One More Time

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

WELCOME!

Welcome to our blog on our Cambodia service-learning trip in 2008!
We are excited to share many of our experiences, learnings and ideas of our trip and we hope that they will bless your hearts. Our trip last year was from 23rd to 30th Oct.

The main objectives of our trip were :
• To serve the community in Cambodia
• To experience cross-cultural exchange
• To be partners in the Girls’ Brigade extension programme
• To develop the spirit of care and concern for the less fortunate
• To develop event management and organizational skills

Oh and don't forget to tag!

Bid Goodbye at 12:32 AM

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

PREPARATIONS

There were quite a lot of preparations that we made for the trip. We had about 10 sessions of training, planning and rehearsing in all. Our preparations started with a research on Cambodia's political history, culture, language, climate, mainly to understand more about this place that we will be landing soon. After that, we went through a service learning workshop so as to understand more about how we can maximise our learning as we served the Cambodians. Next, we started to assign roles to all members, plan and rehearse through our programmes. Finally, we spent quite a lot of time and effort collating and packing the clothes, shoes, toys which we will be bringing to bless the Cambodians. There were 14 big bags in all, totally amazing! When all that’s done, we are ready to set off for our trip. Before we went to the service-learning trip to Cambodia, we had about 10 sessions of meetings and trainings to prepare us. Our preparations started with research on Cambodia, namely political history, culture, language, climate, mainly to understand more about this place that we will be landing soon. After that, we went through a service learning workshop and we learnt what service-learning is and what we can expect and learn from the trip. It helped us a lot and has further our knowledge on what service-learning really is. After the workshop, we started to assign roles to all members, plan and rehearse through our programmes We figured and learnt actions of the various songs, tried out the games we planned to carry out and practised the skit which we were to present to the people in the slums, dumpsite and church service. Finally, we spent quite a lot of time and effort collating and packing the clothes, shoes, toys which we will be bringing to bless the Cambodians. There were 14 big bags in all, totally amazing! When all that’s done, we are ready to set off for our trip. The preparations were tough but of course rewarding and fun too. From the preparations, we got to know our team members better and learned to co-operate with one another to get everything done.

Bid Goodbye at 6:29 PM

DAY 2

On the second day of our trip in Cambodia, we went to the slums T-house. We took a short bus ride into the slums which enabled us to see the living conditions of the people living in the slums. There, we had a great time interacting with the young children as well as teenagers who were wround our age. We played games, performed skits, sang songs with them and even helped in teaching the younger kids colours. In the afternoon, we split into two groups, one for teaching the older ones while the other group interacted the younger kids. For the older group, we played picture bingo with them to try to get to know them better. After that, we read to them a short picture story for them based on life values, such as treasuring things around them and about perseverance. We also had small group discussions to share about our lives in Singapore and Cambodia. For the younger group of kids, we played more interactive games with them. We taught them action words through a simple song. There was much fun and laughter. After taking a few photographs, we left the slums. I felt a little reluctant to leave as I have made new friends and it was definitely a fun and interactive session together.

Bid Goodbye at 5:34 PM

DAY 3

The Toul Sleng Museum was an old school, and they showed how a tyrannical ruler Pol Pot tortured the Cambodians. They also showed the pictures of people who died and the different ways of killing them. We felt very sad for the Cambodians who went through such torture. At the same time, we were thankful for our government that ruled Singapore with peace and stability.
After we visited the museum, we went to Songkhem shop. The bags, scarves that were sold at the shop were handmade by some of the poorer women in Cambodia. All the money from the sale of the items will go to supporting the women ministry there. We bought some souvenirs to give our support.

We left for the village after that.

Bid Goodbye at 4:53 PM

DAY 4

The funfair was held on the 4th day of our trip where we were in a village in Baray. After a church service, we conducted a mini funfair to bless the villagers. There were 2 simple games played, namely marble shooters and another aiming game. The villagers had to shoot marbles to get other different marbles that were placed on a mat out of it. The other aiming game required the villagers to throw 5 stones onto different containers of different sizes, thus scoring different number of points. We worked on a coupon system where the number of coupons determined the number of prizes one could claim. For example, if a coupon had a number 2 printed on it, the winner could claim 2 prizes. If a coupon had a number 1 printed on it, the winner would claim one prize. We structured the game in such a way where everyone would get at least a prize each for participation. The prizes included toys and old clothes which were donated by the staff and students in our school. Motivated by the prizes, the villagers played the games to the best of their abilities.

We also attended the church service on Sunday. It was a time of ministering with God and the people there. Their love for God is clearly evident in their actions. Despite not having the best technology, the people there praised and worshipped God with all their hearts. We were very moved by the spirit of the people there. We also presented a skit on Esther to bless the church. We pray that God will continue to use this church to touch even more lives in the village.
After which, we went for an ox cart ride along the paddy fields. In the afternoon, we went to the back of a field and a few oxen came along with either a man or boy sitting on a wooden plank to control the oxen. There were some rules to it. We had to group ourselves according to our weights, the lighter ones paired up with the heavier ones, so that the weight on each cart is neither too heavy nor too light for each ox. We were brought through a village, both sides filled with paddy.It was a beautiful sight in the padifields. Along the way, we saw a rainbow and a sunset, After that we were allowed to alight to take a few shots of the things around us. Along the way, we saw many different types of plants and villagers playing around the field. Simply breath-taking!

Bid Goodbye at 4:47 PM

DAY 5

We went to Baray High school on our second day at the village. There were about 30 girls and we taught them basic English. For a start,we gave them some plain sticker to write their names, so that we can get to know one another. After which, we played Human Bingo with them. They were enthusiastic during the game. After the Bingo game, we shared with them a story. The story was about how we should persevere in life and not to give up easily. Thereafter, we encouraged them to write down their feelings and share their thoughts. We also had another sharing session on our own lives and experiences. Many of us brought our photo album we shared our life stories. The girls really enjoyed themselves even though there were points of time when they could not fully understand us due to the language barrier. We enjoyed the time with the girls and we hope to visit them again.

After that, we had a once in a lifetime chance to sit on a horse carriage. The horse carriage ride was fun and interesting as the horse carriage brought us deeper into the village as well as to the market. The ride to the village and the market was definitely an eye-opener. In the market, we got to see some traditional Cambodian delicacies as well as saw many people selling different kinds of food, including poultry, fish, fruits and dried goods. When we took a ride deeper into the village, we had a chance to witness the living conditions of the villagers. Most villagers lived in huts with zinc roofs that are elevated by slits and they rear chickens and ducks under the houses. They also set up stalls around their houses selling food items. We passed by schools and saw children playing. Although the ride was bumpy at times, I believe that we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

We had a culture exchange programme in the night after the horse cart ride. Some of the youths and small kids from the church came over to where we stayed. Some of the youths dressed up and performed a series of culture dances to entertain us. We were invited to join in the dances and we had great fun with them. After that, we took out our photo album and shared our life stories with them and they shared their experiences with us too. Following that, we had a campfire together. We sang the friendship song, “As we walked to the left, as we walked to the right, as we walk as we walk…” Everyone was so happy and enthusiastic. We enjoyed the campfire very much.

Bid Goodbye at 1:46 AM