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Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap
July 9th 2010
Published: July 10th 2010
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Well I know that my last blog was a little deep for some and not so funny, and the theme continues in this blog... I was going to do all of Siem Reap in this blog but have made an executive decision to make this blog only about our day with the Ponheary Ly foundation.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"



Imagine a world in which you have NEVER ridden in a bus... NEVER seen a shopping centre... NEVER ridden an escalator... NEVER experienced air-conditioning, was too scared to go near a glass window cause you didnt know what it was or even DIDNT know what an ATM is.... Impossible in this day and age??? Nope not in Cambodia... for rural Cambodia this is a reality....

As many of you know, I spent a couple of months pestering my friends and family through the wonderful medium of Facebook asking for help to raise money for a charity that I really wanted to support... The Ponheary Ly Foundation - unbelievably we raised $3109 (or thereabouts) and it converted to 40 pushbikes and over 40 kids able to get uniform packs for the upcoming school year which starts in October!! For anyone that hasn't donated yet they are still approx 80 bikes short for graduation at the end of this month so head to the website and donate!!

Apart from donating the money, we already had plans to do another one of Ponheary's projects, which is sponsor a school excursion. In Cambodian schools they do not do history as a cirricumlum subject therefore the only history they know about their country is what is passed down through the family... These children have NEVER been in the famous Angkor Wat or other temples... only out the front selling postcards etc to tourists... a complete travesty considering their amazing temples are such a monument to their people... they dont even realise how famous these temples are world wide!

We did this the day after we arrived and that is what this blog is mainly about... it was such an amazing day that it deserves its own blog... The day costs $400USD and you can split that... we had 5 of us : Jakki, Narelle and myself and my friend Randi from Singapore joined us along with her beautiful friend Veris.

The day started early at 7am where we set off to get our temple passes then headed to a gorgeous remote temple "Bantrey Srei" - this temple was only a few kilometers from the school we were getting the children from so we went there first... I wasnt feeling very well so we stopped to get some coffee and baguettes from one of the stalls outside the temple... The coffee was amazing.. I put the baguette in my bag for when I felt a bit better to eat it ...

After some wonderful photo opportunities we set off to get the kids.... on the way I decided to eat my jam baguette.. halfway through it and wondering why it tasted a bit like 'blue cheese' I looked inside it, only to discover I was eating Jam and Laughing Cow cheese... Urgh! I gave the rest to Jakki!

We pulled up at the school and as we stepped out of the van we were immediately surrounded by all these little kiddies... probably aged 5-9 yo... all waving and jumping around.. they were soooo cute... Lori then explained to us that today we would be taking a group of approximately 20 12-14yo children with us who
Bantrey SreiBantrey SreiBantrey Srei

Jak doing the pose!
were very excited as the school year was almost over and they were thinking that they might not get to experience the famous school excursion!

It was at this point that Lori explained that these children had NEVER been on a bus and she commented it would be interesting to see how many were carsick! That suddenly explained something that had happened the day before... which will be in a seperate blog!! LMAO.. She also explained that not only would we take the kids on their history tour, but after lunch we would also visit a shopping mall.....

While explaining it all to me a little boy ran up to Lori and stood cuddling her... she told me his story and it was heartbreaking.. he is about 5yo... she said that he was dumped on the side of the road near the school when he was 2yo and was so 'feral' that humans could not get near him... he would hide underneath the school and run away if anyone came near him.. they would put food 'out for him' like an animal trying to gain his trust... She said it took 12 months for them to be able to get near him! He is now attending the school and living there and completely comfortable in the company of humans... How heartbreaking is that?!?!

First stop was Angkor Wat where the children got to listen to a guide tell them the amazing history of their people... they all listened intensely and took notes... halfway through the tour of Angkor Wat I REALLY had to go to the toilet so left them and walked about 2 km's to find a damn toilet.. I thought I was going to pee myself in the process! LOL.... It then started belting down rain so I sheltered under a tiny little hut thing until it stopped but was already soaked!

From Angkor Wat we took the kids into Siem Reap for lunch... for all it was their first time to Siem Reap and eating in a restaurant. The kids are so used to waiting for adults to eat their fill of food before eating 'the scraps' which is mainly rice that Lori told us we might need to encourage them to help themselves to the food and to eat the meat, not just rice... During lunch it was really cool to see them get into the swing of being able to eat everything on the table and alot of them finished their plates and went back for 2nds, 3rds and 4ths!! lol

After lunch we took them for a quick walk around the block.... half of them looked very wary and one boy grabbed my hand to cross the road and didnt let go until we were almost back at the restaurant! We then jumped on the bus and took them to Lucky Mall... Upon walking up to the entrance of the mall, we had all the kids stop just far enough away that the automatic doors didnt open up... One of the boys was then instructed to walk towards the door.. you should have seen his face (and the rest of them) when they automatically opened up!

