Kampuchea ♥
Kampuchea was nothing short of awesome (: Going to Meakea to teach was a wonderful experience even though it was pretty short. You can’t help but feel so proud of the students, especially when the younger ones, are able to comprehend your lesson. It feels even more fulfilling seeing their smiles when they are pleased with themselves for having learnt something new.
The games we played with the young children, albeit super stressful and sometimes physically demanding (hahaha), made us forget how tired we were because all we wanted to do was have a fun time playing with the kids(:
And of course I had wonderful company with the other 4 and Mr LCP haha. The constant suanning was defo entertaining and we all had a fair share so everyone’s even ^^ All the food and sleeping and lepaking and nuah-ing. AH LOVE FABBERS SO MUCH (:
Life was real good there. I felt so calm and relaxed and had almost no care in the world with my mind fully occupied with and focused on the desired outcomes of the trip. Didnt quite have the time to give two hoots about school and studies and whatever drama that is distracting back in Singapore. Would not have minded, sleeping in the classrooms in my trusty sleeping bag next to qiqi and wynne each night and waking up sporadically during the night because the teachers snore wayyy to loudly or move in their makeshift beds made out of swimming floats super noisily. I love waking up to a nice cold morning, brushing teeth and having breakfast with fabbers. Walking to Meakea each day was a joy because of the breathtaking scenery that you’re never sick of. You’d want to stop and listen to the rustling of the rice plants in the fields whenever the wind blows and the crunching sound of stones and gravel under your feet as you walk on the uneven grounds making sure not to step on cow poop as you walk heehee ^^ Walking by all the houses and seeing the farmers hard at work was humbling. I love how we got so used to all the farm animals being around us. The kids playing with each other during their free time and students cycling to school each day, never failing to greet you and say hello as they cycle on by. Bathing in pond water was kind of one of my favourite things to do idk why. I think i find it secretly thrilling and if you don’t focus too much on the source of the water, you’ll be fine (: Stargazing at night and talking about anything and everything with the FABBERS. Self night facils in bed (we are so independent please!) which are always thought provoking okay haha plus all the intense (?) prep before lessons. Not to forget the ample amount of sleep we got (Y) as well as our never-ending stash of (healthy) snacks!
Argh I loved working with qiqi, sho, wynne and lingx. Just wished yy, eew and jy were there too (: Life was too good there, it was no surprise tears started flowing down my face when we bid farewell to our cambodian friends. Their earnest nature and sincerity inspires me to be a better person. And I do wish them all the best because I’m confident in their abilities. Seriously, a short span of 6 days in Sok Ann and I cried having to leave them. I have friends in Singapore whom I’ve known for years and wouldn’t cry that hard for.
I guess the best part about this trip was to see the changes. When we were there 2 years ago as part of the RGS OSL team, everything felt so new to us and things were slightly stressful because of the structure of the programme. Now that we’re back here for the second time, it’s a comforting sort of familiarity. The environment was easy to sink into. It’s most heartening to see the changes and the progress made especially in terms of the school’s facilities as well as the proficiency of English amongst the students. Students I remember teaching 2 years ago have now improved to become student translators and I feel so proud of them (: Sitting in Mr Tan Peng Ann’s session of collating a report for the students under the sponsorship scheme was good(: Got to listen to the students aspirations for themselves and it is inspiring to know that they too have big dreams. These students are so motivated despite the challenges they constantly have to deal with. It makes me feel guilty for taking my education for granted and not seizing the opportunities being presented to me.
And kudos to Mr Tan. Utmost amount of respek for this man. He is dabomb.
I’ve made great friends whom I find joy in interacting with especially Sophat (favouritism and biasness here hehehe), above photo. He was just so sincere when he talked to me like he just wanted to practice his English and learn about Singapore and make friends with me. DEFO KAMPUCHEAN BFF <3 I hope he studies very hard, I believe in his potential to go far (Y)
Hello everyone, meet Veasna. I love him because he is so cute and he is very smart because for a 6th grader he is able to have a decent conversation with us (: at least compared to his classmates. And he is very brave, he is unafraid to make conversation even with scary looking Mr LCP, very sure of himself. I can see glimpses of leadership potential in him despite his age. And he is super enthusiastic in class like he honestly loves to learn from us!
Hello above is Savath and Sreypeth (siblings heehhe) in 2008. Look at Savath so chubbyyy and then I thought Sreypeth was the prettiest Southeast Asian girl in the worldddd.
The girl in the middle is Sreypeth now. AMAGAD SUPER PRETTY. She became taller and prettier AMAGAD. IMG Models Cambodia can you just hire her naowww. Or she can like be Ms Cambodia confirm pwnageee. Girl in blue is her friend hehehe.
And this is Savath now (Y) Grown up or whaaaat. With great ambitions!! I have the utmost amount of confidence in him that he is capable of achieving them. Wants to be a scientist(: and he’s really focused on studying kept asking Sho about English words that he was unsure of (Y) and when he talks to me he asks me questions out of sheer curiosity, unlike the typical standard set of questions most students ask. So proud of him. He is so earnest (:
I’m not quite fluid in expressing the 9 days of pure awesomeness in words. I’m just thankful we were able to make this trip which seemed so distant at the start, materialise and I hope I’ll be able to find the time and energy to continue to contribute back to this community.
Thank you FAB. Thank you Mr LCP. Thank you Cambodia friends. 4eva ~
P.S. - THIS POST IS SOOOO LATE BECAUSE I TOOK A WHILE TO POST THIS LIKE COLLATE (?) MY THOUGHTS AND CHOOSE THE PHOTOS HEHEHE AND WHEN I WAS FINALLY READY TO POST TUMBLR WAS SUPER BITCHY URGHHHH. okay no more angst <3
