The Orphans Birthday … 31.3.11

It’s Cambodian New Year in 2 weeks and on that day Tim and Wendy throw a huge birthday party for all the orphans. Most of the kids don’t know when their real birthday is so they all celebrate their birthdays together at Cambodian New Year.

Wendy makes vegan pizzas and money donated helps to buy the children presents. There are at the moment about 180 orphans and it takes Wendy (and her helpers) about 5 hours to make enough pizzas for all the orphans, volunteers, house parents and guests!!!

The orphanage and school here are run entirely on faith. In all their years here Tim and Wendy have never asked for money. God has simply provided and through word of mouth donations have come in. It is amazing to see the work that God has done here through their faith.

So I would like to ask if anyone wants to donate money to buy the kids presents then please email or Facebook message me and I can give you details on how to make an electronic donation.

My email is wold.alicia@googlemail.com

Alternatively you can contact my mum (Pam) if you would like to make a cash donation and she can forward the money to me. Her email is woldfam@gmail.com or you can see her at church or work or wherever you may happen to see her, if you know who she is. 

P.s. Sorry I have no pictures with this one but for some reason I can't seem to upload them at the moment. :(

Random Tidbits … 13.3.11

Here are some random things I have discovered in Cambodia!!

A better picture of a Tuk Tuk

The youngest orphan! He just turned 1 in February and is soooooo cute!!! His name is Pola and I’m very tempted to bring him home with me!!!

One of my first meals in Cambodia. This one was rice, some sort of vegetable, mango and pineapple … very yummy!! It was cooked by the Cafeteria chef Mat Suen. She’s so cute!!! I ate at the caf for the first couple weeks and then rediscovered my love for cooking and have been cooking my own meals since! Not because I didn’t love her food just because I love cooking!!!

Mat Suen is the one on the right and the other girl is her helper

Some of the volunteers here at the moment … from left to right Liz, Sarah, Kathleen, Andrew, Micah and Gayle.

The yummiest drink EVER!! It’s called Sugar Cane Juice … Basically it’s pure sugarcane … hence the name :D seriously yummy!! And so funny how it comes in a little plastic bag with a straw!

And this is my favourite Sugarcane Juice Man … he speaks very good English and I buy a juice from him every time I go to the market (twice a week) … don’t worry it’s not unhealthy and it only costs like 10c :D

This is the way they fill up in Cambodia!! Basically they use old bottles and put a litre of petrol in them and you buy by the litre … the service attendant puts a funnel in the petrol tank and then pours in the petrol.

This is the gross part of the market … I try very hard avoid it and I only have this picture because Chloie took it!!! Anyone going to become a vegetarian now???

Very yummy passionfruit shake!!

Chloie found a clump of pulp in hers!!

Liz and Petrina … and Kathleen … some of the volunteers

I will never complain about the potholes on Freemans Drive again!!! I got the girls to stand in it so you could appreciate the size!! Let’s just say that it’s an interesting ride in the Tuk Tuk and on the back of the Market Truck going through these things!!!

This pic is mainly for Katie! Lol … See, there’s nothing to be afraid of because they promise that there’s no Pirahna’s!!! hehehe

Chloie getting grumpy at me because instead of grabbing her lime (we use lime as face wash … we have very soft nice skin now thanks to it!) that she’d forgotten I grabbed my camera!! Lol

Ok … so we got mosquito coils and the stand broke and you can’t put them on a flat surface because they just go out … so, being the genius that I am, I decided to use my lighter as a makeshift stand … yeah, probably not the smartest idea I’ve ever had!! See the hole up the top?? That’s where the coil burnt into the gas container and nearly blew up!!

Just some pics of my kids :D I went to the children’s Sabbath School last Sabbath to see what it’s like and to help out but I think I was more of a hinderence than a help because my camera was a huge distraction for the kids!!! They love cameras!!!! Especially when you show them their picture after you’ve taken it!!! And for some strange reason they all seem to have an obsession with putting the hands and fingers in the picture … most of the time it’s to make the peace sign but sometimes you have no idea what they’re trying to do!!!!

Also, last Sabbath we had a baptism … very nice to see a young man choosing to follow God!!! 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm … 2.3.11

 … And on that farm there was a cow, dog, chicken, rooster, spider, snake, mosquito, lizard, cat, ant, frog …

Yes. It is quite a bit of a zoo in this place! On any given day I can be sitting on my verandah, peacefully soaking up the sunshine, when one or more of the listed creatures might meander right on by.

Awesome baby "Tookay" not sure on the spelling but that's how it's pronounced!

Ok, so I realise that it’s a bit extreme for me to be listing mosquitoes, ants, lizards and spiders amongst the “farm animals” but seriously there is a never ending parade of them!!! Just today I was peacefully taking a shower when I feel this thing tickling my arm. I look down and there is this massive red ant happily making it’s way up to my armpit!

Ghekko - his name is Fred!

No I haven't named every thing!! lol Just the cute ones :D

So basically my day starts with the rooster crowing his little heart out. Then sometime in the morning the cows come over to mow our ‘lawn’. Around the same time mummy chicken brings her brood of little ones for a walk across our path and for the rest of the day it’s a never ending circus of big and little, bitey and non bitey ants, mosquitoes, lizards and frogs.

What about the cat and snake? You ask.

Well, the cat’s name was Livvy and she was apparantely dropped off at one of the Pagodas in town a few months ago. But, naturally sensing my love and need for a cat in my life, she found her way back and made herself home on our front porch for a day until she was taken back to a different, further away Pagoda that night.

Livvy

And the snake? Well, I haven’t seen him yet but there’s a snake hole next to our pump and Andrew stakes his life on the fact that there is actually a snake living in it. Chloie and I aren’t sure yet whether he’s just having us on or if this snake really exists.

And that’s all on the creature side of things for now :D Well, that is until my post about the other two legged creatures wandering around this place! 

Meet Dart ... 5.3.11

So apparantely it’s not as easy to make friends as I previously thought! Well, at least with the creatures here that is :D

Dart is the craziest, cheekiest dog I have ever met! A couple nights after being here Chloie’s thong went missing, a few nights later one of mine went missing and then Micah from next door’s shoe went missing and soon after that away went another of Chloie’s thongs and so the cycle continued until Friday when Chloie and I were just chilling on our verandah and I see this big dog walk over to our pump and calmly proceed to pick up our laundry brush in his grinning gob and walk up the path towards our house.

He got a few steps when he noticed us watching him, dropped the brush and smirked at us. In about 2 seconds Chloie and I had both jumped out of our hammocks and ran towards him as he grabbed up the brush and took off towards the fence. Chloie struggled to get her thongs on to chase him while I watched laughing, realising that it was a hopeless cause as the dog was definitely a lot faster than Chloie and was already through the fence before she even had her thongs on!

Needless to say it was very entertaining and since then Chloie has regained a chewed up thong, lost and regained an intact thong and Andrew (next door) has lost and regained his door mat … unfortunately my awesome, and might I had very comfortable, billabong thong is long gone … luckily I found some alright ones at the market but they’re nothing like my Aussie ones.

And Jesus said, "Let the Children Come Unto Me" Matthew 19:14 ... 2.3.11

I guess it’s probably about time I tell you about my new little friends here at Wat Preah Yesu. As you all should know by now I am helping out in the Kindergarten room. 

We have 29 students in that room! Luckily we have our disciplinarian who attempts to keep the kids in check with a bamboo stick. Yes, it’s still the dark ages here, and it’s not illegal in Cambodia so please don’t go and freak out!!

There are two Kindy teachers, Houn and Kumrang. Houn teaches in Khmer in the mornings from 7.30 – 10 and Kumrang teaches in English in the afternoons from 1 – 3.30. 

 

The kids aren’t fluent in English so the afternoons are a bit of a mixture in both languages. 

 

My role while I’m here is to help Houn and Kumrang develop an effective learning program that takes away from the more old fashioned way of ‘recite, read and write learning’ and adds a bit of play and fun into the learning.

I love my kids! They are all so cute and so much fun. And even though we can’t understand each other very well, I know that they love me and I know that they know I love them! This theory is based on the evidence in all the hugs I get and the fact that when the first one in my class sees me from the other side of the school, he/she will yell out “Teacher! Teacher Alicia!!” and then 29 children will come running to me, and all fight to hold my hand to walk me to the classroom. (Usually it ends up being one child on each finger and the rest hanging on to wherever they can get a grip on my clothes or bag!! It must be a pretty funny sight to behold!!

So these are my kids … the new loves of my life!!

And for those who are wondering, yes most of them are orphans. And yes, I do want to adopt them all!!! But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the year I’ll adopt :D