Stanley

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
US poet (1807 - 1882)

Indeed just a little love, a small effort, a tiny sacrifice and some time can make a different in someone life.

After I went to Cambodia than I truly understand what is to live in a developing country. Feeling so fortunate to have a comfortable house to live in, clean and hygienic food to eat and also neat and smooth road to travel. Perhaps after living in Cambodia for 2 weeks I became of them.

When I first arrived at the capital of Cambodia I was shocked but what I saw. No tall building, no huge roads and it looks so different from Singapore. I began to open my eye, my ears and started to feel. The green pasture, the plots of padi fields, the herds of cows, the beautiful sun and clouds I know Cambodia have much to offer.

I felt so curious in many things making me asks lots of questions, as I wanted to know more about Cambodia. I began to understand their history, the problems the people faces and how is their daily life. I started to think that a simple life like the Cambodian is not as bad.

I felt most deeply is when I heard about the pol pot the genocides, where the past government killed his own people in order to “Purify” them. So many people were lost, so many families were broken, so many sadness in people and so much pain and suffering. If those people are alive perhaps Cambodia will not be in this state. I am really wondering why a person would want to bring so much harm to others to make him happy. Is this one of the human nature? When I went to one of the killing field, seeing all the skulls and bones I start to ponder what kind of pain that the people were going though that time and how they can contribute ( most of them are educated people like doctor, politician, teacher ect) to their country.

As I walk though their market, their shopping area and their schools. I was stunned. It was not air-conditioned, no proper road, not cemented stalls, and all muddy paths way, everywhere is stuff with rubbish and strange smell roam the area. The biggest shopping area in Cambodia is not even the size of any heartland malls in Singapore. Only than I realized what is to live in the country. It may sound weird but I what I see perhaps is how my grandparents were living in the 60s in Singapore.

When the bus passed though the houses of the people I saw the rusted roof, the broken house I felt so lucky to have a HDB flat in Singapore, and perhaps our small house could be a heaven to them. (Refer to the poor only in Cambodia; the rich can be really very rich. However 40% of the people are living under the poverty line)

However went began to interact with resident in the home than I truly experience something extra in Cambodia. I think with really make me feel for them is that what ever we did something for them they would always have a “thank you” behind and a smile. This little action makes a different. They appreciate what we did for them and the do not demand anything form us. Perhaps some little things to us were a great difference in their life and that is why they are so nice and kind to us.

What I cannot forget is that how they prayed for me, I remember one boy pulling my hands and prayed for me twice, those little actions really melted my heart at that time. Seeing so much concern in them toward us I am wondering do we give much love to our peers.

I really miss the resident in the two homes, both FGAC and BAC.

I really want to thank Miss Chew, Mr Ng, and BA Care, Serve team and Cambodia for giving me such memorable experience. I think this Trip gave me something extra.

I remember before I went for the trip I began with a quotation

We make a living by what we get, we make a life but what we give.

Indeed is true I made my life by what I gave in Cambodia.

Post entry: Ifah

Having gone to Cambodia for 15 days has definetely made mi a stronger lady and totally change my perceptions about certain issues..I have been born in a family in which my sisters and i were always given the luxury of goin on vacations and being given wateva we wanted.Honestly speaking being brought up in Singapore,we tend to take the simplest things for granted like the 1st time we did something special for our friends or said the words,"I LOVE YOU" to our parents..No words can reli express my feelings i have towards these newfound frens i made in Cambodia..We started off nt knowing each other and nt knowing how to approach one another..But its their sincerity and friendliness that reli touch my heart...They reli respect you and appreciate every moment in time...

These are the experiences that can't be written in a book but instead can be kept as memories deep in my heart..Not a day in Cambodia that i did not cry over the smallest gesture that these kids have done for mi.Their hugs,greeting mi "Hello Sister",protecting mi frm dogs and sacrificing their time to help mi out..These are the moments i will always remember for life....No amount of monetary value can take these moments frm mi...

Having said that,i believe that my friendship will these kids will nt end juz here but will last a lifetime..If i had the chance to go back in time, i would take this opportunity to strengthen the bond in my Serve team because i believe that every single individual is unique but its the juz the small misunderstandings that usually break a friendship..So pple,put aside ure differences and start friendships on a brighter note..Lastly i hope there's a way for us to meet the beautiful pple of Cambodia again...

