……and so did all 6 bags of school materails!
It took 21 hours and we were so exhausted to finally arrive in our
hotel, but we’re all safe and sound along with the bags for the school.
All of our weight allowance (Singapore Airlines kindly allowed us
100kg baggage allowance) was taken up with materials for the school;
we brought a few personal items and medicines for ourselves in our
hand luggage,and the final weight at check-in was………99kg!!
The bags were ticketed right through to Siem Reap (what a relief that
was!) and so we were saved from hauling our luggage at HCM City in
Viet Nam as we changed to a Vietnam Airlines flight to Siem Reap.
Things have changed so much for the better in Siem Reap since we were
here just last year. A brand new terminal building has been
constructed, the envy we would think of many cities, and gone is the
airport melee of former years. The road from the airport to the town
now has street lights and the road from the airport to Angkor Wat is
being widened and re-surfaced. Elecetricity is being brought to Angkor
Wat. A roadside trench is currently being dug (by hand!) right
alongside both roads and the electrical cables laid – all of that by
the manual labour of many workers – no machinery at all.
Our arrival at Khvein village was quite an event. It’s monsoon season
and the “road” (a sandy track) is completely flooded from the monsoon
rains, and after wending our way to the school we parked on safe
ground. The soil and gravel (roadbase) we laid last year has given the
school a firm ground for a playground alongside the school – it shows
that our work last year was right to do. The library we equipped last
year is well used and so we are now getting another mobile bookcase
made as an added resource for the teachers.
All of the pens, pencils, erasers, stickers, chalk, etc etc we brought
with us has now been sorted on the tables in the library. How exciting
it was for us all (Mr Hon [school director], Phath, M & M) to unpack
each bag and discover that not one item was broken!!! This despite it
being on 3 flights – amazing!!
Today, Tuesday, all new students at the school will be measured for
their new unioforms.
How happy we have all been to be re-united, to hear the children in
each class show us their school work, to hear them read to us, and to
see their progress.
Two new teachers have started at the school, both young and very well-
presented, one male, Mr Borin, and one female. Both of them will be a
great asset to the school.
We have met the two boys who we’ve befriended over the years – they
are now at High School. Both of them are amongst the poorest of the
village.
G..,, from a family of six brothers and sisters, is still the smiling,
friendly lad he has always been and is growing well. What a hug he
gave us!
K……….. looks sad after the death of his father since we last saw
him. He remains in his hut with his mother; their situation is dire –
we cannot even provide them with a well as their hut is “squatting” on
someone else’s land. If we dug a well, they would soon be evicted –
the land would be more of an asset.
Then there is V………., a 17 years old boy who has returned this
school year to the primary school. He cannot go to High School (some
distance away) because he hasn’t got a bicycle!! So he remains in
grade 6. We have asked Mr Hon to try to get him enrolled in the High
School – we’ll give him a bike.
Such is life in abject poverty – it’s heart-wrenching to witness it.
Martin and Margaret
Note: For safety reasons, children’s names have not been shown.