Only 2 days to go

How can one describe the feelings that come to the forth on this trip. My third time  here with students and you are always reminded of the suffering this country has endured. Each year our students amaze us with their ability to embrace the people and the tasks set. This years group is no exception.

We have been able to incorporate some night time activities in Phnom Pehn this year for the first time and they have been a great success. Students have also had some down time to enjoy some retail therapy at the markets and I think most have enjoyed a massage somewhere along the way.

Today we go for a walking tour of Phnom Pehn before meeting together at the Forgein Corrospondents Club for a farewell dinner tonight. Tomorrow we visit the Australian Embassy where we will meet the Australian Ambassador and some other Australians who work for NGO's in Cambodia. Then after lunch it will be off to the airport for the Victorian group to fly out about 6pm.

I think all are looking forward to seeing family and friends. Until we get back

Cheers Ger

Phnom Penh is alive!! and how??!!

Wow, it doesn't seem like it was 2 days ago that we gave you an update, but it is.  We have all been very busy in this loud, vibrant, bustling, city.  By the end of Tuesday, all members of the teams had been to the Killing Fields, S21 Genocide Museum and listened to an insightful talk from Janne at Tabitha.  To say it was emotional is an understatement.  I think we all have a better understanding of the torment this country has seen.

Some people described these two places as "sad", "very harsh" and "terrible".  In Corey's words, "it's wrong!!".  Every team member understood the imnportance of the visit.  We were emotionally drained by the end of the day and most people felt that "clearing the jungle" for the day had been easier!!  It is impossible to come away from these and not be touched.  A few of us had the extreme honour of meeting a survivor of S21.  He has written a book about his tale and told us that he survived because he was able to paint.  He was called to paint Pol Pot and if his painting was judged as being a good likeness, he was allowed to live (unlike the many 'painters' that had tried and been killed).

All members walked through the Killing Fields site showing amazing respect and at times they chose to walk in isolation in quiet reflection of what they were seeing and hearing.  Incredible!!!

On a cheerier note, our night program has been great.  Each night a group of us attends either a movie night, a river cruise, a street kids cafe or a Khmere cooking class.  We have just discovered that we are awesome cooks (according to Heng, our teacher).  One of the most challenging parts of the night program has been negotiating the narrow, rickety, wobbly, but we were guaranteed, safe, foot bridges to get from the shore to the boat.  We think it was about 50m long and it sure was good to get to the boat!!!

Some of us have now eaten red ants and tarantulas!!!!!  The ants were mixed with beef, so they were wasy to eat.  The tarantulas on the other hand, were interesting.  They were crisp, tasty and hairy!!  That's the legs!!!  Then there was the body!!!!  Some tried to convince themselves that they were eating a chop......but it didn't work.  Josh did his best but had to try a different attack.  Shannon just threw the whole lot in and chewed it....well done.

Another day in Cambodia.

Shaz ('Ron' - but I will explain later) and Fiona ('Boss' - will explain that one later too!)

Day One (sort of) in Phnom Penh.

Hi everyone; today was an emotional day for Group A who went to the Killing Fields and the S21 prison: I'm not looking forward to it tomorrow, but my first full day in Phnom Penh was a good one. Group B spent the morning at a PSE school, and then visited HQ of the Tabitha Foundation which was a confronting experience: the afternoon was spent at the Central Markets, where many of us spent over a hundred dollars, me included. Tonight half of Group B is off to the Kids Street Cafe, where they serve spiders and ants-we'll see if anyone is game enough to try Crispy Tarantula! Points to Josh from Darwin, who last night downed one full spider out of an attempted two. I feel sorry for the person who has to scrape the other one off the grass.

Tomorrow will be an emotional experience, to say the least-maybe by the end of it our eyes will be a little more open.

Jess

An interesting eye opener!

Today was the most intense day so far. We were able to gain a depth understanding of the history of Cambodia. We visited the Killing Fields and S-21.
The Killing Field's experience for me was upsetting, the thought of mass grave sites and people being subject to cruelty and death haunts me. I believe that noone is worthy of this harm. Whilst S-21, which was a high school that was turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge Era. It was very confronting as many documentations were available for the public to view, and many of the rooms are still the same as it was in the 1970's.
Although it was a confronting and upsetting experience it was also good as we learnt so much and it makes me think about the pain and suffering that also occurred in the history in other countries, Australia included.

My highlight of the day was meeting one of the survivors of the prison, whom was a painter. I brought his book, got a picture with him and also got a kiss on the cheek. The most inspiring thing about meeting him was the smile on his face, he had been through so much and he still had a smile on his face and was happy.

