The Journey to Takeo, Cambodia - Jacki Smith

Only a few days into our Addventure VSA trip and we are still on our
way to the project in Takeo. We crossed the border from Thailand after a
4-hour journey by minivan from Bangkok on Tuesday morning, and a walk
through "no mans land" organising our visa and arrival into Cambodia. We then had a very bumpy ride by bus on a long clay road, ditching the bus half way and exchanging it for four taxis to get to Siem Reap at a reasonable
hour (another 4-hour ride!). We are still in Siem Reap at the moment,
northwest Cambodia, which is very hot. It is a wonderful place and we have
already met some amazing locals and visited the famous Angkor temples.

We have met with another NGO, Trailblazers, and heard about their work at a
village 32km from Siem Reap. They have built a school, dug wells and put
in water filters (water filtered through sand), which has already lessened
the spread of malaria throughout the village. The people running Trailblazers
are very passionate about what they are doing, and it is really interesting
to talk to them. They are planning to continue their work through other areas of Cambodia.

We have also just visited the Landmine Museum to see some info about all
the landmines around Cambodia and meet some landmine victims. There are
many amputees in Cambodia and still many people fall victim to the landmines
that remain.

This afternoon a group of us will go and donate blood at the local Hospital. Cambodians do not donate blood, so it is a great thing for tourists to do.

Tomorrow we will continue our journey toward Takeo, stopping in Phnom
Penh, visiting the Cyclo Centre and the Seeing Hands Massage Clinic,
partner organisations of VSA.

We will soon be in Takeo to work on the reading shelter at Kla Krohim school. The concrete floor has been poured and is curing now, ready for our work. There are three ESOL teachers in our group and they have been busy
preparing and planning their teaching for when we are at the school. We
have mountain of books between us to donate, and even some recorders for
the kids to play!

It has been interesting talking to the group and hearing about their fundraising efforts - people all over New Zealand have contributed to this project, which is fantastic. They money will go a long way.

Well, that's all for now. I will send another instalment as soon as I can.

Jacki Smith
www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/JackiSmith