The Orphanage

Oh my goodness, children have A LOT of energy! After spending four days at the New Futures Orphanage, I think I need to schedule a vacation from my traveling! I spent six to seven hours a day with the children and went to bed most nights by 9 PM without the energy to even shower, almost. Despite my severe energy drain, I had such an incredible and rewarding time with the children.

There are 52 children currently at the orphanage, ages 8-17. Some of them are orphans in the true definition of the word; others are there because their parents could not afford to keep them. They live on a couple of acres with the following: swing set/playground, two outdoor yet covered classrooms, an arts/crafts room, a farm with pigs and chickens, a lake with fish, a workshop and a beauty parlor practice room. They all sleep on mats on the floor of a two-story place. After meeting and talking with each of them, I can tell that several of them would benefit from some kind of therapy which simply doesn’t exist over here. They have little to no structure, aside from the few hours a day they spend in school. They are all pretty good in English; they take lessons everyday. The children have hearts of gold and smiles that will melt your heart. I have given and received more hugs in the last four days than in the last four years of my life, so that was wonderful. Walking into the orphanage and having 10-15 little people run up to me, say ‘hello, how are you’ and be so excited to talk to me and hold my hand and have me join in their little adventures….what a feeling!

I was busy non-stop while there. I learned how to play chess (kind of), I taught some girls how to do a few line dances, I had my hair braided twice, and I went to English class at the local school…and that was day one! On Tuesday, I was joined at the orphanage by two other volunteers, a great couple from France named Stef and Thomas. Stef and I spent the morning cleaning out the arts and crafts room which previously had looked like a tornado had blown through it! That afternoon, we put on a fashion show. I helped dress up about 20 kids in all kinds of fabric and garland, set up a stage complete with a backdrop and the kids paraded around on the stage. We had three kids playing bongos and guitar to set the mood. It was hysterical and, wow was I tired by the end of that day!

Wednesday was filled with games of simon says and hangman, teaching an English class and a Chinese class. I taught about 15 of the kids basic phrases in Chinese and the rest of my time there, they kept running up to me and practicing…so cute and impressive how quickly they pick languages up! We were begged to put on another fashion show, so we had day two of prancing and parading around in pseudo dresses, capes, togas, etc. Today, my job was to push girls on the swing set, next came singing/teaching every nursery rhyme my poor memory could recollect, then I sat and had girl talk with some of the older ones….who likes who, teaching them the correct pronunciation to the song ‘All the Single Ladies’ by Beyonce…the important stuff! ;) I taught Chinese again and then braved day three of fashion week without Stef…we gave cookies to everyone beforehand to celebrate one of the little girl’s birthdays and they were absolutely wired on sugar! Fashion week was crazy!

I learned one very important thing about orphanages in Cambodia: string is to orphans as cigarettes are to prisoners. Colored string is traded whenever you lose at volleyball, chess, soccer. Girls and boys lobby and push for anyway they can get their hands on more string in order to make bracelets and other little things like it. I quickly recognized this, went to the local market and bought them out of string (a whopping $6 out of pocket). You would have thought I was the King of Cambodia with how these kids thanked me and went crazy as I was handing out the string. As a result, I was blessed with all kinds of homemade things. I now am proudly sporting 5 string bracelets, two string rings, one anklet and four things to dangle from the zipper on my purse. So cute!

My days at the orphanage were fantastic. It is incredible how attached you can become to children, and they to you in such a short amount of time. It was hard to say goodbye to them all. One of the many things I learned through this experience is that there is no way I could ever be a teacher and for those of you who are or were, God bless you! I am spent!

Today, I will jump on a boat and float down the Mekong River into Vietnam. I’ll be in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) by Friday night and will be spending the weekend with Keira and Trent, an Australian couple that I traveled with in Africa last year who are now living there. I haven’t been in an actual home since September 2009, so I am excited for some of the comforts of home and to see some old friends! Until next time...!