Destination: Cambodia

After 30 hours of traveling (a 12-hour flight to Seoul, a 12-hour layover and then a 6-hour flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia), my fellow Heart Touch volunteers and I finally arrived at our destination. We took a day to get situated and then headed out to the orphanage to start our work!


This sweet girl is waiting to get cleared to get her medication.

And...wow. The orphanage is run by John & Kathy Tucker, a wonderful couple who moved to Cambodia from Texas a few years ago (6? maybe more). First we got a tour of the facilities, which are very impressive--especially when we found out that most of it has been built in the last two years. They have 8 clusters of homes and each cluster has 3 houses and a kitchen. The idea is to have a couple who takes care of the kids at each cluster, so each one feels like a family. They are also striving to be as self-sufficient as possible, using pig poop for methane fuel (and the pigs will be bred and sold), solar power and bio-diesel. There are over 125 kids there now, and they also support over 900 HIV+ children (who have families) in Cambodia.

We started out by gathering a group of about 40 or 50 kids so we could play some games to break the ice and give them some "touch activities" to play with each other after we leave. We all had a lot of fun and when it was time for them to go and eat lunch, a group of boys stayed behind, asking for "massage." Of course we were thrilled to have some quiet, individual time with them, and even more thrilled to see that they were modeling our behavior and massaging each other. It was really a beautiful sight to behold...and exactly the kind of thing we were hoping would happen, since peer massage helps create/strengthen bonds between the kids, reduces aggression, and keeps them calmer and happier!


Showing the kids some massage strokes .



Massage games!

We also took a trip to the TB ward at a local hospital to offer the patients massage. They were all more than happy to receive some loving touch, as were their caregivers.


The TB ward

When our van pulled into the orphanage on our second day, we were greeted with kids running up to the van, yelling "massage! massage!" and mimicking some massage movements we had done with them the day before. It's hard to get the games and massages done when you have two kids hanging off of you at all times, but we managed. My favorite part of the day was when we were playing one of the games and I looked at the little girl in my lap, only to realize that she was fast asleep! She kept sleeping through the games for another half hour, until it was time to wake her up for lunch (which she was not thrilled about).

Somebody's sleepy

Massaged kids are happy kids!

One of the most touching moments of the trip so far was when a young girl who is new at the orphanage, and came to them from a situation where she was being sexually abused, actually joined in one of the games. We got to watch her come out of her shell and open herself up to some healthy touch during a few short days. She was even requesting a massage on the second day. And for a bunch of massage therapists (aka: touch junkies), that is a wonderful thing to witness.


I'm hot, sweaty, gross and happy. I know we're not supposed to pick favorites, but, well...I just love this boy!

Today the kids treated us to a dance performance before we left for the day...and now my mouth hurts from smiling so much during the dances. And, as cliche as it sounds, I really do wonder who is getting the most benefit from this experience. Because I feel like these kids have given me so much already...and we're not even halfway through the trip.


Cutest.thing.EVER. The kids after their dance.

I'll try to get some more/better photos once i get home. I may have internet access here, but that doesn't mean the computers are fast! I think it might take me all day to sort through my photos and upload them. Make that a week. ha!