Day 2- Sunflower Orphan Centre

Today we took a ridiculously long tuktuk ride to the Sunflower Orphan Centre (SOC) for children living with HIV/AIDs. It was a productive ride, seeing as we created a student contract to govern our NGO work. We also risked Helen's iPad's life when we did a handoff to Helen in the other tuktuk while driving down the road. It was safe. We also had a Mac photoshoot to demonstrate the usefulness of Mac products in developing countries like Cambodia (see picture).

At the Orphanage: It was a little wierd at first because we didn't know how to act around the kids. Most of them were coloring or drawing pictures. The boys loved volleyball. It seemed at first that the kids were 4-12, but actually the youngest was 10 and the oldest was 16. After hanging out the with the kids for an hour or so, we ate lunch and then went to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Reserve.

Entertainment at the orphanage was limited. The kids were happy but after learning their real ages the activities seemed juvenile. They loved coloring books and hidden picture books. They went to school for 4 hours a day (normal in Cambodia). The last trip the kids took was to Sihanoukville to the beach months ago, and they all dressed up in their nicest clothes to go to the Wildlife Reserve. The girls even did their hair using the reflection in the windows because there were no big mirrors at the center.

At lunch the children immediately started to help sweep the floor set out plates and clean up. They eat in pods of 3 or 4 children and share a bowl of stew (a few vegetables and occasionally meat) to go along with a personal plate of rice. They eat rice for every meal. Although the orphanage used to be funded, they haven't been funded since 2007. All the staff volunteer their time and energy to help these kids.

So after an hour long van ride we arrived at the zoo. (15 kilometers was actually 50, and did we mention how hot it was). We fit 22 people in a 15 passenger van, ditching Helen and Scott. The wildlife preserve had lions, and tigers, and sunbears, OH MY! Also Elephants, and Howler Monkeys which attempted to steal Caya's camera. Also, the monkeys made awesome noises. (see video). Sean was the first to venture up the tallest level of the rocky outcrop at the zoo. It was kind of a mountain for cambodia (hill sized). Elliot followed him and then came Caya with Scott's camera. The three of them were amazed by the view and took lots of pictures. We could see for miles! After the zoo, we had drinks, Mirinda and pink/purple fanta. Maybe dragonfruit fanta. Mixed, they created a disgustinly sugary concoction. Elliot loved them, Caya did not but we all appreciated a cold drink.

We really developed a connection with these kids. Vibol is a 13 year old boy who had the coolest trucker hat and was a top notch class clown. He loved to smile and poke fun in a good way. He led the rest of the children and Liza up some rocks and up a mountain in the zoo. He also tried to poke Elliot's eyebrow piercing all the time. Pisat is the smallest kid. He's only 10. He craved physical contact and attention as did most of the others. He especially like sleeping in Caya's lap, climbing up and over us, and trying on our sunglasses. He loved taking pictures with our camera. Srey Leak (pronounced Sraylia). Srey Leak is 16, painted Helen, Liza, and Caya's nails and taught Caya how to make lotus blossom origami flowers. Caya found a special friend with the oldest girl, who was 16, and the biggest of the kids. They were always walking around with their arms around each other. (see picture). They all loved to hold our hands and just hang out. Sharon got a boyfriend (who loved to eat cotton candy and wore a Yao Ming shirt). Even though we were only with them for a day, by the end of our trip, it was hard to say goodbye. We learned so much from these kids, and on the final bus ride it was hard to imagine they couldn't speak English. We will really have a special place in our hearts for all these kids.

www.sunflowerorphanage.org