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| Practicing for Opening Day - I Think You're Wonderful |
Back in Siem Reap at the Angkor Holiday Hotel, other board
members and guests started arriving at the hotel for the kick off cocktail
party at the Foreign Correspondents Club and dinner. (thanks for the drinks,
Rich!) Many folks we only knew thru emails, Facebook and conference calls, but
there was this incredible bond we felt for each other due to our involvement in
the school. The excitement was palpable.
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| Cocktail Hour and Dinner at the Foreign Corespondents Club |
Bright and early the next day, we crammed into 2 buses for
the long trip to Monkgol Borie – one bus would come back to SR, the other would
head off across the border at Poi Pet, to return to Bangkok.
As we rounded the drive up to the school, all 345 children
were lined on either side of the road to greet us. On either side of the lane,
at the beginning of the line, were 2 pairs of the older kids with baskets full
of scarves. Each guest was given a scarf and greeted in English. I can’t begin
to describe how full all of our hearts were- these kids were bursting at the
seams with joy! All wanted to shake hands, high five or just pranam and say
“HELLO!” The line seemed endless and I didn’t want to miss greeting each child.
Rounding the corner and thru the gate, 3 large tents awaited us. Many parents
attended and were standing to receive us also. This is quite an honor as taking
a day off, for many of them, will cut into their meager incomes. Yet it is an
honor for their child to attend the school.
Parents understand the whole family will benefit if only one child
obtains their 9th grade education. All children are chosen from
families with the most need. The poorest of the poor in a very poor country. A
poverty which you can’t imagine.
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| Students waiting at the front gate |
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| Prima say hello to some of the older students |
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| Harvey with this scarf, on his way to the tents |
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| Parents waiting under the tents for the festivities to begin |
The ceremony started off with all the kids singing in
English, “I Think You’re Wonderful.” Afterwards, 7 of the older girls, who had
been studying Khmer Dance entertained us in beautiful, traditional costumes.
Afterward, we all had to sit thru mostly boring speeches, including one from
the Minister of Education which came specifically for opening day. Then Gunvar
stepped up for her speech. Gunvar is on the board, from Sweden and spent 2
months at the school teaching. She gave her entire speech in Khmer! All the
kids were besides themselves-the speeches were no longer boring! Gunvar made
the girls promise that one of them would be the Premier of Cambodia one day. We
were all blown away with Gunvar’s dedication to speak to the students in their
own language. All the students get a half a day of English Education, but there
is nothing like hearing your own language spoken.
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| Beautiful Dancer |
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| Traditional Khmer Dance |
Lunch was next. Everybody eats! At the Academy, all children
get 2 meals a day -with protein. That’s 14,000 meals a month. Those in need can
take what is left over home. But today, was special. They really went all out
for us, their guests. A feast of mammoth proportion. Coco-Cola’s, French Fries,
French Bread (that’s what everyone thinks the rest of the world eats – ha!)
Noodle dishes, sweet and spicy chicken, stir-fried rice with meat chicken, soup
with blood chunks and more chicken, sliced pineapple and ice on the table. The
older students served us and everyone cleaned up afterward. On a typical school
day, all students clean up after lunch.
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| Ratmays Mut and Me - Shelly's McMurry's Child |
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| Most likely to become Leader of Cambodia one day |
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| Teachers together for photos |
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| The Board Members |
Now it was time for pictures with our students and tours of
the school facility for Donor’s who were there for the first time. The kids had
been told to talk to all of us, to help with their English-speaking skills.
There was much giggling and hugging. Of course, the girls were bolder. Everybody
wanted a picture to be made.
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| Hank - official photographer- shows a student her picture |
By the time we left, my face hurt from all the smiling. We
joined the bus taking the 1.5-hour journey to Poi Pet, to cross the boarder
into Thailand. At the border, we were let out of our bus with all our bags. The
border between Thailand and Cambodia is a no-mans land that is filled with a
large casino. One checks thru immigration and proceeds to walk a couple of
hundred yards across the border to the Thai side, where you go thru
immigration, yet again. Then, one has to catch another bus or taxi to take you to
your destination. Luckily Primo and Prima make this journey often, and had a
taxi waiting for us on the other side.
3 hours later we were in Bangkok.
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