Day 11 - 1 November

Today we visited the rescue home which also houses the sewing business and the jewellery business. We walked through the project and then did some English teaching with the national staff. It was lovely to get to meet some of the staff and enjoy their friendly kind natures. They really appreciate any help learning English. The only difficulty working with staff is that at times work takes precedence over English lessons. That requires a high degree of flexibility. All plans can be changed at a minutes notice.

Day 10 - 31 October

I experienced the funniest taxi ride this morning. We headed to Bangkok airport with a Cambodian taxi driver who considered himself a karaoke tragic of 80's English songs. He sang YMCA at the top of his voice, as well as a number of other songs which he had learnt off by heart but really did not know the English words and therefore was not singing the songs correctly. It was annoying, but funny. He sang all the way to the airport, while he sped at about 140 km/hour all the way.
We flew to Chiang Rai where we were met by Destiny Staff and taken to the team house. It was good to be based in one place for a period of time and to have our own bedroom during the next few days. We were to be going to church this afternoon but church didn't happen.
We headed to one of the children homes where regular Sunday afternoon games were in progress. It was great to meet the Destiny staff and the children from the homes.
We went for a meal at a tiny restaurant close to the team house and enjoyed a really early night.

Day 9 - 30 October

What an interesting day to show the convoluted process of travel in Cambodia! It took the whole day to travel to Thailand from Siem Reap.
The bus trip through the border was definitely something I wouldn't want to do often. You certainly need patience to deal with a border crossing. Bus stops before the border. Processed on the Cambodian side of the border. We walked with our gear across the 'no man's land' and then waited to be processed on the Thai side of the border, both of which consisted of long queues and much form filling. We took a taxi to Pattaya and booked into a lovely motel. We walked to the beach for a swim. A refreshing dip but nothing to write home to Queensland about. (The beaches do not compare) The sand is covered in beach chairs, but don't dare sit on one unless you are prepared to pay. Someone will come and collect in an instant.
Dinner, illustrated above, was full of so much chilli I would have burned up if I had eaten them.
After dinner we went for a walk I will never forget. I have never seen debauchery like I saw that night. We walked through street after street, brothel beside brothel beside brothel. It would be difficult to count the number of girls offering their bodies but I'm told that the number of brothels is in the thousands in just the one district. I could have taken photos but it just felt voyeuristic and inappropriate. The number of disgusting old western men draped all over young Thai girls made me feel physically sick.
An interesting coincidence that we were there on Halloween night. The Halloween street parade, in progress during our walk, felt to me as I imagine Hell will feel, the most oppressive evil I think I have ever felt. Such a sense of hopelessness and helplessness.

Day 8 - 29 October

I guess today was our one big 'touristy' day. We spent the day at the famous Angkor Wat site. Some people spend a week visiting each of the sites and wandering around the many different ruins. We had about 5 hours so it was a bit of a rush.

The pictures show some of the really steep staircases. Rachael got as far as poking her head over the edge of the balcony, but she didn't quite make it to the top.

The interesting part of Ta Prohm was the tree growing through the temple ruins which was shown in the Tomb Raider movie. It was a long walk to find it but worth the view when we found it.

Our evening consisted of a lovely restaurant meal followed by a concert of Apsara Dancers performing traditional Cambodian dances. The costumes were quite beautiful.

Day 7 - 28 October

Today began at the Destiny Rescue Coffee House, a great place with lovely staff. We met the staff of the rescue homes and became aware of the need for confidentiality and sensitivity. For this reason I have no photos of the day. We visited a rescue home that receive rescued girls regularly and spend their time providing for the immediate needs of girls such as food, clothing, accommodation, and counselling, and then saw the programs aimed at meeting the long term needs of the girls like education and vocational training. This was an emotional day of meeting residents, national staff, and the ex pat leadership. The struggles were different for each group, but I felt for each group for the struggles they meet each day.
We then had to catch another old and rattly bus, this time to Siem Reap, the tourist capital of Cambodia. On the way we stopped at a market where a number of different 'treats' were on offer including the spiders in the photo. No chance I was going to try them. I ate pineapple!
The lovely little guest house was friendly and cute. The staff members were delightful people. After dinner we went to the night market. I bought a number of lovely textile pieces, Cambodian traditional scarves and silk pieces which were beautiful. The ice-cream was interesting as were the fish that eat the skin off your feet while you soak in their fish pond. Crazy!

Day 6 - 27 October

Today was our last day in the capital. We spent the morning at the Destiny office. We helped make teaching materials for the Learning Centre. We were able to contribute money toward the purchase of homes for some of the slum dwellers. I also purchased 100 small butterflies, made by the rescue girls, which I planned to sell when I got home to raise money to purchase a washing machine for the Learning Centre. (I have since sold all the butterflies, and raised enough to buy two washing machines, one for the learning centre and one for the child care centre.)
After lunch, (a western roast dinner cooked by an Australian who trains rescue girls to both run the restaurant as well as a hairdressing and beauty therapy school) we headed to the bus as we travelled to Kampong Cham.
The bus was old and rattly and took a couple of hours. We got to Kampong Cham at dusk and checked in to a great motel. After the Phnom Penh guesthouse it was a palace.
We went for an evening walk along the river bought a meal and crashed.

Day 5 - 26 October

I spent the day at the Child Care Centre and the Learning Centre helping out. At the Child Care Centre we spent the morning washing and dressing children, playing with them and sitting in on their group time and book reading.
At the Learning Centre I spent time with Pat and the national teachers developing as many learning materials and helpful strategies for the teachers as we thought would translate well into the Learning Centre environment. It was so difficult to communicate without the language as concepts are difficult to communicate without educational understanding as the language is a little more complex than 'Hello' 'How are you?'
I had taken quite a few things to donate including clothing, reading books etc. I also took a disc from school with so many ideas for reading resources including templates for books. I don't know how useful they are when they have to be translated but I hope some of the material is helpful.
I was inspired about how much help I could be in this setting. I know I could make a difference in the education of these children. I can only see two things which could stop me from functioning well in the ministry.
1. A lack of language and the difficulty learning Khmer language.
2. The oppressive heat, humidity, smells, food, and any other lifestyle difference you care to name.
All things that can be overcome but certainly a challenging environment to work.