Melinda :) Jabiru

:)

Hello beautiful Australians (from Emma),
Wow! This week has been one amazing, eye-opening experience! We have seen sights we could never imagine, heard stories that have made us smile yet also made us cry and made memories that will last a life time! Tomorrow we're off to Phnom Penh on a boat for 6 hours to again explore the many wonders of Cambodia! We don't yet know the full details of what this next week will entail, but we do know that we will be fortunate enough to help those who need it the most.
Missing everyone back home, and can't wait to share all the stories we have to tell! :)

Lots of love,
Shay, Emma, Shan and Holly :) xx

What an amazing job by all

Well here we are a week down, project at Children's Development Villiage (CDV) completed..WHAT AN AMAZING EFFORT by all. Everyone worked extremely hard in trying conditions to get the job done. We are so proud of the students and leaders and the way they tackled the tasks. Today we visited Angkor Wat and the other temples. Each year there is more restoration work completed, with new areas to explore.

Tomorrow we go by boat to Phnom Pehn which will bring new challanges and experiences. The week will go very fast.

Ger

Pride!!!

OMG!!!  How proud are we of this whole team????  When we all came together yesterday at the end of the project at the site of the new Agricultural School and reflected on what we had achieved, there was exhiliration all round. To think that in 4 days we had cleared the entire area and erected as many of the fence posts as had been supplied.  To see what 45 people achieved together is incredible.  (We will try to upload a few photos when connections allow.)
We as leaders hope our teams understand the power of working together on a common goal.  It is never a case of "who did what", but more about what we, as one unit, did.  Everyone put in and assisted to the best of their abilities and that is all that we can ask.
Job well done to everyone and to all back home, be proud of what your student, friend, colleague has achieved.  They deserve it!!!!
Shaz :)

Green Gecko (:

Yesterday the whole group went to an orphanage called the 'Green Gecko'. The place was so amazing, i fell head over heads with the children, the volunteers, and the happy atmosphere surroundings. we got seperated into 3 different groups of 14-15. There were three different activities: Painting, Matrial Arts and Dancing/learning to write numbers in Khmer. I really enjoyed doing Matrial Arts because im a big fan of boxing. Everyone had so much fun playing soccer with the kids there. Everyone has been touched by the children at the orphanage, we will all miss them dearly. I'm having so much fun here, i donty really wanna go home !!!

Richelle (:

Friday in Siem Reap

Today, being another one of Cambodia's scorching days, was a hard one for Group B who faced the second day of building. We arrived at the site at nine thirty, dreading the work ahead of us, but quickly got into it with the help of many of the Darwin kids, who sang songs for hours. We took an hour-long break before getting into it again, and around two hours later all but a little of the paddock had been cleared, and the dead grass had been piled into a number of heaps. We'd finished! Many of us are extremely sore now, and very tired, but as we looked around the paddock at the work we'd done, we forgot about our fatigue and instead felt only proud. We'd done what two days ago we would never have thought possible, and we've all come away today unable to believe that the monks barely had a break! They worked for hours in their robes without a break.

Muz has insisted he be mentioned in this post, because he's quite proud of the pranks he's managed to pull on the leaders. Yesterday, he managed to convince David that one of our tuk-tuk drivers hadn't been paid yet (we didn't even ride in tuk-tuks yesterday), and almost convinced Gerardine via phone call, in an accent, that her toilet was blocked.

Off to a fancy dinner tonight, and then tomorrow we're visiting Angkor Wat, which should be amazing.

Jess

PLAYING GAMES WITH KIDS

Hi again everyone :)
today the building site was completed by Group B, who did a great job to get all the fence posts in and the forrest cleared! Group A spent most of the day with the kids, playing games including soccor, football, soft ball etc.. After lunch we were able to paint pictures with them and also do face painting, but the painting did end up all over the body :) The kids at the orphange loved every moment with us and they love to know your name and age and what you like to do! I had a great time, and im glad we dont need have to go on the bumpy dirt road again..
Tonight we are going to the Red Piano, which is a eating place, where Angelina Jolie owns part of it or is involved in the joint somehow.
Anyway, cya!

Ranga :)

Team B

Hi all, we have had trouble logging on so this is our first post. Everyone has embraced the trip and are all enjoying the experiences they have been part of. Today we had our first day of the project work at CDV which was clearing the area to be used for cropping in the future. We used machuettes and axes to chop back the undergrowth working in 15 min rotations. Humidity was very high but everyone worked well to achieve what we had started out to do for the day. Team A were able to do some of the fence during their days but unfortunately it looks like the fence posts won't arrive in time for us. Hopefully tomorrow some of the other members of Team B will update with some of their experiences.

