Saturday and Sunday were both temple viewing days and I must have taken about 500 pictures! I love the crazy trees the best. I’ll have to watch Tomb Raider again now that I’ve been to the place where it was filmed. Angkor really is amazing and each temple has so many hidden charms, detailed carvings, etc. It was great to spend the two days climbing all over the temple complex. One temple was still quite flooded and we had to pay a dollar to take motorbikes across to view it. The flooding has improved and so far Jen and I haven’t had any more tuk-tuks (Cambodian taxis) get stuck, forcing us to get out in lots of water to push! (That was my first day!)

Saturday night it was raining again and we weren’t really feeling like going out. So I suggested to Jen that we try to order a pizza delivery and it actually worked! Of course, we had ordered veggie with half mushrooms and got half pineapple and half ham, but a version of Hawaiian tasted good too. And we spent the night hanging out and watching movies. Jen is delaying her first year of college to volunteer, so we had a little pseudo college dorm experience going with pizza and movies in Jen’s room. Wild Saturday nights here, I tell you!

One of the best experiences I’ve had was on Sunday when we visited the orphanage. Of course, with the Sox down two games, I pulled out all the stops to try to bring them luck. I had brought a bunch of Red Sox shirts plus a plastic bat and wiffle balls (or rather Kat brought them over with her when she met me! Thanks Kat!) Since I had given them Red Sox cards last week, they at least recognized the Red Sox and when Jen and I showed up in our matching red shirts, they really liked them. It was even more awesome being able to pull out the bag of shirts for everyone! I had just enough for all the kids and the two staff working there. They were all very excited and put them right on. And they were even more excited when I pulled out the bat and balls.

I showed them copies of my old childhood baseball pictures and we took some official “Cambodia Team Red Sox” pictures. I even taught them the “Horns of Hope” for good luck
! Fortunately, the yard area wasn’t flooded anymore so we used rocks for bases and everyone joined in for our own baseball game. They grasped the basics quite well! It was just a terrific afternoon.

To read more of Val’s time in Asia check out her blog at http://travelvalasia.blogspot.com/.

Anthony, Theresa, and I went to a concert in the evening. I got in the tuk tuk thinking we were going to some free concert like the one Val, Ta, and I went to, but I got there and realized it was a classical cello concert!

The concert was really great. The cellist was Beat Richner, who has opened four children’s hospitals in Cambodia, three in Phnom Penh, and one in Siem Reap (I bicycle past it twice every day). The hospitals are completely free for children 12 and under and they save 85,000 lives every year. While Richner rotated playing and talking I learned some sombering facts:
- 65% of Cambodians (all ages) have tuberculosis
- 85% of Cambodians make 50 cents a day
- JEV (Japanese Encephalitus Virus) vaccinations aren’t allowed in Cambodia
- Until 1992 most modern vaccines weren’t brought to Cambodia because it was thought that because the people are so uneducated, they wouldn’t understand how to administer medications

Richner said something else that I really liked, “The high mortality rate of the poor is not caused because of poverty. The mortality rate is caused by discrimination against the poor.”

The hospital is free for all children 12 and under and families who have to travel very far to get to the hospital are also compensated for gasoline on their trip. The hospital delivers about fifty babies a day, performs sixty surgeries, and has lowered its mortality rate from 6% to 0.5% in just 17 years. And, no child is rejected. After all I have learned, I have an entirely new appreciation for the hospital. There are lines a mile long every day comprised of families with sick children waiting for their number to be called. What an incredible thing Richner is doing.

The free cello concert is something that he started years ago in order to raise money for the hospital. Two million dollars are donated every year by the Cambodian government, three million by the Swiss government where Richner is from, and the rest of the funding comes from private donations. It costs around 80 million every year to run the hospitals and his cello concerts, alone, raise eight million each year. I thought his story was incredible and I bought his classical cello CD to listen to while I study in college.

To read more about Jen’s trip to Cambodia check out her blog at http://jensgapyear.blogspot.com/.

“Fight with words, not with bullets.” ~Phally, the Director of Khmer Chewy Khmer

It was 6 p.m. and Kristen and I had just arrived at Khmer Chewy Khmer English School in Siem Reap, Cambodia. There were probably 100 children running around, and more were on their bikes outside. Phally, the School Director, immediately showed us to separate “classrooms” to either assist or to teach a class. Even with my experience as a teacher in the United States, it was a bit overwhelming, but the students were so welcoming and so interested in learning that it was hard to feel uncomfortable. Many of them were interested in practicing their conversational skills, and hearing native pronunciation of English words. Phally’s goal is for the students (or “his children” as Phally affectionately calls them) to learn English so that the children of Siem Reap can have more opportunities in their lives, and to foster cross cultural understanding.

