Day 5(Jeannifer & Guanyi)

Breakfast
floating village
lunch
move out
check in hotel
dinner

After a good night rest despite the falling insects, we were awakened by the usual morning broadcast reluctantly. After a quick breakfast (no Milo, no water today) we prepared to go to the floating village. While ten of the members travelled in Father’s van, nine others were squeezed into a tuk-tuk. It was travelling at only 30kmh – practically was slower than a passing butterfly – and therefore we could not feel our legs anymore after an hour’s ride. While we were sitting on the back of the speeding van, Michell, who was sitting cross-legged uncomfortably, suddenly asked: ‘Yiing Jye, do you mind if I open my legs so you can be in between my legs?’.Honestly, another SIFE moment made by Michell (after last night’s “Hey I’ve just seen a crab walking sideways!”).


We loaded onto a motor boat (which emitted black clouds from its side and therefore contributed to lung cancer) and there we went! Along the journey, we saw provision shops, a police station, churches, a clinic, and a police station. Simply put, the floating village was self-sufficient. We finally alighted at a local church and stayed there taking pictures, taking in the breathtaking scenery of the Tonle Sap, and wishing to be able to take the adorable kids back with us until around 11am. We finally had to make our way back to CROAP, as we need to prepare to leave the premise permanently and move to another guest house since CROAP’s guest house was booked by NUS students already. So, we went back to have our lunch at the by-now much-beloved al-fresco eateries. Today’s menu included pasta made by the equally beloved and very much revered middle-aged house keeper lady. We very much wished to hire her to follow us to the rural areas for three days (and obviously knew such miracle would not happen despite the many times we’ve got to wish upon the dozens (yes, plural) shooting stars we got to see every night here in Cambodia).


Not too long afterwards, we made our way to a new guest house which turned out to be a decent hotel (hotel!). We had to carry our belongings to the third level as there was no elevators but believe us, we did not fret a bit. Compared to the CROAP’s guest house, this new home of ours was a major improvement (HA! Jealous much?). Electricity will not be cut off at random timings, water is ever flowing, and there will be no funny creatures (which were so diverse that actually we have no idea what species they belong to)! We pretty much were in a good mood, and our mood was further escalated by the fact that we got to eat Cambodian delicacies! We guessed we were too hungry (or one table was, at least) that we practically finished the food, including the peanuts served as a free appetizer. By the way, the name of the restaurant we were eating at was New Than Sour, and the dishes we ordered included Fried Chicken Made Fly (do not ask what the name means but seriously, we shed tears eating it as it was too shockingly spicy).

So, here go pictures of the day for you to see and envy!

Floating Petrol Station

Jeannifer is well loved by the kids!

Leaving Tonle Sap

Leaving CROAP...

p.s. We left (on) a "SCARY" note.

Day 4 (Joyce + Yedi)

Today was a fun-filled day with the various activities.

In the morning, we were split into two separate groups with the first group who stayed on in CROAP to listen to the staff that came to explain more about the BSF while some of us went to a kindergarten nearby to interact with the children before the rest came to join us after listening to the staff from SC.

The 2 staff from SC came with the sample test result that showed the before and after result of using the BSF. The samples made use of water from the rain water as well as the pond water which is where the villagers get most of their water from. From the results, it was seen that the use of the BSF greatly reduced the amount of bacteria remaining in the water. This is important to explain to the villagers the importance of making use of the BSF to get clean water.

At the same time, the rest of us made our way to the kindergarten nearby and that was the highlight of the day. We met tons of energetic kids who had lots of smiles on their faces. We shared food from Singapore with them and then returned our gestures by singing 4 songs for us. Then came the exhausting portion where we played with the kids- ball games, frisbee, piggy-bagging etc. They were FULL OF ENERGY! Though we couldn’t really communicate with them except saying stuff like Choo—mo-ah (which means wat is your name), we could still play around with them and it was real fun especially upon seeing the joy on their face.

The kids were very independent and you will see kids as young as 4 years old who made their way home alone. Many of them were barefooted as they made their way home and you will really realize how tough for them to go to school. It was totally different experience which will remind ourselves and we believe many in our team why we even venture to such a place in the first place.

Day 3 (Huili & Victoria)

Today was a rather monotonous day according to Singapore’s standards, because we had little to do with time passing slowly. Nonetheless, the mudpie we “baked” yesterday was ready to be taken out of the “oven”.

The ingredients for our cement cake is as follows:
1. 32kg gravel

2. 32kg sand

3. 16kg cement

4. 15l of water

How you make this it, mix the first 3 thoroughly. Then create a volcano-like crater in the middle. Pour in half the amount of water and mix. Then, add the rest of the water gradually. Tadahhh… you are ready to bake your mudpie!!

Remove baking tin, and tadahhh, you get your Bio-sand filter cake!

After lunch, we were taught how to use the bio sand filter.
Basically the idea is a copy of earth’s natural process and how it cleans itself. The most important component of the BSF is the sand. When water is passed through it, the micro organisms on the top surface eats the bacteria and when the water that comes out is almost 80% cleaned.

1. First, put in 5cm worth of rough gravel,
2. followed by 5cm of fine gravel on the next layer.
3. Put water through to rinse
4. Pour in 35kg sand and fill with water again.
5. The water that comes out is clean to go with your pie!

Here's us bringing back our VERY OWN CREATION!!!

A lovely family picture...

Day 2 (By Denise & Wenhao)

Spending the first night at Croap was a totally different experience especially for the girls as it was the first time they could live close to nature. On the other hand, the guys bathed with toads and slept with a white palm-sized gecko. Nevertheless, the CROAP compound is beautiful and is a different sight from all the high rise buildings we see in Singapore.