Cheers Ger.

Khmer Wedding

Today Group A had the opportunity to go to the Cambodian Cultural Centre. And I was lucky enough to get the chance to involved in a dramatation of a Khmer Wedding.
My role in the wedding was the father of the groom, which meant I had to give away 'my son', the groom.
This was a new experience for me, as I just jumped into a ceremony which I knew nothing about, I didn't know the grooms mother or the grooms real name. Although the people were extremely helpful and told me what to do.
I had mixed feelings as I was shocked but I really enjoyed the experience.

Corey :) Tennant Creek.

TUK TUK'S

Hi everyone back home :)
this morning my group, which is group A gathered together downstairs and each person from each town got seperated onto a seperate tuk tuk.. i was with Corey from tennant creek, Melinda from Jabiru and Jamie from Cohuna! the tuk tuk ride was to the landmine museum which took around about one hour. The tuk tuk ride from the landmine museum to the war museum took around about 40 minutes. Than we all went to The Blue Pumpkin for lunch, where it has awesome "farmer burgers".... Again in the tuk tuk's we went to the Cambodian's Culture Centre where i thought was similar to a theme park but never had rides!!! The tuk tuk's were the best fun of the day travelling and laughing with Melinda while everyone staring at us from the side of the road!!
anyway bye for now... Ranga :)

Aftermath of Building days

After two days of solid work putting in fence posts and clearing jungle we are all absolutely ruined. I have done some hard work on our farm, but none that was even half as hard as the building work we did. Another year of year 12 would be preferable to another day's work under the scorching sun and humid air. Apparently the monks at the orphanage were very impressed with our efforts :)
I only got six hours sleep last night thanks to some hyped up/sleep-deprived roommates, but it was the best six hours I've ever had. There are some very sore muscles and joints this morning, but everyone's glad to have gotten the building over with first. Now we get to sit back, be tourists, and watch Group B when it's their turn to build!

Darcy

Day one and two of building

Group A were first on the building site. We have worked hard and long in the hot sun carrying heavy logs digging holes and slashing grass. Purpose of this you ask? To start the process of a new agricultural place for families to learn agricultural skills.
While spending a large amount of time digging and slashing. we worked hard as a team, having  many water breaks.
Whilst the day was hot and we were all shocked with how much we sweat we also learnt to appreciate how easy we have it. If we need something built we pay someone, but the Monks do everything themselves. They are very strong people. Also they have a massive positive impact upon their communtiy and I plan to take that back to Australia

Melinda (Jabiru)  :)    

We are here!!!

yep, finally, settled, swetty and running on empty. the average number of hours of sleep achieved over the last 24 hours is probably about 0.7 each, we're basically the living dead. jet lag is quickly settling in, seemingly more so by the minute, and those of us that are up at 6.30 tomorrow morning really arent appreciating it! but we're all keen to get into the trip, and share amazing experiences with an amazing group of young people :) Georgia B

Teams arrive in Singapore

Both the Victorian and the NT teams have arrived in Singapore.  The NT team members have been in the airport for many hours and some of them have managed to capture up to 7 hours sleep!!!!  Most of the Victoiran team have dragged themselves off the plane after only a couple of hours sleep and are looking worse for wear.  We have all decided a bit of rest is in order and we will begin exploring the airport soon.  We board our next flight at 2:50pm local time (about 6:50pm Melbourne time and 5:20 NT time.... I think!!!).  Siem Reap here we come!!

Victorian members ready to go

Last night our Victorian students were introduced to the Rotary Club of Kerang, where they received their team shirts.  Seeing the students and leaders in their shirts really makes this trip seem real.  There was a buzz in the room as the students realised that with exams over for most, they are down to packing for the adventure of their lives.  The next time we all get together will be at the airport.  We are all excited about meeting our team mates from the Northern Territory, so, Singapore here we come!!

Welcome to SAlt Cambodia 2011

Hi and welcome the blog spot for the Schoolies Alternative (SAlt) to Cambodia in 2011.  This year's team includes students from Kerang, Cohuna, Darwin, Northern Territory Open Education Centre, Tenant Creek and Jabiru.
All up, 39 students will be travelling to Cambodia in November/December 2011.
Everyone is busy preparing for their exams at the moment, but with a departure date looming, we are all beginning to get a bit excited.
We will encourage the team members to update this blogspot regularly, so please enjoy following what we achieve this year.