PS:Wld like to apologise for the super late entry!!!

Post Trip Reflection - NuuRuL

Though it has been more than a month since our return from Cambodia, I often have flashbacks of it everytime I sit alone up in my room. The humble staffs and kids, the peaceful environment they live in. They are easily contented with every little thing that they get. During the celebration day, we had organized a mini carnival with some simple games and balloons. They really enjoyed it very much!

The children there had talents, hidden talents. They had big dreams of what they would want to become when they grow up and what type of job they would want to pursue although they knew that they couldn’t possibly get everything they wished for. I’m very proud of them all.

In contrary, it is different here in Singapore. Life is competitive. One has to keep pace with each other or they will be left behind. We are well-fed and pampered, never satisfied with what we have, and always asking for more. Going to school is something we take for granted.

From this wonderful trip, I’ve learnt that life does not have to be complicated to enjoy it. It could be simple yet more enjoyable. I’ve always had fear of difficulty adapting to the new environment, fear of the people’s impression towards me and how they would react, and fear of not being able to survive the whole trip.

FEAR is only False Evidence Appearing Real and hey, getting out of my comfort zone wasn’t so difficult after all! It made me a better person having being able to make a contribution and at the same time brings happiness to their lives, after having painted the canteen walls at FGAC, teaching the kids Ms Access, and most important of all, having FUN!

My perspective of Cambodia has totally changed and if given a chance, I would definitely want to go there again!


“The hand that gives is better than the hand that gets.”



NuuRuL

Post Trip- Sarojini

I am really thankful for the opportunity to be able to go to Cambodia for this service. I have learnt and understood a lot of things. During the whole two weeks I experience different emotions, feelings and challenges.

I saw a totally different lifestyle that has a lot of impact on my opinion of other country’s living capabilities. Being in FGA for the first week, I was able to understand that love, passion and communication are more important that material aspects. They really appreciate and value a person’s attention and care as I communicated with them. In this issue I really feel that one person who touched my heart was ‘Annie’ as I can see the longing for love and care in her eyes every time I see her.

The kids in the center never fail to show appreciation unlike us who normally take advantage of things and feelings. I also learnt not to underestimate a person by their appearance as the saying goes ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ as I was able to see that the kids are more brighter that they seem in education and general knowledge as I communicated with them.

One thing that really made me very sad was the situation the kids have to go through when they walk to their school. It really breaks my heart to see them to leave very clean from the center and end up muddy when they reach the school. I really hope something can be done about it. * Maybe the next few serve teams can build roads for the kids*

When we reach the second place, I felt ashamed of myself looking at the place where the kids sleep as it looks like a small cabin that accommodate more than ten kids while here I always fighting with my sis for the space in the room. It thought me how to be selfless and appreciate for what I have in life.

One scene that breaks my heart was when a small boy used a string and made a knot to a brick that was being used to build the place as a car toy. He looked so pleased and satisfied with the toy he made and happily played with it where else the kids here are more fortunate but are pickier on their toys and other things.

I had a lot of memorable moments to remember such as the reflection time every night, forgetting the date and time, taking care of my two patients (nuurul & ifah), celebration days, the nature view of the country which I loved the most, a nice hot bath in the hotel, shopping spree, how scared was I to climb the steep stairs at Angkor Wat (thanks to nuurul and JZ) and lots of other things.

I believe this trip has opened my mind to look at life in different perspective, importance of teamwork, how to forgive and forget and most importantly, how important it is to treasure my life and my loved once for things may not be the same as it looks like now.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Mr. Ng and Ms. Chew for their care, guidance and concern while we were there for two weeks. Even though I missed my parents and family at the beginning, I was able to overcome it.


Sarojini

Post Trip - Mildred

During my stay in Cambodia, I have finally understood the importance of communications, be it communicating through spoken, written or even body language.

The one incident that I clearly remembered was the day I fell sick at FGAC. It was one of the happier memories. Through this incident, I felt truly felt the care and concern from the people around me, be it the lecturers, , Mr Sonny, fellow servers or the Cambodia kids. There were several times I was awoken by people who were trying to take my temperature constantly with their hands, but I didn’t minded the disturbance, in fact, the feeling was good, and I was deeply touched. It’s horrible to fall ill far away from home without my parents, but I guess little acts like the ‘touch of warmth’ made up for all that. The pains, aches and sufferings were worth it, definitely!

