Drama Drama

So where to start? ...

Having seen all the sights in Phnom Penh, including central market, the killing fields and a museum called S21- where we learned of the atrocities of the Cambodian genocide, the royal palace, and national museum - we decided Phnom Penh was probably the favourite place we've visited so far! So good in fact, that after leaving the city last weekend to start our time at samrong farm orphanage, a 45 minute tuk tuk ride from here, we've come back for more this weekend. But more on that later...

 

 

The children at the orphanage are fab. They're so happy and smiley, enthusiastic to get on with even the worst tasks (including shovelling cow poo in the cow shed- we both stood and admired whilst snapping pictures!), and are just generally a pleasure to be around. So that is all well and good. We did however get quite a shock when finding out what the volunteering involved!

We knew that classes took place where the children,varying from ages 7 to around 20, learnt English at the orphanage itself. We weren't quite ready however when the news was delivered that we would be teaching the classes, and us alone! And to make matters a little bit scarier, we were teaching English with no guidance as to what had already been taught, the abilities of each child, or how to go about it all.

Thankfully this first week has involved shadowing some current volunteers, and has therefore allowed us to establish:

1. There are three classes- beginners, intermediate and advanced

2. Teaching is done for two hours in the morning, between 9 and 11, and then two hours in the afternoon, from 1-3

3. Despite the classes being divided into ability, there are children who have slipped through the net, and have lower abilities than the rest of the children in that class

4. The more games the better!

5. They are on the whole enthusiastic to learn English

So we go into this next week becoming teachers, and will find ourselves later having a planning meeting with the other 'teachers' (volunteers) with ice cream, which is clearly essential to lesson planning!! We are very lucky, that the other volunteers, three girls - two Brits and an Aussie, are all completely lovely and we all get on very well indeed 😊 it is likely we will take on the intermediate class together, which will be a challenge and hopefully a lot of fun!

 

Now we said we'd come back to the subject of this weekend, its been great, despite an event that happened whilst we were here. Having been incredibly cautious since arriving in Asia, the locals still managed to outwit us resulting in Mair being mugged. Whilst crossing one of Phnom Penhs chaotic roads and manouvering through the traffic as you have to do, a passenger on a moped grabbed Mair's bag, causing it to rip leaving her with only the strap around her neck. Bye bye to her camera, currency card and iPhone, along with our new found neccesity, the spork! Fortunately there were many , much nicer locals around who witnessed the event, giving us advice on taking photos of the area, taking note of the time and pointing us in the direction of the nearest police station- all greatly appreciated given our state of shock and shaking hands. On arriving at the police station however, their incapabilities were highlighted. After 45 minutes of painstaking waiting, we left with a police report in Khmer, the local language, and a finger point in the direction of the police station for foreigners. Here we finally were able to get what we needed, a report written in English, in fact one written by ourselves and only stamped by them! After many a FaceTime conversation with Mair's dad and what a saviour he turned out to be, things are on the mend, with a camera already replaced and a new phone soon to be on our way! 

To finish off the day we 'enjoyed' a massage done by local blind people, in some rather sexy blue attire, which looked more like hospital gear than anything else. Walking out with every joint clicked and muscle rubbed/hammered (it was rather a firm massage to say the least) our day was complete! 

That's it for now, back to the orphanage tonight, ready to teach tomorrow- fingers crossed it all goes well!