5 April 2010

A Postcard from Phnom Penh

Joom reap sou (Hello)!  I’ve arrived in Cambodia and my journey has begun!  I walked out of Phnom Penh airport on Saturday morning wondering if the tuk tuk driver who was to escort me back to my guest house would show up.  Imagine my relief when I saw this chap holding a sign with my name as I walked out of customs.  Here I was in Cambodia, coming over from Sydney after organising to work in a program that had been planned in the UK….and no one had got their wires crossed.  In fact, the tuk tuk turned out to be a landcruiser..so I was more than pleasantly surprised. 
Sunday was orientation day, and I visited my project with Liz, the other newbie who has just arrived from the UK.  We are really happy that we will be working out of PP, in a more rural setting.  The project is situated about an hours drive away and involveBlog Gap Years teaching English to young children, mostly orphans and then helping out with the farm animals in the afternoon. 
   They are quite sustainable out at the farm, growing their own fruits & vegies, harvesting and pumping groundwater, tapping solar energy and having lots of farm animas such as chooks, cows and ducks!

Blog Gap Year-1The area is flood prone so I have posted some pictures of the raised houses for my colleagues back in Sydney!  Don’t miss the evacuation plan – canoe parked in front garden!!
Blog Gap Year-2
I’ve visited the night marked with Liz to buy some local clothing and get ready for Monday!  I’ve only just arrived but I start work on Monday..so till my next post ‘lee hai’ (good bye)!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome, love the pics! Keep us posted xox Emma

Anonymous said...

How can you take so many piccies in such a short time and get them all set up so nicely? You need to spend more time with those kids, eating and buying clothes. Good to see that they have so much faith in your flooding prowess that they prearranged their high-up housing so that you couldn't come up with some other solution. Ros

travelbug62 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
travelbug62 said...

Hey Ros....the magic is called Picasa -ask Steve!! We are with the kids from 9 in the morning till 3 pm at which time we have to leave...to come back 'home'! We get home at 4 pm rest for an hour, then go out exploring, have some dinner and get back around 8.30 pm....at which time I upload the photos...!! Sometimes, I wake up about 5 in the morning...to do this stuff.:)

Unknown said...

When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn’t an option. It’s a necessity. You are really working hard and I see you heading for the top.

nivlek

Unknown said...

Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole clear, glorious life lies before you.

Behind every technological breakthrough there lies a dream. Behind every new product there lies a dream. Dreams create realities-- through hard work. This is a dream come through for you because DREAM + HARD WORK = REALITY.

NIVLEK

Unknown said...

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Wow... future is yours for believing in the beauty of this BIG DREAM and bringing it to fulfillment. What a courage.

NIVLEK