Friends and Family Says Farewell to Peak Sneng

Today we had to say goodbye to all of the sweet kids and villagers in Peak Sneng for the year.  We had a wonderful time playing with the kids, teaching English, helping the medical clinic, giving cows to people for the microenterprise group, sewing, teaching music lessons, visiting people in their homes, and working to "make the old school new again" as the principal said to us in the farewell speech.

Microenterprise Success for Friends and Family

One of the key projects during our time in Peak Sengh was providing the opportunity for a family to better their lives through micro-lending. This year, 15 families applied for the livestock program where they could choose to be loaned a flock of chickens, a pen of pigs or a female cow. The loan is for three years and in that time, the family needs to pay back the monetary amount of the chickens or pigs or, with the cows, either the cost of the cow or a calf that is born during the loan period. Each family had to spend four afternoons in classes learning about loans, interest on the loan, repayment of the loan and how to feed, shelter and vaccinate their animals. They also had to attend the health and hygeine lessons that followed each class. As you can see from the pictures below, the classes were very well attended. All 15 families this year chose cows!

On the last day of classes, each family had to choose a group of five familes to enter into a co-op together. Each group agreed to meet once a month and work together to make sure that each family was having a successful experience with the livestock program. The co-op was also to ensure that everyone was paying off their interest by working a 1/2 day each month at the school. The group then chose a president, vice president and secretary. Once the groups were formed, everyone was read the language in their loan agreements and then it was time to sign them. Most of the attendees can't write so we had them provide their "signature"with a thumb print.

Once all the training classes were done we were able to spend some time with the villagers discussing their memories of living through the Pol Pot regime in the late 1970's. While many of the community are too young the three villagers below lived through the horrors of that time. Quietly, they shared their thought, feelings and emotions of losing loved ones, working in the rice camps and being forced to be a soldier in the Khmer Rouge army. It was a great lesson in humility for all the Youthlinc volunteers.

After the carnival and closing ceremonies were complete, we presented the families with their cows. They were so excited and thankful! According to the villagers, all the cows are healthy and strong and each family left with smiles on their faces and their cows on a rope behind them.

Friends and Family Project update

Today was another great day in Peak Sneng and the team has been working hard on a number of projects in and around the school including;

• scraping the paint off the walls
• repainting the classrooms
• teaching English and Mondo art projects
• mortaring around the outside of the compost and fire pit
• doing interviews with the families in the village to address questions about hygiene, nutrition, childcare and overall health of the family
• installing water filters
• teaching sewing lessons
• ..and many more

 

We also started holding our micro-enterprise training sessions with almost 20 local families in attendance to participate in the livestock program. Once they complete the program, they'll be able to choose from a flock of chickens, a pen of pigs or a female cow.

Friends and Family Team Out and About

The team had all day Sunday to get out and explore Angkor Wat.  There were many ancient temples to see, elephants to ride, monkeys to feed, and so much history to learn.  Everyone had a great time exploring these ancient ruins, meeting monks, and taking lots of pictures, although pictures will never be able to do this place justice.

Some fun facts:

The Bayon Temple has over 200 faces.
The Ta Prohm Temple is home of the Tomb Raider movie.
Most of the Angkor Wat temples were built between the 10th and 13th centuries.
Angkor Wat is built to represent the Hindu ideas of how the universe is shaped and functions.
While built as Hindu temples they are all now used as Buddist.

Every night we have a blast jumping in a tuk-tuk, getting dropped off on Pub Street to eat and then head to shopping at the Night Market.  Everybody also loves to grab a massage (fish or feet) and ice cream at the Blue Pumpkin is the most favorite.

Friends & Family Trip accomplishes much in Village Visits in Peak Sneng

One of the projects we are excited about and as we have begun the team is becoming more and more excited about are the home visits and oral histories.

The Micro-finance committee has spent time this week making home visits to the families that had received livestock or water filters last year, to see the progress that has been made. One sweet lady who had received chickens had built a large coop but it was empty when we arrived.  The team asked where the chickens were and she gave a call and immediately 44 chickens came running to her.  One man has been really successful with his pigs and has made around $600. Visits to the homes where water filters were placed have taught us that a majority are functioning well and the families are reporting a dramatic difference in the health of their families.  Less illness and almost no health center visits since they started using the clean water.

The gardening and health committees just picked a road to walk down and have been interviewing families about their health and nutrition. We have been welcomed with smiles and invited to remove our shoes and climb up into their houses on stilts where we sit and talk. We ask what sicknesses they have experienced, where they get their water, how often they visit the health center, how often they feed their families in a day, where they get their food, and try to assess if this family would be willing to start a garden, receive livestock, or needs mosquito nets with our help.  We also teach them some basic hygiene and first aide, leaving them with supplies for each.  It also has been funny to hear a few people admit that they are just too lazy to take care of a garden or raise livestock.

