One of the most enjoyable and difficult points of the trip happened the day after we set foot in Cambodia. We had the opportunity to take the orphans from the Lighthouse Orphanage - about 110 orphans total. The excitement on the kids’ faces made the experience awesome. Having 110 kids to watch after made it slightly difficult. The group came up with an awesome idea to divide the kids into 7 groups and assign each group a certain color to wear. Luckily, we had some amazing help from a good friend, Chris Dufour. Chris operates a t-shirt company called Cross Your Heart Clothing. He prints awesome shirts for several different ministries & organizations. Chris graciously donated his time and resources to create a design and print 140 shirts for us. The shirts were amazing!
Due to the fact that most of the kids never leave the orphanage except for school, they were not used to riding on buses for 6 hours. The swerving around traffic, constant breaking and quick accelerations caused many of the kids to experience motion sickness. We thought we were well prepared for this, but we were very wrong. On the way to Siem Reap (town near Angkor Wat), approximately 30 of the kids ralphed, some of them multiple times. We nearly ran out of puke bags, the smell was awful. We eventually made it to Siem Reap and got the kids into the guesthouse (we had 30 of the 40 rooms in the guesthouse). Then we were off to see Angkor Wat. It is an impressive site and one that most of the kids will never see again. The trip only cost about $30 per person, an amount that most Cambodians will never be able to afford.
The kids gawked at the huge stones and the inscriptions on each. They ran and played with friends. It started to rain, a torrential downpour that soaked everyone. The kids continued to run and play; getting wet does not phase them. After they were all soaked, the rain let up a little and it was time to make a mad dash back to the buses before another wave of rain came our way. Amazingly, we made it back to the guesthouse with all the kids. The next morning we left Siem Reap prepared for more vomit & great odors. We found another medicine worked well. Luckily, only one kid threw up this time. However, according to Josh it was the worst ever. As a precious 4-year-old girl, Srey Meek (pronounced Sirae May), sat in Josh’s lap, she pointed to her mouth and Josh brought the puke bag up to her mouth. Then she proceeded to convulse and projectile vomit all over Josh. The convulsion caused her to miss the bag immediately. Haha! The puke ran down his right leg and puddled in his shoe. He was thrilled. He remained calm and continued to take care of Srey Meek, not once complaining that he was thrown up on.
On the way back to the orphanage, we stopped at a small mountain that holds some historical significance to Cambodia. The kids climbed the 900ish stairs to the top and played around for a while. On the way down, Josh was telling the kids to not run down the stairs. For once, he was the responsible one. Despite his commands, one of the kids ran down the stairs and went head over heels right in front of Josh. After rolling about 20 steps, he came to a stop. Josh got to him quickly and had the joy of carrying him the last 800 steps down the mountain. He was exhausted. The kids ate at the base of the mountain and loaded up, ready to get back to Phnom Penh.
It was a difficult experience that tested all of the trip participants, but one that we will all cherish.
No comments:
Post a Comment