We're back!!

Hi again and apologies for the break in information.

The last 2 days have seen some, if not all members, of the team go through some form of emotional struggle.  2 days ago, we received some terrible news in relation to the death of someone close to one of our team members.  The death was as the result of a tragic accident and involved a young man aged 22 years.  This has meant the update of the blog has been the furthest thing from any of our minds.  The repercussions of such a tragedy are made bigger when we are away from families and for many it has really brought home the reality of family and what it means.  All families have been contacted where it was felt necessary. 

What we have seen, is the respect and friendship that has developed amongst our team members as they have pulled together to support the people who have been affectd most by this accident.

Yesterday we visited the Angkor Wat temple complex and some were able to particpate in a Buddhist blessing to be our way of saying farewell, not only to the young man involved in this acccident, but also to others who have passed before, for whom we may still be grieving.  I know that the small group of students who participated have told me that it has really helped them to begin to deal with their grief and they were thankful to the other students who participated with them.  The blessing involved words from a local elder, along with a band being placed around the participant's wrist, followed by a brief period of prayer/thought and placing incensce at the alter (in front of a statue of Buddha).  The blessing was brief, but hopefully will assist all involved.

Our leadership team has been incredible and have formed even closer bonds with the students. 

We are now back on track and will hopefully begin daily updates again.
Akun
Shaz

Build Day One

Soostay all!

So build day one was an experience to remember. As you have read we were split into two groups for two different build tasks.
The Ag group, spearheaded by the never ending enthusiasm and power of Luke O'Brien, started the day with some very heavy lifting. The boys, with a little help from Bec, lifted and carted 16 solid concrete pillars to their resting places while the girls helped the monks and locals dig the holes for the pillars to sit in. This took up the majority of the morning and then we moved onto sandbagging just before lunch.
After lunch was very tedious; standing the pillars up, putting them down again and refilling the hole with sand and repeating several times. It is fair to say that at the end of the day there were some very tired faces and sore bodies as a result of all our hard work.
P.S - Luke was ready for round two by the time we arrived back at our hotel.


In the bike shed group, we first had to level out the dirt. While some people were doing that, others were carting rocks by using our hands and bags so that they were closer to the bike shed. When the dirt was all even we started to put the rocks down on top of the dirt. When half the bike shed floor was covered with rocks, we started to carry and drag bags of sand over to the bike shed to go on top of the rocks.
After moving the big pile of rocks and sand, the floor of the bike shed was covered. Now the floor needs to have cement covered over the sand. Even though some people ran out of water to drink, everyone still worked really hard :)

The evening consisted of very little. Everyone was keen to lay in air conditioned comfort, many opting for the wonderful massages on offer through our hotel. After dinner we made up our care packs for the orphanages and most then went straight to bed to rest at recoup for another day of hard labour today.

For those who aren't aware, all of the fundraising we did back home was funded all the materials for the complexes we are building over the next few days. The children, the monks and the villagers cannot thank us (students, teachers, parents and those who donated money) enough for all that we've done and are doing. It's an overwhelming feeling to know that we are changing lives with what we do.

It's time to sign off for another day and board the bus to take the very bumpy road (if you think the pot holes on the Murray Valley Highway, you should see these!) back down to the orphanage

Bec and Megan Cain

Life and Hope projects underway

This is just a quick update as we were all exhausted when we got back last night. I will have some student comments added today before we start the second day of work.

It was an early start and we were on the road at 8am. We arrived on the site after about an hour and a quarter after travelling through some of the biggest potholes I have ever seen! 2 jobs to be done.....build a shelter for 5 families & build a bike shed for the orphanage.

Shelter project: start by digging holes for foundations, then fill base with sand, before carting the concrete pylons to the correct spots and standing them in place....all while dealing with an ever moving string line!

Bike shed project: level the floor using sand dug from a pit just behind the site (having to dig the sand out of the pit first), cart rocks to place over the sand, then top fill with a finer grade of sand to prepare for concreting tomorrow.

All this without a wheelbarrow in sight.....just shovel the sand into fertiliser bags then carry the bags and upend them into the correct place.

