Kevona's Journal, February 26, 2011

Today!  Today! Today!, what can I say about today?  Well today was the first morning back to Golden Gate Hotel in Phnom Penh. We started it off with a good breakfast and a phone call home. Later we visited an old school that became apart of the Cambodian Holocaust. It was popular for its cruel interrogations towards the Cambodians to get answers for Pol Pat. Its called S-21. Some of the rooms were so extreme and graphic that we had to take breaks in between.  At the end of the tour we got the chance to meet a survivor and buy one of the books. After being interrogated for many Hours the prisoner were told they can go join their family. They took a train many miles away from the camp site to the killing fields. At the killing fields they dug holes and were told they were for crops but at 6pm when the music stopped the same holes became their last resting place. Children and babies were brought to a special tree were their heads were smashed against the trunk and thrown into a hole nearby. For me watching a documentary called Year Zero and actually being at the actual place took a toll on all of us. The cruelty of man can be unpredictable at times.

Learning and visiting the Cambodian history we needed an uplift so we went to a calming boat ride, lunch and later did some shopping for some gifts in gratitude for our family friends and churches .

Rachel's Journal, February 25, 2011

Today we said our final goodbyes to the village. The kids gave each of us “I love you” pictures. The pictures were really well done. Before that we went by the school and gave out some of our extra supplies to the kindergarteners. They do not even have a teacher, but they still go to school anyway. We also stopped by the village’s current church, it was small and multifunctional. From the village we went back to the restaurant the last time. We had a great lunch. After that we started our 4 hour trip to Phom Penh. When we got to the Golden Gate hotel we checked into our rooms. Shortly after finding and going to our rooms all the Y.A.M.S went for a walk around the city. We stopped in a café, electronic store, an American and accessory store. At six thirty we gathered for dinner. We went to Steve’s Steak House. It was all American food and we were able to drink the water, for once. We were also able to get our own dish, soda and type of ice cream After dinner we gathered in Donna’s room for glad/sad time, devotions and announcements.    

Nicole's Journal, February 24, 2011

Today was our last work day in the village. We used White T-Shirts that Rachel’s mother bought to let the kids sign their names in Khmai and have Tola translate them. We finished digging holes, breaking rocks and filling holes.

After lunch, we had a church service and there were lessons, performances, and thank yous. At the end of the service, we handed out bags with Silly Bandz, T-Shirts and candy. The adults and the youth in the church also got shirts. Before we left, we all took pictures with the kids. We left, came back to the hotel and took showers, relaxed and went to dinner. When we came back to the hotel, we did Sad/Glad time and devotions.

Hannah's Journal, February 23, 2011

Wednesday started out slow, due largely to the (undisclosed) amount of sleep we Y.A.M.s had the night before.  But we knew it was going to be an important day, so we hauled our tired bodies out of bed and left for breakfast at 6:15 (ish).  Much to everyone’s surprise, we went to a new restaurant for breakfast, the Stung Sen Restaurant, which served essentially the same food as the last restaurant, minus wifi and plus the company of a gaggle of hungry military personnel…

                Though we were going to hand out school supplies in the morning and the afternoon, we still had a duty to help the people of Okroch with their fence, so we went there first.  Not only did we help dig holes, today we learned how to fill in the holes after the cement had been poured in.  This is where the majority of the group ended up (though some of us were still breaking rocks or digging holes).  Thankfully, the morning weather was wonderfully cool and breezy, due largely in part to the light rain we experienced (which was, according to Esther, a miracle), and the continuing cloud coverage.  As we were preparing to leave for the school, we realized that some of the children who were supposed to be in school had come to the site to be with us (“hee hee” was Joseph’s response).  Later, we were able to give them the same supplies that their schoolmates received, but it was truly touching to see that they missed school to be with us and help us (or watch us and laugh at us) at the work site.

                The school itself was fairly typical of those we had seen already in Cambodia; three long buildings forming the sides of a square, with an open clearing in the middle.  We had prepared boxes with an assortment of school supplies for each grade (the same school supplies that our fellow church members had so graciously donated back in the states) and came prepared for grades one through six.  Unfortunately, we found out later that there was also a kindergarten class, however as we were unprepared for them, we had little choice.  The other classes were very polite and orderly as we handed out the supplies (though some looked like they were bursting at the seams to see what they had received), and we had special packages for the teachers as well.  It was so wonderful to see all of those young children in school, even when the classes were so full (one grade topped off at 77 kids) and they were sitting 6 to a bench.  Despite this they all still came to learn (and not just because we were there; they had not even been told, it was all a surprise). 

                After another lunch of peanut butter and (strawberry) jelly on the bus, we headed out with crafts in hand.  Whole we brought back the sticky foam shapes, we also brought with us embroidery thread and colorful glass beads.  The whole group seemed to enjoy stringing the shiny beads onto the thread, and we even got some of the older kids and the adults to join in.  After the beads had been exhausted and the girls had practiced their dances one more time, the kids started up another round of the famed circle game, which by then had become a group favorite.  After that we played an interesting version of duck duck goose, only without any head tapping and with a small measure of violence.  Much like duck duck goose, the kids crouched in a circle while a scarf was twisted into a spiral resembling a dog toy.  Then one kid (the scarf tucked clandestinely behind his back) proceeded to walk carefully around the circle as the group chanted.  As he passed by his mark, he discreetly dropped the scarf so that the next kid over did not realize it had been dropped, and as the first kid picked it up he started hitting the kid to his right with it, not stopping until the other had run around the circle and gotten back to his spot. 

