A Gift for the Teacher

Having been fortunate enough to have been raised in Canada, it's difficult to grasp that EDUCATION is not a right that children around the world share. In poverty stricken Cambodia, it is a luxury to go to school. At COSO, children with sponsors (very few) attend the local Khmer school. Tuition is approximately $15.00 US a month, plus there are additional charges to write exams, etc. In a Country where many people earn 50 cents a day, education for themselves or their children is far out of reach.

Fortunately for the children at COSO, a generous friend of the orphanage pays approximately $100/US per month to employ a teacher. Because of the language barrier I can't tell you the name of the COSO teacher as I write this. Chan Thol, our ever helpful  tuktuk driver, interpreted  a conversation between the teacher and I yesterday. Long story short, the school is in desperate need of supplies. On the teacher's wish list was: 10 whiteboard markers, 50 exercise books/scribblers, and 10 "English for Cambodians" Level 3 texts. The cost for these items was close to $100.00. This teacher wasn't asking for much.  

Flashback to my blog about the pick pocket scenario. At the time of my turmoil in Thailand, my kind, generous and concerned friend Normi Mann didn't think twice, she e-mailed me a $100.00 wire transfer IMMEDIATELY upon hearing of my predicament. I let her know that I was okay, that I had sorted things out (with Visa International and NOT RBC, thank you very much) and wouldn't accept the $100.00 transfer. But, she wouldn't cancel it. Yesterday I reminded her that she should cancel the transaction. She said no.  Normi  has already donated generously to COSO, yet she asked me to use the $100 in anyway I thought the orphanage could use it.

Perfect! Another "serendipitous" moment.  This morning we bought the list of supplies for $86.00 US, and with $14 left over, we purchased 20 watermelons as a special treat for the children.

The children are happy! The teacher is happy! And I am very, very happy to have a friend like Normi Mann.

Knowing Normi, she'd have preferred to remain anonymous. But I couldn't resist a public thank you! Thanks from all of us, Normi!

VALENTINES DAY MEANS DRAWING BOOK DAY AT COSO!

Thanks to good friend & brother Ian Young, who declined receiving a souvenier from Thailand/Cambodia enabling the purchase of materials for the Orphanage in his honour. On Valentines Day each child received their own drawing book, a pencil, and a heart shaped pencil sharpener. 70 children stood in line patiently waiting for their VERY OWN drawing supplies! As I've said before, just a sheet of unused paper is a treasure here.  It is difficult to fully describe the level of poverty in Cambodia, but I will try - not today, though.  Today was a very special day and a nice way for us to celebrate Valentines Day!

I was having difficulty remembering the names of all the children here at the Orphanage. Tracey Bell (who is ONE smart cookie) suggested that Chan Thol, our tuktuk driver, write the English version of the name of each child on the front of the drawing book. I then snapped a photo of the child with the book. Now I have a handy reference! It is getting much easier to assign a name of a face. Here are some photos, not all, just a handful.  For those of you wanting to see the face of every child here at Cambodian Orphan Save Organization, you're welcome to visit my facebook page.  For even more photos, go to http://www.cosocambodia.org/

Ba Rang

Svey Ya

Marry

Today at COSO, a Special Guest Appearance by Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms

What we've been up to:

Tracey told me to expect it, but I was still unprepared for the happiness and excitement of the children when we broke out the art supplies!

Thanks to Carmen Kuziemsky & Tracey Grabowski, today we planted mango trees!

We were ever so fortunate to have Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms make a special guest appearance!









Tracey Bell is building walls!

COSO sits on rented land, the lease expires in two years. The plan is for the new orphanage to be located across the street from the current location. They need building materials, and in her generosity Tracey Bell is paying for the walls to be erected on a building.

So far with the help of our generous friends we have been able to provide food, shelter, art supplies, and even make a sizeable contribution to a fruit orchard!   The COSO children express their love, appreciation and gratitude with heart felt hugs. While I watched each child colour with their new pencil crayons today, smiling from ear to ear and gifting their artwork to us, I was reminded of how easy it is to become complacent when one has "too much". For the COSO kids having paper, pencil crayons and being able to draw and colour brought out the same level of excitement as a trip to Disneyland might to children at home. It is spectacular to be a part of this.

DONATIONS FROM FRIENDS: HERE'S WHAT WE PURCHASED

A very big thank you to Joanne Bagan, Normi Mann, Kathie Douglas, Heather Porret-Thompson, Sonia Tarabay, and Teresa Height-Dosdall, as well as the "Joanne and Robert"poker winnings philanthropy fund.

We were able to purchase 20 bags (50kgs each) of rice, 3 LARGE cases of fruit juice, large containers of cooking oil, powdered milk, laundry soap, salt, sugar, and even a "sweet treat" for every child in the orphanage. All together we raised $600.00 for groceries! I also brought as a gift from Jenna, Dustin and Dean pencil crayons (waxed crayons would melt here), large art paper, sharpies and pencil sharpeners. As well as cash, Teresa sent me along with a First Aid kit - when I saw they needed one, I donated it on her behalf.

