Cambodian overnight
Thursday:
We left on the coach to go to Phnom Penh at 7:30am. It was a four hour coach ride and meant we got to see some of Cambodia. It is such a beautiful country with such a stark contrast between rich and poor. Anyway we arrived in the bustling city of Phnom Penh at 11:30am and were met by our host Kiko (japanese). Before i go any further let me introduce you to my team - Ai Hua (malaysia), Ershinta (indonesia), Carla (Brazil) and Haide (argentina) so in total there were 5 of us girls.
So that afternoon we went to visit the Cambodian genocide museum. For those of you who don't know Cambodian history it suffered a horrific genocide in the 1970s. This means it is in living memory of many people. People of the age of about 45-50 years were actually used as the soldiers to carry out the tortures and murders. So they have to live with the memory of that. The museum was definately a harrowing experience but one that i needed to have. The museum is the prison were people were kept and tortured before being taken to the killing fields. In some of the rooms you could still see the blood stains on the floor where people had been tortured. This all happened under the Khmer Rouge regime run my a man named Pol Pot. he felt everyone should be at the same level so started to murder all the intellectuals.
The team had mixed reactions to the museum some were angry (me being one) that we hadn't learnt from the past regimes of people like Hitler and that this sort of thing had been allowed to happen again. i kind of had the feeling of will we ever learn. Some members were just deeply disturbed.
That evening we went to visit the Childrens Centre we were going to be doing a programme at the next day then we went to where we were staying. We were staying with a missionary and the accomodation was lovely.
After a brief break we went to a local english centre to do a Bible Study. It wasnt really a bible study but we just shared abit about the ship and ourselves. Then Ai Hua gave her testimony. It was good fun and the students seemed to enjoy it. The centre is run by a singaporean missionary who wanted to do more than just hand out food packages to the people. The students primarily come to learn english but there is also a gospel message given too. They hold bible studies and service on Sunday morning.
Friday
We went to the children centre. This is not strictly an orphanage as legally the children have a care giver even if it is not a parent. however this care giver has decided to send them to the centre where they then live.
When we arrived the children put on a show of dances and songs for us. I was struck by how clever these kids are. children of about age 5-9 did a 3 minute routine with no assistance. i just thought about trying to teach that to the same age group back at church. They would have at least needed someone at the front to remind them of the moves. The cambodian children were exceedingly intelligent and picked songs and things up very quickly. We then did a programme for them. This just included some dramas and songs. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. We did an exercise called the tearing cross. This involves making a paper aeroplane and then ripping it in a certain way that it makes a cross. They really loved that and it enabled us as a team to get interactive with them. I more than once that day found my self buried under children or at least completely surounded. The children had so much love to give it really was amazing.
that afternoon we just spent time playing with the children. We did games, songs and face painting. i have never painted so many butterflies in my life! But again it was great just to interact with these children. their country has seen so much hurt and bloodshed and yet out of that comes their smiling faces. it really is a blessing. The children also have a deep love for each other and protect and look out for each other. When it came to saying goodbye it was so hard. One little boy asked me 'are you coming back tomorrow?' no i had to say he then asked if i was coming back on Sunday and again i had to say no. The look on his face said it all. So many people come and go from these childrens lives. I just wanted to scoop them all up and take them home with me. I was only there for one day but there was a tear in my eye as we prayed and then left.
Saturday
We had most of the day to do what we wanted so we saw some of the sights of Cambodia. A couple of independence monuments, the royal palace, a huge market and then the killing fields. We hired a tuk tuk for the day and just went from place to place. The Royal Palace was very impressive but unfortuately it was closed due to a local festival that was happening at the riverside.
I really enjoyed the central market. Things were so cheap and definately affordable for the average douloid!
the killing fields were a similar experience to that of the museum. Seeing the mass graves certainly drove home the horror of the whole era. Getting to the fields was an experience in itself. We had to go over a few miles of rough and bumpy dirt track - we actually had to get out and push the tuk tuk at one stage.
We definately got to see something of cambodian traffic though that day. The traffic rules are there are no rules. Generally they drive on the right hand side of the road but not if it more convenient for you to be on the other side. The family vehicle is a motorbike. it wasnt unusual to see a family of 6 on one bike this usually included a couple of young children. The other common form of transport was the tuk tuk. I think there was a nationwide competition to see how many people could fit into one tuk tuk. i definately saw one with at least twenty people in - and considering they are designed for 6 smallish people that is quite an achivement.
That evening we did a short programme for some university students. this included a drama and Ershintas testimony which is quite amazing. She was healed from cancer!!! We did the programme at a university dormitory. This was quite an interesting experience. i thought my cabin was smallish but it is nothing compared to the crampedness of these dorms!!
Sunday
The day had arrived. I had to preach! We went back to the centre we had been to on thursday and did the sunday morning service.
i was really worried as the interpretor on thursday had had a hard time understanding my accent! However it was fine and hopefully i got across all the points i wanted to. They seemed to appreciate it.
We then traveled back to the ship in the afternoon. Exhausted i just wanted to collapse but was lovingly informed that i had to work as the bookshop needed to be packed down.
We had to do a full pack down. This is what it involves. Putting wooden covers on all the bookshelves. Then moving them into three blocks in the centre of the bookshop. These are then covered with a canvass and then a chain is fastened around this. this is then attached to various poles. it takes about 3 hours and we started at 9pm and i had been awake since about 6am. i was very tired by the time we finished.
