Day 8 (Eunice & Jack)

Day 8

After a ‘good’ night rest at the Agriculture Training Centre (ATC), we awoke by the sound of our beloved host geese. (Some of us ‘traumatised’ by the IMAGINARY GEESE in the night.)



Once we filled our tummies with ‘Cheng An Nah’ (Very delicious) porridge, banana and some local snacks we headed to a nearby Preschool somewhere near ATC.

The kids at the Preschool got to taste some of our Singaporean childhood favourites such as sugar coated biscuits. (RMB TO TALK ABT THE CHILDREN’S BIG HEART LATER!!!!)
Like fitting the glass slippers on Cinderella, we tried to find suitable Crocs that were donated from Blessings in a Bag (BIAB) to the little children. Although it may be called a preschool, the kids attending classes may be older than the 8 years old. In replacement of crocs for these ‘young’ kids, we gave them T-shirts!



After preschool, we headed back to ATC to plant peanuts! If all goes well, we might be able to return to ATC to see the harvest.



After sowing the seeds, we proceeded for the English Outreach class held under someone’s house, where we gave out the ‘magical’ flowers to the students and grannies. Mr. Chenda told us that it would be great if we could aid in providing more study materials and if possible build a school compound where there could be morning classes in the morning, English outreach classes in the afternoon and night classes or even village meetings. Looks like next year we might be putting on some safety boots and helmets. (CAN WE FIX IT? YES WE CAN!)



Then it was lunch time! We had our meal at a restaurant nearby Trivani School where there was really well furbished toilets. (YAY!) Following our meal, we took a walk to Trivani School. Unexpectedly, the conditions at Trivani were relatively better than majority of the schools at Kravanh as they received funds from the Trivani Foundation. Thus, we decided to donate the materials to the more rural areas in Cambodia where SC has just begun their community development projects. We got to discuss some future project ideas with Mr Chenda as well. The school teaches IT among other academic curriculum and some of us got to use the internet for a while. (Slack time)



Our beloved Pu Rah (Truck Uncle) then braved the bumpy ride with all of us to bring us to the place that we will stay for the night.
Before arriving at the host’s house, we had to get off the truck to pass the scary and unsteady bridge.
This bridge over the river was built during the Polpot Regime in Cambodia, made up purely of huge logs.
Little did we know that this very river that we were crossing, was where we would take our bath!!! Worst still, with the BUFFALOs. Nevertheless, I’m sure those who bathed in it had an enjoyable time!



While some of us were bathing in the river, some of us were enjoying jackfruit at the host house, with Mr Yla, Mr Chenda, Mr Sameth and the other uncles in the host family.

When everyone was all cleaned, we started to chop firewood and start a few stoves. A campfire was also ready for us to barbecue sweet potatoes with the young kids.



Tom yam soup, instant noodle, canned bamboo shoot, canned sardines, canned mushrooms, BBQ potatoes and tapioca = yummy self cooked dinner!



After dinner, the host set up the stereo and it was “rural clubbing” all night, with some dancing princes taking the centre stage! We were also taught some traditional Cambodian dance, although I dare admit that I still can’t figure out how the hands move. ( I guess I’m just a dimwit.)