First Experience at the Orphanage - Tami

It has taken me a couple of days to process Wednesday's trip to the Orphanage. I may never be able to put into words all the emotions I experienced. We left for Laveasar by van around 8 am. It was rush hour and it took the better part of an hour to get to the ferry. I am not sure what I was expecting when we got there but what can I say - WOW! When the Ferry arrived it was a mad dash for all to load. There were about 20 people and vehicles (bicycles, mopeds, and two vans) all crammed into a space the size of a city bus. The "facilities" was a small closet with a hole to the Mekong River. Luckily I did not need to make use of it. The trip across took about 10-15 minutes. Once across we loaded into the van for a short ride to the Orphanage. When we arrived the children were still in class. Sohkom took us to each individual class where we were greeted by the entire group. My estimation is that there are approximately 100 students, 68 of which live at the Orphanage and the rest are from the village. While the children ate lunch we had ours outside under a tree. We were treated to fresh coconut milk right from the nut with a straw. The local ladies provided lunch of rice, fish, and fresh fruit. Afterwards we spent about 2 hours playing with the children. The toys were a huge hit. Kevin and Jan showed the kids how to hula hoop. Hilarious! Joe had several of the boys playing with the frisbees. No instructions needed for the soccer balls or jump ropes. The children were so affectionate. Some were content to be held, while others wanted more interaction. Several were intrigued with my fake nails. When it was time to leave it was very difficult. We loaded up and took the ferry back across. We stopped at RDI to purchase nativity scenes. We were treated to a water treatment lesson between the RDI employee and Sohkom. We arrived at Sohkom's home about 6pm and he treated us to fresh jackfruit and dried mango. The dried Mango was the same taste and texture as a fruit roll up. We then returned to the hotel. Joe and I were dead on our feet so we chose to skip dinner and go straight to bed. We were dirty, sweaty, and swollen from heat but totally exhilarated. What an awesome day.