We had one last little thing to do before we left Cambodia. So many of our friends and family wanted to donate money to the 'Kitchen fund' for the orphanage that we recived some after it had been built. We took 25 pence from everybody's donation and were able to take the children to their first ever live performance. It was traditional Khmer dance and mask theatre called Sovannah Phum. This is also a charity aimed at the preservation and promotion of Khmer culture.

All pile on

When we arrived to pick the children up they were in their best clothes and had been in the yard excited literally for hours. The girls had done each others hair in plaits and as usual we were greeted with big hugs. To be fair they were a little overawed by the theatre. It is small and designed for comfortable groups but to them it was like an alien planet. The front rows were reserved for us and the children took the places very reservedly, tip toeing, whispering to each other, not quite believeing they were allowed to be there.

First time stage fright

I think and hope they enjoyed the performance. They were certainly some of the only audience who understood the narrative, for which they were proud. The minibus was very quet on the way home. This may have been in contemplation of their treat or the sheer shock of being in such a different world for 2 hours. Once again Thank-you to everyone that helped make this happen, here a little goes a long way!

The main reason we travelled from the Philippines to Cambodia was to see the children in the orphanage we volunteered at 9 months ago. My Mum had helped to raise so much money towards the building of their kitchen and Jeni was already besotted with the little ones and ready to smuggle them home. They are gorgeous after all.

I had it all planned. We would arrive in Phnom Penh, get a good nights sleep and then surprise the children in the morning. They of course had no idea we were coming. Except excitement and curiosity got the better of me and we all set off immediatetely after our showers.

My Name is Dee

As we were getting more and more lost and the sky was getting more and more dark I was getting more and more anxious. Will they remember me? Will all the same children be there? If not what will have happened to them? Will they be as happy as I left them? Will the kitchen have fallen down? Eventually when the tuk tuk agreed to retrace the route I used to cycle we reached the door at an uncomfortably late hour. After shaking my fears away and deciding not to leave it till the morning (we had come so close) I asked everyone to stay and wait while I checked out the situation. The children surely wouldn't care that it was late.

Any excuse to dress up

I was greeted by big wide open smiles and shocked eyes, treated to an enormous group hug, one eager little monkey after another piling themselves onto me and cries of my name "Anda" and "Amana". I need'nt have worried about a thing. Jez, Mum, Jeni and John slowly poked their heads into the yard convined all was OK after the noise coming from within and were so happy and relieved to see that we were all happy. They too were treated to group hugs. (Jez being called Amana as he often is by them) With secret tears in our eyes we took them to the kitchen and treated them to bottles of Coke, something the rarely get but unfortunately love.

Coke in the kitchen..thats still standing!

The children were really eager to show off their home and after a tour of the bedrooms and play room, a bizzare but lovely santa dress up session by Taimo and lessons in fruits by Soklim we retreated to the kitchen while John played songs they knew on their new organ and we all joined in.

Mum has a quick alphabet lesson

And another....

And we all join in

The place is going from strength to strength. They have a regular stream of volunteers, they are at school every day, there are new staff who are not corrupt and seem to have their hearts and heads in the right place and there are even 4 new children. (Although you would think they had been there for years) The new cook is settling in well and they seem to be getting a different fruit for each day of the week, something we strived for all the time we were there.

From this

To this

The most striking difference was how much the boys had grown. Some of them had shotup quite tall, especially Udom, and little Panuth now has muscles. Sokwan is becoming quite the gentleman and still looks after the younger ones. They really are very lucky to fit so well together as a family.

The lads

We went to see them again the next day, in the light! A new volunteer was trying to give an English lesson but in good humour I requested a take-over. After all we were only there one day. He was quite happy to relinquish responsibility and I hope I gave him a few ideas. Bingo is always a winner. I loved being there again and I loved that my family could experience it too. My new students, (my Mum and my sister) loved "Heads shoulders knees and toes' and "Old McDonald"

Musical chairs

Jeni had collected cuddly toys from Ben, Millie and Tom, the children she looks after in England. (Thank-you Jane) Infact that was about all she could fit in her bag. Mums bag was also half full of them, much to John's bewilderment when he discovered them on the first night in the Philippines. We had a game of muscial chairs and the children with no chair at the end of the rounds were led into the kitchen and allowed to choose a toy each. They seldom have things to call their own and so it was special.

Altogether

After surprising me in the first place by being on the same flight as Mum and John, therefore having to change our next lot of flights to Bangkok (which Jez booked in secret so I would'nt know she was coming) Jeni was flying home earlier then them and its a miracle she got to meet the children at all. We managed it but they do cast a spell on you though and its very hard not to think about giving everything up and setting up home right there with them. But it was time for Jeni to go back England and explain to Dan where their next property would be!

What a holiday!

All good things must come to an end. I tried to be strong and not let any tears escape but the children thought I did'nt care that we were leaving them. When they wanted to cry they excused themselves and left the room. As addicted as they are to bingo now they refused to play on our last day.

We tried to make it as normal as possible, played games, did some arty crafty type things, sang songs but they knew we would be saying goodbye and their faces were glum all day. Its hard for them not to take it personally.

We had an amazing 5 weeks with the children and an amazing couple of months in one of the most astounding countries I have ever been to.

It took all our strength not to promise them we would come back but you should'nt make promises you might not be able to keep.

There are lots of politics involved with any organisation in Cambodia. Corruption is an everyday word. Before we began our voluntering the director of our orphanage was found by the new board to be stealing money in many different ways. One example of this was that he made the cook sign to say she recieved 7 dollars a day to feed the children when actually she had been forced to feed them on just 3. How the hell can 12 children be expected to eat 3 proper meals a day for just 3 dollars. This may be Cambodia and you can buy a lot for your money but water can't be turned into wine. One day he decided that since the board were savvy to his truely evil ways he would leave and set up his own place, where he had full control and could pilfer money away freely again. So, one morning he stole 4 of the children to make sure that starting up his own little venture would be easier.

Thankfully, the board whose chairman is an honest, ambitious and caring dutch man have turned the organisation of the place around and after getting the chldren back, began with sacking unnecesary ' admin' staff and generally improving the running of their home. In Cambodia an orphanage has to be set up like a buisiness. Thankfully, we were leaving having full confidence that this one would not be infiltrated by the traditional Cambodian corruption from the core.

One day we had just arrived when a police man rode his bike into the yard. He served a warrant for the board and the staff to be in court that day. The old director had accused them of all sorts...none of it true! They were sucessful in their defence and that day met a man from another orphanage. This man and in turn the children who he looked after had been well and truely shafted by the director. Immediately after he left our place he had looked around for his next target. He approached them and promised them he could turn their place around for a certain amount of money upfront. Being too trusting they agreed and he left them, without any rent money, starving and due to be evicted back onto the streets on the 5th of that month (July)

A little went a long way

We paid them a visit and took a toothbrush and toothpaste for each child and their first cuddly toy each. We had not anticipated the circumstances in which they had to live being so sparten. That man had stolen from children who did'nt even have mats to sleep on in their wooden tin roofed room. There were 15 of them, all with the same T.shirt on, obviouslly having been donated to them. We were their first western visitors and their faces when the saw the toys were for them were unforgettable.

The next day we returned with mats for them to sleep on and some sweets. The director told us of his predicament and asked us if there was an ideas we had about rasing the money for the rent. He had 2 days. He showed us the rental demand and the letters form the landlord. He was truely desperate. It was like someone from above had sent us there. We had the exact amount for that months rent and a months worth of rice left from the kitchen fund. We told him we would have a think and that we would return the next day (After having done some research into the place, this we did not say)

Crazy white people with their animal puppet ideas

We bounded in with paper plates, staplers, glue, coloured pencils and scissors and woke the children up from their afternoon nap to make animal puppets. The staff were stunned and the children were nailed to their seats in silent anticipation. Some of them grasped the idea quite quickly. They spoke no English. Whereas some of them sat open mouthed scissors in hand with no clue who these crazy white people were lighting up their day with instruments they had never seen and colours that they could use freely to express themselves, shapes they were being encouraged to create of animals they never knew exsisted. It was amazing. They loved it.

Just before we left we gave the director the money. He was nearly in tears. Every body who donated to the kitchen fund had unknowingly saved those 15 children from living on the streets. We were able to provide them with enough time to develop a strategy to get the next months money.... and hopefully the next and now the 2 orphanages would be working together to support each other. The original one having an infastructure, experience of truly turning itself around, and since we arrived securing the backing of European sponsors for all 12 children to go to school; the second desperately needing and being grateful for their guidance. We could'nt ask to leave with a more comfortable, content and hopefull feeling for their future.

Well Done everybody and Thank-you!

What better way to celebrate the opening of the new kitchen than to cook up a feast! The place looked amazing, a far cry from the dismal cell-like room their meals came from 2 weeks ago. Now we just needed to use it properly! Our ulterior motive was to show the cook how to use the fridge, the bins, the food coverings, the sideboards, the chopping boards, the sink and drainage area and how to clean up after yourself as you went along. No more flies pleeeease!

The children loved helping to cook pasta. Not one of them had ever tasted it before. Neither had they seen or tasted cheese, or courgettes. Until 2 days ago they did'nt get any fruit in their diet so I'm sure the fruit salad we prepared together was mindboggling. Jez and I made sure we used every type of fruit they had learned about in English lessons. I think they were shocked that grapes even exsisted! It was wonderful to see them so excited about eating and a great change from their usual bland rice and fish head soup! I think the tangy tomato sauce was a bit of a shock o their tastebuds though.

They said they liked it???

The kitchen project began as a tiny spec of an idea in the back of my mind. Travelling, you do see a lot of poverty but I have never understood as much as I do now about desperation. Learning a fraction of what Cambodian people have experienced in the not so distant past and seeing first hand what they are forced to go through now hit us hard. Also being at the orphanage every day, getting to know the children more and more somehow made what they were going through that bit more personal. In England this kind of project would have been a doddle but being in a different country without the usual support structures around us it seemed over ambitious and scary. Soon the idea took on a life of its own and the more I thought about it the more excited I grew and the more possible it seemed. Why the hell not, if we failed to raise the money Jez and I would have to pay for it. It would'nt kill us!

Thankfully 43 people donated more than enough money to support the original plan. Thankfully.... because as each day passed the builders informed us about more materials they had conveniently forgotten to add in the original quote.(Like the other half of the roof) 400 pounds became 600 pounds and that was without buying any equipment at all to furnish it. No fridge, no new tables and chairs, no new plates and bowls and cutelry, pots and pans, food stocks and cleaning products.

A little money to spare

It all worked out perfectly and there was money to spare. We were able to build a washroom with 2 sinks and mirrors so the children could see themselves brushing their teeth. We had toothbrush holders designed, bought all the toothbrushes and put them on the the new bathroom walls. Also because of the amount of money that was donated we were able to put in an outside sink to encourage the children to wash their hands before meals.

Although there are 12 children there now, we catered for 16 in everything we bought or designed. Any Cambodian child who was put in the situation to need to live in an orphanage would be happy to live there.

We were also able to do something soberingly special for a group of 15 other orphans. This I will tell you about next time!