Finger nails and heart break

It is now a week since I got back from Cambodia and I have been putting off blogging about it because I don't know where to start. The background for those of you not in the know was that my mum and I decided to go and do some volunteer work at His Child, an orphanage just out of Phnom Penh that a couple from my church run. Not that we knew too much about what we were going to be doing, but it seemed like a good way to 'give back' and also have some quality mother/daughter time.

On arriving in Phnom Penh I quickly discovered that my teaching skills were not the ones that were going to be called in to play, instead I became a temperature taking, finger nail cutting, small children bathing, balloon twisting machine.

Our first two days with the orphanage everyone was involved in a medical initiative. A team of doctors and pharmacists from Singapore were there, and we went out into the communities (day one was a community that survived off the local rubbish dump) and met as many medical needs as possible. The first day the 4 doctors saw over 200 people, providing them with the necessary drugs and medical advice for medical issues ranging from diabetes and HIV/Aids to headaches and throat infections. This was all done in the extreme hot, 35 degrees and at least 95% humidity - and before you say "Kirsty, you live in temperatures like that all the time!", let me point out that there was no air-con, anywhere!

Two of the faces from the village

Once the medical team left we started helping out with the 'bus'. This bus goes out to different locations in the city and is met by large groups of street kids waiting for their weekly visit. The two hours that the kids spend with the bus is a chance for them to just be kids. When we would arrive step one was finger nail cutting. Yes, finger nail cutting. The kids loved this, I think it was just the one-on-one attention and physical contact - but it meant they were less likely to get infections and store quite as much gunk under their nails. From there games were played with water bombs, simple tiggy/cat and mouse type games, and generally lots of laughter and hilarity. Whilst this was going on the younger kids would be taken onto the bus that had showers and given a chance to get clean. It is hard to describe the feeling when you are having to bathe little 3-year olds that arrive butt naked all by themselves, or if they are lucky with a big brother or sister - it just breaks your heart. Once everyone is clean and had some fun the serious stuff starts and some of the local staff teach basic khmer and hygiene to the kids before they are sent off with some food. On one occasion I tried to teach 40 odd kids to make balloon flowers, it wasn't that successful but it was a lot of fun!

Mum on fingernail cutting duty

Fun with the balloons!

How can you resist those eyes?

I quickly learnt while I was there that the kids in the orphanage were really the lucky ones. Whilst all 42 of them had ended up in the orphanage from crisis situations they knew where there meals were coming from everyday, went to school, and most importantly were protected from the streets. As so many other things that week taught me, our western perceptions, such as those 'poor orphans' can be very wrong.

Some of the orphanage kids off to school

I could go on for ages about how it felt to hold a little kid 's hand as you cut their nails knowing the life they live on the streets - absolutely heart breaking. But at least I feel like I did a little bit to make a difference, and I know that I don't want this to be the last time.