Day 10: Gettin' Down n' Dirty! (Halfway Point)

(Sorry, we're a bit delayed on the Cambodia blogs!)...
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What an incredibly fulfilling day we had with games and infectious laughter! ​

Starting off with a feeding programme at a village church was an opportunity to get to know the local people and connect with the children in the area. We were given the chance to present a skit, sing songs - such as the hokey pokey and king of the jungle - as well as to blow bubbles and enter into the most competitive skipping competition I have ever had the pleasure of partaking in! Although the group of children was only 12 strong, their enthusiasm and boundless energy meant that our morning in the village was a memorable one. 


Our next stop after lunch was to head to the Children's Home in an outer village to continue construction on their fence and surrounding land. Upon arrival though, we were met with the awesome surprise of spending the afternoon working alongside the children who called this place home. With spades aplenty, we soon got to work digging more holes for the wooden posts and I'm embarrassed to say that one Cambodian child was at least ten times more efficient than our whole Australian team put together! However, their constant chatter and laughter throughout the afternoon made all the shovelling, sweating and blisters worth it, and the surprisingly cool weather certainly helped to improve everyone's dispositions. 


The highlight of the day, however, was towards the end of the afternoon at the children's home. Emily, Harriett and Isaac were cleaning the water pump full off mud and faeces when Isaac "accidentally" splashed Emily and boy did he pick the wrong person to mess with! Our resident Outback Queen is not afraid of anything and Isaac was in for some painful payback. When he least expected it , Emily took two handfuls of the disgusting sludge and smeared it all over the face of an unsuspecting Isaac whose reaction was not only the highlight of our day but the children's as well! It made for some awesome pictures and his disgusted face will not be easily forgotten! 


As we enjoyed a quiet dinner at Love Cafe, we were able to reflect on the days work and contributions that we were making to the people of Cambodia.  Its a pleasure and a privilege to know that our small acts of kindness are having such wonderful impacts on these incredible people. 


Pravini de Silva ​