A Visit to the CDCC - Cambodian Dump Children's Centre

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I know, the name is strange, but the CDCC is exactly what it stands for - an orphanage for Cambodian children rescued from the biggest garbage dump in Phnom Penh. All of the kids have been rescued from the Stung Meanchey dump where they used to live, eat, work - a horrible existence.

There are about 100 kids in the orphanage who now live and go to school there. When we (me, Vy the volunteer coordinator and the 9 18 year old gap year student volunteers) arrived every kid was yelling "hello, hello" before we even got inside the gates and then when the doors were opened, they came running up to us wanting to know our names, where we are from, how old we are, etc. They grabbed our hands and wanted to teach us their games, give us crafts they made and even picked flowers to put in our hair.

It was crazy and a bit overwhelming to be surrounded by 10 kids at once wanting your attention, but the kids were so happy and friendly that you can’t help but have fun with them. At the end they sang for us in English, I will try to upload the video later.

I can't wait to go back and visit my bpa-oan srey (little sister) - the girl in the pink tank top. Her sourpuss face in the photos is because she didn't like anyone else being in the photos with us.... it was so cute!

I would highly recommend a visit to the CDCC for anyone coming to visit Phnom Penh and I feel lucky to be a part of the project!

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Photos

Tom - one of our 18 year old volunteers
Funny thing is that Tom is 6'7" (2.09 metres) and the word "tom" in Khmer means big. All the kids think it's a nickname!