CAMBODIAN ORPHAN SAVE ORGANIZATION

"The Cambodian Orphan Save Organization is a home for poor, homeless and orphaned children located 7 kms from Siem Reap. It is currently home to 70 children, offering them a home, food, protection and education, but without sponsorship, providing these things has been difficult. It is our hope that passing visitors to Siem Reap will visit COSO and witness first hand both the good work that is being done here, and also the dire need for assistance, and offer some help in whatever way they can, be it volunteering, or financial or item donations."

The first thing that struck me as I entered the orphanage was the smiles on the faces of the children as they ran to our tuk tuk, excited they had guests! And likely very excited one of the guests was their friend Tracey Bell. I hadn't expected to see and feel sheer joy! Perhaps I thought I'd find sad looking children, malnourished, with no energy due to heat and lack of love and attention. But COSO is a family, they support each other, and there is tremendous, authentic love in this community. The children are polite beyond reproach,  undeniably happy, warm, friendly people. They are very safe, they are learning great life skills, and although they've each suffered their own losses and struggles, they are content.

THE GOALS OF COSO
"To provide shelter, nutritious food, protection, adequate healthcare and education for orphaned children and those living in extreme poverty. To reduce poverty and enable individuals and communities to become self sufficient, breaking the cycle of poverty. To carry out our work without discrimination and offer equal opportunities ..." To move from rented land onto COSO owned property and build a 'children's village' including a free school for local children in poverty as well as COSO's children; To encourage our children to embrace the knowledge of local Khmer customs, including dance and music, so that this knowledge is not lost in future generations; and to provide information for visitors so that we, and others like us, may receive help in our endeavours".

Perils of Pick Pocketers

Tracey Bell and I arrived at our extremely beautiful and comfortable Hotel in Bangkok as scheduled. Even with all our airline sleep under our belt we slept some more. We started on on a market adventure with high hopes and energy.  We found a market where Tracey was able to find a seamstress to get to work on a costume, and I found a nice little merchant who helped me to find a purse I thought my Mom  might enjoy. We had become tired of shopping and were heading straight to a street vendor to get a cold drink when I realized my wallent was gone. GONE. G--0--N--E.  I had been pick pocketed! For the first time in my life. I was dumbfounded. In shock. Not happy. Stunned into silence. Rare indeed.

All my I.D., interac/ATM cards, my credit cards, and all my money is gone. GONE. I had several hundred dollars of personal cash plus several hundred dollars of donations from friends earmarked for the Cambodian Orphanage. Looking back it wasn't brilliant that I had ALL the cash on me, but the plan was to change the $ over into the proper currencies for Cambodia.

The good news is that I can cover all the donations with money of my own. DON'T WORRY, to all my generous friends - I have an itemized list of who gave what, and you know I'm good for it. The bad news is that I have no way of getting my hands on my own bank account. Several phone calls to several people, from VISA INTERNATIONAL to RBC has shown me what it's like to be held in bondage with red tape of the stickiest type. Do you know as a tourist if you lose your wallet you bank will require you to wait 5-6 business days before they can send you a credit card? Yikes! They cannot send money for food or accomodations - nope, even with RBC Travel insurance you will go homeless and hungry for a week, give or take a few days. The nice RBC man on the phone this morning asked me "don't you know anyone at home that has money they can wire transfer to you?". I said YES! He said "who?" I said "ME", why can't YOU send ME my money? Why is it possible for a friend to send me money,  but you can't send me mine?
Mr. Nice RBC man told me not to yell. I assured him "THIS IS NOT YELLING!!!!". I will say here that I was skyping with headphones on so maybe my voice was a tad SHRILLER and LOUDER than it normally would be when I'm on the verge of poverty and homelessness.  My good friend Tracey Bell had quietly slipped out of the internet cafe and was outside pretending she didn't know me. The Thai individuals inhabiting the cyber cafe all looked a little scared. For a moment I nearly took off the headphones to ask the poor scared little lambs if I could be of assistance. Then I realized I was the one  scaring the lambs. Ah! They aren't used to ASSERTIVE Jodie. I have heard from others she can be quite intimidating. The Thai custom is to be unassuming, grateful, polite, and quiet. EVEN WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING WITH RBC, I guess. As I signed off of my "getting nowhere with Mr. Nice RBC man" a total stranger walked up to me and opened his wallet, showing me an awful lot of money. It was very touching, and I told him thanks, but no, I'll be okay. He said "are you sure - I know what it's like to be lost in a foreign land and having to deal with an unhelpful bureaucracy". I would have cried ... but I'd cried all my tears at the front desk at the hotel earlier that day, making quite the scene. I'm sure all guests trying to check in were wondering what could have happened to make me so upset. As I wailed at the Front Desk Manager, my mouth forming words but only uttering  barely human sounds  ... and coincidentally Tracey Bell had once again wandered off ...
The funniest part of this story though had to have been me reporting the incident to the Police. The hotel manager sent me in a cab to the police station and the cab driver nearly pushed me out of the vehicle as it rolled slowly but did not completely stop at the Police station. The police officer questioned what was missing from my wallet, and when I mentioned drivers license he asked me if I'd been riding a motorcycle? How he made this leap I'll never know.  A motorcycle?! I'd been shopping, I told him. But in his very broken English he continued to lecture me as to how I should never have been on a motorcycle in the first place. (I wasn't on a motorcycle! I was shopping! A man saw me come out of the bank after changing currencies and .... NEVER mind). I filed a report that I will be very interested in having translated some day when this awful story becomes funny - like, when I get my RBC visa card. Another funny! No cab would pick me up from the Police Station. Even when I ran up to a stopped cab and cried and begged for him to take me to my hotel, the cabbie sped off ... my hand still on the door. I walked in the general direction I thought I should be heading,  asking people from time to time which direction I should be going. (I was crying. My face was dirty from tears. I had no money. I scared little lambs. My shopping days were over. I'd disappointed the orphans. I should have wore more comfortable shoes).  Finally I cornered a European couple stopped at a red light. started to tell them my story "I need help" was all I managed to spit out when these people gave me a good piece of their mind. Their advice?   I should clean up my act, get off the drugs, get a job and stop asking strangers for money ... (I wasn't asking for money, I just wanted directions). Yes, that was day one of our trip to Thailand. More fun stories to follow!