Clearly there were no losers in this version, only moderately sore backs.  Alarming as it sounds, the game was a lot of fun, more so for those watching each kid run to escape the whip of the scarf.  One of the children’s favorite things to do was to drop the scarf to the left of a Y.A.M. and laugh while some kid chased around another twice his size.  Many laughs were had (and a couple ‘hee hee’s), but soon we had to go back to the school to visit the three remaining afternoon classes.  Finally, we were ready to go back to the hotel, tired after a busy day of work and fun. 

                Back at the hotel, things still needed to get done.  Despite several headaches and interrupted naps (leaving no rest for the weary), we still had to sort out the T-shirts for Thursday, put them in the bags with the silly bands, put candy in the bags, and then label them by size.  Though we had everyone working in Gillian’s room, the entire operation still took a good hour and a half, if not more.  By the time we went to dinner at the Stung Sen (with food eerily similar to that at the other restaurants) the mood had become more subdued compared to the energy of the morning, not aided by Nicole’s minor allergic reaction to a potential peanut contamination.  With full bellies and tired eyes we made it back to the hotel, and shortly after to our beds, exhausted from what had been yet another busy, exciting, and most of all fun day.

Chris' Journal, February 22, 2011

As our eyes opened at 5:00, we were still tired and really didn’t want to get up and go the village and work. Eventually we got ready, some walked to the restaurant and others (including me) went on the bus. Breakfast as usual was ok some people have seemed too got used to it and some still didn’t like it. Then we drove off to the work site/village and we broke sweat, we dug about 7 holes, we broke some rocks and we mixed some cement. It was pretty cool and interesting. It was something I wasn’t use to something to this. We then started playing with the kids for a second day as always, it was fun. We started making objects, shapes, fruits with the pipe cleaners and coloring. We then started playing games such as, blowing bubbles and the little kids popped them, we also played Frisbee and then we stated playing the Cambodian games. It was really fun, lots of smiles and laughter. We then had lunch which was actually good even though it was only peanut butter and jelly and our own snacks. We eventually left the bus after eating our snacks and the kids were singing and dancing and we then taught some of the kids our dance such as the hokey pokey. As the smiles and laughter continued it then had to end (Boooo!!).

After the kids we went to look at one of the wife’s houses and the village and looking at her house makes you think of how we Americans take things for granted it kind of brought frowns on our faces. Eventually we went home... Well back to the hotel and we were talking as usual on the way back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel we all chose to go to the internet café which was down the block and we stayed there for a hour which only cost us $1 which is pretty cheap in America lol. After the hour we went back to the hotel to shower and then came dinner. Finally we went to a new restaurant and to me the food was good but to others the food was bad. After dinner we went back to the hotel and had sad and glad moment that we do every night and we did devotion which reflects about our day and we all went to sleep eventually.

Steven's Journal, February 21, 2011

After all of the youth woke up and learned that the air conditioner didn’t work on our bus, we decided to walk to the restaurant. When we were walking back we talked about how much fun we were going to have on our first day with the kids and help built the fence. We arrived at the village where the kids lived at and introduce ourselves. Out of all of us I probably looked the most nervous introducing myself.  After the introduction the youth split up into 3 groups to play arts and crafts activities for the kids to play.

They made diamonds on crosses, bracelets out of pipe cleaners, played tag and kickball. Later on half of us helped built the fence around the church while the rest of us stayed with kids and then we switched. The Cambodian kids sang for us and even taught us how to do some of their dances. They also taught us how to count to 10 in their language, khamer. Everybody was shocked when we learned that they knew how to count to ten in English. That just shows that many countries learn different languages at an early age. We also showed them how to do the hokey pokey and hand games like numbers. But eventually all the fun had to come to an end and we all said our goodbyes. At the hotel we tried to sort all of the school supplies and other goodies to give to the village at the end of the week. It is very amazing and different to play games and learn another language of another culture.

Tori's Journal, Sunday February 20,2011

Before leaving the Freedom Hotel, Y.A.M.S. experienced a Cambodian church service. For the first time we needed a translator so we could understand what was being said. It was a new experience for us and at first it was a little uncomfortable. Although the music was in a different language, we all recognize Holy Holy Holy. Afterwards, we youth ambassadors went to a silk farm. We not only learned about the silk worms but we saw each step in the silk making process. It takes 2 months to complete one roll of silk. Everything is hand done, so many of us wondered if there is a faster way to make the silk. Overall the silk farm was our favorite thing of the day. Although we all were sad to leave the pool at the Freedom Hotel, it was time head to our final destination. On our way to Kampong Thom, we got to visit a Christian school. We were all shocked when we saw dell computers in one of the classrooms. The school was very nice but the best part was getting to talk to the kids, Even though we needed a translator, nothing could have better then seeing the children smile. Although to us, one Cambodian may only look 4 years old, they’re actually 7 or 8.

Finally we left the school and finished our trip to Kampong Thom. It was nice to get to what we would call our home. We went out for dinner then came back to the hotel for sad glad time. We were all ready to get some sleep so we would be ready for our first day of work.