The students come from all over Siem Reap to attend this school, which is at Phally’s house. He has turned his home and his property into a free school for children who cannot afford the $5-8 monthly fee that most private schools charge. The school has gone from 50 students to almost 1000 in just a few years. Phally’s work has inspired his students so much that many return to volunteer as teachers. They will work all day and then travel for an hour or more to teach at the school at night.

We also volunteered at the school during the day with two other volunteers, Erin and Merrill. We would help Phally with tasks around the school, such as moving dirt to level the land for a new classroom or digging a ditch so that the grounds don’t flood during rainy season. Every day, we would start a task, but not have time to finish it, and tell Phally that we would finish it the next day. Every day, we would come back, and the task would have been completed, and there would be something else to do.

Phally’s dedication and love for his town (and his country) was so apparent that Kristen and I knew we needed to do more to help him when we got back to the United States. We talked to the Country Coordinator and found out that a classroom costs approximately $2000 to build. A classroom consists of a cement floor, two brick walls, a roof made of aluminum sheeting, wooden tables with wooden benches, a white board, and a few lightbulbs. I promised Phally before I left that we would raise money for him to build that extra classroom, and I have every intention of fulfilling this promise. Kristen and I are planning a couple fundraising events at the beginning of the year, so check back for updates on how you can help out, too!

Abbie’s continuing to fundraise for the extra classroom now that she’s returned to the US. To plan your own inspirational trip to Cambodia visit our website.

Still there were life jackets on board, scores of similar tour boats docked two and three deep, and thousands of skiffs, pontoons and other floating craft along the river bank. In fact, these were floating villages. Families for generations have lived their lives on the river, with everything they own crammed onto a covered boat no bigger than an oversized canoe. Even the schools, restaurants and little convenience stores float..

Cambodia is a country with strong knees. The people crouch to do everything. The smaller boats are rowed and steered from the very front by a person in a kneeling /squatting position. The covered house boats seem to provide no room for standing, so cooking, washing over the side of the boat, or doing any of the daily chores of living occurs from a crouched position. They even rest by squatting low to the ground.

In the Buddhist tradition, veneration is performed with the feet always facing behind the body, never in front. The monks and nuns eat sitting on the ground, with their legs turned to the side and feet tucked beneath or beside their bodies. My 50-plus knees remember with fond longing the days of the lotus position, deep knee bends, and sitting cross-legged Indian-style on the floor for long periods of time. Now I need a chair to sit on and something to brace myself with when getting up from a kneeling position.

Our boat ride took us across the northern end of the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest fresh-water lake in Southeast Asia, and up the Sangkor River, a tributary of the Mekong in VietNam and Laos. But it quickly turned from a leisurely glide under hot and sunny skies into a sodden crawl after a sudden rainstorm hit. The four-man crew struggled mightily to keep the passengers dry while periodically clearing the propeller of weeds, pushing off from the now narrowed and reedy banks, and steering safely around the bends in the river (someone had to stand in the rain at the front of the boat to point). Add to this the task of preventing the jerry-rigged engine from overheating. (Repeated sopping by rags doused in river water seemed to be the preferred cooling method.) But the crew worked together like a well-oiled machine, and we were none the worse for wear when we docked nine hours later.

The highlight of our trip to Battambang was the ride on the Bamboo Train. The word train is used euphemistically, and only in the strictest technical sense. Yes, there is a train track. But dispel all visions of train cars, doors, windows and seats from your mind.

Battambang is the coconut and rice bowl of Cambodia. Its fertile soil feeds most of the country. The Bamboo Train was first constructed by the French many decades ago to transport produce and other goods to the capital, Phnom Penh. It was actually a train then. Now it’s a unique and creative form of local travel, peasant style. The “car” is a flat bed of bamboo slats about 10’ long and 8’ wide, covered with mats for seating and powered by a motorcycle engine. It runs on small steel wheels joined by a rod that look like a weightlifter’s barbells and weigh just as much.
The one railway track stretches on for miles.

Your fellow passengers are mostly farmers, local merchants and factory workers, but motorcycles, small tractors, sacks of produce and barnyard animals are also welcome and frequent riders. After a running push by one of the train crew, you’re off at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. No roof, walls, no windows, no seats. Just you and your travelling companions with trees, streams and rice paddies zipping by on either side, the wind in your face, and God in heaven as witness.

