vagablonding

For the past week I have been volunteering every day at the Save Poor Children in Asia Organization (SCAO). SCAO is both an orphanage housing 19 children and an English school where about 100 village children total each attend 1 of 4 English classes every day except Sunday. SCAO charges nothing for the classes; it is a non-profit NGO. Located 7km North of Phnom Penh in Boeng Chhouk village, SCAO is run by Mr. Sath Samith who is one of the kindest people I have ever met.

One of the lessons for the Lets Go 1 and 2 kids. English words with Khmer translation written next to them. Notice that coat, jacket, pajamas, and sweater are all the same word in Khmer. It doesn’t really get cold in Cambodia….

The 19 children, Mr. and Mrs. Samith, their wonderful cook Poly, and usually 5-7 volunteer English teachers all live together in a 4 bedroom house. Hanging out there is amazing; I have never seen a more cohesive and loving family. The children range in age from 3 to 20. Most are from poor single-parent families that can’t afford to support them. Many of the older children lost parents in the fight against the Khmer Rouge. 2 of the children are Mr. and Mrs. Samith’s own.

SCAO always needs volunteers to teach the English classes. If you want to volunteer it is best to first call ahead and then come sit in on one of the classes and meet the kids. If you like it you are welcome to come volunteer as much as you want, and even stay at the center if you choose, after talking with Mr. Samith of course.

SCAO also needs donations of money, food, clothing, and school supplies. If you visit you can also buy a tshirt, or a wallet or purse made by students at the school.

If nothing else, just drop by to play with and read to the kids for a couple hours. They love having a chance to practice their English!

Please visit the Save Poor Children in Asia Organization website to learn more, and consider making a donation to SCAO, or sponsor one of the kids so they can go to Khmer school.

Tuesday, February 16th, was spent riding around in a tuk-tuk visiting all kinds of villages and wonderful charity centers around Battambang.

First we went to the Phare Ponleu Selpak NGO which takes in children and teaches them music, painting, computer animation, and circus performance. Some of the kids are housed, clothed, and fed there, and many others just come during the day. There are kids of all ages, from those who can just barely walk, to adults around age 22. It’s an excellent NGO, one of the best in Cambodia, and they are doing great work. Definitely don’t miss a visit if you’re ever in Battambang.

Then we had a short stop at an orphanage where we met some cute kids.

Next we went to a village where bamboo sticky rice is made. I bought some, and as you can see below one of the tuk-tuk drivers wanted to steal it from me.

Hey pal, back off my sticky rice!

After that we went to a village where they make rice noodles. After being cooked the rice is made into a gooey paste.

Then the paste is pressed through little holes into boiling hot water.

The noodles are then rinsed in cool water and the noodles are ready to be sold.

We also visited a rice paper making village. Below you can see some drying on a rack.

While there I made a little friend. She looked worried until she saw herself on the camera screen, then she was all smiles.

We stopped at the Ptea Teuk Dong Street Family Center for a delicious lunch ($4). PTD takes in street families and abused women and teaches them vocational skills for 1 year including sewing, weaving, furniture making, food preparation, and agriculture. After a family completes the program they are given a plot of land with a small wooden house and start-up funds for a small business. Besides buying lunch I bought a super cute handmade purse for $5.

I had been feeling really dizzy all morning so mom and I ditched the rest of the tour and chilled out in the hotel for the afternoon. At 6:30pm we went back to the Phare Ponleu Selpak NGO for an hour long circus performance ($8). It was lots of fun. There are no animals, just people doing acrobatics and juggling. There were stories being acted out so I guess you could say it was like a play on uppers. The performers were very talented; the pictures don’t do them justice.

Afterward we had dinner at the restaurant there. It was very good, except for the questionable squid things that looked exactly like squid, with eyes and everything, but the chefs insisted was imitation squid… I skipped that dish.

Tomorrow we have a long-ass 6.5 hour boat ride down the river and across Tonle Sap Lake to Siem Reap. I hope it’s fun :p