Cambodia: A city of contrasts

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Natalie Payne

A City of Contrasts.

Our first week in Phnom Penh was filled with contrasting emotions; excitement, apprehension, happy, sad and sometimes too exhausted to tell the difference between them all. Our first day at PIO school was amazing. So many smiling children! We were thrown in the deep end straight away and asked to do our education plans for the kindergarten class which held 128 children and one teacher! Yes, you read that right, 128 kids! We made fools of ourselves singing, playing the ukulele and performing a puppet show, teaching the kids to brush their teeth and wash their hands. They sang for us too, well more like screamed at the top of their lungs, ive heard jumbo jets quieter!
By the end of the day we had seen 225 children and were impressed and surprised at the overall good health considering the disparity of living conditions.
A visit to S21 and the killing fields gave us a somber insight of the trauma the Cambodian people have experienced. Cocktails, massages, markets and some time spent away from Phnom Penh is a much needed break for these hard working nursing students!