The fun really begins when your train meets an oncoming train from the opposite direction. The right of way is determined by the train carrying the heavier load. For example, five mere humans are easily trumped by 2 humans and an iron plow (even minus the ox that pulls the plow). The train with the lighter load unloads it cargo and gets completely dismantled on the spot so the other train can pass. Off come the passengers, the mats, the flatbed, and the wheels, then all back together again for the ride to proceed. So don’t forget to factor that into your travel time if you’re on a tight schedule. But one would not want to hurry on such an exhilarating ride. It is the essence of Cambodia – resourceful, cooperative, efficient and completely surrendered to the beauty of the natural world around it.

I celebrated my birthday on our return boat ride to Siem Reap. As a Cancerian, there’s no better way to spend a birthday than on the water. No rains this time, just watching life lived on a river. For these Khmer , it’s the source of everything – food, drink, cleansing, playing, buying and selling, connection and community. I thought about the wondrous places I have spent past birthdays: at the Pyramid of Gizeh, in a grotto on a Greek island, with my family in Guyana, in the mountains in Colorado, on a near-deserted beach in Mexico. I have been most fortunate to have seen the planet from many different vantage points. And maybe because it was on my birthday, all of them were holy moments. This was no exception. Blessed be.

Did you enjoy Isisara’s story? Visit her blog for more!

From this inspiration I made the decision to go to dental school, and someday follow in my mentor’s footsteps. Of course dental school was demanding and difficult. Graduation, starting up in practice, building a new life with my family, teaching, and worrying about patients, kids and money, made me lose site of my original goal.

It wasn’t until several years later when life started to stabilize that I remembered my role model and the inspiration he gave me.

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to meet and study with another role model, a National Geographic photographer, who happened to be associated with an organization called United Planet.

At the time, United Planet was just starting to offer volunteer opportunities to Asia.

Armed with a background in Asian Studies, a duffel bag of dental supplies, and a camera, I boarded a plane for Cambodia. Three days later I arrived at Siem Reap International Airport. I was greeted by 90-degree heat and a never-ending flow of beautiful smiling and welcoming faces. Two escorts with a private car drove me to my hotel and graciously introduced me to Khmer culture.

One of our first stops was a quick tour of the Angkor Hospital for Children where I was scheduled to work for the next 10 days. I was told to report back promptly after lunch as the dental team was going out to the countryside to provide care in a small village. After an arduous ride over dirt roads, we arrived at a small cement block building. Outside there were about 20 people lined up waiting. Inside, I found a single table and chair, no electricity and no running water. Using flashlights and natural light from high overhead windows, we extracted teeth all afternoon until we ran out of sterile instruments.

The rest of the trip was spent treating children at the hospital dental clinic. Luxurious by comparison to the first day with the fully equipped clinic, I was able to give over 125 children their smiles back and relieve their pain.

Many nights after returning to the privacy of my hotel room, I sobbed with disparity realizing both the pain and suffering of these beautiful children, and the intense and profound satisfaction I was feeling from helping them.

Traveling in this way, as volunteers, place us in an environment that the average sightseer would most likely never experience. We are able to connect with a culture in a simple, transparent way by sharing our time, and, avoid the pomp and circumstance of buses, tour guides and souvenir shops.

I was able to spend time with people in their homes and share a meal, or, go swimming and play with kids I treated in the clinics. I watched the sunrise and breathed in the sandalwood incense as I walked with the Buddhist monks on their morning alms quest. I spent a lazy afternoon practicing the Khmer language and laughing out loud while it rained so hard we could barely see the surrounding rice fields. I experienced unbelievable sights, such as the Angkor Wat temple complex, and an entire village that floats, and moves with the floods and draughts, on the largest lake in South East Asia.
And most importantly, I realized the magic of empathy and compassion.

Since that first visit, I have returned to Cambodia 7 times. I have made life-long friends, joined the boards of local NGOs and Universities, and helped found a non-profit organization that provides education and basic life support to street children and the very poor.

With the core support of United Planet, dozens of professionals have contributed to improving the educational, agricultural, and economic systems in developing countries. United Planet provides almost unlimited volunteer opportunities for anyone that wants to make a difference in someone’s life.

Anyone can help anyone. We all have a talent, skill, or passion that can be shared with those less fortunate. And believe me, there is no greater feeling of satisfaction and sense of appreciation than making that magic connection with someone that needs you.

Right now, today, there are over one billion people living around the world in terrible poverty. They are living without clean water, without decent food or shelter, without regular access to education or health care, and without hope. We are the world’s most privileged. It is simply our responsibility to extend help and compassion if we are able.

The Buddha said, “If you are pointed in the right direction, all you have to do is start walking.”

United Planet is pointed in the right direction. Now, all we have to do is take the first step.