Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Western Endeavour - Issue No.: 1115 Issue Date: 14 Apr, 2024

Peter and I have had an amazing week assisting with the building of sixteen houses for villagers who participate in the Tabitha Foundation's savings program. Our team was led by Mike and Corinne Gurry from Perth.

The group met in Phnom Penh and visited the Tabitha Foundation to hear its founder Janne Ritskes speak about the history of Cambodia, particularly about the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime and the effects on the people. She told us about the savings program and how it assists families to work their way out of poverty. She is one amazing lady. Before leaving Tabitha. We were given the opportunity to purchase silk items from their gift store, the sale of which supports Tabitha's administration costs. They had some beautiful items for sale, many crafted by former street walkers.

After the visit to Tabitha, we moved to Toul Sleng Geoncide Museum, a former school which was used by the KhmerRouge as a prison. People were tortured in this prison until they confessed to their 'crimes' and then were executed. It's impossible to believe what went on here and the number of people who were executed without understanding why.

We then moved on to the Killing Fields, another sobering experience however a requirement for all Tabitha house building teams before being allowed to participate in a build. Tabitha believes team members need to understand the background of the villagers and the impact of the Khmer Rouge regime on them to fully appreciate the difference we would make in their lives.

After spending half a day riding on a bus, we arrived in Siem Reap on Monday and prepared for the build commencing Tuesday morning. 

We were up early Tuesday morning and a slightly nervous group of apprentice house builders headed out to the village, about 40 minutes drive from Siem Reap. The villagers were lined up along the road when we arrived and we moved along the line greeting the families before getting into the build.

The houses are partially constructed and the team are required to nail the floor boards down and then add the cladding to each house. Team members were required to raise $1700, the amount required for one house, to be allowed to participate in the build. We have a team of 16 so we have 16 houses to build.

Project leader Mike Gurry put teams to work in three houses, nailing floor boards. When the three floors were done, he then moved some of the team onto cladding. Three nails in every floor board into every cross beam....I don't think any of us will forget that requirement. Fortunately, the boards weren't too hard and the nails weren't too soft so the work was reasonably easy. Other builds have had hard wood and soft nails...not a good combination.

We stopped for lunch and Corinne asked that we make sure the women collected their food first. Cambodian women are considered third class citizens so by showing that our women were first in line, we may help change this behaviour. Prior to starting the build, we were also asked to keep a smile on our faces, even if we smashed a thumb while hammering...again showing our good behaviour.

Returning to work after lunch was a little more difficult as the arm and back muscles had seized up a bit however, we stuck to it and had completed 11 houses by the end of the day. Great job team. The pool was very welcome when we got back to the hotel and helped the aching muscles.

Wednesday morning we headed out to the village to complete the last houses. The floor team had one to finish off and then it was all hands on deck to complete the cladding. The last house was finished late morning so we played with the kids while lunch was being prepared (baguettes, ham, cheese, tomatoes and pickles). We were closely watched by the villagers as we ate our lunch as the handing over ceremony was to be held as soon as we were finished. The villagers have been looking forward to this day so were very keen for us to finish so they could move in and start a new life.

Corinne and Mike lined the villagers up one side, gave each team member a quilt and lined us up opposite the villagers for the handover ceremony. Corinne spoke to the villagers and told them they are good people, that they care for their families well and that we were honoured to build a new home for them. We then took turns to hand the quilt to 'our' family and wish them well. It was a very moving ceremony. We then had a photo of the villagers, their children and the house building team in front of one of the houses before saying our farewells and boarding our buses. Cambodian people are very polite and they won't leave until we leave however we could understand they just wanted us to drive off so they could get on with moving into their new home.

Being part of this program and building team was a great experience and Peter and I really enjoyed it. We met some wonderful people, particularly Mike and Corinne Gurry who headed this team and have brought and will continue to being many teams to Cambodia. I'm hoping RC of Western Endeavour will be able to field a team of family and friends next year.

Click on the link to view the Tabitha Australia website.