Little acts can cheer one up, but it can also upset one, be it deliberate or accidental, since 70% (estimation) of language is body language. During the trip, there were many times when we chose not to air our views or unhappiness for fear of upsetting and offending others in the process.

What we failed to realize was that, we make matters worse as we tend to reveal our thoughts and feelings through our acts and facial expressions. These acts and expressions are ‘read’ by others, and often misinterpreted. I guess this is where misunderstandings start to occur. A small little teeny weeny misunderstanding will then snowball over time, along with many other misunderstandings.

Sadly, these misunderstandings often end with either party flaring or a cold war between the two.

Communal living is tough. To have twenty four of us to living our lives as one is a great challenge, as we come from different family backgrounds and are brought up in different environments, with different perspective in lives.

However, I think we have done our best in bad times.

At least, at the end of the day, we still regard each other as friends. (At least I think so.)

Let bygones be bygones. =)


-- Mildred --

Post Trip Reflection By Siwei

15 days of life in a country I have never thought of going before. The longest trip ever since I was born, but seems to be the shortest one. The one which I thought to give more but I received more. This 15 days have been engraved in my heart and will not be forgotten for the rest of my life. The moments, memories, lessons learned has already been imprinted in me.

Before the trip, we have been told that this is a serve and learn trip. And I thought, I go to Cambodia, I will serve as I learn and it goes fifty fifty. Now that I am back, I felt that I had learnt more than I serve. What we had given them might be something material. But what I have learnt is something money cant buy.

Being a videographer, I do not usually join in activities. I watched and take down moments and so, I tend to see things which my team members cant see. Its like they are in a box interacting and playing with the kids and I am outside the box seeing each and every emotions of them. I realize that the kids there are easily satisfied. They have nothing more to ask for. Looking at myself, thou living in a fully developed country, I can never be satisfied with the things I have. Singapore is improving all the time and we will always ask for the better. When will we learn to be satisfied?

We kids staying in Singapore are so lucky to the extend which we do not know we are lucky. On the games day in FGAC, I was kind of worried when I saw the games that the kids over there are going to play. Feed the monster, the lost gem, spider web and others. These are the games which even primary school kids here do not even give a glance at. The games started, as I walked and took videos, one 19 year old teenager, Roth Chearn, ran towards me and said “Brother pig!! I got full points while playing the ping pong game and others are so fun!!” He was jumping around happily, being so proud of himself, enjoying himself to the fullest. I cried upon seeing that. They get so happy over games that we do not play anymore.

Since young, I had lost my dad. Tears do rolled when I think of my dad at times. I do miss him. But after the trip, I learned to be strong, to cherish what I have now. Kids over there do not even have any family members and they live everyday to the fullest. So why should I get sad over the slightest of things that happen in Singapore.

They taught me alot. These things can never be learnt in lessons. This trip is more than a fruitful one. Too many things I have learnt and too many things I have seen and gone through during the trip. The true friendships, the care and concern among the team, the helpfulness of everyone, the respect given are all that I have gained. Words can only convey limited messages. Nothing can describe the feeling within me for this trip, how much I love it, how much I cherish it, how important it is to me. If I have to give and example on how much I love serve Cambodia, I can only say, it is like the universe. Somehow, I think I still have lots to say, so, when I am free, I will blog again. No matter what, I have to say, I LOVE SERVE CAMBODIA!! take care guys.

sign off by,
brother pig..

Post Trip Reflection

Serve Cambodia was a learning trip that made me appreciate my “good life” wonderful, fruitful and meaningful to serve experience for me. I feel so fortunate that I was selected for serving Cambodia 2006 and never regretted choosing and going to Cambodia despite of many negatives feedback from my family and most people that gave to me about Cambodia.

Cambodia is a less developed country. However, the nature and scenery is so beautiful and relaxing. The environment is one that is hardly able to find in an urban city like Singapore. Life in Cambodia seems to be simple, carefree and relaxing to me. It is a place where I can truly appreciate the nature whereby the way of living which is less simple and complex than that of a city life.

