Peace by Peace was the name of the trip going in this June. Nina and I thought of this name as we were picking up the pieces of what came crashing down two years ago. With the orphanage closing came a dark sadness with no hope and fear for all the children as we sat and heard about it crumbling down on the other side of the globe. Nina not being able to join us for this trip left it to my mom and I to start from the bottom and find a new confidence in the stability of Change for Children. All volunteers came in with an open mind knowing our plans were unclear and not settled. My mind and heart was open not knowing what to suspect. Each time going on a volunteer trip anywhere I feel you always have a new perspective. Rather if it is your first time or fifth time visiting a destination you always have different mind-set. Let me explain my mind-set on my two earlier trips to Cambodia. First trip, it was the first time I traveled abroad solely for volunteer work. The first time is always when you are most open to see new things and in general experiencing a new culture for the first time is indescribable. The first trip I fell in love with volunteering and the anthropology that comes with traveling. The second trip I went in once again not knowing what will happen, just excited to see the faces I had come to love during my first visit. During this trip my relationship with God was rekindled through the bonds with the God loving children of Cambodian Hope Association. So the first two trips, my experience differed greatly, and with my third visit (this past June) I once again went in without knowing what will happen, if not more than the first two visits.We had to go in without an orphanage in mind and find a new one.
Through friends within Cambodia we easily found a new place to volunteer. This trip maybe my heart was a little closed off to the kids at the new orphanage because I wasn't prepared to meet new faces to replace the old faces I came to hold so dearly in my memories. Also maybe I didn't bond with them as closely because I had missed days with them from getting sick. So my mind-set became the improvement of Cambodia from my first trip 5 years earlier rather than how the orphanage affected me. My boss asked me to document and photograph trash while I was there, seeing as I am a zero-waste intern. I examined alleyways, rivers, houses, restaurants and how they dealt with trash. All along the river side trash lines the shores and gives the water a highly-potent smell, I never come to miss this smell. The garbage is thrown on curb-side streets for the truck to pick up. However, Cambodia faces monsoon rain storms nearly everyday breaking trash bags open and leaving garbage everywhere. I must say this time I saw the garbage truck several times outside our house, first time I've ever seen a garbage truck there F.Y.I. But the remnants of what fell out of the bags are still left to rot on the street. The orphanage we worked at lived along a river and would throw their own trash out the back gate, streaming along the banks of the river. On our last trip we invested in a legitimate trash can for CHA but due to the roof work we had to do time fell short on this trip. With this said I saw recycling taken care of for the very first time. In major city ports and tourist attractions recycling bins existed. Walking through the markets I saw workers collecting recycling from vendors in their carts for a cheap price to then carry to main recycling headquarters. This was a huge improvement I was excited to see. Infrastructure and new buildings are everywhere. Not that I enjoy skyscrapers and the city life, roads and stop-signs are now existent and businesses consume the streets meaning revenue. This money might not be going to the right places in government but it will eventually sort out. More importantly job opportunities are coming to fruition and over the past five years as a wittiness I can state Cambodia has grown tremendously. It is developing into a nation and moving on from its hideous past.
Now back to my experience at the orphanage, the reason of our trip. Arriving at the gates they had a treacherous name for a home for children. Something along the lines of poor organization for helpless kids, a name crying for attention, I quickly tried to forget it. The kids lined up ready to "present" themselves, the whole situation was depressing. How desperately the kids wanted to be recognized and how they had to "entertain" us to get our support for the future was not a pleasant site to see. As the director walked us around he pointed out the mess of the house and all the fixtures needed. This is why we fundraise and come, it is to help the orphanage in whatever way needed. The project we developed was building our own roof to keep them dry. The fact they were too poor to even own a fan made it a sweaty adventure. The roof was put into place and kept them dry through the night. The kids opened up quickly and it was a new experience because not a single child could speak English past hello, not even what is your name? We broke language barriers through games and hugs. By the second day they could count and do the ABC's. Which I am sure they somewhat knew because it came so easily. Seeing even the shyest of the children start to play was super rewarding and sharing laughter and smiles was the best. I learned very few names, possibly as a guard, knowing a name only leads to a deeper connection and I don't know the success rate of this orphanage. We worked very hard and so did all the other workers from the orphanage on the roof and the meals we purchased besides one man, the director. He would often disappear, it was apparent that he was grateful for our work and food, but only when it was finished. When the director isn't on board to help and make a difference we believe the orphanage cant't exist. We laid down the line on how we need to see major improvements for our support. We suggested lesson plans for when the kids aren't attending school, and better upkeep of bills and expenses, as well as the director's apparent desire to actually help the children. The last day the kids were more than loving and upset to see us go but grateful for the fun times and a new roof to keep them dry. Maybe I didn't become as connected because it was so hard to lose all the others from CHA and I didn't want to lose more children again. Or maybe it was a new mind-set on trash.
I love Environmental Sciences and this trip only expanded my dream to help less developed countries with waste management, water, and just environmental rights and wrongs to save our mother Earth. It was hard to see CHA close but on that note I got to visit lots of children who came from CHA. I've seen babies become children, a girl become a teenager, and boys turn into young men. Just as much they've seen me grow as well. It is a beautiful thing to see how happy they all are after their home closed down and still the most cheerful people I know. Overall this trip expanded my dream and gave me my fill of traveling for the summer, leaving me counting down for my next adventure, college. I know Change for Children will continue on with me in college and I can't wait to expand to new countries, and find new volunteers as I move somewhere new. Volunteering will always be a part of my character and even though I'll be busy in college I will always find ways to help my community and this world. Change for Children is confident in its ability to make hands-on differences throughout the globe within the near future.
