Today was our first big day on the project. We woke up bright and early and had a breakfast of eggs, toast and fresh tropical fruit.
We got to know each other a bit better over breakfast; this week in Siem Reap we have volunteers on three different programs; the elephant program, the Siem Reap program and the teaching program – it’s great to find out why everyone chose the programs they did.
Then we headed off to the school we’ll be working with. We had a tour of the school, which has over 1000 students. Families in Cambodia have to pay to send their children to government school, so the non-government school we work with doesn’t charge families and allows students to focus on curriculum areas they find most interesting.
After a tour of the school, we went to see some of the houses built on previous ROV programs. The families were so excited to see us back again!
Then, enough of sight-seeing and time for work! We went to our project site; a house with a very over-grown front yard, no kitchen and no plumbing. In just one day we managed to clear the entire front yard, plant trees, a big vegetable and herb garden, dig a gutter system; a massive job as it was through concrete, start on the extensions for the kitchen and build a front fence! We’re powering through the work and are loving joking around with the locals who are helping us out!
We had a great lunch, which some of us helped to prepare, and sat down to eat it Khmer style in a big picnic circle. It tasted soo good!
Even though we were tired and sweaty after a big day’s work, we still had time to play some games with the village kids. We learned a Cambodian version of duck-duck-goose, a few different versions of tag and even some Khmer dance moves!
We’re really getting used to the culture here! The people are so welcoming and appreciative of the hard work we’re doing for the poorest families in the village.
Now we’re home and clean (very needed!) and about to go for a tuk tuk tour of Seim Reap city. Then we’ll go for dinner at a local restaurant and maybe if we’re lucky have some famous banana pancakes!
What a great day, we worked hard, we played hard and we’re ready for it all over again tomorrow!