One of the great people whom I admired and learned from was Mr Sonny from FGAC. His leadership spirit, determination, motivation, selflessness and kind heart and most importantly, he and the people over there do not waste food. There was an incident where the biscuits were burned; he just ate it as he did not want to waste food. There are not many people who would do so. I was the one will think of throwing it away.
Another two great people that I want to “salute” are Dr Castro and his wife. The way they treated the kampong village patients with care and concern really shown the kindness of their hearts.

I have gained a lot in terms of knowledge of their culture, religion, living lifestyle, living conditions and many more and certainly, I received more than I gave from the Cambodia trip. Frankly speaking, I really enjoyed the hard labor and missions that we need to accomplish during our stay in FGAC and BAC. It was really a great experience and new skills/knowledge to learn from which I might not have the chance to do it in my whole “comfort” life. Such knowledge and skills can only be learnt through such experience.

I like the children and people over there. Their selflessness, friendly and kind nature towards me left me feeling so warm and touched and also made me felt at home during my stay in Cambodia. To my surprise, one of children still makes the effort to contact with me through smses. They are so brave and indeed a worthy friend to make. I will never ever in my life forget that one of the children plucked a flower for me. It was dangerous for her to do so as the flower was near the river. I was shocked by her action and would not imagine if she fell inside the river. Their patient, hardworking, strong and determination attitude had made me admirable of them too. They know the quality of living standard that they have, but nevertheless, are determined to seek a better living conditions and the lack of resources make them appreciate it more. Such spirit really inspired me when I thought of how some teenagers in Singapore take things for granted.

Lastly, I would like to thank Ms Chew, Mr Ng, all my teammates and people in Cambodia for the wonderful and memorable trip.

Karen

Dickson's Post Trip Entry

It's been a month since we returned from our 15-day Service Learning Trip, SERVE Cambodia 2006. Until today, I still strongly believe a miracle happened and I am part of this miracle. Everything just happened so quickly yet so much has been done. From the pre-trip plannings to bonding camp to the actual trip. It's just mind boggling how this much was done...

Individually, I still cannot believe I have been through all this. Living in the suburbs. Living with limited resources. Living without Internet. Sleeping with mosquitoes. Bathing with bugs. Washing my own dishes and clothes. I have done so much more and honestly I don't think anyone would believe...

I miss the days when we were all lost in time. "What day is today? What time is it now?", were the questions that no one else could answer... What we all knew was our purpose and goals there. To finish up what we had promised. Everyday we would wake and just go for what we had to do. I miss the days when it all seem so slow and long... Have we been complaining how busy and short of time we are in Singapore? I am not saying there's a lot of time, there's only 168 hours a week. We will have to accept that fact and know what we want to do, definitely there will be enough time for everything...

Chatting with the kids and teenagers at FGAC, we will know more about their dreams and ambitions... As much as we want to run from our lives, they want to live our lives... What an irony... We were provided for education, food, clothes, a roof over our heads yet we want to throw our lives away here to live simpler lifestyles... It's no doubt that our lives are physically less tedious and we live in reasonable luxuries yet we don't treasure them because of the struggles living in a stressful city with skyscrapers all around...

Are we happy? Do we feel all cooped up? I definitely still believe Man were born free, away from all these restrictions. I still cannot understand why they want to live our lives... Isn't growing own food, knitting own clothes, building own homes, being self sufficient and keeping life simple better...? I know being self-sufficient needs skills, loads of them therefore a certain level of barter should be beneficial to everyone. Perhaps it could have been better if the World stopped got stuck in Time centuries ago...

Even though I don't understand why they want to live our lives, I certainly admire their attitude in Life. They treasure everything they have, are selfless, helpful and relatively contented. A simple old Stephen Chow movie can make them laugh until they drop. Even with a blackout at night, they don't curse and swear but take it in their stride while looking for a solution...

I would say the 15-day did not melt me, the "Ice Mountain". On our departure date, I only bade goodbye to my parents... I wanted to hug them but they left too quickly and I hesitated. When I was at Cambodia, I didn't think of my family or home for more than 3 times or maybe I didn't even did so. When I left brothers and sisters at the Centres, I only felt minor sadness as compared to many "fountains" around...

