Cambodian orphanage

Angelina Jolie adopted her first son, Maddox, from an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2002. She fell in love with Cambodia after filming "Tomb Raider" in Angkor Wat, and also helped put Cambodia on the map.

I wanted to see for myself what kind of conditions these less fortunate children live in prior to entering a more privileged world.


I asked my tuk-tuk driver to bring me to any random orphanage in Phnom Penh. After asking for directions 6 times, we finally arrived at the orphanage, but not before stopping at a toy store. I bought a badmitten set, a ball, puzzles, legos and a popular hacky sack game for the orphanage kids. I thought this would be more beneficial to them than candy, like some tourists feel the need to hand out.


The minute I arrived, a group of 10 energetic children bombarded me and grabbed my hands, arms and skirt. They greeted me with high-pitched "hello's", then immediately tugged me away to play with them. The coordinator of the orphanage told them to pipe down for a minute while I spoke. I told him I was interested in seeing the orphanage and how the children live. He agreed to show me around after I wrote down my name and passport number.

The majority of the children were off-site attending school. The children are aged 4 to 20. There are currently 108 living there. Some were abandoned as newborns, and some of them were orphaned after their parents were killed by land mines from the war. Throughout Cambodia, you will see many land mine victims with missing limbs, often begging for money. It's heart breaking, yet disturbing at the same time.


The children sleep in dorm style rooms with bunk beds. There was a classroom on site where English classes were given. There was also a garden where they grew vegetables, but this had come to a standstill due to the lack of supplies.


The group of children followed us around during the entire tour like little puppies. They were eager to see what I had brought them in my plastic bag. One at a time, I presented them with each of the toys. Their faces lit up and they squealed in delight like it was Christmas morning. I didn't see any other toys laying around. I'm guessing toys are not a priority around here. They drug me off to play with them and their new toys. Feeling like a kid myself, we played on the dirt ground in the orphanage's courtyard. The coordinator went back to his office, allowing me one-on-one time with these sweet kids. After the sun was too hot to handle, we sat together in the shade on a bench swing. I asked them their names and their ages. They were anywhere from 5-13. Some of the children's English was very good, some was minimal.

Rock, paper, scissors

I was surprised at how quickly they warmed up to me. They immediately trusted me. Soon, they were fighting for space on my lap, tightly wrapping their arms in mine and cuddling close to me. I was their new best friend. I asked them if they like it at the orphanage. They all responded enthusiastically with "yes!" Later on, the 13 year old boy that spoke the best English told me that all of their parents were dead. The coordinator said a lot of the children had been found living on the street and trying to fend for themselves. Some were working as garbage pickers at the landfill.


Can you imagine your 5 year old living this life?


Miraculously, after this rough start to life, most of them still seemed to have their innocence. It's incredible how resilient kids are.


I asked the 13 year-old boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said "a police officer."
"That's really good! You will have a very good job!", I encouraged him. I was happy to hear that he had goals.


As we chatted, the younger ones climbed on me, struggling for my attention. I acted as their temporary motherly figure. It seemed like they were longing for affection. I gave all of them my attention and tried to make each one feel special. "If I could just bring one home with me, I could show them a life they deserve" I thought.

Later I asked the coordinator if the children were up for adoption. He said that these children would stay here until they were adults.
"But they need more love, parental love!" I thought, sadly.


After a good amount of time spent with the smaller kids, the English class for the older boys was beginning and the Cambodian teacher invited me to sit in during the class.


The student boys were around 15 years old and very intelligent. Only English was allowed to be spoken in the classroom. That day, they were learning verbs, like "going to." They each gave examples. The teacher also asked for examples from me. His English was very good but there were still times when he asked for me to correct his English. It was apparant that they needed a native English speaking teacher.


In the classroom, there were inspirational quotes encouraging dreams and goals. They even had a couple computers......very old computers.


After English class, I hung out with 3 extremeley sweet little girls. They were beautiful.

The oldest wanted to use my camera. I handed it to her and showed her which button to press. I was amazed by how quickly she picked up on it. She took this adorable picture:
 

Soon it was time for them to eat supper (rice and vegetable soup), so I said goodbye to these precious children and left with a smile and warmed heart.


In conclusion, life at this orphanage isn't so bad. I know that orphanages in other corners of the world can be horrific, but this one was alright. Even though it's a tedious process, I would love to adopt internationally one day. I imagine it's a mutually rewarding experience. Visiting this orphanage was another step closer to this stage in my life.


I was still in a giving mood when I got back to my hotel, so I went through my backpack and gathered a bag full of clothes and shoes. Cambodia is a country filled with such warm locals, which makes me want to give back somehow. They've been so hospitable to me while I've been here.

With my bag in hand, I headed down to the river, where I had seen numerous poor locals earlier. I walked along the river, looking for the perfect person to give my belongings to. I saw a gentle looking lady with 4 small kids, all were barefoot, including her. Her weary eyes lit up as I approached her. I opened the bag and started to show her the clothing and shoes. A lot of them were brand name, such as American Eagle and Hollister. She's going to be stylin'! She was elated to see there were sandals in the bag. Her children feverishly tore the clothes out of the bag with such force that the bagged ripped in half. She scolded them, then appreciatively put her hands together in a prayer gesture to thank me. I returned the gesture. She needed them a lot more than I did. I walked away contently.


As the saying goes, 'Tis better to give than to receive....