Settling into Cambodia

We were a bit cautious of taking the 9 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia as we’d read mixed reviews. However, it was much cheaper than flying and we thought it might be a fun adventure. All in all, it was actually fairly slick. It was a nice bus with a bathroom (although the door didn’t close), and we were given water bottles and a paper bag with some goodies. We stopped at the Cambodian border and Dad’s work at obtaining Visas ahead of time allowed for a fairly smooth process of being approved and given the green light to enter. This also ended up being a huge blessing as Dad's head and chest were so congested that flying would not have been an option this day, so we praised God's putting that plan on our hearts as it was our first border bus crossing of the entire trip! 

Unfortunately when we arrived in Siem Reap our hotel driver was not waiting for us as planned. We learned that the hotel was not expecting us until the next day, which was a bit annoying as we’d been in contact with them several times over the previous couple of weeks, but thus is traveling in foreign countries. Once we got everything worked out, we settled into two separate rooms and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Our first day in Siem Reap we met our tuk tuk driver who was assigned to us for our stay, his name is Nak (but you don't pronounce the "K") . We got set up with SIM cards, quickly toured Artisans Angkor, an NGO that teaches underprivileged Cambodians trade skills – everything from painting on silk and ceramic tiles, to carving soap stone, and then we met with the missionaries that we were here to serve. We had a great lunch getting to know them and their girls, that all just happened to be home from school for the holidays, as well as a brief overview of their work and the Cambodian culture. 

Stone caving by hand

Later that afternoon we went to the Dream Center to see the work that is happening there.  The Dream Center is located across the street from the high school and was funded and built by the missionaries we are working with.  They have also worked with the government to build an elementary school at a local village of floating homes.  However, when the students are done with sixth grade at the floating village school, they don’t have the opportunity to further their education because they live so remotely.  The Dream Center provides a place for these students to live so that they can go to high school in town, receive some extra tutoring, and a meal. The adults are amazing in the ways that they are investing in these students who have lived on water their whole lives, using it for a bathroom and garbage - here they learn how to bathe (showers are too complicated for the students and they are constantly breaking), do laundry, dispose of garbage, they are taken into town and taught how to interact, go to market and other skills that they will need to have healthy interactions.  There are roughly 80 kids between the ages of 13-22 years old living at the Dream Center and a family that supervises the property, as well as several ‘dorm parents.'  Multiple generations have gone through the program and the first and second generation young adults now volunteer to serve and help the newer generations. It's truly an inspiring vision. The kids also go out and serve the local community in the name of Christ, teaching and working. This has resulted in some communities having up to 16% of residents knowing Jesus personally, in a country with less than 1% nationally, this is truly amazing. 

One of two buildings at the Dream Center

The girls' bathroom sink - where they hand wash their clothes and bathe

The students are taught how to do their own laundry

The boys' bathroom - precautions have been taken to eliminate curiosity & enforce quality character (fences :))

We were excited to see our kids jump right in playing basketball and interacting with the kids at the Dream Center.  Meanwhile we ran into Pam and Jim, a faith-filled couple who've given up their retirement in the States to live and serve in Cambodia and help with the projects these missionaries have going on.  Meeting them proved to be a huge blessing for our time here.

Basketball at the Dream Center

Jumping rope

Soccer time

Back at our hotel we settled into the room that we’d originally booked and were pleased to find out that it would work well for us these next 17 nights as it has 4 beds (each boy is treated to his own bed, there is one double for Mom and Dad) and a couch for our youngest, along with 2 bathrooms – all in one big room!

On Tuesday we headed out to the floating village, which is a ways out of the city along a red dusty road surrounded by rice paddies and water buffalo.  We learned that currently the rainy season is ending and the lake and river are dropping rapidly, so every couple of weeks the homes and the school need to be moved so that they don’t get stuck in mud. Eventually when the rainy season swells again, it is the same thing all over, but in the opposite direction. Living here is not for the faint of heart; it is a very hard life. The homes and the school are anchored at different places along the river.  When we arrived at the river we got on a narrow motor boat and were taken to the school.  While on our way to the school we thought it funny that we were passed by large tourist boats who were enthusiastically taking our photo!

Houses in Siem Reap have shrines out front (on the left) to place the bones of deceased family members who've been cremated and to light incense and offer prayers for their wandering spirits.  It is also common to see animals in the yard, and the large bale of what looks like hay, is actually rice that is drying.

Check point that charges tourists visiting floating village

Typical country side road - check out how the dust covers the trees on the sides of the road!

Boat of tourists photographing us!

Most of the villagers fish for a living

The school consists of six building that function as rooms for a kitchen, library, and classroom to a school of roughly 100 students in grades Kindergarten to Sixth.  These children boat to school on their own, sometimes in groups so that their parents can have the family boat (if they have one) for their needs while the kids attend school.  Imagine your home relocating every few weeks and needing to come up with new ways to ‘carpool’ and allowing your young children to paddle their way to school, sometimes over an hour one way - especially in rainy season!

This is the floating school started by the Ly's

"School bus" piloted by grade schoolers

School Bathrooms - a hole that goes into the river

Students breaking for lunch

Fish bones left over a from a recent meal

Students peeking out the window to spy on us

Sweet girl at the school

Floating home & the "Wal Mart" of the village

Young children paddle themselves on the lake

Typical boat that gets "rented" to access floating village - here more kids are cruising the lake

Beach and docks used to access the floating village

After visiting the school and touring the lake, we headed back to the Dream Center.  On the drive, we appreciated the missionaries sharing their story having grown up during the Khmer Rouge reign and educating us about what life was like during that horrific experience.  Before stopping at the Dream Center we visited a market and picked up a chicken and some sticky rice for lunch.

Chicken foot which was included with our purchase

At the Dream Center we had the privilege of helping in three of the English classes.  While we only know how to say "no" and “thank you” in Khmer, the Cambodian language, the kids here are all learning English, so we are able to communicate a little.  Khmer is a VERY different language as its written in script, so we don’t even recognize letters or know the phonetic pronunciation of what is written!  We each had a group of students that we worked with who interviewed us and we taught them about snow, some geography as we discussed the places we have traveled to, and increased their confidence as we interacted with them in short, concise thoughts. 

Our middle son holding class

G helping with interview skills

Working on English

Wednesday was a school day where Dad was able to rest a bit as he is still struggling with his feet and a chest cold picked up in Bangkok.  Later in the afternoon we went to a few shops and explored the city a bit.  That night we watched Christmas Vacation and laughed a bit harder at some of the references to campervan living now that we’ve experienced it ourselves!