Thursday 12th July

Today was another early start for the youth team. Getting out of bed at around 5.30 in the morning, I had a chance to spend some time on my own in the comparative cool before the others were up and the inside temperature rose to a turgid 28 degrees.

There was a reason for being up so early. We were heading out to one of the outlying villages around Phnom Penh to run a programme for an unspecified number of kids of unspecified age. Our driver that morning was a friendly American guy called Paul who worked for a local Christian radio station. With his New Jersey drawl and cheerful attitude he soon had me forgetting about the dodgy stomach that was making the morning somewhat uncomfortable. Or maybe it was the packet of Mentos he insisted on filling me up with as being the best possible cure.

As we drove out of the city I had my first glimpse of rural Cambodia. Large fields of rice stretch out on either side of the road (still populated by the maniacal horn-wielding local drivers) occasionally broken by the ever present sugar palms. Sometimes our view is obscured by run-down shacks and stores where the Cambodians live their lives. This is a stunningly beautiful country, but I wonder if the people appreciate in the middle of trying to eek out a living. After about an hour of this, we arrived at the village.

After not really knowing what to expect, hearing the excited shouting of the 120 children waiting outside their concrete and corrugated iron meeting hall was reassuring. They were clearly happy to see us and eager to get on with some games. We dived right in, singing songs, doing a drama about the lost sheep and having a short talk by Anna. After that it was outside for some games in the now sweltering sunshine. I managed the Hokey-Cokey but was absolutely trounced by a small Cambodian girl at “cat and mouse”, where I had to chase her in and out of a circle and try to catch her. In my defence I have only these reasons– 1. The aforementioned heat,
2. It’s against SAO policy to damage any of the kids regardless of how much they show you up,
3. The sweat got in my eyes
4. The 119 other kids who were all ganging up against me, and
5. Yeah, the heat again.
You can imagine my embarrassment when half way through our epic battle I caught the wrong kid and bowed my respect at her valiant efforts, much to her bewilderment and the amusement of the rest of the village. Humble pie, served at 36 C! We then gave out some gifts we had brought with us – immensely touching as these kids, who have pretty much nothing, all lined up patiently and received their gift with either a “thank you” or the khmer “okun” – always accompanied by a bow of respect and gratitude.

After a quick lunch of curry and rice we headed for the main construction project for this trip – a playground is going to be built, again in an outlying village. It’s only for small kids, but levelling 48 square meters of bumpy overgrown ground is no small task using traditional hoes. We dug a trench today to mark out the foundations for a surrounding wall, again thoroughly watering the ground with sweat, which seems to come out as fast as you can pour water in! I’m sure there will be more updates on our progress in days to come.

We drove straight from here to a youth church called “Young Life” back in Phnom Penh. Friendly greetings all round as 6 smelly, dirty, bedraggled looking foreigners turned up to teach English and join with them in evening worship. Education, particularly in English, is greatly valued here and I wish my classes were as eager to learn! The English classes are run both to help the locals and as an outreach, with the hope that many would stay on to the following service. We stayed and I was delighted to join in worship with our Cambodian brothers and sisters. One of my questions I hoped would be answered in this trip has been dealt with - it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, God is present, powerful and loving. Truly he has got the whole world in his hands, from the windswept island of Shetland where my home is, to the tropical heat of Cambodia he is real. Thanks for your prayers, they mean a lot to us all!

David Thomson