The painting

Starting to paint

with lots of concentration

only to have it all come off and we had to sandpaper all the walls down again

A little help from our cambodian friend

dust everywhere (this is crazy Kelsey :) )

Sep 29th

Painting, scraping, painting, scraping...

For two days now we've been working on getting our living room area painted, only to find out that the paint shop sold us the the wrong kind of paint and therefore we have now painted twice as well as scraped all the paint off and sandpapered twice. Two days of work for nothing, but we just had to laugh about it and then bring in all the older kids to help us...which made it so much more fun. It's a good group that we have and we all kept our mood up with some playing and teasing, dancing and singing going on. Doing it all over tomorrow again. Lucky it's a Cambodian holiday here right now, so the kids don't have school.

There are a lot of things going on here for my part. I'm trying to get everything organized for the volunteers for the new school year to start here. Getting the schedule together and organize the material for them to use and a teaching outline so that it's easy for them and they have something to follow. I am also gonna start an art project here! I've talked to John and Kathy about it and they think it sounds like a really good idea. So I have plenty of work to do in setting all of this up and looking for donors. Lots of exciting things going on!

Sep 27th

Russian Market, Pots of Clay and Happy Home

Went in to the market today, the Russian market, it's so big and overwhelming. I lasted 45 min and then I went to sit at Pots of Clay, where we were all meeting for lunch. I read my book and did some journaling, trying to write down all of the thousand thought I seemed to have in my head during the night. There are so many things I wanna get working on here.

We also went to visit happy home. Happy home is in Phnom Penh and it's were all the babies under 1 year lives before they come out to the village. If a child comes to us and is healthy it is put up for adoption (we have 3 babies ready for adoption at the moment), unless they have a sibling who is infected and is staying with us, cause they never wanna split family up. In that case they all come and stay with us in the village.

Face painting Sunday

Arranged a really fun but crazy afternoon with the kids today. One of the volunteers had facepaint with her that had been donated and we decided it would be a fun face painting sunday. Absolutely crazy with paint and kids everywhere, but they loved it and we had so much fun! I love the weekendfun!

Getting ready

Bringing out my artist skills, ha ha!

My happy clown

Hard at work

Batman was a really popular on

and balloons

and of course butterflies

Sep 25th

Wandering down the streets of Phnom Penh

We all went into town to do some sightseeing today. I dropped the other volunteers off at the Toul Sleng Museum (S-21) and then went off for a walking tour on my own. So nice to just walk aimlessly down the streets and watch the people live their lives. A nice morning spent on my own, and then I met up with everyone at Friends where John and Kathy treated us to a delicious lunch…feeling a bit spoiled.

Just a little bit of wiring going on

Single mom's quilting project

Expect quilts for Christmas everyone :)

Sep 24th

This morning I got to go into town to meet the new volunteer and bring him out to the village. It was a nice change of a morning to go in to the office and meet everyone working there and have a look at the quilting project that they have going on.

In the evening I was house watching for John and Kathy, taking care of the doggies as they stayed in Phnom Penh over the night. We had a movie night and then went to bed as usual at 8.30. However, I was woken up at 10.30pm by the dogs running around barking like crazy. So, I grab my flashlight sneak out of bed to see what's going on. I get out in the living room and see a mouse run across the room with the dogs chasing after it. I never thought a day would come when I'd feel happy over the fact that it was 'just' a mouse in the house. It's all a matter of perspective, and here I'm thankful for 'just' a mouse. I calmed the dogs down and snuggle up in bed again. Life is good.

Sep 23rd

Redecorating our common area for the volunteers.

It's been bugging me ever since I got here that there is no organization to our living room and work area. Since it's our home Kathy told me I could rearrange however I wanted it and right away we started moving furniture. We put up some curtains too and now the feel is so much better. Feels good to be in charge sometimes :)

A few more sweethearts

Sep 22nd

Changes

Ella has been here for 1½ years and was the one living with, and taking care of the volunteers. She has all of a sudden left as of yesterday and it seems they want me to take over some of the things that she was in charge of here. They are already (in a serious joking manner) talking about me staying for 6 months or more…hmm not sure how this happened. I’m happy to step up and take on some more responsibility though, it’s all happened pretty quickly, but I think it will be fun and a good experience. We will see how this all works out.

Oh, and yesterday night our 17 year old volunteer got stung by a scorpion in her room, and I had to try be the calm comforting person telling her it will be ok (really I was scared out of my mind)…lots of things happening in the village right now.

A few of my cuties

Sep 21st

Snakes and Scorpions

I am going to bed tonight feeling happy with a good day of teaching and playing. Just two minor things that might keep me up and worried a bit. First off this morning as we wake up Ella tells us about how she had a scorpion crawl over her hand last night! Second, as I sit peacefully on the step to our house today just relaxing after lunch, a snake slithers by on the step under my legs! Like I said just two minor things that will be in the back of my mind...I know someone who will be tucking their net in tightly under their mattress tonight.

Bugs...just a part of everyday life

Some ants for dinner? A crispy and actually good tasting soup, believe it or not.

One of my nigh time friends, just chillin' on my pink mosquito net...this is one of the "good" bugs.

Sep 20th

So, it's 5.30 in the morning and I'm out in the sunrise hanging the laundry...who would have ever thought I'd be up at this hour! When that happens it usually means that I haven't made it to bed yet. By 7 o'clock I've gone for a jog, showered, had breakfast and cleaned up my room. I'm on a whole new schedule in life, but it feels good.

