Making Lemonade out of Lemons

As many of us may have heard, "When life gives you lemon, make lemonade out of it." And as I started to believe that 'everything happens for a reason', I usually managed to convince myself that the reason is for me to grow stronger out of it.

Looking back at my life journey, I am glad that it had pushed me so much out of my comfort zone that I achieved alot more than I thought I would have.

Something prompted me to look back and 'pen' this life journey of mine, from the time I can remember, in the simplest format, of how I get to be who I am today.

13 years old: Made the first Macdonald's purchase (Yes, it's true!!) and learnt to eat Hotcakes the
                      birthday-cake-style =P and till this day, I still enjoy my Hotcakes that way

14 years old: In life, you do not always have to go for the best; just go for what is best for you. A concept
                      alien to many of this age, but not for me

15 years old: I first met a lady (who eventually became a good sister of mine) and learnt about Christ. A
                      friendship and relationship had been forged, for a lifetime. God really had his plans for me,
                      long time back

16 years old: Time of turmoil and dilemma but yet I chose, the tougher and path less travelled, the
                       Polytechnic route. It was a difficult choice, but there was no regret

17 years old: Started the journey to be a Scout but this journey of Scouting will go on for life. This journey
                      was where the most important skills, the greatest of friendship, the sweetest of
                      memories but also nightmares came from

18 years old: 17 days in an Iban longhouse. Took my first shampoo and shower in the heavy rain; that
                       moment, serving others became an addiction; it may bring you to the poorest place, but it will
                       show you the richest people

19 years old: Life presented breakthrough and that assured me of my capability and it had served me well
                       till today

20 years old: Challenged life to tame me as a fresh, bold graduate out of Polytechnic and with nothing to
                      lose. Well, life's an adventure; you need to explore it

21 to 23 years old: Life was a bliss in those 3 years. I learnt that 'One should not settle for anyone, but only
                                the best for oneself' and I still hold dear to this

24 years old: Life threw me a challenge. It took away one of the most precious person of my life, but it told
                      me that I have a choice, to be defeated or to grow stronger from this. I chose the latter and
                      the rest is history

25 years old: Trying to live in the shadow of another: I probably lost myself...

26 years old: I did the marathon of my life. It left me nothing but emptiness. It made me question what I
                      was after, a life pursuing what others are going after or what I want to go after?

27 years old: This place, Cambodia, taught me the greatest, yet most humble lessons of life. I may not be
                      wealthy (money) but I am rich (blessings). It seemed like I woke up from a long, long sleep; to
                      see how my life are piecing together with the lessons I picked up along the way and that life
                      has bigger plans for me than to live in the shadow of another

28 years old: 2 years after volunteering with Special Olympics, I decided this is the way of life, "It is not
                      about running my own race, but to help others who need that little help to cross the finishing line
                      of their race in life.”
29 years old: 53 days, 11 contingents, 6 countries, over 300 youths, one message: 'Be brave, be the
                      change you want to see in the World'

30 years old: Riding the waves of change; lots of ups and downs, but BELIEVE you just get stronger

31 years old: Now! Always an advice to myself: Live and breathe your dreams, no matter how absurd it
                       may sound to many. For somewhere, somehow, there will be someone who will believe in
                       that dream of yours and you only need that someone to keep you going.

Well, every bit of what you have been through really makes you who and what you are today. So, if there is something that can sum up my life up till now, it will be this:

We all have our fair share of difficulties in life, but do not be defeated. Travel, talk to people, do the unusual things that you usually will not do - and it will open your eyes and your heart. You will learn that, there are so many who are much more wretched than what you are going through in life, but it does not rob them of their dreams.

The School with No Walls

21st July 2012, I set off on a journey, with the folks from PAC and a 38th SSEAYP batchmate Yoki, from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to Kampong Speu Province, some 40 over kilometres away.

The mission for the journey was to check out the 'school with no walls, and the village where there is no formal school' - which means, the children have no school to study in.

Journey with us, as we unveil the story behind the school with no walls...

The village and school is in Kompong Speu province, Oral District, Rasmey Samaki Commune, Peam Ros Village. It is slightly over 68km along National Road 4 from Phnom Penh and about 30km along the red dirt road; I would say, it's a really long journey.

The red dirt road seemed unending as we drove past countless potholes and finally, after the gruelling 2 over hours, we arrive at this place which crops spread through the horizon.

The nearest school which we passed, on the dirt road, is about 10 over kilometres from this village. This village consists of approximately 80 over families, and a total population of over 200. There are 79 children in this village. We proceeded to visit one of the families to understand about their background. 

This is the house that we are visiting - look at the walls. Have you ever thought of living in such a Home?

PAC is providing jobs to the families in this village, by getting the parents to work on the crops, and at the same time, building new homes to house these families. This house lives a family with 6 children. 

And next to this house....

The sickly old grandmother, who is paralysed on one side of her body,
lies in the hut, susceptible to the weather.

We asked the children of the family if they can write and only 1 girl was able to show us what she can do. , This little girl is able to write Cambodian consonants and vowels upon our request. We were surprised and it seems that the family stayed in Prey Veng years back and moved to Kampong Speu because the former employer at Prey Veng did not pay them to work on the crops. The girl had education till Grade 4 but had to stop when they moved to this village, as there is no government school for the children to go to.

The girl could also write most English alphabets, and some with prompts.

When asked if she wants to go to school, we could see that her eyes lit up. It really pains to see these children who have so much potential to learn and who wants to learn, but have no school to go to. Now this girl goes to the community school in the village, to study in Grade 2, which is the highest grade that the community school is providing for the villagers. While the young girl goes to school after lunch, we spotted the elder brother of this girl, working on the crops amongst some other children and youths, to earn income for the family.

