Day 3: The Slums

Yesterday we visited the "slums" in the afternoon. The "slums" are located five minutes on foot  from the CPO orphanage where we are working but the environment change in those five minutes is so drastic. This is a place where the children grew up, and some of the parents live and it is also where the children walk to school everyday. We start at the orphanage where a happy life has been created for these children to laugh, dance, sing, play, be safe, and overall feel the a sense of relief from their other life. When we begin to walk it slowly starts to become an entirely different world. A world filled with alcoholism, sex drive, HIV Postitive bodies, yelling (never in Cambodia...here yes), dogs fighting, water flowing throughout homes and walkways with trash, feces, and urine. Rack-shackle living enviroments where the families of thirteen, nine, five - mainly mothers and children - are living. It was a place where I carefully considered my behavior such as watching where I was stepping, where I was looking, what I said, etc. Simply put it was scary and very sad!

To add, our group had about ten children from the orphanage walking with us. In the biggest way they seemed to comfort me, but in the opposite biggest way it seemed to bring me down. The biggest way, I think is obvious - they do this all the time and they will have my back if something were to go wrong. The biggest opposite way, because as I said before this is where their parents are living. Parents who are HIV Positive or the lack of parents per say because of illness related death are in the air.

As I walked through, I looked around and studied the living conditions and compared to the place I live in, where I am staying here, and where I am volunteering my time here. So many things running through my mind. Soon we began to come to a stop. We stopped in front of the house and Lisa-Marie told us that this is the house of YOMA, a child who I have been working so very closely with over the past couple days. His mom has nine kids total and is HIV Positive. She is very nice and kind an has the best kid. Always smiling, dancing, laughing, running, really doing what every kid his age at seven should be doing. I appreciate his mom for allowing YOMA to come to CPO and have  a better life and I hope that her kids will look up to people like LM, Jenna, my mom, myself, Alex, Bret, Ava, Nikko, Zoe, Mallory, and Camryn for their future lives.

We also visited their classroom and another families home. I love to sit in on their learning and see how excited they are to learn! I am so grateful that I was able to see this side of Cambodia and this side of these kids lives. It really opened my eyes once again!

Thank you LM for taking us here! Thanks again for all your support back home. I can feel it and I know the kids can!!!

Love
Anna