Pchum Ben Festival in Cambodia

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Education
WRITTEN BY: James Cook University

Last weekend was a very significant weekend both for us as volunteers and for all the people of Cambodia. We arrived in cambodia during the pchum Ben festival, which is a 15 day religious festival that occurs every year in Cambodian culture, concluding on the 15th of October.

On the 15th, everybody goes to the Pagoda (temple) to give offerings of food and other
gifts such as medical supplies. These offerings are used to feed the Monks and the poor people within the communities, and all families bring something with them to the Pagoda on the final day of the festival.

Preparation starts days before as we found out by making cakes with Dayvy and her family. The cakes were very unlike cakes in Australia - they were made by wrapping rice, yellow split pea and either pork or banana in a banana leaf. The parcel is then bound with twine, which is a much more difficult task than Dayvy's mother in law made it look!

On the 15th, we awoke to find out that Cambodia's former king had passed away.

King Norodom Sihanouk is a very significant figure in Cambodian history, most celebrated for helping to free the people from the Khmer Rouge Regime and condemning the actions of those involved in implementing the regime.

Despite the hardships encountered through the kings time in power, Cambodian people feel a great sadness for the loss of their king. On Tuesday the 16th, a period of mourning began, during which time Cambodians are to wear black or white as a sign of respect and things such as music in pubs and clubs is forbidden. This lasts for one week, after which time the kings body remains on display at PHnom penh for three months.

Despite the sad news, we were still able to go to the Pagoda on the 15th - we took our cakes and offerings and were lead through the ritual by Dayvy. We offered our food tothe monks when we arrived - Bota and Dayvy then took us to another area where they lit us all a stick of incense which we used to pray for all we are blessed with, or pray for help and guidance. This was a beautiful experience that allowed us to immerse
ourselves fully in Cambodian culture. Thank you very much to Dayvy and her wonderful family for welcoming our team with open arms during such a significant time for you.

After the festival, many of us headed out to the Temples to explore. The structures are a phenomenal sight, especially when you consider how long they have been there and the limited tool that would have been accessible when they are made. The temples are surrounded by forestry and due to our timing there were families lined along the park that looks onto Angkor Wat to celebrate the festival. The temples are an exceptional sight to
see!!!

After such a big weekend we headed back to school on Tuesday. The teams put their heads down and got a big portion of the construction done! We were able to explore and gain a better understanding of the community and the conditions in which they live. The conditions are highly simplistic and missing the creature comforts that we have in Australia. Although the area is quite basic and each house is designed and built in the same way, the variety of innovative ideas for extensions on the houses is so vast.
It is so interesting to see how different skills and materials can be applied for so many different purposes.

The teaching teams had some trouble for the week as their student numbers were running quite low! Student numbers is so different each day it is impossible to remember names and who is in what class. Some days we do not even know if we have a class! When the teachers find themselves without students we have been merging with construction to complete the painting of desks in the classrooms. It has proven to be quite a
difficult task to keep paint brushes and rollers clean without any running water!

While there are many highs and lows to traveling and volunteering with such a big group, our ability to take on big jobs and adapt to different needs and situations is a definite pro!! Our trip is wrapping up pretty quickly before our eyes! With plenty to finish we are having a very busy week this week - I look forward to giving our final update of what we have achieved in our time over here :)