From Australia, with love

Seventeen students and four teachers from Australia have come and gone. Proof of their hard work has been etched on the rough landscape, and evidence of their new-found love for Cambodia and its people have been stamped in the hearts of adults and children. 

Already leaving ... on a jetplane

Thirteen girls shared a 4 x 5 meter room on the corner of Jumpah’s farm. Eight boys lived in a similar room on the opposite corner. They all enjoyed (well, experienced) squat toilets, mosquito nets, cockroaches and lizards, rice for breakfast (and every other meal), very hot days and nights, rain and mud, diarrhea and upset stomachs, homesickness, basic discomfort, the list could go on and on.

Oh, and they worked hard, all day, almost every day. Girls and guys mixed cement, cleared vegetation in and around the fishpond, dug and hauled dirt, painted walls, unrolled plastic and covered it with rocks, dug and hauled lots more dirty, prepared garden areas, chipped cement, hung doors, hoed and carried even more dirt.

And when they were exhausted, they played with kids, developed relationships, studied language, toured the village, played volleyball, sang, danced, lit fireworks, ate local ice cream and thought about home, all before trying to fall asleep, separated from a bare cement floor by one flimsy, woven mat.

We’ll ask a couple of the students to send us short essays about what the experience meant to them. We can post them here, later.

So what was accomplished through the combined (labor) efforts of the Australians and Cambodians?

-- one huge T-shaped channel in the middle of the farm for the incessant rains to drain into (and it will be home to fish which eventually will be sold or eaten).

-- about 60 7-meter long raised beds for gardening

-- boys and girls residences painted, inside and outside

-- two brand new, 5,000 liter, water storage tanks to replace the old, leaking, and brittle tanks

-- two new deep cycle batteries purchased and installed for the solar electricity system

-- much needed landscaping (filling of low areas, etc.) completed at all three Jumpah sites

-- walkways added or upgraded throughout the three sites

-- holes dug in the ground in preparation for a sewage system upgrade

-- new steel doors made and (almost) hung for nine toilet / bathing rooms at the orphanage

-- other ‘small’ tasks

Not yet mentioned, the friendships and understanding of people and a culture not even known a few weeks ago. The new perspectives, motivations and even ideas for future careers and plans. The 30,000 US dollar gift given to Jumpah that had been raised by the students over the past nine months in fundraisers, service projects, and presentations given throughout the local communities back at Bribie.

We’ll tell you about all the great things their gift will do, as it is spent. A generous portion of the gift is meant for items and upgrades that are not part of the normal operating budget of Jumpah. Wow, Christmas in Cambodia in October!