greatful for all our hard work and donations and we were glad we could give them a new start. It was a very sad goodbye to everyone as lots of us had devleoped strong relationships with the kids. Tears were shed as we waved our final goodbyes whilst we backed out of the driveway.  On the way to the hotel we stopped at a local school run by Yhou Sa (the local guide for the Temples group). He has raised the money for the school with various charities and organises things ike dentists to come to see all of the local children. We also left some of our gifts  with him, like picture story books and school supplies.

We got some free time at the pool got home and then everyone headed downstairs and refreshed , ready for a traditional cooking class. We prepared a delicious three course meal which included rice paper rolls, chicken amok and caramelised banana for dessert. The dishes were difficult for some, but the final product was tasty for all. After saying another sad goodbye to our local tour guide, Hang. We set off on our final trip to the night market. A highlight of the night was getting relaxing foot massages and having “Dr Fish” – little fish nibbling our dead skin off of our feet. 

After a quick stock up on food for the long bus trip tomorrow to Phnom Penh, we all headed back to the hotel for some much deserved rest.

By  Marelie Koot and Frances Peck 😄😄😜😜😜

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

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

   
    
    
   
    
    
    
    
    
   

The group arose nice and early, enthusiastic for the day ahead. Daniel spent breakfast educating us about his newfound language skills. With examples such as suosday (hello), akun (thank you), numbers and a whole lot more. Lizdog brought some vegemite with her from home and made us all jealous of her toast! We got on the bus nice and early, anxious for a long day in the heat.
When we arrived, we were introduced to the family whom we were building a house for. We were introduced to a widow and her four children, three girls aged 11, 12 and 15, and one boy 17 years old. We began our first task: knocking down the old house to make space for the new house.  Some of us had to walk down to the police station to retrieve the supplies they had been guarding for us – literally guarding, they were even bribed with McDonald’s. Our second task was helping to put together the all the pieces of the frame of the house where we were swarmed by kids. All the village kids were so excited and friendly, we even taught them how to sing a pop song, ‘whip and nae-nae’. With the extra supplies from the money we raised, we also started to build a green house. The kids helped us move supplies and were very enthusiastic about walking barefoot through the sun. We were amazed. Our first day of the build was rewarding and we are keen to see how the house and greenhouse will look when completed.  The trip back to our hotel was about 45 minutes long and on our return we all jumped in the pool, relaxed and enjoyed some down time. At 6.30pm we gathered in the foyer to then head out to a favourite spot of ours in the town centre.  We went soup dragon for dinner and had a family meal where we shared lemongrass chicken, rice paper rolls, sweet sour pork and marinated beef. The food was delicious? The restaurant hosted a range of wildlife such as geckos and a couple of cats. After dinner we went to the night market for a second time and many of us improved our bartering skills. A couple of us went for a fish foot massage, which apparently tickled at the time, but felt amazing when they took their feet out of the tank. 

Today was a truly amazing day on many levels, everyone worked so hard and we really felt like we achieved something. We are all exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep. 

Good night all. 
By Daniel and Izzy

  

   
    
    
    
    
    
   

    
    
    
   

Today was our first full day abroad and to start it off, we woke up early to eat breakfast in the hotel. Once we finally got out of Hotel Sokharoth, we set off to see the Angkor temples. Our tour guides were called Hung and Heng and were very funny as well as extremely informative. The first of the temples was called Bayon and had a bridge which was lined with heads of Buddhas and demons. Although we didn’t see any up close, during the bus ride down the driveway we saw a few monkeys. We were told to stay away however as they can be quite vicious and to be perfectly honest we didn’t want to get scratched on our first day. The temple had many faces, each one representing a former king. We were able to wander around in small groups for an hour before getting back on the bus for our next temple. Just before leaving the boys played some soccer whilst the girls relaxed in the shade where a frog came up to join us. 

The next temple was the one shown in the movie Tomb Raider and it was called Ta Prohm. This temple was being broken up by huge trees which will eventually destroy the temples altogether. We ate lunch after, at a village restaurant where we were offered to taste some fried silkworms. Brave Daniel went first shortly followed by a few other boys and girls. We then made our way over to the famous Angkor Wat temple which is one of the top 10 wonders of the world. We walked over a bridge crossing a lake where we could see the reflection of the Angkor Wat temples. Whilst in the huge central Angkor Wat temple we saw a group of monks celebrating Buddah Day at the temple. During their conversation, they all pulled out their iPhones to take photos.  We came back to the hotel, where we’re having a swim and are about to go to Pub Street for dinner and to the Siem Reap night market. The day’s been hot, humid and long but we’ve all had a great time and are super excited for the rest of the night. 

Blog by Sam May, Bridie Niven and Amy Galston

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

We arrived safe and sound at Ho Chi Mihn airport in great spirits. Two hours to kill before we board our flight to Siem Reap. So some time do a spot of shopping and relax 😀