Why am I so cold-blooded? I am not, just being selfish. I didn't want to hurt myself emotionally. I am just emotionally prepared. I will not let such things affect me because coming together and leaving each other is just part and parcel of Life. Being attached to something or someone brings us unhappiness only.

During our 15-days, there were differences and shaves as expected. Being a Overall Student Coordinator, I had to maintain my neutral stance. I learnt that there's nothing called neutral. Even Switzerland is no longer a neutral state. What is neutrality? I chose to just keep quiet on all differences. When fires flare at me, I would tell myself that it is due to the scorching weather...

On the 11th day, I was the Day In Charge. That was the day I wondered how did the team survived the last 10 days... Each and every of us had different working methods and many things were just not on sync. I slowly realised everyone has their strength and weaknesses. Someone's strength would cover for another's weakness. Then somehow or another, the team just survived... This is perhaps one of the best realisation I got from the trip. Sometimes letting things go their way can turn out well. There don't have to be some governing body...

Through my life, I will never forget the times we spent at Cambodia as a team and will never stop admiring Mr Sonny and Dr Castro for their work. Thank you all of you for putting and living this miracle together with me. At the end of the day, I have to admit I miss the team more than the Cambodians... If there's an opportunity, let's go back as a team again...

Post trip reflection - [eStHeR]

First of all, Im really sorry for this super late post trip blog entry. During some point of the day, memories of Cambodia will flash through my mind. However, whenever I sit down quietly wanting to start blogging, my mind would be in a blank. Like when I see my dad taking the clothes that we hang outside to dry back cause it was going to rain, this remind me of the times when we rushed to keep our laundry when it was going to dry in Cambodia. It shows how fortunate we are that in Singapore we are under the shelter of our home when we keep our clothes, whereas in Cambodia, people might have to run in the rain just to keep the laundry.

Now that we are back in Singapore, we each had our own different commitments and different lifestyle and all the schools projects start coming in, we would have little time and perhaps impossible to go back to the Cambodia slower pace of lifestyle. However, this also makes our stay in Cambodia more significant.

15 days in Cambodia had passed in a blink of the eye, when all seems as if it just happened yesterday. If I had a chance to go through everything in Cambodia right from the first day, I would. It was 15 days of memories I will hold in my heart now and forever.
I could still remember clearly that on the first day when we all gathered at the Changi Airport, we were so excited chit chatting around that the lady at the reception counter had to remind us to move aside for the other passengers.

On the first two days when we arrived at FGAC, we were feeling pretty restless and feel as if a week had passed when it was only second day. Slowly, we got to know the kids there and start interacting with them and that’s the start when our love for them and Cambodia grows.

During the IT class, we could see how keen they want to learn from us. It is true that we are able to learn more than them in Singapore, but how many of us are really keen on learning. Throughout the whole of our poly life, I’m sure most of us or even all of us had skipped lessons before and it is not due to being unfit for school. To them, they have goals and they know learning is important and they want to achieve their goals.

The children there are also easily contented, even treating them a simple ice-cream, they would be smiling so broadly, for Singapore children, they might even request that they want the expensive kind of ice-cream.

When we were there, all of us wanted to go to the market to see how it looks like and try the food there. But back in Singapore, how many of us are actually willing to go to the market with our mothers?

There are so many memories at Cambodia, so much things and events and people that I missed, I missed the kids there, their laughter, their smiles, their letters, their presents for us. I missed the staffs there, the way they helped us with our chores, fetching us to and fro the market, helping us with translation, cooking meals for us. I missed the trip to the markets, to phnom penh to buy our cooking ingredients, the trip to Angkor Wat, the stay in the hotel, the buffet dinner, the roadside food. I missed our serve Cambodia mates, the games we played together, the meals we ate together, the meals we cooked together, the wall we scrubbed and painted together, the mural we painted together, the medical outreached we planned and came out with, the chats we had, the reflection time we shared. I missed our teachers, the reflections we had together, the lessons they taught us and the list goes on and on.

If I were to choose if this was a service or learning trip, I would be still in a dilemma, it is a mixture of both. However I knew we had left part of our heart at Cambodia and the people there had also left part of theirs with us.

esther~