The 32 C heat that greeted us into Cambodia managed to put a grimace on everyone’s faces. Humidity plus sixteen hours on various planes will knock the steam out of even the most positive of groups. My frown deepened when I spotted our transportation; a pick-up truck with 2 benches in the boot. But sitting alongside your luggage will put things into perspective. For one, the roads are mad. If there is one thing more dangerous than sitting on luggage without a seatbelt it is a helmetless moped seating 3, one of which will be a child small enough to have sneaked through customs in any one of our bags. In addition to this dual carriage ways are marked with one single line down the middle. I am unable read any of the road signs but I am under the assumption that they all read ‘just go for it’!
Every Khmer man and woman we have met so far has treated us with utmost respect. It is easy to see why expats find it hard to leave. We went to visit Sarah, a worker for International Co-operation Cambodia has been resident in Phnom Penh for the last seven years. Her highly energetic half-Khmer daughter is a testament to the positive experience of she has had in this country. Through very tired eyes we gained an appreciation of the work the ICC has carried out and the potential positive influence this trip could have do in our lives.
While some group members thought the dog that awoke at 3am to bark was going to jump through their windows and eat them alive, I was more annoyed to be inconvenienced. It turns out it awoke to bark at the cat, who ate a rat! The backdrop combination of cockerels, frogs and crickets completed a symphony I would not wish on for at any hour. I started to miss Britain for all of about 30 seconds.
Our morning prayers were dominated by the news a village chief is holding a meeting to decide whether our playground build will go ahead. Apparently a playground is not enough; he also wanted a fence to surround his office! So while he decided whether our trip around the world was in vein we went onwards with the touristy stuff. So with large sunglasses and digital cameras as standard we headed to Toul Sleng prison, the former high school turned concentration camp for the Khmer Rouge years. All 6 group members were brought to silence by the evidence of the evil that had gone all those years before. Mug shots of children as young as 2 made a special impact on me as I struggled to come to grips with how someone could carry out such atrocious acts.
The peak of the day’s heat was taken up by a trip to another of the attractions Phnom Penh has to offer: The Killing Fields. As the sheer scale of massacre was highlighted with a tower of skulls the size of the average British church, the current economic crisis was highlighted by the child beggars following the large sweaty white man.
Following our trip to the market where I purchased 2 lightweight ‘designer’ t-shirts for $2 each to handle the heat, we passed a crash that was fitting of the days earlier theme. With one moped driver stuck under a lorry and another scalped it was easy to decide what the evening’s prayer request would be. In a country without ambulances their prospects are grim. I’m sure they would appreciate any prayers you can add to ours.
Despite this sadness the group is invigorated; they are making sheep masks for tomorrow morning’s outreach service as I type. I am happy to report that the morning’s prayers were answered and the playground will go ahead starting tomorrow! All we need now is a week long (very very) cool spell and we will have a beautiful playground and a very proud youth team.
Luke Stroman
Every Khmer man and woman we have met so far has treated us with utmost respect. It is easy to see why expats find it hard to leave. We went to visit Sarah, a worker for International Co-operation Cambodia has been resident in Phnom Penh for the last seven years. Her highly energetic half-Khmer daughter is a testament to the positive experience of she has had in this country. Through very tired eyes we gained an appreciation of the work the ICC has carried out and the potential positive influence this trip could have do in our lives.
While some group members thought the dog that awoke at 3am to bark was going to jump through their windows and eat them alive, I was more annoyed to be inconvenienced. It turns out it awoke to bark at the cat, who ate a rat! The backdrop combination of cockerels, frogs and crickets completed a symphony I would not wish on for at any hour. I started to miss Britain for all of about 30 seconds.
Our morning prayers were dominated by the news a village chief is holding a meeting to decide whether our playground build will go ahead. Apparently a playground is not enough; he also wanted a fence to surround his office! So while he decided whether our trip around the world was in vein we went onwards with the touristy stuff. So with large sunglasses and digital cameras as standard we headed to Toul Sleng prison, the former high school turned concentration camp for the Khmer Rouge years. All 6 group members were brought to silence by the evidence of the evil that had gone all those years before. Mug shots of children as young as 2 made a special impact on me as I struggled to come to grips with how someone could carry out such atrocious acts.
The peak of the day’s heat was taken up by a trip to another of the attractions Phnom Penh has to offer: The Killing Fields. As the sheer scale of massacre was highlighted with a tower of skulls the size of the average British church, the current economic crisis was highlighted by the child beggars following the large sweaty white man.
Following our trip to the market where I purchased 2 lightweight ‘designer’ t-shirts for $2 each to handle the heat, we passed a crash that was fitting of the days earlier theme. With one moped driver stuck under a lorry and another scalped it was easy to decide what the evening’s prayer request would be. In a country without ambulances their prospects are grim. I’m sure they would appreciate any prayers you can add to ours.
Despite this sadness the group is invigorated; they are making sheep masks for tomorrow morning’s outreach service as I type. I am happy to report that the morning’s prayers were answered and the playground will go ahead starting tomorrow! All we need now is a week long (very very) cool spell and we will have a beautiful playground and a very proud youth team.
Luke Stroman