Every member of this team can stand proud. They worked extremely well together and worked solidly all day. We are so proud of them.

We will attempt to put some photos up later today.
Sharon

Tuk Tuk Adventures

Today was a day of Tuk tuks throughout Siem Reap. We started the day with a lovely breakfast enjoyed by everyone! The pancakes were awesome, Jake and Daniel W started the day super early ready for breakfast at 5am.

Monk Y-Nol at the Wat Damnak taught us many phrases in Khmer to help us get through the time in Cambodia from finding out the prices of items in the market to where to toilet is.

• Dah bong koon der anah? - Where is the toilet?
• Dah weir thly pon nan? - how much is it?
• Dah nyak sokeusby day? - how are you today?

After the outstanding lessons, we ventured once more out into the organised chaos of the streets contained within Siem Reap. After a scare involving a rolled Tuk Tuk, safely away from the busy road, we were chauffeured to a pleasant little restaurant called the Blue Pumpkin. Fortunately none of these were served. 

The food was, however, lovely, but a little too Western. We dined on hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and green curries whilst Kirby enjoyed a freshly picked coconut fresh from the vine. The air conditioned upstairs area was a great relief from the astonishing heat outside.

Lunch was followed by a shopping challenge involving a few small groups given commands to buy various goods for care packages for as cheap as we could get them. These included simple things that we take for granted such as tooth brushes, soap, combs and pieces of fabric. 

The sights and smells of the market were nothing like in Australia. Vibrant silks were hung from the corners of each stall, pig carcasses strewn from hooks, row upon row of gleaming knock off watches. It is a truly an assault on the senses.

Following the market venture, we again took the Tuk Tuks, this time to the war museum. This was a far different experience to the joyful markets.

We learnt a lot about the civil war and the reign of Pol Pot from our guide, an ex soldier and land mine survivor, whom stills bears the shrapnel in his upper thigh and shoulder. 

So many utterly disturbing atrocities were committed during Pol Pot's reign, and it is honestly amazing that nearly every Cambodian will greet you with a smile when they have so little and have been through so much.

As we speak or type, we are relaxing on the rooftop lounge area, waiting to go out for tea. This is to be followed by a night market where lots of money will doubtlessly be spent so, expect gifts upon our return.

This issue of the blog was bought to you by today's bored students, Jack Hughes and Daniel Wyatt.

We have arrived!!

After travelling 7 long hours from Melbourne to Singapore, we had some time to spare before our next flight so after meeting the Darwin team we got to know them through an amazing race around the Singapore airport. The Victorian team then departed for Cambodia while the Darwin team waiting for their flight which arrived 2 hours later. After getting off the flight and getting struck by the heat and the humidity we then headed into their airport and got greeted by our transport for the day which was mini buses, we all piled in and were shocked to see no road rules were abided by. After reaching our Hotel Wooden Angkor we were assigned our rooms and had time to settle in while waiting for the Darwin team. While waiting, we went for a group walk to see the surrounding streets which were very confronting and some people were shocked by this due to the extreme poverty and the rubbish lying all over the side of their dirt roads however the locals were so happy to see foreigners. We had a relaxing night and free time to get to know everyone, this included some people going and playing with the children who were in the alley way next to our hotel, the kids were very amused by this and were more than happy to pose for photos.  After our group meal of the beginning of our rice epidemic we all headed off to the showers and bed, ready for our new day of adventure.

Erin Knight, Kellie Perkins and Megan O'Brien.

Singapore...we have arrived

We have all arrived safely into Singapore and the Amazing Race has begun. Teams of 6 have just been dispatched to search the airport for places and items. Who will win?  We will find out in a couple of hours.  Most are sleep deprived, so should sleep well tonight....or is that wishful thinking???

Exams underway and 3 weeks to go!

Well, we are now 3 weeks away from departure.  Doesn't seem like a long time, but for our students it will be the busiest 3 weeks of their lives to this point.  Planning for the trip has just about finished and airline tickets arrived today.  It is all systems go!
We, the organising committee wish all the students the best for their year 12 exams - whether here or on the Northern Territory.  Good luck and we are looking forward to a great team trip in 2012.  See you all at the airport.