Friday, January 22, 2016
Mekong/Silk Island bike ride
Another nice and early start! We headed to Grasshopper Adventures to collect our bikes and helmets, then the fun began! We ventured into the Phnom Penh traffic (on the right hand side of the road, tuk tuks and motos in VERY close proximity of our bikes!!!). We jumped on the ferry to Mekong Island and rode the bumpy, narrow tracks through the villages. We had the opportunity to visit a silk farm and watch the locals create beautiful silk. Back on our bikes through the villages where we were treated like rock stars with the school kids running out to greet us with high 5's (in the process some of us nearly running them over because we were expert bike riders!!!) after 20kms our backsides were starting to scream out to us but what a wonderful experience. We can really see why the kids enjoyed it so much.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
From the ashes......
Day 2 & 3 House Building
In Banteay Srey district a family's house burnt to the ground when their 5 year old grand daughter, Ho, was playing with a candle while her grandparents went for a wash. There was nothing left of the thatched house.
That happened on Friday last week. Fortunately we have been able to help the monks construct a new house for the family over the past 2 days. Rem, our happy Monk, greeted us at Hima Boutique, where we are staying, and navigated our bus out to Krolong Village, a rural area 60km from Siem Reap. At the time of our arrival the builders who have been employed by our team had the footings, the main house poles, the bearers and the trusses up. After watching for a short while our men, Ash, Andrew and John, got straight to work chipping notches out of the remaining 3 poles to ready them to be put into place for the kitchen and entrance of the house. The men soon realised how hot Cambodia really is to work in and soon broke out into a bathe of sweat. From there we all helped create the remainder of the frame, nailed the floorboards into place, assisted with handing the iron up for the roof and began cladding the house in iron. Day 1 finished at that stage.
Day 2 began very humid but the advantage of that is cloud cover that lessens the heat. We continued to assist the Monks where possible but unfortunately most of the jobs were fiddly and we couldn't help. We cleaned the house yard in preparation for the handover ceremony.
With the house completed the Red Cross came and delivered some rice and essentials which added to the rice and gifts we provided. The owners of the new house, Mr Ly and his wife, are labourers. They have 4 children. Two of the children live at home (one is a labourer and the other attends school) and 2 have moved to other areas.
Other family and people from the village have been watching the construction and have a been feeding the Monks. The Monks have translated the instructions from Khmer to English and have been taking many photos. They work very hard and keep going under the watchful eyes of the builders. The children of the village have played around our feet and have entertained us with their cheeky smiles and naughty antics. The women of the village would like to interact with us and like to hold us and smile and talk to us even though neither of us can understand each other.
For this family, we have provided them with a new house. We also contributed extra money into purchasing essential house items; mattresses, cooking items, rice and other necessities so they can get back to normal. We have also provided funding for Mr Ly and his wife to establish a small sustainable business of growing vegetables around their house.
Some body language is universal and although we all know the word for thank you is 'Akhun', the body language of Mr Ly suggested that Akhun just wasn't a big enough word to say thank you. He was in tears as he individually thanked us on our departure and lowered himself, bowing to the Monks as low as he could possible bow.
A very humbled and thankful man.
In Banteay Srey district a family's house burnt to the ground when their 5 year old grand daughter, Ho, was playing with a candle while her grandparents went for a wash. There was nothing left of the thatched house.
That happened on Friday last week. Fortunately we have been able to help the monks construct a new house for the family over the past 2 days. Rem, our happy Monk, greeted us at Hima Boutique, where we are staying, and navigated our bus out to Krolong Village, a rural area 60km from Siem Reap. At the time of our arrival the builders who have been employed by our team had the footings, the main house poles, the bearers and the trusses up. After watching for a short while our men, Ash, Andrew and John, got straight to work chipping notches out of the remaining 3 poles to ready them to be put into place for the kitchen and entrance of the house. The men soon realised how hot Cambodia really is to work in and soon broke out into a bathe of sweat. From there we all helped create the remainder of the frame, nailed the floorboards into place, assisted with handing the iron up for the roof and began cladding the house in iron. Day 1 finished at that stage.
Day 2 began very humid but the advantage of that is cloud cover that lessens the heat. We continued to assist the Monks where possible but unfortunately most of the jobs were fiddly and we couldn't help. We cleaned the house yard in preparation for the handover ceremony.
