It has been almost a week since we came back. Though our Cambodia trip has ended, our project completed, i hope our TOOP journey still carries on..
Thinking back about how i went through the selection process, all the meetings, fund-raising activities, pre-trip service-learning sessions and finally the 16 days in Cambodia, i realised we have all come a long way and been through alot.
The 2 weeks in SangkeCroun were very memorable for me, as it was my first experience leading a village life, first time doing manual construction work. All this first hand experiences, i believe, would have been impossible to gain if not of this OCIP trip. I wont forget the days, 24 of us lived together in the small little hut, joking, chatting, bridging and snacking all that we find lying around>.< Life in Cambodia really differs from modern Singapore life:bathing in cold well water, squatting next to cesspool to wash laundry like the 60s aunties i see on tv etc... Now that im back in Singapore, i kind of miss the Cambodian village life.
This trip is really an eye-opener for me. Many things i encountered left a deep impact on me, this includes education and school-life of the kids there. I remembered the first time i entered the school and saw their classroom, i got shocked! The classrooms were so small, so dark (only lit by sunlight through the windows and holes on the rooftops), furnitures worn out and there were more than 40 students squeezed in each. Though i heard that some kids have no interest in studying, i spotted a few who are really keen to learn: standing in front of the board noting down the alphabets A to Z. One boy even came up to me and asked me to teach him how to pronounce the alphabets. It then dawned on me why we Singaporean kids whine and grumble about heavy workload when kids in Cambodia are eager to learn but deprived of proper facilities?? Another thing is that Cambodian kids help their parents in house chores, looking after younger siblings or even helping to earn a living in the market. This made me realise how pampered and sheltered Singapore kids are actually, yet still unappreciative of our lives.
The most meaningful thing for me throughout the entire trip would always be the van journey. Whenever we went on the van, i would look out the window and observe the things around me and observe how Cambodians live their lives. Alot of things which i saw set me into deeper thoughts, which i cant possibly describe in words now. All i can share is that in Cambodia, a less developed country than Singapore, people lead a very simple and carefree life. Though they might not be as educated or fortunate as us, but somehow i sensed that their simplistic lifestyle assures them a happier life.
This ocip trip has undoubtedly developed me into a more matured thinker. Not only have i learnt to view things in different perspectives, i learnt to be more humble. After interacting with the school kids and villages, i discovered how much i actually learnt from them! As such, i felt humbled. I also learnt the importance of taking initiative to do something rather than waiting for someone else to do for us, or worse still, thinking that somebody else out there will take initiative to do for us.
Im very thankful to have the opportunity to embark on this TOOP Cambodia journey. The valuable lessons learnt, wonderful experiences gained and friendships forged will always stay with me:) It was during the trip that i got to know u guys better, seeing the other side of tutors which we dont get to see in sch as well;D haha.. However, the only regret i have is not having the chance to build well and experience the fun that comes with it:(
Take care and enjoy the rest of the holidays yeah")
A week has passed, but i will just post about my reflection regarding the service-learning session on 7th nov last week.
First of all, i missed the chair game cos i came late. But i believed it was a great game and many enjoyed it. For the next activity, we were given different scenarios to think of ideas what we will do or can do should any of those situations occur. I think this activity has helped prepared us to handle certain problems which we may encounter during our trip there, esp through the tutors' sharing of how previous teams reacted under those circumstances.
Then, the YES/NO/MAYBE was really an eye-opener to me, cos i never knew that Service- Learning is such a controversial issue, one which is still ongoing at the moment. Hence, it made me wonder if service-learning groups like us are actually helping the community or causing unnecessary problems to others??? Everyone of us in the team has our own views to each question. By listening to them, i learnt to see the problems and think in different perspectives.
Follwing that, was the GLASS/MIRROR/WINDOW. This was my favourite activity and i really like it alot. Personally i find it very meaningful as a simple statement about the photo can actually be extended to a higher level of thinking. It taught me the importance of reflecting and not just looking at things on the surface. As such, i realised im a Mirror and well, that's quite true about me:)
The CHEEK/CHIN game was interesting. From this, i learnt that it's extremely important to pay attention to instructions given and follow them well, especially when we are at Cambodia. This will ensure that everything will go on smoothly.
After that, we had our photo essay trial. One thing i learnt was that it's not gonna be easy for us to take photos of what we actually want, so it's important to be flexible and modify our storyline along the way so that both the captions and pictures match well..
Lastly, at ACM, through the asking of questions about the artifact each of us has chosen, i learnt that we have to be careful of what we say or ask when at Cambodia because it wouldnt be nice to ask sensitive questions. The other thing is, even though we may have little knowledge about the artifact and the history behind each of them, we still make an effort to think of possible answers to our own questions.
