Hello people!
This will be my very first entry and I will be writing about my Youth Expedition Project (YEP) in UNACAS, Cambodia which was held from 14th to 27th September 2014. For your information , this YEP was empowered by the National Youth Council and organized by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) jointly with Singapore Polytechnic School of Business.
Out of the 14 days in Cambodia, we spent 10 days in UNACAS for service rendering. The remaining days were well spent to tour around Angkor Wat Temples, namely;
For your information, in case if you would like to make a visit to these picturesque temples, visit passes are available for purchase. For we only tour around the Angkor Wat Temples for only a day, we bought a one-day visit pass which costs around USD20. Note that you will still need to take a tuk-tuk to get to the temples if you wouldn’t want to spend an hour walk there!
There were both nights that we actually spend our time in Siem Reap Night market. At there, you can really get cheap clothes and souvenirs if you are good in bargaining. According to James ( our YMCA on site leader ), you can bargain with them and cut their prices down to at least 40-60% of the offered price. However, note that most of their stalls looked alike, hence I would suggest to you to spend more time at a single stall rather than going to different stalls to get similar items. Chances are that the more you purchase from them, the more you can bargain.
And so that’s all about shopping in Siem Reap. Before embarking on our journey to Phnom Penh, we actually had another program called the ‘Rice Soup Program’ whereby we helped the moms to prepare and serve the ‘Rice Soup’ a.k.a porridge to underprivileged kids in the village. Eventually it was heart-wrenching to see them for they seemed to be living in a desolated state. Some had no clothes on them, otherwise torn. Upon finishing their bowls of porridge, they packed some rice soup to be brought back to their homes. According to my lecturer, it was believed that the rice soup was only served for two days in a week and only available for kids.
Fast forward to day 8 , we also did some sightseeing, but in Phnom Penh instead, for we reached UNACAS in Phnom Penh ( background to be revealed later ) on day 4. Basically, we visited a number of places which depicts the days during the ruling of Khmer Rouge. At there, you would feel that the atmosphere was solemn, and learn that Cambodia was under developed due to communism in the 1970’s. And so, the places were:
Later that day, we visited S-21 Prison, which is also known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. According to the tour guide, citizens of Cambodia, especially the ones who were holding professional qualifications were tricked to be brought to the S-21 prison and later the interrogation with immense torture begins. Such methods of torture includes electric shock, immersing the victims head into a big pot of faeces (the gallows as shown below) , and pulling out their nails. Only a few survived, and one of them are Chum Mey who was kept alive for his skill as a mechanic to repair the typewriters was needed by Pol Pot who lead the Khmer Rouge from 1963 to 1977.
Enough said about those devastating moments. The thought that almost half of the population of Cambodians being killed that time was really heart-wrenching and insightful as it taught us to be more grateful and not taking things for granted. As the saying that always hold true,’ those who forget the history are condemned to repeat it’by George Santayana shall forever be bore in our minds.
‘those who forget the history are condemned to repeat it’
Without further ado, I shall begin sharing my journey with a background introduction about UNACAS which stands for Unaccompanied Association. Located in the Kandal Province, Phnom Penh with an hour drive from the city, it houses orphans, abused children or kids from single parent children. Kids in UNACAS are usually being referred , and currently, there are around 50 kids that are sheltering in UNACAS. In case you’re wondering how UNACAS looks like, here are some quick shots of how it looks like.
and so, UNACAS looks pretty well-maintained. From what I had heard, each year, there will be a number of teams from Singapore would visit UNACAS to conduct their service over there. For the Project UNACAS 7 which I had participated, we did a couple of service with the kids and some refurbishments. Such services were giving a brand new fresh coat of paint for the girls’ dormitory, teaching the kids English, conducting basic IT lessons ( such as teaching them how to use Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel, Word, etc ) , and last but not least farming whereby we almost killed their crops (LOL!). Prior to the service, we had an orientation about UNACAS and given Khmer Language class ( the language used in Cambodia) on the very first day we arrived in UNACAS.
Other than the service rendered, we also played some games with them. During leisure hours, the boys would join them for soccer or perhaps basketball. Otherwise, we had mass games like dog and bones, captain ball ,’the leader’ ( a game whereby we try to guess who is the leader behind of all the movements) and etc.
The past 10 days in UNACAS was indeed an eye-opener experience to me. I reaped and learnt many things. At there, you will find that we, the urban-dwellers often overlook and sometimes neglected the people around us. While life in the village was simple, people at there tend to be more appreciative of what they have compared to us. While we can simply buy the clothes that we fancy, they have to save up for at least five months to get a brand new piece of clothing. When hot water for showering can be obtained easily just by pushing the ‘ON’ button of the water heater, they have to treasure each drop of water for they didn’t obtain it easily. Simply put, we often take things for granted for we don’t face much hardships as they do.
On top of that, you will find that the people over there are more sincere and real. They are filled with love, warmth and compassion. Still fresh in my mind, the kids at there are always cheerful with a genuine smile crafted on their face welcoming you. Though there were times that we were unable to communicate with each other due to language barriers, their simple acts and gestures had bonded and forged an unbreakable friendships between us.
In fact, Balat had given me this on Day 13 which was the day the farewell party was held.
Not forgetting, Sreyya did give me a drawing as well. *Touched*
To conclude, I never regret joining this trip although it did cost me around SGD1200 ( it will be around SGD400-450 if you are a Singaporean or Singapore PR ) for the knowledge that I had gained was immeasurable and priceless. Hence, I would like to give a big thanks to my mom who granted me the permission to join this expedition and funding me for this trip. Without her support, I wouldn’t have the chance to learn and see things in a different perspective. And also, my two beloved lecturers, Mr. Martin and Mr. Kelvin who played a significant role in leading us and Mr. James who assisted us in every means to make this project a success.
cheryllai13 