Many of them said that they want to study, but there is no school and
they have to work to bring money back home for their parents. 

Finally, we made our way to 'the school with no walls' to take a look.

The young children, mostly girls were at the school. The skeletal frame of the school looks good but there are no walls.

This community school conducts Grade 1 and 2 lessons for the children and is conducted by the wife of the Village chief, for free. It is a school for any age, even some parents who pop into the class to learn. Children who were previously in higher grades, can only drop back to Grade 2, if they are attending this school.

And look who we spotted, the little girl who amazed us at her house earlier.
She cycled about 1 over kilometre with her little sister to attend school. Shy girl but she is enthusiastic
in answering my questions for the short 10 minutes I spent with the children in numerals 1 to 10

We are now looking for donors who can, at the shortest time, help sponsor to plank up the walls so that the classes will be sheltered from the harsh weather during lessons, before someone or some organisation takes on the project to build a permanent school building for this village.


In the long run, we are looking at potential organisations who are keen to take on the project to build a concrete building with 3 classrooms for this village. PAC will help to source for donors to employ and pay teachers to teach the children.


If you are keen to help, please do not hesitate to contact me at jinnie_lim@hotmail.com and we can work out more details.

All these would not have been possible without the folks of PAC (Poverty Alleviation Cambodia), an NGO as well as 38th batch SSEAYP mate, Yoki. Let's work towards a better world for everyone.

On Education: "If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people." ~ Confucius

Rabbits - Rabbit School (Phnom Penh)

The Rabbit School; I wonder why this school that caters to people with special needs is named after the Rabbit. I supposed it will have something to do with the significance of Rabbits and I found these explanations to be the most in line with what I would believe.

House rabbits symbolize 'Bravery' as they defend their territory against human, cats or dogs. Rabbits are also seen as 'Service to others', being a 'prey' to predators in real life as well as the 'pray' imagery when they bring their paws in front of their faces to wash themselves. Rabbit as a companion to human beings has also been seen as teaching one about 'Unconditional love' and 'Compassion for life'. Finally, rabbits have the symbolical meaning of 'Playfulness' and 'Joy'.  ~  http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-11/symbol.html

Certainly, these are what I actually learn from these people with special needs after working with them for the past 5 over years.

The Rabbit School is founded in May 1997. It is located within the premise of National Borey for Infants and Children, and is the only school in Cambodia that caters to children and people with special needs. The school is located in Phnom Penh and thus the students may come from all provinces of Cambodia. There are also mainstream schools that included students with special needs that the Rabbit School work closely with in order to allow these people with special needs to have the best services they can.

http://www.rabbitschool.org/

After speaking to the Head Teacher, Mr Hun Touch, I sensed his struggles to equip the teachers and staff with the necessary skills to work with the children as well as his worries for the future and quality of the programs for the students due to possible lack of funds in the coming years. 

Mr Hun Touch welcomes support and help in the following aspects (however, this list is not exhaustive)

1) Teacher and staff training/ sharing by trained personnel

- Most of the staff in the Centre are not certified. They are very versed in the practical aspects of working

  with the students, however they need more theoretical knowledge of people with special needs such as
  understanding what Autism is about.

2) Fund raising (work on how they can raise more funds)

- Currently, some of the projects such as the Rabbit Cafe had to stop functioning in the town of Phnom Penh

  due to funding issues from donors.

3) Volunteers

- The Centre is hoping to have a constant pool of volunteers who can help out with working on the children

Pre-vocational training at Rabbit Cafe - Paper Beads Bear

How can you help?

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you think you have any ideas/ organisations/ projects/ people who can help the Centre in providing for the children with special needs. Like what Mr Hun Touch had also said, it all starts from advocacy, with the awareness, help will come more easily.

The next time you are in Cambodia, I will urge all of you to drop by the Centre to volunteer your service.

“Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.”  ~ Isabel Allende

Peaceful Children's Home 1 and 2, Cambodia

A little preview of Peaceful Children Homes, Cambodia (Home 1 in Kandal Province and Home 2 in Battambang Province). The Homes are run by the Khmer Foundation for Justice, Peace and Development.

http://vimeo.com/9878962

A day at the Peaceful Children Home from Joachim Ottow on Vimeo.

Cambodia, the place that is close to my heart

The Kingdom of Cambodia is an independent country with a population of more than 7 million people. With a surface area of 181,035 sq. km and once a French colony, is the least known Indochinese country. Cambodia has a distinct geographical personality: it is a wide basin surrounded by highlands. In this basin the farmer has created a simple life - an original civilization and philosophy of mildness. Cambodia is divided into 20 provinces and 4 cities.

Cambodia was once know as “The Pearl of Asia”. As a consequences of the War in Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge cam to power. During their 5-year reign of terror, 2-3 million people died and the country was left devastated.

Today, Cambodia remains to be one of the poorest countries in Asia, with hundreds and thousands of orphans and street children. ~ http://www.asiatravel.com/cambinfo.html

The Kingdom of Cambodia is fondly known as my Second home. Sandwiched between Vietnam, Thailand and Laos; it is a little known country even to Asians. Not known to many is also that this Kingdom has a charm that cannot be put into words. Many friends asked, "Why does Cambodia attract you so much?", I always reply, "Visit it and you will know why, it has a charm that needs to be experienced first hand."

And yes, I had been charmed.

Charmed by its people... Their smiles, their happiness regardless how hard life had been on them...

Charmed by its landscape... The serenity, the peace, the calmness...

Charmed by its history... the majestic, the tough times and how its people overcame the difficulties...

Most importantly, I am charmed by these people who have so much impacted my life... The people of Peaceful Children's Home (Khmer Foundation for Justice, Peace and Development)

To find out more about these children and how you are able to help them, do stay tuned to the next post...

Till then...