In between the many days of physical labour, on Monday we were not physically challenged, rather we were emotionally challenged by our visits to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum also known as S-21 and Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (the killing fields), along with our initial introduction to the Tabitha Foundation (an NGO that assists locals who are living under extreme poverty to get above the poverty line) given by their founder Janne Ritskes. After being told of the tragedies that have befallen this beautiful nation, we then moved on to a site of some of these tragedies, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which was once the S-21 Khmer Rouge prison. Once there, we partook in an audio guided tour that not only showed us through the former prison but also immersed us in several horrific stories endured by those that once inhabited S-21. Whilst displaying the evils once experienced there the tour also showed how justice has been served to those who orchestrated these vile acts and how these ...
We spent the day at Green Gecko building a mushroom house for the children at Green Gecko to eat and sell for a profit! To start the day of we had a guided tour around the facility by some children from Green Gecko, Kim and Nikki they were great to listen to! Once we had our tour we got in the back of the Ute and headed to their farm, Footprints. We got seperated into groups with the Gecko Chuldren and began work, One group cleared Palm tree leaves, another moved mulch from one place to another, some cut up mushrooms from the pre-exisiting mushroom house and the rest began work on the new mushroom house. Once all the other jobs had been done we all helped with the building of the Mushroom house! The children then had to go and get ready for school so we stopped and enjoyed lunch with them. Once we finished lunch and the children headed of to school we returned back the farm to finish the mushroom house, it was a very humid day and everyone was exhausted at the end of the day. T...
After a day of hard work it is exciting to say “the library is finished!” After a well rested night we yet again risked our lives for 15 minutes on the death defining, chaotic roads of Siem Reap and at the expense of our newly befriended tuk tuk drivers. Arriving at the PAGE site we quickly set off to work sanding the shutters and doors of the newly renovated library with the help from the generous and welcoming Monks we met on Day 1. This hardworking group quickly expanded to interested students and tuk tuk drivers, making the lengthy effort of sanding far less noticeable as stories and conversation was shared. The task itself involved sanding, washing and painting (in the most unattractive shade of brown) the fixtures. Our lunch break entertainment was provided by our teams men and the shirtless, skilled tuk tuk drivers as they engaged in a heated battle of volleyball. While both sides demonstrated great enthusiasm and sweat as they fought valiantly the skills of the tu...
Looks like a fun class. I'm sure everyone must be 'fluent' by now ;)
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