The dreaded half-way mark!

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Kimberly Maguire

We've reached the dreaded half-way mark, and what an eventful week its been! Last Saturday we went to Chambok community for the day, which is about three hours from Phnom Penh. Chambok is a community of 9 rural villages where visitors can experience village life and explore the area’s beautiful natural surroundings. It is located on the border of the Kirirom National Park in southwest Cambodia; the area is known for its forests, waterfalls and rice fields.

The community-based ecotourism project was established in 2002 to provide an additional income for the local people and help protect the surrounding forest. When we arrived at the village we were provided with a delicious lunch cooked by locals. After lunch we watched a traditional dance performed by Khmer children. Claire and I had the opportunity to show off our not-so-coordinated dance moves as we joined in the coconut dance. Both our fellow volunteers and the children got a great laugh out of watching us struggle to mimic the actions. We then took an ox cart ride (which is definitely just a novelty and not an effective means of transport) to the start of a trail, which led us to some beautiful waterfalls. The tour guide then showed us where the homestays are and showed us the machine that is used to make rice, and we all sampled some rice wine! It was fascinating to see all the different Cambodia-style houses along the way.

On Sunday, Claire and Tom visited the orphanage in the Stung Mean Chey slum to teach the children about Aussie rules football. A large number of smiling children enthusiastically welcomed them and escorted them to a spare patch of land nearby. They set up drills and taught the basics such as how to kick a drop punt and handball. The kids here love soccer and almost all of their immediate reaction was to place the ball on the ground, kick it as hard as possible, and marvel at the precariousness of an oval shaped ball.

Despite the difficult combination of a language barrier, short attention spans and uncontrollable excitement making structured drills difficult, the kids had a fantastic time! It was very rewarding to watch our sport bring so much joy to these underprivileged children. Fortunately, thanks to a very generous donation by Auskick Queensland, we were able to leave a number of balls at the orphanage for the kids to enjoy in the future.

Lucy and I have both been quite sick throughout the week so missed some days of teaching. It was such a shame not being able to go to school but it was definitely all part of the experience. Claire, Tom, Tash and Daisy had a visit from the PIO coordinator last Monday and his comments were all so positive. He mentioned he was very impressed with the standard, which is fantastic to hear! The volunteers all mentioned noticing the little things that the children are learning in their respective classes and this week was definitely full of many success stories!

As we get into the swing of things in town we are trying out many nice restaurants and have found some very well priced (and delicious) meals. We have all become accustom to travelling by tuk-tuk and it no longer fazes us what side of the road we are on, what direction we are travelling or how close we are to oncoming traffic. We have become great friends with the staff at the hotel and are being so well looked after. It is safe to say that none of us are quite ready to come home! We are off to Sihanoukville for the weekend and can’t wait to share more interesting stories!