Lots of Love

I can't believe we're already at our last day at Knar School. Out of the 40 students we've had over the last week, I can say I know 2 kids name. That might sound weird, but a lot of the kids never told us their names and there wasn't a class roster or anything. The only reason why I know the 2 kids name is because I always heard the teacher calling their name for some reason or another. Also, not every child comes to class everyday and there were some days where we had students from other classes (the older students were interested in what we were doing and just came and sat in our class), but you don't have the heart to tell them to leave. This just shows you how different the school is here.

Despite all of that, there is lots of love at the school. From the tuk-tuk drivers, to volunteers, to teachers, to the PLF, and the students! School is a place the kids can come to learn, play, get medical attention, get fed, and washed up. It is a very important part of the village and the greater Cambodian society as a whole. And with out everyone working together it would not exist.

With that said, we decided to make paper heart necklaces today and decorate it with a little paint to show the kids how much we loved being with them. Folding the paper went well, but we assisted with the cutting as the last time was a bit stressful. The students then used a qtip to paint dots on one side of the heart and we pressed the two sides together to get our artwork. Very impressive I must say. After the paint dried or what we thought was dry, we taped a string to the back to make a necklace. They then wore it around their neck. This probably wasn't the best idea since some weren't quite dry enough and we had some colorful shirts at the end of the day:)

We decided to have a bigger snack day today since it was our last day. We usually just have cookies/crackers but today, we had soybean milk and french bread with condensed milk! It was good. The families here don't have much so anything extra is a treat:)

Afterwards we said our goodbyes, which was sad, got our hugs and high fives and the kids were out the door. It's been a true rewarding experience being with them the past week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its one of the most humbling experience I've encountered and I hope to come back again one day. It would be nice to see some of the same kids again as well and hope they remember me. You really don't know if you've made an impact on someone's life until you hear or see them again so I'm hoping I'll have that chance.

The story really doesn't end here. There's still so much more to do and I hope I can stay a part of it even though I'm miles away.

Until next time. "Good luck and good health from Knar School."