In the past few weeks, I have met three former Volunteers of the Wat Opot Community, all expressing their sadness at the closing of the Residential Care part of the Organization. Kate, who holds the record for times volunteering, was visiting Cambodia for a few days and wanted to meet as many of the former residents as possible… so we did some home visits with children who lived in the Province.
Because it would be difficult to meet all of the children in this way, we invited the secondary school students, who are still supported through the new SAHAKA Foundation, to come to Phnom Penh for a two-day field trip. Some came on their own but others had to be picked up at Wat Opot.
We started with a visit to the new AEON 3 shopping mall, which was on the way back into Phnom Penh.
In the evening the girls went to a fashion show and the graduation ceremony of Cetra from the Kate Korpi Beauty Salon, while the boys went for dinner and games at an amusement park.
After a less-than-comfortable or quiet night’s sleep on the floor of Dara’s apartment, we headed out to the European Village just outside of Phnom Penh to experience a touch of luxury living.
And then it was lunch time and everyone decided on pizza.
And because the girls were upset about not getting to drive the bumper cars, we headed back to the amusement park where Kate rented out all the cars so that everyone could experience the fun.
We finished the second day at Chisol Mountain and then drove back to Wat Opot to say our goodbyes.
It was an unforgettable time together and most likely the last opportunity to meet in this way again. SAHAKA will continue to support many of these young people with their studies. Some will want to go on to University while others will go into the trades. We are so grateful to Kate for providing us with the means to make this experience possible.
Crossing the Mekong that evening by ferry boat it hit me just how much time has changed things. The landing where we boarded was once a Vietnamese village where I would go by canoe with my medical bag to treat the villagers. There was no skyline back then, just slum areas and fishing boats.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far. We are starting from scratch so if anyone is interested in lending a hand we would appreciate your support. You can donate through the SAHAKA website or if you live in Cambodia use this QR code:
