Almost There

Just a few more weeks until I leave on a second life changing adventure with CGA! Up until recently, preparing for my trip included studying Khmer and raising money. Recently we have started to create lesson plans and collect supplies to take with us. It is becoming very real and my excitement is growing. The most difficult part has been the fundraisingbecause I raised all of my money by working. This took a lot of effort but I am very proud to say I did it! Learning the language really is a way of contrasting the U.S. to Cambodia. Many languages heard in the US have cognates or words that sound similar. In studying Khmer I have yet to find a cognate. Because I learned Swahili for my trip last year I am able to compare it to English and Khmer. All of these languages are so different, just like the world we live in.

We will be traveling to a place where people live in "shacks" and have nothing compared to us. This will be difficult, but my biggest fear is the emotional attachment I will have and loose with the kids in the orphanage. Many students from past trips have expressed how difficult leaving was for them. When we leave the only communication we will have with our new family is through the Internet. That means I will never again be able to hug the kids and people I hope to grow very close with. I have never experienced this type of loss and I am very scared to have to.

I have many goals for this trip, my biggest being my hope to inspire at least one student to further their education from the school at the orphanage and go as far as they can. I know all of the kids will most likely have this goal because education can take you wherever you wish to go, but I hope to inspire one student to do something incredible so one day they too can give back to those less fortunate. I will do this by working hard to teach students personally and make learning fun for them.  This will be a difficult thing to do, but I really hope to one day get a message that a student is doing incredible things.  A second goal, as the same for everyone on my trip, is to make an impact and change the lives of the students. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope we are able to impact them as much as they impact us. I plan to accomplish this just by giving my all every day I am working and every time I am in the classrooms.  One of my final goals is to teach all of the kids the Macarena. This may seem silly but in Tanzania this brought so much joy to the students of LOAMO and I hope to spark that joy in the kids in Cambodia.