With the house completed the Red Cross came and delivered some rice and essentials which added to the rice and gifts we provided. The owners of the new house, Mr Ly and his wife, are labourers. They have 4 children. Two of the children live at home (one is a labourer and the other attends school) and 2 have moved to other areas.
Other family and people from the village have been watching the construction and have a been feeding the Monks. The Monks have translated the instructions from Khmer to English and have been taking many photos. They work very hard and keep going under the watchful eyes of the builders. The children of the village have played around our feet and have entertained us with their cheeky smiles and naughty antics. The women of the village would like to interact with us and like to hold us and smile and talk to us even though neither of us can understand each other.
For this family, we have provided them with a new house. We also contributed extra money into purchasing essential house items; mattresses, cooking items, rice and other necessities so they can get back to normal. We have also provided funding for Mr Ly and his wife to establish a small sustainable business of growing vegetables around their house.
Some body language is universal and although we all know the word for thank you is 'Akhun', the body language of Mr Ly suggested that Akhun just wasn't a big enough word to say thank you. He was in tears as he individually thanked us on our departure and lowered himself, bowing to the Monks as low as he could possible bow.
A very humbled and thankful man.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Gecko Story
How lucky are our children! We can afford to give them an education, provide food, and give them a safe roof over their heads. Green Gecko is doing this for kids that aren't orphaned in the sense that they have no parents: they are providing them with a safe home environment, making sure they have food, getting them to attend school, and teaching them that it can be a safe place for them to live. Kate who is an Australian, told us about the work that is being done and the purpose of their work. Amazing work by them all. No funding provided by the government and yet they are teaching and supporting many families. We visited the garden and saw the work that last year's group did, the paving, the clearing of the compost and tree litter, we also learnt that the garden is successfully growing food that provides the students, at the same time taking US $1000 off the food bill per month. Too enable this to happen, US $45000 per month is raised by the generosity of others. This project is not taking on new families but does have all the siblings from some families, some who are being set up to live in a supported house. The kids who were on a day off, have responded well to the efforts of Green Gecko and we hope to see the future generations of these kids making huge changes to the lives of others. So grateful for being able to see the work being done and the good it is doing.
Thanks to Shaz & Ger for making it possible.
Hi Wyatt/Dickson family! Love you
Thanks to Shaz & Ger for making it possible.
Hi Wyatt/Dickson family! Love you
Angkor Wat
Amazing, awesome and mind blowing!! With all our 21st century technology pales into insignificance when you see the engineering masterpiece of Angkor Wat.
We walked, and walked and walked! Man, we have done a months exercise in a day (yeah, yeah I know) ! We talked, we marvelled, and began contemplating our own lives. We feel privileged to have been given this opportunity and to walk where an ancient civilisation once worshipped.
The day prompted many questions/thoughts:
We walked, and walked and walked! Man, we have done a months exercise in a day (yeah, yeah I know) ! We talked, we marvelled, and began contemplating our own lives. We feel privileged to have been given this opportunity and to walk where an ancient civilisation once worshipped.
The day prompted many questions/thoughts:
- Shit - where did all the rock come from?
- The amazing skills of the builders
- How many more temples are out there still to be discovered?
- How many steps are there?
- How did they have the organisational skills to manage a project of that size with such accuracy in those times? (? Aliens)
- I want to be able to go back in time and be a "fly on the wall" and fly over the temples as they are being built so I can see how they took shape
- What are the stories behind the carvings?
- Did we mention the steps? (Feel the burn)
Words cannot describe fully the impact of this amazing place.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Travel
The hardest part of any trip is the travel. Thank goodness Singapore airport has a multitude. Of ways to keep people busy! The Sunflower Garden and the Cactus Garden are just 2 examples of the rest places that are available.
Almost there. Nothing could have prepared us for that landing in Siem Reap. I think the words "brace, brace, brace" went through every passenger's mind as they firmly grasped the seat in front. Little bit fast on landing I think - he decided he only needed half a runway to stop a fast moving object of that size!!!!
Friday, January 15, 2016
Departure
Our first group selfie!! Well done Nola! We will get this mastered by the end of this week so look out!
Full of excitement we boarded the plane for Singapore. 7 1/2 hours later and with varying degrees of sleep we arrived. Now to fill in 8 hours at the airport before the final leg into Siem Reap. Shopping - just a little and rest seems to be the order of the day.
The journey has begun!
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