An emotional goodbye to some incredible people

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Healthcare
WRITTEN BY: Amy Kay

The past four weeks have been challenging, rewarding and a life-changing experience for all of us. Coming from different backgrounds, we all brought our strengths, weaknesses and life experiences to the group. For some, this trip was their very first trip overseas, for others, it was a new experience to immerse oneself in a completely different culture.

We have had an action-packed last week filled with mixed emotions. We watched an amazing performance from 'Phare' Cambodian Circus- which we highly recommend! There were lots of final group breakfasts and dinners in Siem Reap, our last look in the markets, last breezy $2 tuk tuk ride, last days of sweating litres and last days with all the wonderful people we've been working with.

We have finished painting the last classroom at the village school, and we must say a massive thanks to Jana for ensuring the base coats were set in place! Thanks also to Morgan and Skye for their exceptional creativity! Tahlia has been busy preparing a group of dancers for their closing ceremony performance. A rotating group has been ensuring the completion delivery for all the homes in the MHDC community. The families in this community are all such strong people. It has been an overwhelmingly humbling experience to witness how appreciative the people are and how much of an effort they all make to ensure we are comfortable. All the people we have met have the biggest hearts and we can learn a lot from their kindness.

The rest of the group has made the most of their last days teaching with the beautiful kids. It has been a heart-warming experience to teach the children everyday at MHDC school and Krapeu Village. They are so bright and eager to learn! With their infectious energy and willingness to participate, these children will always hold a special place in our hearts.

The closing ceremony on Friday was a fun, but emotional day for all of us. We started the day with a photo shoot with Dayvy, which included climbing up to a hidden temple and being blessed by a monk. After lunch we had the 'closing ceremony', which was beautiful! Everyone did a great job of their speeches, the dancers were gorgeous and Skye's video was great; there were certainly come tears shed! After some emotional goodbyes to the children, we had dinner with His Excellency and managed to get on Cambodian TV- woo!

The celebration and tears continued in Siem Reap at Asana wooden house and Temple Club, where we had an extremely fun night, thanking the translators and drivers.

We just want to say a HUGE thank you to our Cambodia mother; Dayvy, the wonderful translators, school teachers, all of the people who let us into their homes and the 13 other volunteers: without you, this incredible experience would not have been possible.

We are returning home with some amazing new friends, life-changing experiences and LOTS of stories to tell- so get ready to enjoy us talking about Cambodia non-stop when we arrive home! :) I know many of us will want to come back as this experience has made a huge impact on our lives and the way we view the world.

Hope everyone has a safe trip home!

Lots of love to all,

Amy xxxxxxxx