Before I get into the summary, I think it's really interesting how little it took to make us happy. I can't even imagine the looks on our faces when our staff told us we were going to drive into town and get a cold drink. Our entire experience made us more grateful for the little things: ice, AC, cold water, running water, my shower, my toilet, laundry, being able to feel clean, beds, electricity and so much more.
Let's start with the service project... personally, I didn't find the physical work to be as hard as I thought it would be (not that it was anywhere near easy- I was just expecting the worst. I believe it's better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than the other way around). In some ways, I do wish that there was more we could have done and that the people from the village trusted us with more work, but, at the same time, I do understand why they may have been reluctant.
This experience also showed me how frustrating the language barrier could get. Such as when we were painting the tables for the classrooms, we had a bucket full of petrol to clean brushes, but, all the kids were sticking their hands in the bucket (not to mention that they kept smearing what I was painting). Whatever we tried to do, they didn't understand that they needed to back away (or they did understand, but just wouldn't do it). That may have been the only time during the trip where I was anything but happy.
I'm proud of the work we did, but since we only did the length of one side of the school (the back and other side is covered with trees and bushes), I do hope that the next group will cover the front and maybe put a latch on the door we built on our side. I really don't like that we have to depend on the actions of another group of people, that we've never met, to determine whether or not our project is successful. If they do complete the project as we are hoping, then this fence opens up possibilities to many other improvements to the school. Aside from stopping all the cows from coming into the school yard (which stops there from being dung everywhere where the kids are playing barefoot) and that it stops motorcycles from cutting through the kids playing space (which makes it safer for them because careless speeding motorcycles through running, screaming, inattentive kids is never safe), it also allows them to actually build a garden (which they couldn't do before because the cows ate it), and to take the money they were fundraising/collecting to make the fence and put it towards fixing the water pump in their school yard and more.
So yes, all in all, despite the challenges and uncertainties, I do think that we were rather successful in our project.
As for the home stay... I must say, the bucket shower and 'Turkish toilet' weren't all that bad; it was all a matter of getting used to it and understanding that no matter what we did, we would never feel clean. There was no reason to freak out if we had paint or mud all over us, because it didn't matter. What matters is that we worked hard, we got the project done on time, we're all healthy and we helped other people. That's it.
I must say, the food we had during the home stay was amazing. It was the best khmer food I've ever had (not that I've had a lot of it outside of Cambodia, but it was definitely better than any of the restaurants we went to earlier on on the trip). Rustic Pathways had hired a chef to stay with us in the home stay. He got a budget for food in order to prepare all the meals we ate. He would cook in the "kitchen" under the house: a dirt floor where you would sit and start your own fire (see, you don't need a big fancy kitchen to make good food). I do understand though that the villagers don't eat as well as we did when we were there. They don't have as much money to spend on ingredients, as a result, they don't always get to buy chicken or beef or seafood very often whereas we had it practically every lunch and dinner.
Overall I am very pleased with the home stay: we learned a lot, reached our goal, helped other people, we finally saw the essentials of life and how to live simply, we got a lot closer to each other and we all had a lot of fun regardless of the little things. I'm really proud of all of us. The service portion of the home stay also showed us to do things ourselves: such as mixing our own concrete and so on. We didn't have fancy tools or even enough tools for everyone for that matter, but it's okay: we used coconut shells as shovels, bamboo and grass as paint brushes, we dug holes with metal rods, we mixed concrete with a shovel on the ground, we chiseled into walls with a big metal nail and a handmade hammer (Flintstones style); I think it's fair to say that we became extremely resourceful. (This also shows how people elsewhere are becoming less resourceful and more dependant on technology and other silly gadgets that they don't really need).
When we were leaving the village this morning, I really did feel like I could have stayed another week- I wasn't dying to get to running water and electricity... it was all bearable at the least.
I think the most important thing for us to understand at this point is that what we just experienced is their reality. It doesn't matter that we are all leaving and that we might be grateful for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years or even much longer… we are still all going to go back and continue living our lives. They, on the other hand, will stay there living what we did for five days, for the rest of their lives. Regardless of the fact that it may have been rather tough at times, we get to come back and re-immerse ourselves in luxury while they stay there in those conditions. For now, that's crucial for us to comprehend.
