CLCA Rave!

Yesterday was a blast. In the morning I did some research to find deworming pills for everyone at CLCA. We thought, since everyone would be sitting down to dinner together, it would be a good opportunity to get them all to take the deworming meds at once. I found them in bulk ($3.70 for 260 pills). They'll have to take it again in 6 months but at least the entire place will be on the right track together.

At around 4pm I went to the Center for the start of the festivities. First up - Football uniforms! The boys all put on their new black and red unis and cleats and showed off for everyone. They looked so sharp|!


I have no doubt this will help their self esteem around the other teams and make them real competitors out on the field. They were all so excited and pleased with themselved. It was a great thing to see.

Anyway, after that, the Center had a ceremony for the pigs I purchased for dinner. $120 Us got them 4 pigs - plenty of meat for everyone.


In addiition to the meat, they had rice, lots of fresh veggies and fruit = truly a feast for the kids. They tried to get Drew and me to eat the food, but we erred on the side of caution and declined. Better safe than sorry.

After dinner, the real party started. I handed out jump ropes, toy cars, and GLOW STICKS! All the kids went crazy for the glow sticks - a big thanks to Jenn, Kimmie, Ross, Tony, Luke, and JT for that treat!












They set up the sound system and one of the older boys became DJ for the night. It was like the craziest Rave in the world. Totally sober, glow sticks everywhere, 50 people dancing on the stage - just amazing to see. A group of the older boys broke out in a choreographed line/break dancing routine that was just incredible. These kids are really talented. We danced until after 9 then things started to wind down and it was time to say goodbye.











As you can imagine, I had already cried a few times during the evening. The kids were all so affectionate - way more so than usual. Lots of hugs and kisses were exchanged. I finally had to walk out or I would have really broken down in front of the kids. I don't think this blog has really conveyed what it's been like to be here. These people (kids and adults) have so little, but they are happy, loving, and so thankful for any little thing you do. I can't wait to come back and see them all again.

So I guess that closes out this champter of my Cambodian adventure. I'm in the Phnom Penh airport, getting ready to jet off to Singapore. I've been able to change my flight so I'll be home Thursday evening instead of Friday afternoon. See you all soon!

Love,
Michele

Busy Coupla Days

I've been pretty bad about updating my blog over the past few days. It's been a busy couple of days as I wind my trip down and get ready to head back to the Bay Area. My days all blend together and I usually don't know what day of the week it is. I know today is Wednesday because it's my last day here so we're having a big party at the Center. I've purchased a 100 Kilo pig for dinner and Drew is providing lots of veggies and fruit so it should be quite the celebration - topped off with glow stick necklaces and bracelets for everyone.

So what have I been up to over the past few days. Lots of visits to the pharmacy with the kids (eye infections, stomach aches, vitamin purchases, etc.), another art class at the Center, working on the spreadsheet of names of people (kids an adults) who live at the center, shopping for school supplies, etc. I guess just another regular couple of days in Phnom Penh.

Yesterday afternoon, I took a ride to another orphanage located about 20 minutes away from CLCA. It's run by some people from France and is way more orderly than CLCA. There are 64 kids ranging in age from newborns up to 18. At 18 they are expected to move out of the orphanage and get jobs in the community. That doesn't seem to happen at CLCA. They also have separate showers for the boys and girls, separate sleeping quarters and they all eat dinner together each evening. All of the kids have to go to public school. In addition, the orphanage has 2 Enlish classes per day and 1 French class in the evening. It appeared to be very orderly but you never really know how these things are until you get intimately involved. For all I know, this place could be just as disorderly as CLCA.

Last night, an Australian Dr. came to the center to try to diagnose some of the kids. One little boy has been ill for about a year and she is afraid he might have TB. Drew is going to take him to the hospital today or tomorrow to get a chest x-ray and blood test. Hopefully he's not that ill, but if he is, at least we can get him the treatment he needs.

The weather has cooled down considerably, I don't sweat nearly as much as I did when I got here. The only thing I still can't handle is lots of kids hanging on me at once. It's suffocating. I'm ok if there are only one or two of them sitting on my lap, but when 4 or 5 start to close in on me, I get a little clausterphobic :-)

I can't believe I head to Singapore tomorrow then home on Friday. This trip has been amazing and I'll probably come back for 2 weeks in December to be with the kids during our winter break. Thanks to everyone who supported me on this trip and for reading my blog. I'll probably have one more update after tonights party with lots of fun pictures. The intrenet is really slow right now, so I'll add photos of the kiddies being silly a bit later!

Bye for now.
m-

Football!

