Why We Come
Maureen Bird
This is a question we are asked many times. But as much as we may watch documentaries, we cannot comprehend a situation until we experience it ourselves. Some of us have been working at a free school for children near the city dump. This is where we helped with a concrete floor and yesterday we distributed kits to the school children. They were sweethearts. Playing games, skipping rope and singing songs for us. They are learning English and Japanese to prepare them for future jobs in hotels and restaurants. There is a strong focus on morals and discipline. And the no fighting symbol was that of two hockey players – take that NHL!
Our next stop was the dump itself where many of these children actually live. With garbage trucks dumping new loads and rubbish smoking, the people were poking through for anything saleable. Their homes were sticks and plastic. Some had crude sleeping mats, some only the ground. It was heartbreaking to think that this could be for their entire lives. There was a naked baby wandering through areas of broken glass beside her pregnant mother.
The school owner is talking about setting up a nursery. The death rate must be so high with such danger, inhaled smoke and no medical support.
When we return you will hear far more about this beautiful country where the population is working hard to rebuild their lives and where there are still 5 million mines to be cleared.
We feel very safe near our hotel. We have our own tuk-tuk drivers who will take us out and wait for us. We’ve seen little begging but we do see land mine amputees selling things like books to make a living.
Saturday is a day off and many of us will make the pilgrimage to Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world.