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~
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~
posted by whatsyourproblem at 11:48 pm
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