When there is an elder in the home we take the opportunity to ask them what life was like during the Pol Pot regime and how it affected their families at the time and the lasting impact it still has now.  This has been an incredible opportunity to gain understanding first hand of the realities of the Khmer Rouge. A lady told us that her husband and 4 of her siblings had been killed.  One of her children had also stepped on a landmine and was crippled.  She told us that if Pol Pot had never taken over she would be rich today because her husband was a soldier and they made a lot of money.  One couple told us about how the husband (age 39) had been separated from his wife and children to go to another village to do labor.  The labor was hard and food was scarce like a time of famine.  He said that he was so thin, his "knees were bigger than his head."  His 11 year old daughter almost died but was able to steal a chicken to eat and escape, running back to her family and wasn't caught.  When the family was reunited at the end of the genocide the government gave them some land and they have since been very successful in growing enough food and having enough livestock to feed their family.

It is really exciting to see the impact Youthlinc's projects have had on this village after one year at this site and it is very humbling to visit these people's homes and learn their history and what can make a difference in someones entire life and for the generations to come.

Construction, Sunshine, and Smiles

Another great day of service in the village of Peak Sneng. Today was another hot one but the heat didn't dampen anyone's spirits or desire to make a lasting impact at the school. The construction crew was especially busy preparing the classrooms for a new coat of paint and building a brick wall around a new compost heap and fire pit. The team began the day by donning surgical masks and attacking the layers of dirt and old paint with scrapers, wire brushes, sandpaper and water. The results were smooth, clean walls and a mountain of dust on the floor of each room. The hard work was made easier by the smiling faces, constant laughter and helping hands of the kids from the school. Another daily project the construction crew has tackled is building a 4-foot high brick wall around what will be a 20 x 10 area for composting as well as a new fire pit. The team has to mix their own cement and have learned a few tricks of the trade from their ever-watchful, local foreman who makes sure the bricks are laid straight. Many hands make light work as the whole wall was completed in just two days! Now it's on to other important construction projects at the school...so stay tuned for more updates.

Welcome to Peak Sneng!

The friends and family team arrived successfully to the humble village of Peak Sneng.  We were met with smiling children's faces and sweet applause.  For opening ceremonies some children from the local orphanage danced their traditional "Flower" and "Coconut" dances.  Our team then sang "You are my sunshine" and "The Star Spangled Banner" and did some line dancing for the local's amusement.  After Opening Ceremonies we were able to meet all of the children and learn to communicate without many words.  Bubbles, duck-duck-goose, and fingernail painting were all it took to connect with each other.

In the afternoon we got right to work.  We have some exciting projects this year including repainting the school, teaching lots lessons, micro-enterprise, health lessons in the community, gardening, and building a compost and fire-pit.  Our big project for day one was to start scraping the old paint off of the walls and what a task that is!

 An update for the projects we worked on last year:
-the wasp nest is gone
-there is an entire new building being built currently for more indoor classrooms
-the bog is filled and the outdoor classrooms all moved to that spot.
-the "Candy-lady" is now selling some healthy food too on her new "bog" premises.
-the bathrooms Youthlinc built are working well and are the ones the team is using this year instead of going across the street.
-the garden had some problems during flooding season but has been replanted and is growing.
-the fence is complete with a gate that says donated by Youthlinc on it.
-the mirco program is doing well and one man has had at least 3 successful litters of piglets.
-most of the water filters are working great and the families have been commenting that they have noticed a major decrease in illnesses.
-the children are as cute as ever!

Friends & Family Trip arrives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After 6-months of planning and a dozen meetings, the 2012 Cambodia Friends & Family trip is finally here! Thirty-five adventurous, service-oriented young men and women (and a few of their adult leaders) packed-up their personal bags and 34 donation-filled Youthlinc bags and braved 25-hours of flying to get from Salt Lake City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We landed to 85 degree weather with over 90% humidity...at 10:00 pm at night! After loading and stuffing all our bags into one bus, we spent the night in downtown Phnom Penh at the Pa-Am hotel,

We woke to the sounds of a bustling city, had breakfast, loaded the bus again and headed to see some of the local, historical sites that tell of Cambodia's tragic history. Our first stop was at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, an old high school that had been converted to a prison and interrogation center where over 20,000 men, women and children were tortured and killed after Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975.

The museum still echoes with the cries of the atrocities committed there and the somber tour left a dramatic impact on the entire group but solidified our desire to serve the great people of this country. From there, we drove a few miles outside the city to visit the historic Killing Fields where we went on an audio tour and heard the details of the 20,000 people who were killed and buried here in mass graves. From both sites we learned that keeping the memory of these atrocities alive is the key to building a "new, strong and just state."

After our tours, we were all introduced to the smells and tastes (and flies) of Cambodian cuisine where a few people tried the local delicacies. Most everyone else had the ham fried rice. From there, we boarded our bus and started the 7-hour drive to Siem Reap, where we will be staying for the remainder of our trip.

The group got to know each other along the way and we enjoyed practicing our songs for the opening ceremony. The highlight came at one of the local rest stops where the group tasted the fried tarantulas and local fruits being sold by young children. We're now settled into our hotel - Ma's House - and ready to start working and learning for the villagers in Peak Sneng.

Friends and Family-Cambodia for take off...

After packing around 36 bags and bins full of cultural, art, clothing, and medical supplies the Friends and Family team is ready to take off to Cambodia in the morning.  We have lots of exciting plans, projects, and lessons ready to go.  Adventures await and there will be updates right here as often as we can, so follow along to enjoy the journey!

“Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi