Daily Duties (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

Daily Duties

The following is a list of the toturous things that I have to put up with each day that I go to the orphanage.

Breakfast - Jeremy and I usually start off the day with a big breakfast because we normally don't eat again until dinner time. There's 2 different places we choose to eat at, both serve yummy baguette sandwiches, sweet milk coffee, fruit salad and delicious sweet banana cake! We then get 2 bottle of waters to go.

Shopping - Down the road from the orphanage we always stop at the local market (the same one where I saw Cliff Richards in January). Thom, our driver comes in with us and does all the speaking and bargaining for us. First we walk have to walk through all the stalls with the dead pig heads hanging and live fish jumping and flopping onto the cement that's covered with this sludge. Normally we buy a serving of either fish or pork, veggies and 1 or 2 large branches of bananas. For about 90+ mini bananas I pay about $1 USD. The lady knows me and calls me a rich NGO Money Man, she generally doesn't budge on her prices. On different occasions we buy various things like medicine, milk, eggs, soap, etc.

The Arrival - The moment we get through the gates, we always have to get yelled at by the kids. They scream out our names and grab our hands before we even get a chance to get off the motorbike. They normally take the food that we've brought for them out of the way, it almost seems as though the food is just in their way to get to us. Once we're off the bike we then go through a ritual of everyone hanging off our bodies for about 3 minutes. The following 20 mins are usually followed by different hand games, ie: thumbwars, rock/paper/scissors, paddycake type games, etc.

Capture the flag! - I love this game! I'm sure you know what it is. If not, basically you have 2 teams and 2 flags. You have a middle border that if you pass are liable to be caught and kept hold of until you're released by one of your other team members. If you can make it to the flag and back without getting tagged, you've won. This game takes strategics and patience. It can often take 30-45 minutes to play. Its my new favorite thing to do there.

Lia Ke Si - A game similar to Duck Duck Goose, but instead you've got a scarf that you use to basically chase and beat your oponent with around the circle while everyone chants a cool song. I still can't get the words out of my head!

Football/Volleyball/Basketball - All with the same ball! To specify for the Canadians, Football = Soccer, I hardly ever call it soccer anymore. I haven't played this many sports since I was in Jr. High school. Needless to say, the kids always kick my ass at football. I introduced basketball just the other day. Rotona and I were bored, we found an old basket with a hole in it and hung it up to a tree, voila!

School - No, Jeremy and I don't go. The way there system works in Cambodia is that there's 2 different times for school, 7am and 1pm. So half go in the morning, the other half in the afternoon. So on certain days at 1pm there's only about 6 kids left with us to play with and we all get bored. Generally we end up taking naps or just sit around and do a whole lotta nuttin'. Hard life I tell ya.

First Aid - Thank God this doesn't happen every day, but normally during all our roughing around, some one steps on something sharp or someone bangs into something, etc. You know, kids will be kids. So, we normally have to help patch someone up. I bought a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls about 10 days ago, its not even funny how much is left. What did they use before I bought some?

The Departure - Much the same as above, but in reverse order. It also entails almost each of them individually asking me first and then Jeremy as well, "Tomorrow?" as they point to the ground. Once they've figured out that we're returning for another adventurous day they then tell us "Goodbye, good luck to you!". I'd love to know who taught them that phrase! Their english obviously is close to nil and what they do know isn't up to par. Oh well, at least we communicate. They know our names quite well, but still call out "You! You!" when they want our attention. But not only will they yell out "You", they'll combine with "I", meaning, "Dean, look at me, I have something to tell/show you". So half the day we're hearing "You, I, You, I!".


No More I Love You's

Its an Annie Lennox song, but I have no idea what its about. I wonder if it can relate to my situation. Yesterday a couple of the kids said something to us in Khmer. Jeremy asked what they're saying, yep, they've told us the "L"word. Damn it! Why'd they have to go and do that? Why do they have to make it that much harder for us to say goodbye when we do? I guess I didn't really need to hear the words to know that it was true, but hearing it makes it so... real. I can honestly say that up until that moment, I wasn't as attached to them as I was in February. Well, to be truthful... bullshit! Of course I am, I just didn't want to admit it. I can only imagine how the kids feel. I feel like a bastard almost for coming back into their lives and then leaving again. Was it right, was it wrong? You know the saying of "Its better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."? Well, is it true? I believe in that saying, but sometimes the words are so much easier said than done.


The Reality

I don't want to go into too much of the politics of the state of the Lighthouse Organization itself. All I'll say is that Cambodia is Cambodia and some things just can't be changed. With that being said, I'm still relieved that the orphanage is no longer under a corrupt manager and that they're all going to school and they're all getting the attention they need and deserve. Unfortunatley funding for them is hard to come by and I hope and pray with all my heart that when I leave, these kids will have food in their mouths from day to day. Its hard to believe that I've basically been the sole provider for about 25 people. Well not me, THANK - YOU to those of you who have donated money... again!!! Can't say it enough... thanks, thanks, thanks! Ah kun tom-tom!


The Gap

Quick shout out to the clothing company! I don't particularily like Gap clothes, but about 4-5 years ago I bought a pair of grey 3/4 length shorts. They've been through hell I tell you in this last year! I'm sad to say that I'll have to discard of them in the near future. They've got a rip by the knee and in the ass. I really loved those shorts, I'm sure you've all seen me wear them.


1000 riel!?!

I can't believe I spent 1000 riel (Riel = Cambodian currency) the other day! Thom our driver came into the market with his bike to pick up a 50kg bag of rice. That combined with me and Jeremy on the bike, he got a flat tire. I felt bad and offered to pay for the tire as Jeremy sat on the side of the road waiting with all the bananas and rice, etc. Luckily the mechanic was only 2 mins down the road! Anyway, when I asked how much it cost I couldn't believe it! 1000 riel is equivalent to.... (drum roll pls) $0.25 USD!


King's Coronation

I don't know if this makes world news headlines, but Cambodia has a new King! King Sihanouk, who has been the King of Cambodia since the 1940's (I think), has stepped off the thrown and his son is being coronated this weekend. Please note that he was in exile during the reign of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Genocide from 1975-79. Anyway, there's a nice buzz in the city, Cambodian flags and pictures of the new King are up everywhere. For the last 2 nights, including tomorrow evening, there are fireworks over top the Royal Palace where they King lives. Unfortunatley only Khmer people can go to the actual coronation, maybe I can blend in.

After visiting the kids today we went to watch the fireworks. Socheat, a twentysomething year old guy that used to live at the orphanage (who I was very, very glad to see the other day doing some yard work for the next door neighbor), was on his bicycle home. I invited him with us and so Thom told him to give Jeremy his scarf to hold on to and he'd pull him along. It went fine for a while, he almost lost balance at one point when silly me grabbed his handle bars to help him slow down. Idiot I am sometimes ! Anyway, as we were going along, there was a big pothole in the ground and he didn't let go of his scarf so that he could just ride it through himself. Well, I don't need to state the obvious. Poor guy. His knee and foot's all scratched up and his bike tire went a little wonky. Thom fixed the bike and I put some antiseptic stuff on his cuts. His pants got a big hole in them though. At least he enjoyed the fireworks. I treated us all to some steamed buns from a street vendor, yummy!