LM
Let's start with the service project... personally, I didn't find the physical work to be as hard as I thought it would be (not that it was anywhere near easy- I was just expecting the worst. I believe it's better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised than the other way around). In some ways, I do wish that there was more we could have done and that the people from the village trusted us with more work, but, at the same time, I do understand why they may have been reluctant.
This experience also showed me how frustrating the language barrier could get. Such as when we were painting the tables for the classrooms, we had a bucket full of petrol to clean brushes, but, all the kids were sticking their hands in the bucket (not to mention that they kept smearing what I was painting). Whatever we tried to do, they didn't understand that they needed to back away (or they did understand, but just wouldn't do it). That may have been the only time during the trip where I was anything but happy.
I'm proud of the work we did, but since we only did the length of one side of the school (the back and other side is covered with trees and bushes), I do hope that the next group will cover the front and maybe put a latch on the door we built on our side. I really don't like that we have to depend on the actions of another group of people, that we've never met, to determine whether or not our project is successful. If they do complete the project as we are hoping, then this fence opens up possibilities to many other improvements to the school. Aside from stopping all the cows from coming into the school yard (which stops there from being dung everywhere where the kids are playing barefoot) and that it stops motorcycles from cutting through the kids playing space (which makes it safer for them because careless speeding motorcycles through running, screaming, inattentive kids is never safe), it also allows them to actually build a garden (which they couldn't do before because the cows ate it), and to take the money they were fundraising/collecting to make the fence and put it towards fixing the water pump in their school yard and more.
So yes, all in all, despite the challenges and uncertainties, I do think that we were rather successful in our project.
As for the home stay... I must say, the bucket shower and 'Turkish toilet' weren't all that bad; it was all a matter of getting used to it and understanding that no matter what we did, we would never feel clean. There was no reason to freak out if we had paint or mud all over us, because it didn't matter. What matters is that we worked hard, we got the project done on time, we're all healthy and we helped other people. That's it.
I must say, the food we had during the home stay was amazing. It was the best khmer food I've ever had (not that I've had a lot of it outside of Cambodia, but it was definitely better than any of the restaurants we went to earlier on on the trip). Rustic Pathways had hired a chef to stay with us in the home stay. He got a budget for food in order to prepare all the meals we ate. He would cook in the "kitchen" under the house: a dirt floor where you would sit and start your own fire (see, you don't need a big fancy kitchen to make good food). I do understand though that the villagers don't eat as well as we did when we were there. They don't have as much money to spend on ingredients, as a result, they don't always get to buy chicken or beef or seafood very often whereas we had it practically every lunch and dinner.
Overall I am very pleased with the home stay: we learned a lot, reached our goal, helped other people, we finally saw the essentials of life and how to live simply, we got a lot closer to each other and we all had a lot of fun regardless of the little things. I'm really proud of all of us. The service portion of the home stay also showed us to do things ourselves: such as mixing our own concrete and so on. We didn't have fancy tools or even enough tools for everyone for that matter, but it's okay: we used coconut shells as shovels, bamboo and grass as paint brushes, we dug holes with metal rods, we mixed concrete with a shovel on the ground, we chiseled into walls with a big metal nail and a handmade hammer (Flintstones style); I think it's fair to say that we became extremely resourceful. (This also shows how people elsewhere are becoming less resourceful and more dependant on technology and other silly gadgets that they don't really need).
When we were leaving the village this morning, I really did feel like I could have stayed another week- I wasn't dying to get to running water and electricity... it was all bearable at the least.
I think the most important thing for us to understand at this point is that what we just experienced is their reality. It doesn't matter that we are all leaving and that we might be grateful for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years or even much longer… we are still all going to go back and continue living our lives. They, on the other hand, will stay there living what we did for five days, for the rest of their lives. Regardless of the fact that it may have been rather tough at times, we get to come back and re-immerse ourselves in luxury while they stay there in those conditions. For now, that's crucial for us to comprehend.
LM
