The owners of the Villa Siem Reap are very big believers of charitable works and giving back to the community. They are Australians, who have obviously found their niche and place in life here in Cambodia – and most of what they do goes back to the community. Most of their employees are graduates of the hospitality school two doors down, they sponsor water filters (a huge deal because so many children and older adults die each year due to water borne illnesses from drinking unpurified water) and they also run tours that showcase the NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) and that allow you to spend a day with a country family helping them out with their daily chores/work. Unfortunately our schedule doesn’t allow us to do the helping out (A day in the life), so we choose go on the Make a Difference tour.
After another breakfast, we head out with a small group (just us and a mom and 2 grown daughters from Australia) to visit the different organizations and see the charitable work going on all over Siem Reap. It is pouring rain – just a deluge – and the roads are flooding and driving is a challenge. It’s just astonishing here – first the roads (mostly dirt, some concrete/pavement), second just the way everyone lives, and how cheap it all is. Our guide gives us a run down of Cambodia – the history, society and the money making industries. From a history perspective, war-torn doesn’t even begin to describe it. It seems like this place has been at war for virtually its entire existence. Whether fighting against other countries or factions who have invaded, or themselves (the civil war just ended in 1998 for heaven’s sake!), these people have just been through the wringer. We don’t know what Phenom Penh is like, but here in the country, it’s eye opening. Except for the “city” of Siem Reap, which is virtually new in an of itself, everyone comes from a village – either close by or way up country. There are 500 villages in the area, with anywhere from 100 to 500 families living in each. And everyone refers to their home as “the village”….as in “I came from the village”, “I lived in the village until 5 years ago”, etc. Wild.
Today, the economy here is run on tourism. They have found a niche with the temples and the government intends to exploit it. That’s good and bad – as it always is. The building is phenomenal in Siem Reap, and we can only hope it’s not over done, and that in the end the influx of tourist dollars will be spread out to the entire community and help more than just a few. Besides tourism, the #1 product here is rice – for consumption and export. So it’s still a farming, rural community – regardless of the tourism.
That’s one of the reasons this tour is so important – it shows how some very special people are trying to give back to a community that needs it so badly. So through the pouring rain, we visit our 
first stop - the Silk Factory where women are trained to handle all the processes involved in cultivating, dying and weaving silk. The women are from small villages with no other means of support or money generating. They work at the factory – or can work at home if that suits them better – the company gives them a loom and all the materials they need to stay at home and produce work.
On one level, it’s the same factory tour you always get on an organized tour. On another level it is focused solely on impoverished women, trying to make a difference with the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. The materials they use and produce are incredible – and the gift shop (while totally pricier than the market of course) has an array of beautiful items. And buying something here ostensibly goes to help these women raise their lifestyle, so you can easily justify the prices.
Next we head off to the water filter factory. It’s a national holiday (the King’s birthday) so the factory isn’t working, but we see how they make concrete forms, then sieve sand and gravel, layer it in the form and pour the water through to clean it. It’s an ingenious method – and only costs $45 US to create. The organization sells these filters for $3 US to the people of the village to get them use them for clean water. They villages are also taught how to maintain the filters so they will keep working properly. If we were staying longer we could volunteer half days to help build the filters, but that will have to wait until next time.
Back through the flooded streets, we visit a traditional local visit – which is totally muddy and flooded, but everyone is still there selling their produce, meats, fruits and seafood. Going about daily business. The tour is fun – we learn a lot about the different foods and what all these bizarre things are that we see all over the place. We buy some bananas (the girls didn’t get breakfast so they were hungry) and walk though the maze of people, sights and sounds.
Out from the market we head to the Caritas HIV home where the organization provides a home and medicine for AIDS victims. 10 years again, there was a 30% penetration of AIDS, now it’s only 1%, in large part due to the efforts of Caritas and others who have provided education and medicine to everyone who requires it.
After the home visit, we head back to the Villa for lunch. We were originally supposed to go to the Sola Boi (the training/hospitality school), but because of the holiday, they are closed. The Villa is a good alternative, and we get to sample different foods. We’re eating there again tonight, so we’ll get to try lots of different meals here!
After a long rest, we head off to our last stop – the COSO Orphanage. We were also supposed to visit a village to see how the community operates, but we can only assume that the rain and the floods have canceled that stop as well. Some of the roads can flood to 5” deep or more – and it’s already tough getting around town. As we head to the orphanage we pass one of the main local markets and it’s totally flooded, so missing the village visit is probably not so bad a thing.
So – get ready for your heart strings to be pulled. Yes, it’s organized, yes, these kids do this for every tourist who is brought to them, but none of that matters when your van pulls up and 47 little children (age 6 to 13) come running up saying hello, taking your hands, putting their arms around you, asking your name. Is it programmed? Yes. But when we leave, do these kids go back to their one room dormitory with beds that are shared and little lockers for their possessions, and get meals mostly or rice and 8 fish each day – to share between all 47? Yes – and are they happy? Yes, happier than when they were abandoned or orphaned for the 100’s various reasons.
After the initial shock of being overrun by a horde of children, we start to walk through their little home area. Literally – it’s 4 buildings – 1) Girl’s dormitory, 2) boys dormitory, 3) directors home, 4) little bathrooms. The kitchen is an open fire and propane outside under a tin roofed area that has picnic tables. And of course in the middle of the big dirt yard is a huge stage where they congregate and practice traditional Khmer dancing that the organization hopes will help them to learn and grow, and possibly find jobs later on. The older ones go to school in the morning, and then have English lessons in the afternoon back at the orphanage. Most of them speak better English than kids we know at home.
We stayed for about an hour – playing, talking, touring. The oldest boy there (around 13 or 14) latched on to me and wouldn’t let go. He toured me around – right behind Ed who had the director attached to him. My little guy – who’s name I couldn’t pronounce or spell if I tried – was smart as a whip. Understood 
everything, new what advertising/marketing was when I told him what I did – even gave me an example. He was just too much. When he found out we didn’t have any children he said he could come home with us and be our child. Yeah, I’m crying now!
Before we left, we got to watch while one of the other visitors there handed out school uniforms to all the kids. He had provided the money to buy the uniforms and shoes for everyone. We had brought little cookies and pads and pencils/pens with us – and the kids were just as grateful with us for the little gifts we brought. They then treated us to their dancing – which honestly, was just as good, if not better than the show we saw the night before. It was all very cute and heart wrenching at the same time.
As we left, they all followed us to the van, saying goodbye and wishing US good luck. Just being in Cambodia and seeing the daily lifestyle here is an eye opening experience, this day was way more than that. We came away wanting to do so much more – for these kids, for others here in Cambodia, for kids at home, just more in general to give back to others that aren’t as fortunate or lucky as we are.
Back at the hotel, it’s almost sinful. We hang out for a bit, I get my massage, and then we have dinner. Later we hit Pub Street again – end up at Angkor What?, get their Halloween shirt, get invited to their Halloween party (bummer, we’ll be gone!!!), then head home, already sad about leaving the next day!
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