I'll start with the friends I made: those who I volunteered with. Whenever someone is a volunteer, they're usually going to be at least an alright person. Not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but someone who is willing to spend a lot of their time and money helping others is probably friend material in my book. Everyone who volunteered together got on so well, and we all still keep in contact. Hopefully I meet my new friends again, even though we were from all corners of the globe - a lot from Australia, one from New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, America...
It's funny how the experiences you can share with new people can make you feel like you've known them your whole life. Trying new foods, swimming in a huge waterfall and waking up at 4am to visit huge temples that are thousands of years old are such unique and special experiences that I will always share with those friends. Spending so much time with one of my best friends from home allowed me to see her in a different light, and has brought us even closer together. You can read about our experience travelling together here.
The teachers at New Hope were such beautiful people. They were incredibly welcoming to all the volunteers, even though they would be meeting new people every week. The teachers were so incredibly grateful for us coming to their school, just as we were grateful to them for opening their arms and hearts and allowing us to feel so at home, in a country that was just about as far as possible from anything we had experienced before. The children were also lovely, from the kindy kids to the adults we taught in the afternoon. They were very interested to hear about our lives at home, just as we were interested to hear about their lives. It's so funny how you can be living such a different life to someone, but still have so much in common: you hate maths? Me too! You prefer winter to summer? Same here. I like your top. Thanks, I like yours too! Some of the kids had weekend jobs too - selling bracelets that they had made at the temples, or helping their parents out at the markets.
Going to Phnom Penh was also an eye opening experience. In a way, Siem Reap is so much more protected than Phnom Penh, so it was a bit of a shock getting to the "big city". It was, however, seeing the Killing Fields and S21 prison that was the most staggering experience. We're taught so much about the Holocaust, which is obviously a terrible, horrific event, however I had no idea about the Cambodian genocide, in which over 2 million (or 1/4 of the then population) died as a direct result of the genocide. I found the experience so much more poignant because not only were a number of foreigners killed (including 2 Australians) but because the genocide was in the 1970s, and in a country quite close to home.
Travelling to Cambodia has made me want to see so much more of the world than I have already. I'm planning to visit more countries in South East Asia, however I will definitely return to New Hope - hopefully this time for much longer.
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Going somewhere so different really opened my eyes to how fortunate I am to live the life I lead. My biggest worries are assignments, how I'm earning money for my next holiday, and whether or not Downton Abbey will finish the way I want it to. Yet the Khmer people appreciate what they have so much more, and seem happier with their lot in life. I think we need to learn to appreciate what we have, and be happy with the good things in our lives.
I couldn't recommend travelling to Cambodia, especially to the New Hope School, highly enough. It was such an incredible experience that I will treasure forever.
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