At this very moment i am sailing to singapore.
thanks for all your prayers and support
We left on the coach to go to Phnom Penh at 7:30am. It was a four hour coach ride and meant we got to see some of Cambodia. It is such a beautiful country with such a stark contrast between rich and poor. Anyway we arrived in the bustling city of Phnom Penh at 11:30am and were met by our host Kiko (japanese). Before i go any further let me introduce you to my team - Ai Hua (malaysia), Ershinta (indonesia), Carla (Brazil) and Haide (argentina) so in total there were 5 of us girls.
So that afternoon we went to visit the Cambodian genocide museum. For those of you who don't know Cambodian history it suffered a horrific genocide in the 1970s. This means it is in living memory of many people. People of the age of about 45-50 years were actually used as the soldiers to carry out the tortures and murders. So they have to live with the memory of that. The museum was definately a harrowing experience but one that i needed to have. The museum is the prison were people were kept and tortured before being taken to the killing fields. In some of the rooms you could still see the blood stains on the floor where people had been tortured. This all happened under the Khmer Rouge regime run my a man named Pol Pot. he felt everyone should be at the same level so started to murder all the intellectuals.
The team had mixed reactions to the museum some were angry (me being one) that we hadn't learnt from the past regimes of people like Hitler and that this sort of thing had been allowed to happen again. i kind of had the feeling of will we ever learn. Some members were just deeply disturbed.
That evening we went to visit the Childrens Centre we were going to be doing a programme at the next day then we went to where we were staying. We were staying with a missionary and the accomodation was lovely.
After a brief break we went to a local english centre to do a Bible Study. It wasnt really a bible study but we just shared abit about the ship and ourselves. Then Ai Hua gave her testimony. It was good fun and the students seemed to enjoy it. The centre is run by a singaporean missionary who wanted to do more than just hand out food packages to the people. The students primarily come to learn english but there is also a gospel message given too. They hold bible studies and service on Sunday morning.
Friday
We went to the children centre. This is not strictly an orphanage as legally the children have a care giver even if it is not a parent. however this care giver has decided to send them to the centre where they then live.
When we arrived the children put on a show of dances and songs for us. I was struck by how clever these kids are. children of about age 5-9 did a 3 minute routine with no assistance. i just thought about trying to teach that to the same age group back at church. They would have at least needed someone at the front to remind them of the moves. The cambodian children were exceedingly intelligent and picked songs and things up very quickly. We then did a programme for them. This just included some dramas and songs. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. We did an exercise called the tearing cross. This involves making a paper aeroplane and then ripping it in a certain way that it makes a cross. They really loved that and it enabled us as a team to get interactive with them. I more than once that day found my self buried under children or at least completely surounded. The children had so much love to give it really was amazing.
that afternoon we just spent time playing with the children. We did games, songs and face painting. i have never painted so many butterflies in my life! But again it was great just to interact with these children. their country has seen so much hurt and bloodshed and yet out of that comes their smiling faces. it really is a blessing. The children also have a deep love for each other and protect and look out for each other. When it came to saying goodbye it was so hard. One little boy asked me 'are you coming back tomorrow?' no i had to say he then asked if i was coming back on Sunday and again i had to say no. The look on his face said it all. So many people come and go from these childrens lives. I just wanted to scoop them all up and take them home with me. I was only there for one day but there was a tear in my eye as we prayed and then left.
Saturday
We had most of the day to do what we wanted so we saw some of the sights of Cambodia. A couple of independence monuments, the royal palace, a huge market and then the killing fields. We hired a tuk tuk for the day and just went from place to place. The Royal Palace was very impressive but unfortuately it was closed due to a local festival that was happening at the riverside.
I really enjoyed the central market. Things were so cheap and definately affordable for the average douloid!
the killing fields were a similar experience to that of the museum. Seeing the mass graves certainly drove home the horror of the whole era. Getting to the fields was an experience in itself. We had to go over a few miles of rough and bumpy dirt track - we actually had to get out and push the tuk tuk at one stage.
We definately got to see something of cambodian traffic though that day. The traffic rules are there are no rules. Generally they drive on the right hand side of the road but not if it more convenient for you to be on the other side. The family vehicle is a motorbike. it wasnt unusual to see a family of 6 on one bike this usually included a couple of young children. The other common form of transport was the tuk tuk. I think there was a nationwide competition to see how many people could fit into one tuk tuk. i definately saw one with at least twenty people in - and considering they are designed for 6 smallish people that is quite an achivement.
That evening we did a short programme for some university students. this included a drama and Ershintas testimony which is quite amazing. She was healed from cancer!!! We did the programme at a university dormitory. This was quite an interesting experience. i thought my cabin was smallish but it is nothing compared to the crampedness of these dorms!!
Sunday
The day had arrived. I had to preach! We went back to the centre we had been to on thursday and did the sunday morning service.
i was really worried as the interpretor on thursday had had a hard time understanding my accent! However it was fine and hopefully i got across all the points i wanted to. They seemed to appreciate it.
We then traveled back to the ship in the afternoon. Exhausted i just wanted to collapse but was lovingly informed that i had to work as the bookshop needed to be packed down.
We had to do a full pack down. This is what it involves. Putting wooden covers on all the bookshelves. Then moving them into three blocks in the centre of the bookshop. These are then covered with a canvass and then a chain is fastened around this. this is then attached to various poles. it takes about 3 hours and we started at 9pm and i had been awake since about 6am. i was very tired by the time we finished.
At this very moment i am sailing to singapore.
thanks for all your prayers and support
posted by Ruth | 10:31 AM
2 Comments:
Holy Guacamole!
xxx
Hi Ruth
You seem to be getting comments from some odd balls!! Not sure if this will work.
Thought your account of your time in Cambodia was very moving. Lots of love Auntie Sheila
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