Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy and multiparty liberal democracy. It’s still one of the world’s poorest countries, but it’s making progress in health, education, and reducing infant mortality.
The flag of Cambodia has three horizontal bands of blue, red, and blue, with a depiction of Angkor Wat in white with black outline. The colors of the flag have specific meanings: Red: Represents bravery and courage, Blue: Represents territory White: Represents purity
We have just spent the last month in Cambodia. We had decided to do some volunteer work here as we had heard that there are a lot of needy families In Siem Reap, especial in the countryside. We had been told by friends that there is a company called VBC (Volunteer Building Cambodia) that are very professional and a great company to help. I had sent them our details and they had organized for us to help them plus another volunteer to build a house, the way it works is, if they get enough donations to build a house they will do so.
The family are 7, four girls aged 4, 10, 12 and 16 a baby boy 2months and mam and dad. They live in a very badly made hut. No clean water. No electricity no phones, nothing. The father if he can get work earns 6 dollars a day. Nothing from the government no dole no children allowances. The 3 older girls go to school, but have to walk about an hour and half. Or use a tired old bike.
VBC Volunteer Building Cambodia assess each family and will not take on a family if there are any drug or alcohol issues, they also only take on families that try their best to send the children to school as they believe education can get the families out of these situations. This family were chosen after a lot of discussions and interviews. So we got to work.
So in ten days, the team on the ground, plus a few volunteers, neighbors from the village, with a total donations and participating fee of around $5,000 usd the following was achieved. The donations came from Fred (the other volunteer), M&I my mum and dad and my sister.
1. We built a house to get the family off the ground.
2. Put in a water pump, that pumps the water up from the water table.
3. Installed a Water Filter system for clean drinking water.
4. A solar panel that gives the family light and a ceiling fan.
5. Construction of an outdoor toilet.
6. The family were bought the following, cooking utilities, bed clothes, pj, underwear, toiletries, school uniforms, books for school, 2 good second hand bikes for the girls to get to school, vitamin tablets to build the family up, plus bags of rice and other non perishable foods. Basic stuff that families need to live.
It is amazing what can be achieved when a group of people are all on the same page. It was an amazing experience for M&I we fell in love with the family even though we could not speak their language. It was great for us to see how the donations are used. (Not all going into administration). Although we do understand some money needs to be spent on Admin. The VBC team are an an incredible bunch of people who are all so selfless with their time, They so want the lives of their people to be better. The house we worked on was house 511, this is the number of homes they have built so far. The family are delighted with what we all achieved together. We really hope this will help them all have a better life. VBC are a company that we will continue to support whenever we can.
After our Volunteer work we spent a week relaxing at visiting the sites of Siem Reap. Seam Reep has a nice feel to it. The night markets are fun and pub Street is very lively on the weekend. We did a tour that covered the following temples.
Angkor Wat, is a Hindu-Buddhist temple located on a site measuring 162.6 hectares within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed in 1150 CE as a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity VishnuIt is a very impressive place.
Ta Prohm is cloaked in dappled shadow, its crumbling towers and walls embrace of vast root systems. Undoubtedly the most atmospheric ruin at Angkor, its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it has been swallowed by the jungle, and looks very much the way most of the monuments of Angkor appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them.
The Bayon was the state temple of King Jayavarman VII, built at the end of the 12th century. It is a mountain temple built to represent Mount Meru, the center of the universe in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology
Phnom Bakheng is a Hindu temple in Cambodia that was built in the late 9th century. It’s located on a hilltop. The temple is a pyramid-shaped complex with terraces and is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The views are wonder from here. There was less tourists here but I loved it.
It was an amazing day the temples are the best and oldest we have seen.
Some additional photos of our tour.
Phnom Penh the capital is a lot more serious, with lots of Embassies, governments buildings and a lot of empty high rise apartments. Phnom Penh, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. The riverfront is lined with parks, restaurants and bars.
We did go to Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (killing fields) which is a very sad and somber place, Pol Pot was another egotistical ass, he was the political leader whose communist Khmer Rouge government led Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork. We also visited S-21 detention Centre were only 7 of 20,000 people imprisoned there survived. What one leader can do in 4 years !!! All very Sad.
Out of respect these are the only photos we took of the Killing fields and S-21
Our last tour was to the Royal Palace, beautiful spot.
Overall we had wonderful time in Cambodia, the highlight was working with VBC, if you ever feel like volunteering this is the company to call.