Cambodian Orphan Save Organization - A picture says a thousand words

Here are two photos of the Cambodian orphans that we are going to work with. In the top photo is the lovely Tracey Bell and friends. The bottom photo is the orphans  proudly displaying their brand new underwear, a donation facilitated by Tracey. Can you imagine any children you know here at home excited about having their VERY OWN BRAND NEW UNDERWEAR?

 (If everyone could send up a prayer for Tracey Bell to find her PASSPORT very, very soon that would be tremendously awesome and appreciated. I know you'll find it, Tracey!)

Serendipity?

I am grateful and blessed to have been invited to volunteer at an Orphanage in Cambodia with my long lost (and recently found) friend Tracey Bell.

Having had the fortune of travelling to many interesting and beautiful destinations, I recently ran into a travellers block. Me, the frequent flyer, couldn't come up with any inspiration when I asked myself  "where next?".  I knew the thought of awesome shopping wasn't enought to lure me to any destination. I've shopped Toronto, L.A., Palm Springs, New York, San Francisco,  Las Vegas, Honolulu and more ... shopping vacations have lost their appeal for me (I can't believe I just said that. This loss of appeal may be temporary).  Another vacation consisting of "fun in the sun" seemed ... vapid.

Then I made a connection. I've been feeling spiritually stifled as of late. When this happens I know I haven't been "giving back" enough, I haven't been doing enough meaningful service work.  I could feel my spirits lifting as I contemplated possible volunteer opportunities.  And then the serendipitous moment presented itself, as it always does when we are patient, quiet and open to seeing the wonderful opportunities that are all around us. Only I wasn't being patient and quiet, I'm anything but "zen-like", but still ...
I have learned that despite our individual creed and religious and philosophical beliefs one thing is for sure; to live an authentic life we must be painstakingly honest about our intentions. It had started to weigh heavily on me that I needed to mend a fractured fence and I intended to make a sincere amend. I did. Now I've re-connected with one of the most unique, talented and inside-out gorgeous friends I ever had, a truly authentic woman who could spread joy blind folded, in her sleep, with her hands tied behind her back. Tracey Bell is a shining light wherever she goes. It had been years since we'd spoken.  The opportunity to re-connect happened "by chance" in the midst of my dilemma regarding vacation & service work. Tracey's face popped up on my computer screen. Here was my chance to clear the slate! She responded quickly (whew!) and we corresponded  back and forth. She told me about the Cambodian Orphan Save Project to which she generously donates time and money. Living in poverty with less than basic essentials are 72 of God's creatures relying solely on the donations of tourists and volunteers. There are days when these orphans don't eat.

I am humbled and honoured that Tracey invited me to join her. It's been said "to whom much has been given, much is expected". I have been given much. Fantastic, healthy, loving adult children who are living rewarding lives. A very comfortable lifestyle. My family lives in a Country where there is much "stuff". Although we can criticize government spending and lack of funding for many social programs, my family, neighbours & friends have more than our basic daily needs met. I have too much and share too little. There are people in need everywhere,  I know it but choose to be too busy, or plead helplessness, when it comes to making a contribution of time and effort.

As one who has been given much, I am guilty of forgetting about the wonder of the simple things by taking for granted all that I have, as I keep my eye on the proverbial dangling carrot. At times I don't even remember what that dangling carrot represents.

This blog is all about my "Travels with Tracey".   Hopefully I will stumble through this process and learn how to post photos, links, etc. I hope to be witty and entertaining but can't guarantee it.  If I'm not witty and entertaining please don't feel compelled to let me know. Just shine me on and we'll all be happy.

Note to Jenna & Dean Haugan, Dustin Allen, Carmen Kuziemsky & Ian  Young - you'll be there in spirit!
 http://www.coso-orphanage.com/