It's the Cambodian People Who Make the Difference!

Since my retirment over a decade ago, I have been volunteering and sharing my skills and experiences with younger teachers and school leaders in a few different countries. My volunteer work has taken me repeatedly to places such as Panama, China, Africa, southern USA and Cambodia.

My husband and I thank God for good health and mobility which enable us to have travlled extensively to many places. For some of these countries, I have visited more than a few times. We have always enjoyed seeing new things, learning about different cultures and meeting new people.

This is my fourth time visiting Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I am no stranger to this country. However, our visit this time is very different and exciting as I am learning and expereicning so much more about the people and culture of Cambodia! What makes the difference this time? The people!

We are being welcome and embraced by the new Cambodian friends we have made online over the past year. What a difference it has made to our visit!

Instead of being in our hotel drinking wines and enjoying the amenities, we are interacting and having fun with the Cambodian people. Instead of dining on fine food by ourselves, we are sharing meals, cracking jokes, playing games and sharing tons of laughter together!

Instead of shopping for meaningless junks for ourselves, we are giving small gifts as tokens of our appreciation to the hardworking teachers, and social workers who are making differences in the lives of the next generation. It gave us so much joy when we saw the young people's faces lit up as they opened their small appreciation gifts.

They also gave us some gifts to show their love for us and for supporting them! Their gesture of appreciation touched us deeply!Thank you, our Cambodian friends, for teaching us that it is better to give than to receive! Thank you for the amazing dinner, your gifts to us and the fantastic time we had together! You are terrific and we can't thank you enough for making our trip to Cambodia such a joyful experience! RT, Phnom Penh Cambodia