Today was my first day teaching and I was a bit nervous about it, but it went ok. I've taken on grade 7 and 8,9,10, then I help the other girls with the smaller ones. I love my grade sevens! They are so happy to be there and so keen to learn. The other ones are more of a struggle, but I think with my stubborn mind we'll find a way to have some fun lessons together and to get them involved. I just need to be a bit more creative. Suggestions are welcomed teacher friends!

The Weekend

Notes from the weekend.

I am sure that after some time teaching I will start looking forward to the weekends. They are relaxed and fun and include a lot of playing time with the kids as well as plenty of own time for me to read and write. We also get more internet time and I was able to skype with my cute little Henry that I miss so much. I went to watch the children's dance and music class, and they are so good...even the smallest little ones are able to follow. They all love it, boys and girls. It's amazing how different cultures and living is. The children tell me about their beliefs and traditions and they are just so different from my own...but no matter how you live, what you have, where you are or who you are, our values seem to always relate. Happiness and love is what they strive for, and I think it's what we all strive for, no matter what shape or form that comes in.

Village Schedule

There is so much to tell now in the beginning of it all, so I’m simply gonna post a schedule of what the days here look like.

5-6 Electricity and internet is on.

5-6 Breakfast (and believe it or not but Kelsey usually gets me out for a morning jog as well…and I do enjoy it, saying hello to the people that are out working in the rice field or on their way to school or work.)

6.30 Truck leaves for market. (This is a nice time to spend with the chef of the cluster I eat in.)

7-10 Children go to local school. Nursery and Pre-school starts in the village. (I usually go in and read an English story or sing with the pre-school children for half an hour.)

10.30 Lunch.

11-13 Children’s rest time. (Super hot time of day and I usually try to just relax and read or have a nap.)

13-17 Lessons in the village. (The volunteers have their own classroom where we teach English to the children, 4 one hour classes from grade 1-10. There are two of us right now, but we will be four shortly.)

17 Dinner.

18 Medicine time for the children.

17-19 Playtime (this is my favorite time of the day…it’s a little bit cooler and all the kids are just out playing no matter what age, and it’s so much fun to hang out with them.)

18-20.30 Electricity and internet is on (this however doesn’t mean that it’s always working, but mostly I’ve been able to connect.)

20.30 Lights are out, and there’s not much to do other than to go to bed. (Luckily I have my computer that I can have on and it’s gives me light to read for a little bit.)

Sep 17th

Getting Started

I have settled in really nicely and things are coming together. We got to set up our classroom today, the volunteer classroom, for the start of a new semester. It is me and one more girl here right now and we’re doing as well as we can for not being actual teachers. I now realize I should have listened to all that teacher talk I’ve had to put up with for years *smile* …it is fun though and I’m working hard on my lesson plans for the start on Monday.

Sep 16th

Bounding with the Chef

6 am this morning I jumped on the back of the truck for a trip to the market together with all the chefs of the houses. As we arrived the cook of my house dragged me around on what seemed to me to be an aimless tour amongst meats, fish and veggies, to purchase the food for the day. She doesn’t speak a word of English but somehow we managed to have some really good conversations together…she got me a drink and had me trying all sort of different things. We were even able to get me a simcard for my phone. She is the sweetest grumpy little lady and she thinks I only eat fried potatoes and chicken. Hopefully I have by now made her understand that I do like the amazing Khmer food that she makes, eventhough chicken and potatoes are a nice break from the rice every now and then.

Tonight's dinner?

Belonging

We took pictures of all the children today, walking around from house to house...and as I walked across the yard with the kids laughing and waving, I got a feeling of belonging, a feeling of home, a feeling of not just being a visitor. A good feeling, as I'm preparing myself for a few homesick nights to hit me in the future.

Sep 15th

Feelings of frustration and amazement...

I want to talk, ask them things, know how they are, what they like, what I'm eating :) Sign language doesn't feel like it's enough right now...eventhough the children can win my heart over with just a smile. Their names go in one ear and out the other, just wishing I knew them all right away, just by the snap of my fingers. I'm thinking one of the older girls can sense my feelings of frustration of not being able to communicate and sits down next to me as I eat dinner. Her english is really good and she tells me about her dreams and aspirations. She wants to become a translator and a psychologist..."-I want to work for NHCC, this is my home, I love NHCC! I want to help the children here the way NHCC has helped me." These are the children that surround me every day, and although I curse about no aircon, sweating profusely and showering out of a bucket...they make it worth while.

My bed and wardrobe underneath...home sweet home :)

Sep 14th

I made it! Only seconds to spare when I got to the gate, but I’m here…in my new home, and as I lay here wrapped up in a pink mosquito net it all feels a bit unreal. Excited about what tomorrow’s gonna bring and nervous of what the night will be like. It’s soon to be 20.30 and the electricity will then be turned off, so I lie here waiting feeling very grateful for the little car battery that will keep a small fan running all night.

The start of something amazing...

So, my hopes are that I can use this to reach out and let people take part of what is happening in the lives of some wonderful Cambodian children in a village called Phume Soban – “Dream Village.” An adventure I hope to never forget.

I’m starting this in hopes that some scribbles from my journal will be added to this as I am creating new memories here and times when our internet connection decides to cooperate.