The 30 minute trip from CROAP to Sustainable Cambodia(SC) on the tuk-tuks was an eye opener for some as we had to sit through the bumpy and dusty ride on Highway 5.

Today was split into two parts – theory and practical. On arrival at SC, we managed to get things rolling immediately with a lesson from Mr David Scott, an in-house volunteer. He had also attended lessons from CAWST. We got more details of the BSF and managed to clarify our doubts on the subject matter.

Immediately after the lesson, we got down to the work sieving through 210kg of sand to get the fine sand for the filter layer of the BSF.



Then, it was break for lunch! Right outside SC, at a local restaurant.

After lunch, it was down to serious business. We were split into two groups. The first group did the washing of the fine sand while the other group worked on the casting of the 5 BSFs out of the iron moulds.

After the hard work, we were invited to attend a Human Rights Day celebration in the SC compound. The co-founder of SC, Ms Susan J. Mastin, highlighted to the Cambodian students about their right to learn.

They had games and performances lined up but we had to leave early as it was getting dark.
In these 2 days, all of us can be quite sure that we took back a lot from the hard work today and we also realized the importance of safe and clean water, especially in rural areas where tapped water is not even readily available.

Special Thanks to Waterloo Members

It has been a while since I last updated this blog..

Our team has just concluding our fundraising drive for Project Waterloo!

Special appreciation

The following people -

Joyce (for the ice-cream)

Wenhao (for the water filtration unit and layout of the booth)

Shaorong (for the hearts and photos)

Have helped tremendously in the organising and running of the booth.

Without them, we wouldnt have gotten such success from the booth.

Team Kamikaze

Thank you to the crazy fellas who stayed overnight at the booth!

First Night: Joyce, Yiing Jye, Wenhao

Second Night: Wenhao, Ming Hui, Shaorong

Third: Wenhao, Minghui, Diana, Shaorong, Denise, Michell, Joyce

Best Vocal Award:

This award goes to our dear Eunice, for having the sweetest and loudest voice in Team Waterloo.

According to a report from one of the Mentos, Mingzhou, he was able to hear Eunice's "Ice-scream for sale" even when he was at the toilet's urinal.

Best Money Counters:

Shaorong & Guanyi for counting the money and depositing the money on a daily basis.

Btw, I still have alot of coins in the drawer.

Please clear them!

Best Gossip Monger:
This special award goes to Yi Ting!

No one else has proven to be more worthy of this award, other than Yiting.

With her daily feed of the latest gossips in the team, our guys at the booth have endless stream of entertainment.

According to YiTing herself, she is quiet and reserved.

Apparently not so.

Her claims are now being questioned by several, including the Royalty.

A check-up has been scheduled with IMH.

Everyone in Waterloo!

Last but not least, every single one of you who had taken time off your studies to help out at the booth!

We have all gotten closer to one another after putting so much effort at the booth.

I believe our booth is the only 24hours stall in NTU's history, even better than 7-11. :P

My email to Waterloo Applicants

Boo!

Did your heart miss a beat when you see the title of the mail?
I must apologise for playing such a prank on you.
I know all are eagerly waiting for the results.
I am not releasing the results now, because I still have people who have yet to pay up!

The purpose of this mail is mainly to show my appreciation to everyone who make time for the application.
At the same time, I would like to share my thoughts with everyone who applied for Waterloo.

Both Diana and myself had the opportunity to talk to every single one who had applied for Project Waterloo.
Despite the time-constraints that we all have, everyone made the effort to attend the interview sessions.
My stomach was rumbling during some of the time because of the lunches I missed.
I was hoping that someone would have bought me some nice muffins for Cafe Express to bribe me during the interview.
Jokes aside, I would like to apologise for any hiccups along the way(i.e. missing out names or failing to keep to the scheduled timing).


Limitations on group size.
Over the past 3 days, I could feel the sincerity and eagerness that most of you have expressed during the interview.
Unfortunately, the vacancies I have are limited.
Furthermore, the village in Cambodia may not be able to sustain a group that is too big.
On the other hand, the people who deserve a place within the team is definitely more than 20.

Diana and myself had literally spent hours poring through the applications at night.
Even during today morning, I still had a big headache finalising the namelist.

For those who arent selected, please do not be disappointed.
I still would like to invite you to join us in the local efforts for this project.
I strongly believe that the local projects is certainly equally meaningful.
For those who continued to persevere with us despite not being chosen, I will do my best to let you join the expedition.
I am looking into the possibility of increasing the team size.


Just some thoughts I had during the interview.
1. Firstly, I was very much impressed by the experiences of community service everyone has shared with me. With all these experiences, I hope you will continue to serve as well as to inspire those around you to serve. NTU SIFE attracted me because it gave me the free reins to do whatever projects I would like to be engaged. I hope all of you will take part in our projects and eventually play a part in creating new meaningful projects for the community.

2. Secondly, I also do come across some who are still searching for their passion. Our time in NTU is very short. I will urge you to expose yourself to as many different experiences as possible. SIFE promotes a worth and interesting cause. You will be pleasantly surprised by the warm reception that we students enjoy from people experienced in their fields. Talk to people. Businessman. CEOs. Poly students. Politicians. The namecards will be extremely useful. Make good use of them.

3. Thirdly, NTU SIFE is made up of a group of friendly and down-to-earth NTU undergraduates. The most important reason why we can worked so hard together is because we enjoy working together! I will like to encourage a fun and open culture within the club. I hope you will find your true friends in SIFE, just like what I had found.

It is a lengthy email and thank you for reading up till here.
I will look forward to working with everyone very soon.

If I missed out anyone or his/her friends, please either forward this mail to him/her or inform me.
Lastly, if you have any thoughts which you would like to share with me or Diana, feel free to express them.
I would like to hear from you.

Thank you!