Alicia kim's blog

Day 2

Today, we went to Joy Village to serve the Cambodian kids. It was pretty big, but lots of trash was piled up and thrown away at the sides of the roads and streets. We took half an hour to pick up trash to make the streets much cleaner than before. We also had four sections of activities: hygiene (hair washing and combing), crafts, basketball, and VBS activities. I volunteered for hygiene since that was the only activity that can be carried out in the Joy Village. After picking up trash in the village, we went inside the community center and we split up into the activity groups.

The kids came into the washing room and I washed their hair with shampoo. It was an interesting and fun experience for me because I felt the feelings of my parents when they were washing my hair when I was younger. I also was aware that it was tiring but I felt the urge to keep washing their hair and be in the station rather than switching to other stations.

After that, we went to grab lunch and came back to the village to do the skit and give them gifts. When we sat inside the crowd, there was a girl who was wearing a red shirt and pants and she was always smiling up at me and holding my arm. I asked the girl if she wanted to sit on my lap and she smiled brightly and sat on my lap. I felt instant love towards her like mother to daughter.

We had Korean teachings along with English teachings then had a dance party.

I held the girls ‘ hands and jumped and danced with them. I could feel and see their real joy and I realized that even though their living conditions are worse than all of us, they are more grateful and know how to be happy and joyful. I learned to appreciate and be grateful for the small things we have like having my own room. Then, we listened to the Korean teachings and the pastor’s sermon, and then the Birth of Jesus skit. During the skit, I saw some of the kids’ faces and I could see how they truly enjoyed it. Then, the members gathered together and gave out the gifts we prepared, the chicken, and a soda. It was a hectic day but I was proud and content with the kids’ reactions and their joy and happiness.

We went back to the hotel and had reflection time where I got to really think of what serving Joy Village was like for me. Then, we ate dinner and I had time to swim, too. It was a great day for me overall. The visit to the Joy Village provided me with an important lesson and happiness to serve and help those kids. 

Day 3

Today, we went to the Trash Mountain site and the Killing Field. In the morning, after breakfast, we went over to the Trash Mountain site, debriefing on the bus.

We walked around the village and visited five families. We split up into five groups and each group stood up for each family and gave them gifts along with prayers. My group visited a mom of five children with a husband who works in the trash mountain site. We had about seven questions for the interview, such as “what makes you the happiest?” or “what are some challenges you face?” She responded that the happiest time was spending time with her family and some of the challenges were lack of resources and food and low income. After the response, I went over and put my hand over her and prayed for her. I prayed for her family’s joy and happiness and their health and safety. I also prayed that the life in the village would be blessed and pleaded with God to give her a miracle. I prayed that she would find peace and tranquility in her and carry out God’s mission through her. After I prayed for her, I saw the mom weeping. I was surprised at first but I could empathize with her. I could understand, though not fully, her feelings.

After the visits, we went to the killing field. I listened to the audio tour of the killing field. I walked around the site, listening to the highlighted numbers of the audio. One of the audio was explaining a tree where the soldiers crashed the babies’ heads onto the side of the tree. I could imagine it right there and then. It gave me goosebumps then I saw everything blurry. I realized that I had tears swelling up. I didn’t sob but a few tears dropped onto my face.

I swiped them quickly then went to another tree called the Magic Tree. After reading the description, I went into shock again. The description stated, “This tree was used as a tool to hang a loudspeaker which made sound louder to avoid the moans of victims while they were being executed”. I could also imagine myself being in the happening, the loudspeaker covering all of the screams of the victims. I was surprised and shocked that this event had happened but I felt this weird feeling because the Khmer Rouge had someone they were afraid of.

The last stop was the stupa where they displayed the skulls of the victims and labeled them with the ways of killing. They also displayed the tools used for killing. I was so astonished that I couldn’t speak a word. I also counted the number of skulls displayed. There were over 2000 skulls in the stupa.

After visiting the killing field, we went to eat lunch, then back to the village. We went over to the school near it. We worshipped by dancing to the song Vandy, the director and guide of our mission trip, prepared along with the staff. Then, we carried out the skit then the games. We were splitted up into three groups and had three different activities: jump rope, a korean game, and flip the cards. My station was to flip the cards and it was very hectic and aggressive when the kids ran over each other to flip the cards according to the colors. The kids there were a bit funny and sometimes not listening but overall it seemed like they had lots of fun. The kids were smiling and there were few fights in between the games but I hope it was a great experience for them. It was tiring for me because I had to keep collecting and spreading the cards again and again but the smiles of the kids helped me to overcome it.

After the games, we went to the bus and took out the gifts we prepared along with sodas and chickens. We went back to the center of the school and started handing out the presents, chicken, and sodas. There weren’t enough chicken for all kids so we replaced them with the chips instead. There were lots of twists and turns today because some didn’t go as planned but it made me happy to see the kids smiling from getting gifts. Vandy and all of THEIA members and teachers went to a Cambodian Pizza place and had a pizza party. Then we went back to our hotel and had a debrief and reflection time. I shared to the teachers and the members about the killing field and the difference between the killing field and the genocide museum. Then, we all ate 10 kgs of mangoes. It was a hectic day but it was an achieving day where we got to hear the perspectives of the families living in the trash mountain.