Lingerlonger

Familiar yet foreign. Yes, Ive been to Bali too. The faint smell of smoke, the uneven cobbled roads, the dogs, the humidity and the frangipani. But this trip is different. The street children with their cute, dirty, upturned pleading faces, imploring me to buy postcards and bracelets appal me. Because education on day 1 oF this very different tour has taught that these children should be in school. Education is provided for all children. But these little children are sent by adults to sell to tourists because their earning capacity is more than the adults. They miss out on their education. Repeatedly I have the question posed by children “Where are you from? If I tell you the capital of Australia, your prime minister, your population, will then you buy from me?....Maybe later?” What a terrible situation that this brings a sale and then perpetuates the cycle. Lesson no 1 – only buy from adults to so encourage them to be the salesmen and allow their children to go to school.


We visited temples and the cultural history of Cambodia came to life through the stories of Hindu and Buddism. The little movie here shows our guide Ritcy telling us the story of ingollonger. Phillipa sent a prayer up. David has been so fascinated by the whole temple experience that we have lost him 3 times so far. David has 4 names already in his title – David Michael Graham R… but he now has another one…David Lingerlonger Michael…..another Cambodian deity to create legends.

Our first encounter with a humanitarian aid program was in the form of a visit to the blind and deaf school. The children were pleased to meet us and we sang songs. Suran – a 16 year old girl who I would have picked for only 8 if Id had to guess – is still in my spirit . Practising her English on me without any embarrassment but with great gales of laughter she held my hand and warmed my heart. Today we are spending the whole day at Green Gecko school for street kids. John Sheahan’s toothed handpuppet will be featured in dental hygiene demonstrations and after the little taste of yesterday we are looking forward today with huge enthusiasm. Lead on Lena!!!!!

Hope Water Well

 

Hope Water well in a village 20km from Siem Reap. Previously families would drink contaminated water or cart it for miles. They use the water pump for cooking water, bathing and agricultural irrigation using another pipe and pump. Water from the ground pump can be placed in these filtration buckets which contain ceramic filters making the water good to drink.

 

Krauser School for the Deaf and Blind

 

Bronwyn talking with Saron, one of the blind children, who sang beautifully for the group.

 At the School with the children whose parents love too far away to travel home to on the weekends.

Pictures from our temple adventures

We're Here!

Finally found some time to blog...pictures to follow.
After having some afternoon rest yesterday and a relax by the pool, we were straight into temple sightseeing. We saw the magnificent Angkor Wat sunrise and visited Prah On and Bayon temples, built between 1100 and 1300. Quite amazing, even visiting for the second time.

In the afternoon we visited the Krauser School for the Deaf and Blind. Some children stay at the school permanently as their parents live too far away. We sung songs and practiced English conversation with the blind children while some of us tried to make communication with the deaf children. Jane and Philippa lead us in a rendition of Old MacDonald Had a Farm and some of the children sang for us. Much of the blindness is curable through a simple operation, the kind Fred Hollows performed in the developing world. It costs only $19 per month to sponsor a child at this facility. I met the Principal and am confident he is trustworthy and every last cent donated is spent on the children. He requested Braille books for the children, so I'm disappointed we could not source them before we left, despite trying with Vision Australia.

Everyone is doing well. Bron is preparing for her knitting class tomorrow and others are watching the final of the tennis. Philippa came with me to see a well built by Hope Water. It was rewarding to see the villagers using it.

Pictures to follow.
Lena

On our way

 Landed safely in KL and only 4 hours until we board to go to Siem Reap!

Thank you donors

Thank you to Warren Thompson, Ian Dakin, Alan Freedman, Barbara & Philip Jones, Vanessa & Dave Curtain and the Slevison Family for their generous donations to sponsor wheelchairs to be distributed to villagers in a rural Mekong village in Vietnam. We will provide the precious gift of mobility to these people thanks to your generosity!
This picture is of Duc, (left) who will be facilitating the distribution with a recipient (right) of a chair from our distribution in 2008.