Real Life Association

Real Life Association-

I’ve been looking for a volunteer opportunity since I set out, but finding something is actually harder than you would think. While I was in Malaysia somebody recommended an organization that sponsors several different charity groups. One of which was looking for certified divers who would divide their time between surveying coral reef systems and protecting sea turtle nests on the beach in the Perhentian Islands. Sounded awesome! Even though they did charge for it I would be diving all day and getting by doing so for dirt cheap in comparison. I had to register for the website that sponsored the group and after doing a little homework on the website I paid the $20 “membership fee”. I emailed them with my interest and availability and never heard back. $20 down the drain. This put me off a bit, but a week later I met someone in my Saigon guesthouse that told me of the village he visited in Cambodia. He said they have a school that teaches English to poor children who could otherwise not afford to attend. He gave me the contact info and 2 months later I find myself spending a week helping out at the school called the Real Life Association in the tiny village of Pang Na, Cambodia.

The school struggles a bit and, because its not tied to a larger organization, they have a difficult time getting volunteers and kinda just wing it. All I knew going in was that they taught English and welcomed volunteers. It was the final week of the current teachers stay so I helped out a little bit in the classroom, but all they really wanted me to teach with “conversational English”. I spent the majority of my time practicing basically greetings and family information, while playing games with the kids outside. The schools director, wife and three kids stay at the school and I was given a room with mattress on the floor. While in the village there were a lot of parallels I drew to the time I spent staying with the family in Sri Lanka. The family catered to me like a guest of honor. Making sure I ate first, giving me my own room while others shared floor space in the living room etc. Again they felt responsible for my wellbeing so a protective eye was always on me. One time a dump truck got stuck behind the school and managed to bury three wheels in the mud. Being a man I stood around (with 5 other men) pointing, hmmm-ing and frowning at the problem while 1 man dug out the tires. Whenever the truck started up to try and rock it’s way out the mother would run over and pull me by the arm or stand on front of me to make sure I don’t get run over. I thought this was especially funny because she paid no attention to her 17 year old son who stood right in the line of fire. Another curious similarity to Sri Lanka is that nobody I met during my week there had ever heard of Las Vegas. I now point to this as probably the most relevant common denominator of my most enriching experiences. It’s always funny to hear the American places or people those I meet have herd of and it’s always different for every person. One time I was confidently asked “Are you from from Chicago or Denver?” as if those were the only two places you could be from. Most people know either California or New York, but from there it’s anybody’s guess and it’s completely random. Is Nevada close to Mt. Rushmore? Do you know people in New Hampshire? The best of all was a while back when a man of about my age yelled out the 1 American person he knew which was professional wrestler Jon Cena. Not Barak Obama! Not Kobe Bryant or Jay Z!… Jon Cena! It was so funny to me at the time that it almost got its own blog entry (I’m glad I finally found a place to squeeze it in somewhere!)… Because this family had someone in the past stay with them from Washington they knew of two places in the US; New York and Washington. When I asked if Washington state or D.C. they gave me a look and huddled around like I asked them a riddle and they wanted to call in a life line.

Cambodia is both, recovering from years of horrific political legacies, and currently fighting it. Between ’75 and ’79 (1 generation ago) the Pol Pot dictatorship was responsible for genocide of as many as 3 million of there own people. Which constituted about 25% of the countries population. Every single Cambodian is, to this day, still affected by it in some way. I was alarmed and took notice when I did the “search for nearby location” function while posting an Instagram picture once. It’s not a good sign for any area to have a drop down list to choose from that includes; Genocide Museum, Killing Fields, Reeducation Camp etc etc. As for the current state of affairs, since returning to democracy in ’98 there has been 1 ruling party lead by chairman Hun Sen. Results from this months election is currently under intense scrutiny for alleged mass voter fraud by the current government. Everyone I spoke to about it believes they cheated and fixed the election, they want a new government and anticipate wide spread protests in the near future calling for an overthrow of the current administration. It’s ongoing turmoil for people that just want change. As the school director is candidly telling me all this he looks to his youngest daughter and says with pride; “She isn’t going to have to live in the same Cambodia as I did.”

The day before getting go the village I had the, unique to Cambodia, opportunity of firing a rocket launcher (which I really, REALLY wanted to do). I decided the money I was going to spend on that I would instead donate to the school. It amounted to 4000 bricks which will be used in building a new classroom. Money well spent.

It was heart warming to be around so many happy children in such a beautiful country that’s undergone so much hardship. I wish I spent more time with them on this visit and make silent promises to return… If you are ever looking for a meaningful and rewarding volunteer opportunity, or are just in the Phnom Penh area and can stop by to visit for the day, I implore you to reach out to the director Ty: at Sengthy@gmail.com. You won’t regret the time you spent helping out.

Bob