Next Stop: Cambodia
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 by James in Mentors' Blog
Tomorrow myself and nine other University of Guelph students will be starting a four week journey into Cambodia. Much like the preparation for our trip to Lesotho, this journey started months ago with some homework.
The culture and history of the Khmer people, who inhabit Cambodia, is both fascinating and frightening. A crossroads of cultures for thousands of years, Cambodia became caught in a crossfire between US/South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese forces fighting near the end of the Vietnam war in the late 1960s. From this time and throughout the 1970s Cambodia experienced unimaginable loss of human life under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Learning the stories from the people living within Cambodia, and sharing these stories with Canadians is my personal mission on this trip.
While in country, our team will be volunteering two organizations: Raise and Support the Poor (RSP), a charity aimed at development among the poorest of Cambodian families; and the People Improvement Organization (PIO), a group focusing on education and training within the slums of Phnom Penh. Many of these families live with HIV/AIDs as well as a host of other health issues associated with poor living conditions.
Much of our time will be spent on education and playing with orphans and other children living in the slums. The importance of simply playing with a child is difficult to convey sometimes once back in Canada. Fact is, that is one of the greatest things we have to offer: a listening ear and an open heart.
So here I go with an open mind, a bottle of hot sauce (to liven up the rice a little), and a bit of homework on the people and places that will soon become a part of who I am. If anyone has questions about where I’m going or where I’ve been just fire off an email to james@reachlesotho.com.
Juab kh’nia th’ngay krao-y!
James
For more information on the places we’re visiting check out:
RSP: http://rspngo.org
PIO: http://peopleimprovement.org