By the time they all got inside the automatic doors their eyes were like saucers looking around at the shops, the escalators, experiencing the coolness of the air conditioning! Lori then took them all to the ATM machine where she showed them a card and helped one of the girls use the ATM to withdraw money while the rest looked on in awe!!

From the ATM we headed to the escalators.... it took the first boy ALOT of courage to jump on this moving staircase! Alot of them were too scared to try but with lots of encouragement they all ended up getting on... I ended up going up with one of the girls holding her hand... getting them to jump on and then jump off was very funny! We went up two stories and they were still nervous but having a ball! Disneyland Cambodian style!

On the top floor we took them to the big glass wall at the front of the mall so they could look out... we then touched the glass to show them it was solid and that they could touch it too.. alot were too scared.... At this point Lori told me a story about one school excursion where two boys both got on their hands and knees and crawled across the floor 'to the edge' they were that scared.... I held a few of their hands and helped them touch it.. I also then leant against it to show them how you couldnt 'fall'... Can you even imagine this?! It blows my mind just typing about it!

Afterwards we all headed back down the escalators (a few hairy moments where I thought the kids were going to fall as they tried to balance themselves! LOL). We then took them into the big supermarket (exactly like the ones at home) and gave them a trolley... we took them to the cold food section so they could see how the food was kept cold... my highlight though was one of the oldest boys standing, completely fascinated, by the eggs.... all in cartons.. they are different to home, in that they are in clear plastic cartons rather than the cardboard ones.... so you can see all the eggs through it... he kept looking at it, then he would go to walk away, turn to have one last look and go back and just stare! Very sweet... maybe his parents are chicken farmers or something! lol

We then let them all choose an icecream and some 'snacks' for the busride before taking them through the checkout.. here they got to see everything getting scanned and exchange the money that they had got from the ATM for the goods.... A really really great experience for everyone involved...

After that it was back on the bus to visit more temples in the afternoon.... We headed to Angkor Thom then to Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is the temple where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider all those years ago.. it was still beautiful and overgrown and this time it was a little waterlogged but made for some great photos as well as some interesting hairy moments trying to step over the water on some makeshift stones! Noone ended in tears so it was all good....

At the end of touring Ta Prohm we sat down in a really beautiful part of the temple complex and just took it all in... the kids were fascinated by all the birds in the trees (perhaps ones they had never seen out in the rural area they are from?!). Towards the end they got up and thanked us for allowing them to have such a great day out learning their history.. they then sang us a beautiful Cambodian song. When they finished, one of the boys got up and sang a solo... it was beautiful and haunting and such a brave thing to do.... there were other tourists in the area that all stopped to listen and take photos and he sang his little heart out... Very very moving...

We left the temple and said our goodbyes out the front... the kids asked for us to tell them our names again as well as thanked us again and again before setting off back to school... I almost teared up but contained myself.... WELL WORTH the money spent! That is an experience I will NEVER forget.....

Anyway I will leave the rest of Siem Reap for another 'lighter' blog... once again, THANKYOU everyone who donated money for the bikes/school packs... the next blog will have my visit to the bike shop but the photos contained within this blog will show you just a few of the kiddies you have helped!

I apologise for the amount of photos below (3 pages) but I got so many good ones on the day and I couldnt cull it down any further.. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Love to you all
Reety xxxxx
(And Jakk n Naz)





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10th July 2010

Awesome
Reety, so gorgeous what you're doing babe. The kids are all so precious, I want to adopt them all! I can't imagine how much it must be breaking your heart to leave them behind. But trust you have made SUCH a difference in their little lives and hopefully inspired others to do the same. I know one of our next trips will definitely be back to Cambodia to do some of what you are doing! I'd like to take some of them on an airplane ride and see if they are near as bad as you on the takeoff & landing! ;) Love you and miss you and hope you're having fun! xoxox
10th July 2010

Your a tuff cookie
Hi Reet & girls, Glad i waited til i got home..the tears came again. I would've cried at the ATM & the escalators & the glass wall & the supermarket..lol..so much we take for granted. One day i hope to do all the things u have done. Now hopefully u can all just relax & enjoy pure happy things...in ur case reety that would be more cocktails..haha Cheers, Lynn
10th July 2010

Thanks Reet for these last two blogs, well done to you all, something the children will never forget xxxxx
10th July 2010

Amazing..
Reety what an amazing day! Some of the stuff you wrote seems so unbelievable when we do most of those things each day which we take for granted. Seems like your having an amzing time! How do I donate?
11th July 2010

Another Amazing Story
Reet Another great day on the adventures of Reet And Freinds Ed xx PS check your email.

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