Curriculum and Carnivals
Here are some random updates :)
I've posted earlier how I've been helping out with the girls that have been coming to the boys center. Well we had been meeting in the front lobby and I had unofficially become in charge of playing and hanging out with them every morning. We were supposed to get a girls center on July 15, but sadly we didn't have enough funding and staff to open one. But we officially get to use the library of the boys center to meet with the girls in the mornings! This is exciting because we have started to create a curriculum that will be a mini version of what the girls would be getting at the future girls center. We teach English, play games, do crafts, sing songs, teach bible studies, and have lots of fun! Planning all of it takes a lot of time and research, but it is so fun when we actually get to teach the girls.
This past Saturday we got to take the all of the kids (I think about 140 of them) to Dreamland, which is an amusement park that reminds you more of your school/church carnival than it does Six Flags or Disney World. I was in the group with all of the girls that have been coming to the boys center. They were so precious. A bunch of them were dressed up the nicest I've ever seen them in cute little dresses and skirts. This day was probably like going to Disney World for them and what little girl wouldn't dress up for that?! One little girl kept saying "I go to Dreamland with you!" Saying it as a statement, but also kind of like a question, hoping desperately that it was true. I kept telling her "yes, yes, I go to Dreamland with you!" She would smile so big and at one point she told me, "I like you!". It seriously made my day because every day I see her she looks either sad or mad and sometimes ignores me or won't look at me. She always says she is fine, but it's hard to read her. So Saturday was the first time she sowed really any liking to me, and it made my heart melt. When we got to Dreamland, a person dressed in a Pooh Bear costume awaited the kid's arrival. I wasn't sure if the kids would like him or not, but as soon as they saw Pooh, they ran up and attacked him with hugs, tugs, and kisses. It was hilarious, I was crying from laughing so hard. The same little girl who told me she liked me LOVED Pooh and would not let go of her giant hug on Pooh, she was so happy! It was adorable. The first place we went to in Dreamland was a dome (like a small version of the one in the St. Louis Botanical Gardens). On the outside there were huge posters of these beautiful aquariums filled with colorful tropical fish. I was quite impressed and looked forward to see what was inside. But when they opened the doors, the dome was simply a garden with a lot of goldfish ponds and bridges. But the kids were by no means disappointed, they loved it and tried to grab the fish in the ponds. It was so awesome that morning just to watch the kids faces filled with joy at Dreamland. They would probably never be able to go if it weren't for HPC, I'm so glad I got to be a part of this exciting day for them.
The longer I'm here the more I realize how hard it is going to be for me to leave these little girls. At the end of the day they always say, "See you tomorrow". I don't want that to not be true soon. But I'm focusing on each day God gives me here in Cambodia. I still have one month left and want to make the most of it.
I've posted earlier how I've been helping out with the girls that have been coming to the boys center. Well we had been meeting in the front lobby and I had unofficially become in charge of playing and hanging out with them every morning. We were supposed to get a girls center on July 15, but sadly we didn't have enough funding and staff to open one. But we officially get to use the library of the boys center to meet with the girls in the mornings! This is exciting because we have started to create a curriculum that will be a mini version of what the girls would be getting at the future girls center. We teach English, play games, do crafts, sing songs, teach bible studies, and have lots of fun! Planning all of it takes a lot of time and research, but it is so fun when we actually get to teach the girls.
This past Saturday we got to take the all of the kids (I think about 140 of them) to Dreamland, which is an amusement park that reminds you more of your school/church carnival than it does Six Flags or Disney World. I was in the group with all of the girls that have been coming to the boys center. They were so precious. A bunch of them were dressed up the nicest I've ever seen them in cute little dresses and skirts. This day was probably like going to Disney World for them and what little girl wouldn't dress up for that?! One little girl kept saying "I go to Dreamland with you!" Saying it as a statement, but also kind of like a question, hoping desperately that it was true. I kept telling her "yes, yes, I go to Dreamland with you!" She would smile so big and at one point she told me, "I like you!". It seriously made my day because every day I see her she looks either sad or mad and sometimes ignores me or won't look at me. She always says she is fine, but it's hard to read her. So Saturday was the first time she sowed really any liking to me, and it made my heart melt. When we got to Dreamland, a person dressed in a Pooh Bear costume awaited the kid's arrival. I wasn't sure if the kids would like him or not, but as soon as they saw Pooh, they ran up and attacked him with hugs, tugs, and kisses. It was hilarious, I was crying from laughing so hard. The same little girl who told me she liked me LOVED Pooh and would not let go of her giant hug on Pooh, she was so happy! It was adorable. The first place we went to in Dreamland was a dome (like a small version of the one in the St. Louis Botanical Gardens). On the outside there were huge posters of these beautiful aquariums filled with colorful tropical fish. I was quite impressed and looked forward to see what was inside. But when they opened the doors, the dome was simply a garden with a lot of goldfish ponds and bridges. But the kids were by no means disappointed, they loved it and tried to grab the fish in the ponds. It was so awesome that morning just to watch the kids faces filled with joy at Dreamland. They would probably never be able to go if it weren't for HPC, I'm so glad I got to be a part of this exciting day for them.
The fish ponds at Dreamland
The longer I'm here the more I realize how hard it is going to be for me to leave these little girls. At the end of the day they always say, "See you tomorrow". I don't want that to not be true soon. But I'm focusing on each day God gives me here in Cambodia. I still have one month left and want to make the most of it.
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