The last few days have seen Team 2007 in a more restful, playful mood. Sometimes even we need to take a break from our hard labours. Around mid-day three days ago, after yet more playground building, we all piled into the Geoff-mobile and headed for the costal town of Sihanoukville for some R&R, Cambodian style.
We toured through some very different countryside to what we’d seen before– travelling through a mountain pass until the mid nineties controlled at night by the Khmer Rouge. Several hours of driving saw us arrive to beautiful sea views and sandy beaches which we promptly took advantage of – washing away the sweat and concrete in the warm waters as the tropical sun set in the background. I like Sihanoukville. Dinner was courtesy of a very good restaurant called The Holy Cow, apparently named after a certain cow of legend that performed miracles all over Cambodia. I don’t know if my “Cow sandwich” contained the aforementioned beast, but it tasted heavenly – although the tail did kinda stick in my teeth. Something else of note was the soundtrack – switching randomly from very pleasant jazz to what I can only assume was Cambodian pop. Or maybe it was a recording of the last hours of a starving family of lemurs trapped in a metal works with only a drum kit and a kazzo for solace. Weird.
The next day was easily one of my favourites in my 23 years. Early in the morning we jumped onto a dive boat with a bunch of other adventurous types and set sail for our very own island. I had the enormous pleasure of teaching “Wonderwall” by Oasis to a dude called Mike, sitting playing guitar with my feet dangling over the prow of a boat
carving its way through the gulf of Thailand – phenomenal. Should have asked for some dive lessons in return. Arriving at the island, we stepped onto the rickety jetty, had a look at the huts we were staying in, said hello to the resident tokay geckos sharing our quarters, and headed for the beach for some snorkelling. This was my first experience of snorkelling, and for the next hour or so, I was a fish. Seriously, just call me Nemo. After that it was back to the boat for some lunch, and impromptu comedy when one of the Cambodian guys fell through said rickety jetty. Fortunately he was fine.After lunch we headed for some deeper water. Again, it was
beautiful. Fish a plenty, colourful coral and giant clams. Anna W even saw a shark… or was it a particularly threatening rock? After we were all satisfied and thoroughly sunburnt (note, wear a t-shirt when snorkelling) we headed back to the island where team 2007 would be left to spend the night.It was a lyrical tale of campfires, curry, star-gazing and dogs chasing after our bottles of sun cream. We sang, we laughed, we gazed into the fire in quiet companionship. Altogether an amazing experience, and one I’ll never forget.
After some more snorkelling in the morning we headed back to the boat. I challenged Sarah J to dribble a football along the jetty and kick it into the boat. Needless to say it landed in the sea. Sigh. We were both dried off but jumped in anyway (me, to be a gentleman, Sarah to give me a fright) for a rescue. Cursing good-humouredly at being wet again, we soon realised the irony of the situation as long-armed Geoff leaned over the side of the boat and plucked the ball from the water – making the Khmer crew erupt with laughter at our stupidity. White-man got no common sense.
This is getting ridiculously long, so I’ll do some bullet points and get back to prose with the important bits…
Back in Sihanoukville for dinner at a Russian snake restaurant with cheesy 80’s break-up songs in the background
Awesome pancakes on the beach for breakfast
“Queen Anna S” sitting on the beach surrounded by her army of local beauticians pandering to her needs.
A long drive back to Kompong Speu playing chicken with an assortment of vehicles
Following a truck full of precariously perched pigs (if one fell off, would that be a bacon roll?? (worthy pun courtesy of SJ))
In Kompong Speu we had an outreach to officially open our playground and share with the villagers what we were all about. The kids were obviously delighted and the adult helpers who had pitched in were all pleased it was finally done. The joy of the kids playing made all the hard work fade away and we were all left with a feeling of satisfaction at a job well done.
We arrived back in Phnom Penh and went for dinner with a lady called Kim San and her elderly mother. This family was one of the oldest Christian families in Cambodia and, despite the delicious food in front of us; we all sat in spellbound silence as Kim San related an account of her times during the Khmer Rouge. Choking back tears as she told of her dying father blessing her and her sister to become missionaries, telling with joy of how God kept her and her family safe through impossible circumstances – it was a genuine honour to hear her speak. Not many people in the world have this experience as Cambodians are reluctant in the extreme to talk about those years. We finished off the evening singing Amazing Grace but I couldn’t bring myself to sing “through many dangers, toils and snares” alongside these incredible people who had known the reality of God though immense suffering. It just didn’t seem right. I can’t imagine how I would respond in a similar situation, in fact, I hope I never have to find out. We are abundantly blessed in the west to live through such peaceful and tolerant times.
Sorry for the long post – we’re off to Siem Reap so it may be a few days before this is updated again. Please remember us in your prayers as we will be working with the Cambodian Boys Brigade and a church set up by Reaksa Himm (and eating spiders…!)
Dave Thomson
