When our travels started we were not sure where we would be or what we would be doing for Christmas! So as the weeks moved forward the idea came to us about the possibility of going to Kais Kids Village, the same orphanage that Sarahs dad visited! It fitted really well into our plans because by the time we made it too Cambodia it would be about Christmas time anyways!
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We organised our visit over a few weeks and turned up to 'Kais Kids Village' on the 5th of December to stay for 3 weeks! When we arrived, we joined a group of Irish guys who live in Australia, they were a top notch group and really helped us too land on our feet. They had different goals and jobs to do whilst there so we only saw them during the downtime moments mainly. As nice as it was too meet the other volenteers, the best part of the whole trip was meeting and spending time with the kids! There was about 40 all together ranging from 17 years to 1 month old! All the kids had their own personal qualities and personalities and it was a massive privilege to be able to be a small part of their lives!
The first few days were good as we arrived at the weekend when the school age kids are off on sundays meaning we got an idea as to who the big personalities were and who hide away in the corner! They are a great little bunch, some of them had great english skills and helped us communicate with those that struggled to communicate. Our main task for the trip was too try and teach the kids enlgish. With such a diverse group, it took a few days to find who exceeded and who needed more help. We found our groups and started our english lessons at 9 in the morning. We had to use the dining hall as the classroom was under construction, but the site has everything the kids and volenteers needed! Each day we would do speaking activities with those who knew basic english, whilst with the older kids we did reading and writing. We soon came aware that 3 weeks was not going to leave a long lasting impression but we decided to keep going with it because some lessons are better than non at all! The kids could be quite restless after a short while so stories, games and most of all technology helped us to keep them engaged throughout the whole session! One interesting lesson was using Sarah's tablet where we downloaded child friendly crosswords and wordsearches for the kids to complete. I have never seen kids so interesting in wanted to complete the search to the point where they moaned because the lesson had ended!
The afternoon was spent slightly different once the older kids left for school in the village. There were a few places that needed organised so at peak heat we either spent our time inside tidying or joining in the afternoon siesta. Once it was a bit cooler and the younger ones awoke from their naps we would interact with the younger kids as well as the kids with special needs who did not go to school. We did various different activities like drawing, story time, play time, and TV time (everyones favourite). Once the activities were finished we decided to spend time with the kids who needed one on one attention whilst trying to get the other kids to interact too. It would often be a tickling match or even just letting the kids touch you hands and face for sensory development but once we brought out the bubbles every child went wild for them from babies to the child who was blind (We'd rather not give names).
Other than our lessons we spent as much time as we could with the kids letting them play games on my phone, throwing them in the air and even just sitting with the ones who liked having someone with them. I did learn I make an excellent climbing frame and they all like being picked up! The whole time there was amazing and personally life changing, by all means it wasn't easy and at points it was quite emotionally draining but not once did I think "I can't do this anymore". Under the circumstances, I couldn't imagine a better place for the kids to grow up in where most of them are in a much safer environment compared to the lifes they would be living without the orphange. My only regret is we didn't stay longer! We had time for one trip out to Phonm Phen and had two Christmas parties thanks to the kindess of the staff! But having left now I miss every one of them from the master mind of trouble to the girl who has nothing but love and smiles to give but also turns into the cheekiest thing when you didn't give her attention!
All the kids were amazing so I thought my final bit would be a one of the many stories we have come away with from the trip.
~'The Evil Little Genius'
While sitting playing with the babies and smaller kids, a one year old who couldn't walk caught my attention. He had been spending the whole afternoon sitting with me but suddenly started crawlling away very fast! So for my selfish fun I decided to bring him back, but again off he went! So I decided too see what he was up to. He was crawling in a direct line towards another child who had a bottle of juice! I moved him away twice, and as I rolled around laughing I couldnt see what was gonna stop him! Then on his way he stopped dead in his tracks! A nanny had appeared!!!! He was focused as he stared at her for a couple of minutes. The moment she dissapeared he was off like a bullet as I laughed so much I wondered how this would end?! After reaching his target there was a great battle of minds and physical strength!!! Or more realisticly the victim turned his back and continued drinking his juice. A few seconds later the tinker decided "not worth it, i wonder if the man with the beared (being me) will pick me up". He flung his arms in the air whilst directly looking at me as if he was waiting for a servant to arrive, but after that brilliant moment who was I too turn him down...
...From that moment onwards he was my master!
The End
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