Giving back is easy to do....

I come out of the airport fearful of the next month. Will the children remember me? How quickly will I adapt back to cold showers and a diet of rice? It had been over a year since I had been in Cambodia. And then I see huge smiling faces, everything becomes familiar again.

In 2010 I had volunteered in a Cambodian orphanage. It changed my life. I no longer concentrated on material things. It angered me the amount of waste we produce when there were starving people I actually knew.

This one time I visited one of the orphans villages where I met her family. There were 8 people living in the tiniest hut. She was an economical orphanage which means her parents couldn't afford to keep her. The baby was skin and bones. A tear shed that night thinking how hungry he was when I was going to sleep on a full stomach. Since then its a personal goal of mine to do something for the family. Since I last visited them the father and brother sadly passed away.

These stories are very common in Cambodia. In my 2011 visit I went to more poor communities. I had a TEFL qualification so became a teacher at Little Po school. There were 150 elementary children who come every afternoon to learn English. Driving past the villages we were greeted by screaming children so excited to see us. I remember a child running down from her house as fast as she could just to wave hello. Children on Buffalo's with the biggest smiles because we waved to them.

As soon as we got to the school we’re greeted by 150 children in a tiny classroom. It may sound like a high number but its unbelievable how well they all listen to you. They soak in anything you tell them. They are so appreciative that you are spending your time with them. They draw you pictures with the little paper they have. That's what Cambodian people are like. They are so grateful that you are there.

The best thing about Cambodia is defiantly the people. There is so much you can do to help them. I have never missed a place more....