Goducate representatives usually visit the Goducate Children’s Home at Prey Nob, Cambodia at least four times a year in order to keep abreast of the on-going work there. Our first visit for 2011 coincided with the Khmer New Year week in the middle of April.
During this recent trip, we decided on the spur of the moment to call the children up one by one for an ‘interview’; we do this at least once a year to assess their ability to speak, read and write English.
Goducate volunteer, Margaret, interviewing a child
Many of the children have been at the Home for at least three years, and we are pleased to find that they could now understand simple English. The ones who arrived at the Home a year ago in March 2010, however, still had a long way to go. These newer ones needed an older child as an interpreter. However, we were still pleased to hear them recite the ABCs successfully, as well as count from one to ten in English!
Children have a unique way of showing their love. They come showing love with such simple purity. The children that we met at Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia filled our hearts with their love. I went not knowing what to expect, not knowing what I could offer– and really I didn’t have much to offer! I had love and a few ideas of things to do with the children but not a whole lot else. I walked away
from my visit with my heart overflowing.
I saw faces of children and their outward appearance but I wanted to know who they were as a person. Obviously five days is not enough time to genuinely get to know people–but it does provide time to get a glimpse into their world.
Some friends encouraged us to take along a simple but fun activity for the children which involved team work and fun adventures around the compound. I started planning soon after arrival—what would we play, what equipment was available, how would I organize teams. The “Cambodian Challenge” was to be held the next day. So planning I did. I asked the leadership for help with names of children and ages—andthat helped me get to know names and ages and helped me to organize teams.
The event went really well, different from what we expected but the children had fun and that is what matters.
Twins - Jacob & John, 14 years old
When helping in the schoolhouse, I saw twins and imagined that they were about 10 years old. I looked at my paper for the teams for the activity and thought wow, this says they are 14. Sure enough, they are 14.
I couldn’t understand how they could be so small, so thin, so little, but many factors must have contributed to this. Probably malnutrition when they were young brought them to this point.
Mark is 8 years old
Another boy, Mark was very similar. Looking like a 4 year old, we were stunned to find out that he is 8. Though the boys look small, they surely do not act small. In an arm-wrestling competition, the twins were difficult tobeat.
A girl whom I had the chance to talk with on a more personal level shared with me how she is the youngest of 13 children. Her father had passed away some time ago and her mother is helping at the Goducate center. Her older brother also lives at the Children’s Home. She told me that due to Pol Pot’s regime in the 1970s, 6 of her siblings died of starvation. You hear of starvation but when you meet someone who never had the chance to meet half of her family due to it,it becomes more personal. Things like this happen because of an evil man, following his evil pursuits.
Our time was brief at the Home but we walked away with hearts full, thankful for our glimpse into their lives of the children there and their world.
I grew up learning to be resourceful. My mother was a fan of crafting and I inherited that gene. I learnt how to sew when I was young and have continued sewing for most of my life. I’ve found it to be an invaluable skill at times. It’s enjoyable to effortlessly re-attach that friend’s button to her blouse, or fix that hole in your brother’s sweater, or repair your own clothing.
In a mainstream society where clothes with holes are regarded as useless, it’s hard to imagine people actually taking the time to mend their clothes. However, during my recent visit to the Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia, things were a bit different. I had picked up a few sewing kits during my travels and knew that there were enough needles to teach any who were interested.
What is he having fun sewing up?A stitch in time...Pleasure at having fixed his own pants
There I was, announcing to the children that we’d have a sewing class, and the boys and girls were already running to their dorms to get something to practise on—a treasure of theirs that had a hole and desperately needed fixing. Some of the items that the children brought seemed childish for their ages but we realized that these were probably a source of comfort for them. I was surprised by the boys’ response to this activity—they were more than eager to fix their “broken clothes” as they called them. Even the oldest boy brought a pile of pants that needed mending.
Once I had issued needles and thread, showed them how to tie the knot and make some starter stitches, they were off and did an excellent job. Many had seen their mothers mending clothes, but just needed reminders of how to do it. One 14-year-old boy fixed at least two pairs of pants. Job, a boy with a sweet personality fixed his sport coat that he wears nearly 24/7. There was joy on the children’s faces to see that they had accomplished something simple but something so special. Their precious possessions that had seemed broken, useless, even ruined, were now repaired and ready to be used again. This simple lesson not only brought joy to the children, but also a new skill that they can use whenever the need arises.
