I’m greeted by the generous smiles and hugs from the FLOW children everyday. There’re about 300 of them here but i think i've only managed to interact with only a handful on daily basis. Usually the older kids take more initiative to converse with me as the younger ones do not know much English yet. But even the young ones smile and ask me to read to them in English, even though they might not understand much of what I’m saying.
It’s worth noting that the children are all smaller in size than what we’re normally used to due to the lack of nutrition and junk (read: fast food) fed to the already-obese kids back home. The 7 year olds look like 4 and the 14 year olds, 10. They are, nevertheless, full of energy and smiles, and share all the snacks they get with one another.
The questions I always get from the children everyday:
What is your name?
How old are you? – when I tell them 24, they’re all surprised. They think I’m around 18-20! Hah! One of them said that local people who are 24 have an “old face” and everyone around burst out laughing.
Where do you come from? – again I amaze them as they all think I’m from Japan.
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
How many languages do you speak? – some of the older kids here are learning English and Khmer, and also a 3rd language such as Japanese or Korean! They do put me to shame with their determination to learn more languages in order to increase their chances of finding good jobs.
What is your job? - once again they’re amazed when I say ‘marketing’. Most of them go “Oh!” in a tone full of admiration but I tell them it is a common job in Singapore. However, I’m reminded again that they simply do not have access to the same opportunities that we do back home. I'm glad to know that some of the older kids are working very hard to get scholarships for their university education and harbour great dreams of becoming lawyers or teachers.
Pic from L to R:
The children line up before each meal at the dining hall. Announcements are made and if anybody had skipped classes that day, he/she would be called out and given a stern warning. I think it’s reassuring to know that the staff here are genuinely concerned about the kids’ education by making sure they attend their classes at FLOW and checking their report books from the state (public) schools. | With a group of teens during dinner | The kids who are all so excited to take pictures | It’s not all play and no work. For an hour or two some days, the children have to do gardening or clean their rooms. They take turns and this is to ensure they develop a sense of responsibility for the place they live in. | Kids with one of the English teacher (who gave me my 1st moto ride of my life back to the orphanage from the monastery. I was struggling not to fall off the moto and hung on to dear life! Imagine riding pillion for the 1st time. Then imagine riding pillion for the 1st time on uneven muddy roads! But the scenery of paddy fields and blue skies quickly alleviated my fears. Too bad I couldn't take pictures of the beautiful scenery as I was too preoccupied with hanging on for dear life heh) | One of the girls, aged 7, who was playing with some broken clay vases and discarded vegetables.
It was only my 3rd day with the children when 3 of them gave me their drawings J I also have some origami of a heart and 2-in-1 bird folded by 2 teenage girls. I’m definitely keeping these with me. A few of the girls have grown quite attached to me and hug me every time they see me. When I’m with the children, I get a little busy trying to satisfy all of them as they shout, “Sister! Sister!” to get my attention. But it’s all good. No matter how cynical or jaded one has grown to become, the generosity and innocence of the children are seriously infectious and make any day a satisfying one.
