Tuesday was my first day at my orphanage Missionaries of Charity, which is Mother Theresa's order, and I can already tell that leaving will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The kids are between the ages of one month and six years and some of the most darling kids I've ever met. Unfortunately, like many of the kids in Cambodian orphanages, they aren't actually orphans. Large families are a huge problem in the country, especially in rural areas, and many families will take one or more of the kids and leave them at orphanages because they simply can't afford to feed them. This has serious psychological impact on the kids, resulting in many being angry, withdrawn, and antisocial.
To make matters worse, some parents come visit the kids and this messes with their head even more. The majority can't go anywhere near their parents if they have any, as they start screaming and run towards one of the Sisters or volunteers. Having said this, the kids are treated extremely well. They're fed a lot better then kids at other orphanages and treated with kindness. Unfortunately we aren't allowed photos until our last day so I have none to upload until then!
Thursdays we don't work so today we decided to go to one of the floating villages on the Tonle Sap. It was my first experience with a Cambodian scam, but it was lovely nonetheless. First they overcharged us for entrance and then spent the majority of our boat ride convincing us to buy food for an orphanage that apparently houses 150 kids. I saw maybe 20 when we got there. They took us to the community market and told us a bag of rice costs $65 for a large or $35 for a small. They then split the profits, as opposed to it going to the community like we were told. Until we got scammed, the experience was lovely and it was unlike anything I'd experienced before.
I also got my first, and probably last, tattoo done by a local Khmer man. I've never been so happy with something in a long time.
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