Hello,

I have been slower with my posts, since I’m very busy right now. I’m trying to do as much as possible, before I leave Cambodia.

I have to tell you that I”m going to be very sad to leave this place. I’m actually a little scared about being back at home. Things look different to me now. I have come to love Cambodia and its people. I’m going to be heartbroken to leave this place, while there is so much more that can be done. That said, I have to get back home and figure out how to best use some of the advantages I have in life to help those over here and in other places. I will be back in Cambodia very soon.

I plan on finishing my work with the Green Gecko project and the School for Children of Poverty. I will finish my travels by going back to Phnom Penh. I want to spend time at the dump and work with the mobile library that sets up at the dump for those children. I also want to say goodbye to the many brothers and sisters I have at CCH. That will be the hardest part of my journey. I was planning on spending time in Laos and Thailand. I have cancelled those plans, because Io don’t want to leave Cambodia until the last possible moment.

Please check the blog in the next few days. I have some good stories to tell you about the children and my friend that calls himself “Mr. Moon’”.

Thanks for your interest and the many e-mails.

Love Gerry

This is one of my “Favorite Students” in my yellow class at the Green Gecko.
This is my same “Favorite Student” at night.

Hello,

There is young girl is in my class at the Green Gecko. I really love to see her every day. She usually has a big smile. Some days she comes to class and is not interested in studying. She is just a normal teenager, but different.

At night, this young girl is out begging on the streets. I often run into her late in the evening. sometimes I walk over to a place where she usually works and check on her. She is usually with her mother and father near the pub street. Her mother and father (who has no leg) try to sell books on the street. The mother also carries around a tiny little baby and asks for money to fill the baby bottle with milk. My student holds the other younger brother and asks people for money.

When I meet the children on the streets, I usually get mixed reactions. Most give me a hug. Some appear to be embarrassed about what they are doing. Some try to lead me away from meeting their parents. This night, I got a hug from this girl. Her mom came to me trying to get money from me and was pointing to the baby sleeping on the wooden box stand. My little student look like she felt awkward with her mom trying to beg from me. I said”"no no… I’m her teacher”. I could quickly tell that it didn’t really matter, because she held the baby bottle right up in my face and asked for money. I think my student was embarrassed. I quickly said goodbye to her and told her I was excited to see her in class tomorrow. Can you imagine being in your early teens and having to deal with all this? How can you still manage to smile? How can you have the motivation to study in class? How can you have hope?

I’m torn about the Green Gecko kids. I’m not sure whether it is better to fully take them out of this environment or leave them in it and provide them with support. The children at CCH appear to be more well adjusted and thankful. Those children are completely removed from their situation. I’m not sure about the best way. I need to reflect on this more.

Regardless, my heart goes out to this young friend of mine. I hope that somehow she can get out of all this mess. Thank you to the Green Gecko that is giving these street children a chance to have a bit of a childhood and some hope for the future.

Her is this same girl from the classroom picture above, as she works in the evening. I took this picture around 1:00am in the morning. She was at Green Gecko first thing the next day. Amazing strength in a little package. Seeing these children at night, has been the hardest part.

Love Gerry

Hello,

I haven’t been updating the blog as often, because I’ve been very busy doing many things here in Siem Reap.

Every morning I arrive to many playful children at the Green Gecko project. We play with the kids for a couple hours, before classes begin. I teach a group of about 17 children in the “yellow room”. It is a difficult class. The kids are very different every day. I struggle when to discipline and when to leave them alone. I see many of these same children on the street selling of begging late into the night. We feed the children lunch.

I’ve been working with the Director of the School for poverty children. We got a nice donation box build for the school and decorated the box with pictures and a note. The box is set up at the school and visitors that come for a tour of the place are starting to leave donations to pay for operations. It’s been almost three weeks and we still can’t get a bank account. The Director needs an identity card. We have been told the card would be ready in three days… about four times now. We went to the bank the other day and convinced them to take a letter from the commune about his identify. Now we have to get the commune stamp on the letter, before we can open a simple bank account. Everything takes very long here. I hope we can get it set up this week.

I’ve been teaching two classes in the evenings to youth between the ages of around 6 years old to 15 years old. Some kids speak a few words of English and others speak full sentences. Some have books, some have no books. It’s very difficult to manage the class, but I’ve been able to get things done and have fun at the same time. I love my classes at this school and don’t want to leave. The children are so thankful. They call me “Teacher-gomplain (joker)” or “Teacher-saat (handsome)”or “Teacher-Lop Lop (crazy)”. They are wonderful. I am teaching them a few songs as well and the whole school know that we will be singing at one point in the class.

I usually leave those classes and grab something to eat. I can eat a stir fry dinner and have one beer for less than $2.00 US. I have a few friends here in Siem Reap. Sometimes I meet them foe some beer at night. We order a big picture of beer and appetizers for less than $2.00 US as well. Crazy.

I check my e-mails and respond to personal e-mails. I have been getting messages from many children and I try to write them all back right away. I plan my lesson for the next day. This often takes lots of time. It is difficult to get photocopies or even find lined paper here. I can’t get a three ring hole punch either. The pencils keep breaking and the pens work for about 5 minutes. It’s a challenge to pull together an interesting class and I often have to visit many places in order to get a simple lesson together. Right now, I want to borrow a CD player to teach a song I have here for the kids. I can’t find anyone that actually has one to lend me. The school definitely doesn’t have a cd player. They barely even have blank pieces of paper. It is a challenge, but exciting at the same time.

I usually walk around pub street and say hello to a few of the kids. I sometimes stop in at a favorite place of mine ans say hello to some friends. I take my motorbike home and sit under my fan to keep somewhat cool. I sleep and start over again the next day.

I have two more weeks before I return to Phnom Penh. I want to spend my last days working at the dump and with the CCH children. It is going to be the hardest way for me to leave, but also the most rewarding. I’m getting very sad about having to leave this place for a world that is so different back at home.

Love Gerry