I enjoyed my day and a half in Sihanouk Ville. I'm sporting quite a tan which I will hopefully still have next weekend when I get home. The weather wasn't great, but believe me, you can get a wicked burn when it's overcast! The only thing I didn't like was how insistent the people selling things on the beach were. They never left me alone for more than 10 minutes! I did get a massage on the beach which was nice, but I had no peace at all.


Anyway, this morning I got up and went to see the boys play football. For a motley crew of kids without shoes, these guys (and one girl) were pretty damn good.




They had the field for two hours during which time they did drills and played a couple of scrimmage games. After the games, David (their self appointed organizer and coach) and I went to the market to buy uniforms and proper shoes. I got the boys black shirts with red trim and red numbers, red shorts, and black Adidas football shoes with red striping down the side. They've gone from a bunch of street lookin' kids to a proper football uni-wearing team. I can't wait to get pictures of them all kitted up! I even got the goalie a real striped goal tender shirt. Hopefully this will give them more confidence on the field.

This afternoon, I went on another boat rode down the Mekong river with a group of University students.


It was fun playing silly games on the boat while listening to good old American dance music. Almost made me miss home. I took some odd pictures of the sky right before it started to rain. The clouds were just amazing looking.




Tomorrow I'm going basin (sink) shopping so we can set up a hand washing station at the Azziza school house. Pahna has turned out to be an amazing addition to the staff. She's plannig to teach hygíene right along with teaching English. Something that is definitely in high demand.

Well, I'm off to get some dinner and then back to my room to read my book. See ya all soon...

Breakfast of Champions

So the other day, Chin (the translater) and I are out picking up lockers and I casually ask him if he eats bugs, specifically Tarantulas. The locals in Phnom Penh do eat a crazy assortment of grilled bugs.


The Tarantulas are especially creepy looking and if any of you know me, you know my only real fear (other than death) is spiders! Ok so back to Chin, he says yes, he does eat them and if I will buy him one, he'll eat one right there on the steet. Not being able to resist this, I agree. 800 Reil (about 75 cents) later, he's chowing down on a Tarantula with a can of ice cold coka cola. Yep, Tarantula and a coke, breakfast of champions!


I now call him spider man which I secretly think he enjoys. It was pretty gross to watch him eat the creature. I mean this thing was three inches long with 8 hairy legs and he ate the whole thing, legs, body and all! But, I guess when you're hungry you'll eat anything. According to this Ozzy guy Ben I met in Sihanouk Ville last night, Tarantulas taste a bit like lobster - yeah right! Not gonna fool me with that line...

Just Hanging Out...

Been pretty busy the past couple of days. Yesterday, I interviewed some teacher candidates for The Azziza School. One woman, Pahna, is going to work out for the morning shift. She's from the Employment Center I went to on Tuesday. It's headed up by the Church of Ladder Day Saints. They help out anyone which is a great thing. Funny thing about Pahna, when she told me her name I thought she said "Pamela". Her English is amazing but on the phone, that's what I thought I heard. So, now we jokelingly call her Pamala and Sokchea (the head teacher at Azziza) Charlie. That's pretty good humor for Cambodia. Anyway, today we hired the second teacher for Azziza, also from the Employement Center. His name is Chai and he recently spent 2 years in the US with LDS. His English is so good, I couldn't believe he was from Cambodia. So now, between the three teachers, Azziza will offer 7 English classes of all levels. One project completed.

I also took Sraynaut and Lakana to get new outfits. They had to boil everything they own because of the Scabies. Shopping with girls is universal. Sraynaut is a girly girl and wanted something frilly:


Lakana is the tomboy so she got a bright yellow mickey mouse t-shirt and baggy surf shorts:



This afternoon, I'll complete my locker project. 26 more lockers to hand out and that project is done too!

Yesterday evening was a lot of fun. Drew had a meeting at the Center so I hung out with the kids to wait for him to finish so we could go to dinner. I watched boxing practice and began to realize that I was no longer a tourist. I had, at some point, become a regular fixture at the center. The guys talked to me (as best as they could) about boxing, music, and their tattoos vs. mine. Mine was done with a clean machine, theirs were done the old fashioned way with ink and a pin. Very painful. Some of their art work is pretty amazing for having been done in such a primative manner. It was a bit surreal, because I was completely comfortable with this group of people who speak no English but could communicate so easily with me. Even when a group of Missionaries came in, they didn't see me sitting their with the guys. It was so cool to just be a part of the regular goings on in the Center.


