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

What a great expereince Peter and enjoyed on our long awaited trip to Cambodia as part of a house building team for the Tabitha Foundation.

We left Perth on 15 October and arrived in Phnom Penh via Kuala Lumpur about 3pm. We spent some time hanging around the airport as one more of the team was flying into the country about 6pm and because he traffic is so heavy in Phnom Penh, the hotel decided to do just one pick up. We spent the time organsing a local SIM card, having a drink and getting to know Caroline, one of the team from Perth who travelled on the same plane as us. We arrived at the Golden Gate hotel in time to join the rest of the team for dinner. It was then home for an early night.

Sunday morning we were picked up by mini van from the hotel and taken to Tabitha to meet Janne Ritskes, the founder of Tabitha. Janne gave us an overview of the recent history of Cambodia and the Tabitha Foundation. We were also given the opportunity to do some shopping for silk products, the sale of which support Tabitha administration costs. The shop is an outlet for products made by women who may have previouly been in the sex trade. 

We then visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. This was a confronting experience, but mandatory to the program. It's almost impossible to believe what man can do to his fellow man....the torture inflicted on a fellow countryman for what was very often an imaginary crime. 

We then moved on to visit the Killing Fields. This is also mandatory for members of the house building teams to give participants an understanding of what the local people went through in the time of the Khmer Rouge. Another confronting experience.

Sunday evening, prior to enjoying dinner at Friends Restaurant we caught tuk tuks to take us to a river boat where we had drinks and nibbles on board whilst taking in the sights along the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers. Dinner was delicious and very inexpensive.

Monday morning, we departed Phnom Penh for Siem Reap, catching the 7.30 am bus. The bus ride took about 5 hours and cost US$12. On arrival in Siem Reap we were taken to the Frangipani Villa Hotel by Tuk Tuk, the main mode of transport in many areas of Cambodia.  It was an interesting trip and gave us a chance to see a fair bit of the countryside between the to cities. After dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club, it was a fairly early night for most of us - preparation for the following day - our first day of house building.

Tuesday morning we were picked up from the hotel by mini buses and taken to Popel in the TaOng area of Siem Reap Province. The was a fair amount of nervous excitement as the team was to build 16 houses in the next two days and those of us who were there for the first time, weren't sure what to expect.

The villagers greeted the buses when we arrived and we could soon see the framework of some of the houses we were there to complete. To say we were building the houses was a bit of a stretch as the basic framework was done, the roof on, floor boards laid ready to be nailed and a couple of sheets of cladding nailed on as a guide.

Mike set us to work nailing floor boards on three houses so the cladding teams could then follow on to complete that task. By lunchtime we were well on the way and feeling as though we had achieved a lot and by the end of the day, had completed 11 of the 16 houses. We enjoyed fresh baguettes with a good selection of fillings for lunch and Corinne made sure the women were the first in line to assemble their lunch. Women are considered 3rd class citizens in Cambodia so by showing  women eating first, sets an example to the locals.

It was very hot during the build and I was happy that most of the time I was inside a house nailing floor boards...the roof offered some shade. Corinne also made sure we kept our fluids up by checking eveyr hour how many water bottles we'd drunk. We were also encouraged to pour cold water on the back of our necks to keep our core body temperature down. We were asked o leave our empty water bottles in the houses we were working on as the villagers use them for storage.

We headed back to Siem Reap,feeling a bit sore and sorry and the Frangipani Hotel was a very welcome sight. Most of us donned our bathers and headed for the pool and a cool drink. I had very sore 'hammering' muscles and my back was aching so an hour or so in the pool, siming and walking, helped loosen up my muscles. The evening was free time and Pete and I had dinner at the hotel and relaxed around the pool until bed time. Others in the group hit the town.

Wednesday we were off again to complete our houses and hand them over to the families. We moved a bit further down the road where the rest of the houses were wating for us. We'd finished by late morning, had our lunch and spent some with the village children drawing and making diferent play things. The villagers started to congregate and we could feel their excitement at soo being the proud owners of theur new homes.

We had a handing over ceremony where each house builder was pair with a family and we gave them an embroidered quilt, made by the Tabitha Foundation, to use in their new home. Some people will use the quilt as a room divider, others as quilt, others to go on the floor. I found the ceremony very emotional and felt humbled that we were able to make such a change in people's lives.

Photos were taken and then we boarded the buses and left as quickly as possible. The villagers were keen to get into their new homes however far too polite to do so until we had left.

Once again, the pool at the hotel was very welcome before heading out for our farewell dinner with those who were leaving the following day.

Peter and I really enjoyed our experience in Cambodia and send huge thank yous to all our supporters who assisted us in raising the money for our houses. The program is having a positive impact on the villagers of Cambodia and statistics show a family's income doubles in the year after they move into their house.

I'm planning on going again in 2017 so let me now if you are interested in coming along.