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Published: January 15th 2011
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So just over 9 months ago when I boarded the plane to Australia and looked over Cambodia one last time did I realise that it would be so soon when I would be returning. As the plane landed into Siem Reap I got more and more excited, the colours, the flavours, the chaos and most of all the children. Jumping into a tuk tuk we drove towards the center of town and I felt as though I was back home.
So this year I am only here for 5 weeks and working at New Hope - a project I visited last year and also spoke of in my blog entries. This project is in the extreme poor area, surrounded by brothels there is a high TB and HIV rate. I have been working an 8-6 day (8am - 10pm and then 2pm - 6pm.) This has been completely exhausting because of the humidity and small classrooms (some of my classes have 40 children in them.) The children however are fantastic - so affectionate and so keen to learn. One poor little girl I noticed in my class wasn't writing in her book the other day. I went over to her
and noticed she had a dirty bit of fabric tied around her finger. Unwrapping the fabric I noticed her finger was yellow and black and looked like it was rotting - it was distgusting. I took her down to the clinic where Tim was working and he carefully cleaned it for her - it must of hurt like hell and all she did was whimper slightly. I felt like my heart was breaking. It turned out she cut it 2 weeks ago on a knife. It astounds me the people over here and their pain barrier - they don't complain and just deal with the pain. Hopefully the little girl's finger should be okay as long as her dressings are changed daily and cleaned.
Tim has been working in the medical center treating patients along with a doctor from America who is out here with his family for 6 months as well as a Khmer doctor. The cases have been incredible. There are a lot of burns victims including one man who spilt boiling water all over his leg, he is working and even cycled to the medical center where he is having his dressings changed daily. The most
extreme we have seen so far (in a week!) is a lady with a tumour in her face. We have now sent her to Phnom Pehn for a CT scan and biopsy. I have never seen anything like it, her eyes are being pushed out of her face. Turns out she has had the tumour for 3 years, she is 29 years old, has 4 children and her husband has left her. She can now only see out of one eye and is starting to go deaf because of the tumour growing out. The poor lady only has one Aunty who can look after her children as she has no other family. It was only by coincidence that she was come across as volunteers were out visiting an old lady who has trouble breathing and lives in the same shelter. It is heartbreaking as she is so young and it is so extreme. I am putting up photos of these cases on here - not to shock people but to bring attention to these cases of these poor people who don't complain but just carry on with their everyday lives. It costs money to go to hospital over here and
even then the conditions are shocking with people left of the floor after major surgery and no after care. New Hope medical center is all the people have and as a charity it is very difficult as we don't have the money and resources that hospitals have in the west.
So yesterday we had the rice drop. 200 sponsored people turned up and we gave out bags of rice, fish sauce and $5 towards vegetables. This lasts the space of a month. The people were so happy. I was sat there cuddling this beautiful little baby a child handed me when I felt something wet - it had urinated all over me. I was forgetting babies over here don't have nappies. The families who were given supplies are all sponsored. You can go to www.newhopecambodia.com and sponsor a family. It is fantastic because you really get to see the money going to the poor and see the looks on their faces. It is hard though because there were lots of poor people stood at the gates (which we had to shut.) These people weren't sponsored and were hanging around just incase there might be some supplies left.
So
yesterday I went to my first Khmer wedding. I went and bought a dress with some Khmer staff at the school which was fitted to me. I then went and had my make up, hair and nails done in the Khmer style. It took over an hour and cost $2.50. The Khmers love their glitter and sparkles and on came layers of foundations, huge false eyelashes and of course lots of glitter. They curled my hair and pinned it up and carefully hand painted little flowers onto my nails. I felt like a barbie princess and the Khmer ladies kept saying 'sart' which means beautiful. It is funny how white skin is seen as so attractive over here whereas in the west we try and keep ours brown and tanned. The wedding was good fun, there was lots of food and drink and the bride had 30 costume changed - each one even more sparkly and beautiful than the last. We then had to put money in an envelope towards the cost of the wedding whilst scruffy little children ran between us collecting the used drink cans to sell. It was quite a contrast.
Anyway hope you are all
well and I will try and keep this updated regulary.
xxx
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sam
non-member comment
Mmmmm
Each on tastier than the next?