Amy and Summers intrepid travels

The beginning

NEW ZEALAND | Wednesday, 21 October 2009 | Views [53] | Comments [2]

Kia Ora!

Just thought id give everyone a bit of an intro to our trip before we leave for those who don't know! We fly out on the 26th November, arrive in Bangkok and will spend the night there before flying out to Phnom Penh( Capital of Cambodia) the next day. Thats as far as we have planned so far and will probably stay that way, preferring just to go with where the wind (or in this case the tuk tuk) takes us. I love the idea of not having a time restriction on our travels (just wallet restrictions lol) allowing us to adventure at our free will and staying or going somewhere when ever we like! So we booked one way tickets about a month ago and you may wonder why Cambodia?
Well travel was not in our near future plans. We have both travelled the world with our own families and had decided to put our efforts into saving for a home and settling down followed by having a family. I was browsing the internet ( as Summer would tell you i do a lot! ) and came across the website of an organisation called Tiny Toones. Check out the site, but in brief Tiny Toones was started by a well known breakdancer in the States called KK . After getting in to some trouble he was deported to Cambodia. He begun teaching breakdancing to kids in his home and as word spread the organisation was born. Since then thousands of kids have passed through Tiny Toones, many are street kids and orphanes. This is a place they can feel safe and be surrounded by positive role models. As well as teaching break dancing they have english, Computer typing and literacy and health classes as well as a little recording studio where they can teach rapping and dejaying etc.
I was blown away by this site and was pulled towards the need to visit and offer my skills to help where i can. It is an organisation that is close to my heart as i am wanting to set up a youth centre that can have a positive influence teaching through music and hip hop.

Now you must know that volunteering or even visiting Asia has never been on my to do list. Its not that i dont care for these things but i have always beleived in helping in your own backyard before another country. But as the hours ticked by reading and researching Cambodia i realised without the help of people from around the world Cambodia will fall deeper into the rut and poverty it is in. I wont get into the history and facts of Cambodia in this post but it is a 3rd world country with an average income of $300 a year.
I dont think any amount of reading or learning can really prepare us for where we are heading and i dont think it will really sink in till we are hit with the sights,sounds and smells! But we have never been more excited to start this journey and if we can touch or improve the life of at least one person i think we will return home satisfied.

Peace Amy and Summer

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin" - Mother Teresa