Today started off just like yesterday... get up, wash our face wash, brush our teeth after we eat breakfast of course. When we got to the orphanage it was a bit more relaxed now that we were no longer new to the children. They all said the same thing as yesterday, "hello, how are you?" "I am fine." Today the lesson was learning and reviewing our abcs. Everyone was so excited to show and impress us with how fast they could ramble off their alphabet. It is unbelievable how quickly the children pick up on new learnings. Obviously some were struggling more than others with their alphabet and they are all at different levels of understanding! A boy named Hoy, is probably the brightest of the bunch! He's extremely clever! At 10 years old he made his own addition and multiplication chart in his little note book and was showing me how to do my times tables and addition! It's exciting as well as saddening at the same time because seeing children like Hoy, who has so much potential, only receive a few hours of education a day and won't have the funds to carry on into university.
We've been told,that here in Cambodia teachers are paid very little. Most times the teachers demand that the children pay them more out of their own personal pockets, and if they can't afford it, the teachers refuse to teach them. It's not long afterwards that the kids usually drop out of school. It is sad and disheartening as the continuation of the cycle of poverty.
After school was done, we were so dirty from playing with the kids in the heat, we thought we'd treat ourselves to a hair wash at the salon on the corner. An hour head massage, hair wash, face wash and face massage for $1. Kendal had a hair wash, hour head massage and her hair straightened for $2! Later we went down to riverside for a bit, however I must say it was quite pricy though ..... $0.75 for a pint of beer and Kendal had an enormous banana split for $2.50
-Jeremy
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