New Hope, Cambodia- Year 11 (2013-14)

As community art students, it is part of our job to reach out to the community through various forms of art. On November the 26th 2013, we were given the opportunity to do just that - by reading stories to underprivileged children. We had done this activity prior, for the lovely students of the SKJ Tamil School, in Pekan Ampang.
And now we were going international by taking this activity to Siem Riep Cambodia. That’s how we found ourselves in the Mondul Bai a village in the Slorkam commune. Once there, we were acquainted with a wonderful, altruistic woman named Ms Janet (who along with her , had quit her job and left her native hometown in Australia and came to volunteer here). After we were oriented with the area and had settled down, Mrs Janet gave us a brief overview on the origins of ‘New Hope’.
It all began with a tuk tuk driver and his realisation that if education didn’t come into play, the vicious cycle of poverty would never be broken and Cambodia would never advance. And so Kemsour sold of all his tuk tuks to raise money to build a hut that would serve as a school for the local children.

It was in this very hut that we would be telling stories to the children. After the brief, we were given an opportunity to mix and mingle with the children. Initially we were slightly tentative, as we well aware that there was a language barrier. However the children – whose eyes gleamed with glee and bright smiles – clearly enthused at the sight of visitors approached us. In all but a few minutes the wall of uncertainty came crumbling down and we started playing with them – engaged in conversations with them, gave them piggyback rides and even carried them. Some even gave us drawings! Then came the reading…
 
Our year was divided into 2 groups who would tell different stories to the classes. Upon entering the class, the children came towards us and sat on our laps. They shrieked with delight and clapped their hands excitedly when the story (using puppets was being told. After the session, we took several pictures with them and our hearts ached with an indescribable kind of pain when we were forced to say farewell. 

In retrospect, we were supposed to teach the children something but I believe that we gained a lesson in return. 

We learned the true meaning of happiness – it doesn’t mean having a lavish lifestyle or owning a lot of luxurious things – these people have so little and yet they have so much – so much contentment and happiness that one can only dream of possessing and that makes them one of the richest people I have ever known.
                                                                                               Isabelle(year 10)