After the boxing ended, I played some football (soccer) with the kids. We just kicked the ball around and tried to score goals against each other. It was fun but I quickly got very hot from running around. They really love football and play an organized game every Sunday. I've decided to sponsor their team which means I buy them shirts, shorts, shoes, and whatever else they need. The currently play without shoes and don't have uniforms. So now I'm officially going to "own" a Cambodian Football team. Gotta get them to name the team after me LOL!!!!

All in all it was a really fun evening. I've decided not to go to Vietnam so I can have more time here with the kids. I just can't see myself going to a luxury hotel for a even a few days if it takes me away from hanging out here. I know! I know! This place has changed me for ever! Instead, I am going to go to Sihanouk Ville (a beach town) for the day tomorrow. Gotta work on my tan...'

I'll leave you with some pictures of the cuties that are keeping me from my luxurious vacation :-)

There he is again, Ratanak, the little one I want to bring home with me!


One of the boys I was playing football with. He has a great smile.


Caught peeking through the rafters...

10 Interesting Observatons

10. It's easier (and cheaper) to get medical care in Cambodia than it is in the US. Today I took sisters (Sreynaut and Lakanah) to the dermatologist, 1 hour and zero dollars later we were on our way home with diagnosis and meds to treat the problem - amazing!


9. Tattooing is a bad idea in Cambodia


8. Babies can sleep anywhere, even if it is 100 degrees with high humidity.


7. Shower curtains are an elusive and I have to assume, hot commodity in Cambodia (that's the bath in my hotel room)



6. Cambodians are, quite possibly, the most beautiful people in the world



5. Even in the worst squalor, getting your hair combed is a luxury.



4. Monks are fascinating (ok, maybe just to me, but then I've developed a bit of an obsession over them!)


3. Branding is everything - that's Sopee my tuk tuk driver in the Sun cap :-)


2. An entire Cambodian family can fit on one motorbike -- I'm still trying to get a good picture of this (they move fast on those things!). It's usually 4-5 family members (mom, dad, child, babY) crammed on to one seat - incredible!


1. If I sold my car, I could live like a king and make a difference in many lives in Phnom Penh for well over two years!!!!

C-ya! m-

Busy Couple of Days

The past couple of days have been pretty busy. I've had a stomach thing going on so I've been trying to get some rest. It hit me pretty hard in Siem Reap on Friday afternoon. I made it 9 days without getting sick which is a pretty good run. Last night I finally gave in and took Cipro - the over the counter stuff just wasn't working. I'm hoping this is almost over cause it's pretty painful!

Anyway, I handed out the 20 lockers I had made last week. I feel like a super hero. All of the kids were so excited about having their own lockers with locks. I'm having 26 more made this week. After that, there was the most specatular rain storm last night. It started around 5pm while Drew and I were at the Center. I've only seen rain like that during a hurricaine. The kids loved it. They all ran out and started playing football (soccer). When we finally left around 7pm the water reached my knees when I was sitting on the back of a motorcycle. When the moto went fast through the water, it left a wake behind us. The rain let up at around 8pm. Three hours of sheer fun for the kids.

Football in the rain

Three little ones acting like monkeys. The one in the middle is one of my favorites. His older brother is the boy with the messed up pinky finger.


Beautiful girls with their umbrella


This morning I took two little ones to the Rose Hospital - a free hospital about 20 minutes away from the Center. One little girl has a horrible skin infection on her hands and ear. We think it's scabies which is really gross and hard to treat. She's just in so much pain I had to do something for her. The other child is a little boy who's pinky finger fused into a C shape when he was burned with hot water at 18 months. His mother wanted to see if he could get an operation to fix the skin and allow the finger to have full motion again. We all piled in to a tuk tuk and head out to the hospital.

The diagnosis for the little girl was that I had to take her to a skin doctor. They washed her wounds with betadine and iodine which was very very painful for her. She was such a little trooper, barely crying at all. The little boy can have surgery to fix his finger, however, they will have to put him to sleep to do it. His mom was asked to sign a release form but was too afraid to do it. I told her she could return at any time to do the surgery since it will be free but she has to sign the form.

When I got back to the center, I handed bubbles and jump ropes out to the kids. The boxing class will get good use out of the jump ropes. They are so grateful for any little thing. Even taking them to the Dr. is a treat. The last thing I did today was enroll a teen age girl (Nylin) in English school. Her school is a little more expensive - $15 US for 3 months and $2 for books and supplies - but she wants to go where here sister goes, so I agreed to pay for her. Money seems to flow freely out of my pockets here ;-) but I know it's all for a good cause and when all is said and done, this is costing me less than coffee and lunch at Sun 3 days a week!

Bubbles....Bubbles....Bubbles









Action shot - two jump ropers are better than one!



I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight so I can get back to teaching English class tomorrow!