The best ever Dirty Weekend

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My wish for you all is that you could experience at least one Dirty Weekend in Phnom Penh. They are one of the most amazing experiences you will have in your lifetime. Tonight, there are 16 very satisfied people in PP, granted, we are bone tired and could probably sleep for a week, but we have huge smiles on our faces, and we know that by our actions today, we will give a lot of joy and happiness to so many people...........

I’ve just looked at my photos of the day, and I have happy tears rolling down my cheeks. Gosh, what a day, I really am wiped out, and my body hurts, but I am SO happy and content, and it’s awesome.

Most people that have been keeping tabs on my blog, know that every month, the Projects Abroad volunteers get together for what we call a “Dirty Weekend”. It has nothing whatsoever to do with sex, drugs or rock and roll...........just a lot of hard work, and getting very dirty by cleaning or painting in one of the placements that we volunteer at. It’s the most amazing experience, and I wish you could all do it...........we know that it has such a positive impact on so many people and it’s one of the most rewarding things to do. The volunteers that do it, talk about it for weeks, maybe longer. The people on the receiving end, get to experience it daily for a very long time to come. It’s a Win Win situation.

After I started at my school, I decided it was in desperate need of one of our Dirty Weekends, and asked Seang to add it to the list. Amazingly, she made it a priority, and for this I am so grateful. So today, about 16 of us rocked up in our blue P.A. t-shirts, and grabbed the attention of the locals as we arrived en mass in the tuk tuks, and got to work sanding the walls of the two classrooms...........it was like a snow storm (check out the photos).

It turned into a very long day, as the sanding took forever, and during the day we had a number of our students rock up to see what was going on. After sanding for an hour or two, most of us had hair full of dust and were looking a very awful shade of grey, so when two of my girls, Nouna and Simey, turned up, they told me that I looked like their grandmothers, and giggled uncontrollable for quite some time (they’ll keep!!). A number of the students also helped out for a short period of time, and as much as we appreciated it, kids don’t paint particularly well at the best of times, so we were kinda glad they quickly lost interest in the painting. Though, they were SO excited about what we were doing, so I’m thinking there won’t be much of a surprise left on Monday when the rest of the kids arrive for school, as I’m pretty sure news is going to spread quickly of what we were up to.

One student, Piseth, stayed all day though and worked like a trouper. He gained so much respect from the volunteers for his hard work and dedication. He also got involved in the drawing of the pictures downstairs, and proudly drew a rooster and signed his name to it. He’s normally very quiet during the school day, but is always keen to carry my bag upstairs for me each day, and was such a joy to have around today....I’m sure he will have a lot of pride in his efforts for a very long time to come – and well he should !!!

I was really excited and pleased when the team painting downstairs, decided to paint animal pictures on the walls, as it will tie in really well with our trip to the zoo this coming Friday. Yea

One other really positive note, is the fact that a lovely friend (Gwen) from work, that reads my blogs religiously, told me the other day that she wanted to donate some money for the kids. I was really touched by her kindness, and knew that it would come in handy today, and so between Gwen and I, we have put new floor coverings in both the classrooms. The classroom downstairs was in a huge mess, and the existing vinyl barely covered the floor, yet the area is used for so many activities apart from teaching. So now, they have new vinyl, and the cement floor is completely covered and it looks so much better. The senior monk dropped in late this afternoon, and I swear I saw a tear in his eye.........well I didn’t really, but it sounds good, eh? But, in truth, he expressed his gratitude so many times to me, and said that at a recent meeting they’d discussed the flooring, but simply couldn’t afford to replace it. In Australian terms, it cost Gwen and I less than we probably spend on lunch for a week !!!! Thanks my lovely friend, your gift will make life very comfy for the kids for a long time to come, xxx

Side note, and speaking of donations, another wonderful friend donated a reconditioned laptop to me for the children, and it’s in the process of being converted to the Khmer language and will be in use very soon by these kids – thanks Marie.

Probably the only things that went wrong today, were the fact that downstairs, the top of the walls didn’t get sanded enough, and as they were using water based paint on acrylic it was messy with paint not sticking etc............and on two walls, close to the floor, it became apparent there is an moisture problem, so again, paint didn’t want to stick around, or the moisture quickly stained it. Will have a look at solutions to this during the week when I’m there.

Apart from that, it was an awesome day, and everyone really felt fantastic at the end of the day because we could see the amazing transformation, and knew that we all had a part in it.........we also saw the joy on the kids faces that stopped by, so we know already that we’ve had a positive impact on their lives. Again, I say that I wish you could all experience a Dirty Weekend in PP......but instead, enjoy the photos, and live it through us.

Hugs from Cambodia, Rob (The Exhausted Happy One)

PS. Ola, Eden, Luc (volunteers that were here for the last one, but are now home) – you were missed. Ola – you would have “loved it”......xxx

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Comments

[Sylvi]

What an effort
Great job once again on the Dirty Week-end. What a huge effort you are all putting in. As you say it makes you physically exhausted, but in a good way. Such satisfaction once it's all done. And the drawings are so fantastic. It will make all the difference to the kids for the classroom environment. Looking forward to hearing how your trip to the zoo with the kids goes. I'm sure they'll love it. How is getting your passport back going? Hope all is well on that front. Also hope your gut is better. My eye is still a bit red but feels better so I'm sure all is going well in the healing process. Take care. Hugs and kisses. Sylvi xo ps heard from Libby the other day.

[Luc]

Waouw!
Well done,Robyn and Cie! It's very impressive: you have done such a hard work and the the result is so great! For sure, this monday will be a lovely day :-) Your report made me even more missing the Project Abroad spirit. PS: Sorry for the broken English ;-)