Two schools and two wells

We visited one school in the morning, we were greeted once again with the entire school out front clapping and singing for us. We taught the children dental hygiene for most of the morning followed by english lessons. The afternoon was spent looking at wells, the families were greatly appreciative to say the least. We made our way to to another school in the early evening, the children there were eager to greet us there too. We spent time with the students teaching them english, hygiene, and playing soccer. They were a blast to be around as they are always happy and mostly shy.

A warm welcome at the first school

Kindergarten class

Secondary school (grades 7-9)

The library

Susie's well

Dallas, Kate, Chelsea, and Baxter playing with the children

Matt and Paul playing soccer

Bayon temple and an authentic Cambodian cooking class

We set off to visit the Bayon temple early in the morning and we did it in style, riding elephants through the main complex doors. The characteristic that separates the Bayon ruins from many others is the giant smiling faces. After exploring we made our way downtown to an authentic Cambodian/Khmer cooking school. We journeyed down to the local market to pick up the ingredients for our main courses with our cooking instructors. The preparation of the food was a timely process and gave us all a better appreciation for the food we have been enjoying on this trip.

Jian far left, Dallas on the platform, Tyler and Athan on the elephant

Atop the elephant 

Smiling statue at Bayon

Monks at Bayon

Before and after of corresponding vegetables

Picking up a few ingredients at the local market

Angkor Thom, medical clinic, and Buddhist Monastery

Yesterday we visited Angkor Thom ( which translates to "The Great City" or "Capital"). It is approximately 825 years old. It is also the location where the movie Tomb Raider was shot. The massive trees that grew out of the stone structures were very impressive. In the afternoon we made our way to Ampil Clinic where we dropped off medical supplies. The clinic opened in 2007 and has an average of 150 customers/patients per day. They also have 130 women that they provide birth control to. Our evening was spent in a Buddhist monastery. The monks were gracious enough to put on a show for us. They went through their evening and morning chat ritual (video below). 

Angkor Thom

Note the face carving between the root system

Massive Spung tree growing from the temple

Our two very knowledgeable guides that go everywhere with us

Ampil Clinic

Angkor Wat, a genocide memorial, and the Angkor National Museum

The day started off early as we met in the hotel lobby to depart at 5:15am, we were off to see the surreal sunrise at ancient Angkor Wat. It truly is an impressive place. We then made time for a much deserved breakfast. In the afternoon we made a stop at the genocide memorial, there was a very dismal feel to it. Our last stop of the day was at the Angkor National Museum. The museum contained beautiful statues and "a room of a thousand Buddahs."

Tyler: "These people have so little and are so loving, so generous and gracious, it is unbelievable! Although I have only been in Cambodia a few days I honestly feel I have learned more about humanity than I have ever before".

Just in time for the sunrise

The handcrafted detail is truly impressive

The center building was a library at one time

Heavenly dancers

A temple at Angkor Wat

Genocide memorial

Water wells and a Cambodian school

Today we visited a Cambodian grade school, there were approximately 300 students, their ages ranged from 6-14 years old. As we pulled up in our two vans we were greeted with the entire school clapping and singing. It was quite a welcome to say the least! After a quick tour of the small school the students showed off their english skills by rehearsing the alphabet and introducing themselves. They were shy and weren't in a hurry to speak in english. After walking around and trying to have basic conversations with them in english we passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the students. Ksenija and Susie (our professors) gave them a quick lesson in dental hygiene. Cambodian children's teeth are maltreated, many don't have dental care and it doesn't help that a  can of coke can sometimes be cheaper than a bottle of water. All the children were very happy and nothing but smiles the entire time, it's hard not to be in a good mood around them.

 After a great lunch followed by a rest in hammocks we made our way to see the St. Marys' well (pictured below). It was a great feeling to see the families that utilize the well and how much they appreciate it, there are 3 homes that currently use the well. We then made our way to see the progress on the well that Paul, Athan, Tyler and Jian had personally sponsored. The well was almost half way done, they were still in the drilling phase which is done by hand. They had to go down about 90 feet to reach water. We visited with the family that will be using the well, it was eye opening to see how little they had. Their house sat on stilts 10 feet off the ground (to stay dry during rain season). The children slept on the wooden plank floor, they didn't even have bed rolls to sleep on. They were the same children we saw earlier in the day, once again they were nothing but smiles. Tyler taught them to "high-five" and we said our goodbyes.

Tyler, Athan, Paul, and Jian helping out on their sponsored well

Athan hanging out with the students

Paul and Jian playing soccer with the students

Kate with the students

Students singing/speaking in english

Kate and Tara with the students as we're about to leave

St. Mary's College well with the family 

Relaxing after lunch

Tyler teaching the "high-five"

First day in Cambodia!

We arrived late last night, we met Cambodia at 78 degrees and humid, but it was still refreshing after spending nearly 19 hours on a plane. We met the founder of the Cambodia Child's Dream Organization(CCDO)- Mr. Panah Ou. He is a very impressive yet humble man, CCDO has been very successful. specially considering this is his second job. He saw the need for water wells nearly 10 years ago  when he realized that many people were getting sick using the local canal water, clean water was unaccessible. 

Student reflection-
St. Mary's student Matt Loudon, "Cambodia seems to be a really young country, it has a free spirit about it. I feel like I could stay young for a very long time here."


Top left: Ksenija, Susie, Brandon, Paul, Jian, Athan, Kate, Dallas, Britney, Baxter, Chelsea, Matt, Adrianna
Front row: Tyler, Tara, Stephany, Olivia, Claire, Rachel, Chelsea

We leave this Monday!

We spent this week in class familiarizing ourselves with Cambodia, including their history and culture. We studied buddhism and even spent time meditating with our very own Brother Camillus from St. Mary's.

Our fundraising efforts far surpassed our goals. We have raised funds among family and friends for 10 WATER WELLS (at $220 each) that we will visit in the villages. We are also bringing over $1000 to fund anything we deem a top priority. We have collected over 1000 lbs of donated supplies, such as clothing, books, school and hygiene supplies, medical supplies, games and soccer balls. 

We are all vaccinated and have our malaria pills at the ready. We are all very excited to fly out this Monday (January 9th) morning at 11:35am.