Love is Beautiful

So much can happen in a day here. The days go by quickly but you can accomplish so much.

Sunday, Sarah and I scrubbed and wall in the boys dorm.  We disinfected them and beat the dust from the pads they sleep on.  It was always so exciting when you get a patch of adhesive and dirt off the metal frames.

Monday, Katie, Haily, and I took ten kids to the dentist along with Lisa Marie and our translator Meng.  This was so exciting because many of the kids had never been to Phnom Pehn from their village, Adong.  On the Tuk Tuk, Haily Srey Pi, Srey Niat, Srey Ta, Srey Pa and I were singing and laughing together. We had known each other for days but you would have never been able to tell from the way we loved one another.  

Every kid was so excited to be at the dentist.  They each had at least five cavities and all of the younger kids had empty shells where their full teeth had once been.  It was hard to see the kids cry while they were being worked on.  Almost all have to go back later to get even more work done. Thinking back if someone has a cavity or toothache in America they will fix it as soon as possible.  These kids have gone years with cavities unimaginable to most people.

Yesterday and today I was in the school across the street from the orphanage.  The classrooms are about ten by twenty feet and the school is two stories.  There are two classrooms upstairs and a library on ground level.  Despite having to go to school I have yet to see anyone have less than a smile on their face while in that building.  It makes me so happy because most of the time they don’t have anyone to tell them to go to school.  They go because it is an opportunity to better them and it will give them more opportunities in the future.

In the Library during tutoring you read to the kids, play patty cake, help with pronunciation or simply just talk to the kids.  They are all so grateful for our help, including the teachers. 

Haily and I spent a lot of time with two older girls, Son Pen and Srey Nien.  They are both 17 and learning the same things as people their age in America.  They come to the lower English school to tutor and teach younger kids.  We were able to have full conversations and get to know one another very well. They are so kind and I am so excited to have gotten to meet them.

Cambodia is beautiful. It might have streets lined with trash and new smells at every corner, but the people’s open hearts make it one of the best places in the world.  Without the love the have and their willingness to let us in, we would never accomplish any of the things we do in a day.