Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Yaw people! Wenxuan here! Here's my reflection.(:

 -What i learnt about myself:
One thing that i learnt about myself is that we should appreciate what we have and never take things for granted. Before i went to Cambodia, whenever i enter a dirty and wet toilet, i would complaint ALOT! But at Cambodia, they hardly have clean toilets and their toilets didn't have lights! There was no one to clean the toilets in Cambodia too! Compared to our dirty toilets, Cambodia's toilet is in a much worst condition. So i learn that we should appreciate what is given to us. In this case for example, we should appreciate our toilets be it dirty or small. Because there are many countries out there that hardly have clean toilets too. Also, I learnt that i can teach little kids and make a layer of cement wall! I thought that i could never be able to teach people as i thought that i would be shy to speak in front of so many children. But when i went in the classroom filled of little kids for the FIRST time, I got so happy and hyper! I spoke out and teach them so nursery rhymes! I enjoyed myself alot! :D I didn't know that i could ever do jobs such as building toilets using cement. But when i tried it out the very first time, i grew to like it even though my hand was tired. And i gradually got a hang of it and i think i did quite a good job for a first timer! :D HEHEHEHE! ^^

-What i learnt about my friends:
I learnt that everyone is special in their own way! :D I made many new friends during the cambodia trip! :D Many of them were very friendly and super funny! xD I realise that Nigel is not is actually a SUPER FUNNY guy! :D :D He always do actions that is normal to him but SUPER funny to us! :D Do not judge a book by its cover. Though Nigel MAY look like an innocent and serious boy, he is actually very nice and humorous inside (: I also learnt that Halim and JunYang is VERY noisy in the night! Every time in the hotel, me and Zoe would hear many banging sound from upstairs. Halim claims that "He walk with his heels!"....... xP WOW! Did you know that when the people living in the room above you throw something on the table or bang the bed, the people living below could actually hear it! And almost every night, when JY and Halim watch wrestling, they would bang on the bed and Zoe and i could hear. Did ya all know that ZhiGuang and Joshua are also funny people?! They are actually very friendly and funny too! But they don't show it out. But once you get close with them, you'll see their TRUE colours~ :D I remember the buffet dinner on the last night. Me, Sarah, HuiYan, Josephine, HuiYu, Nigel, Joshua, ZhiGuang, Darius and JY sat together. We were laughing for the WHOLE entire dinner time! xD They were all cracking jokes, including ZhiGuang and Joshua! (: There are many sides of a boy that you will discover if you are close with them. Be shock by who they are because that is the real them. (:

-What i learnt about Cambodia:
I learnt that the people in Cambodia do not deserve our pity... What they truly deserve is our love, respect and we ought to look UP to them. (: They do not need our pity because i feel that even though they are poor and are living in poor conditions, they are still leading a happy life! Some are even more happy than us! They appreciate what they have, even though its not prefect. They treasure their lives! Unlike some of us, we do not appreciate what is in front of us and we do not like our lives even though it is almost prefect. Also, they know how to grow crops and they know how to make use of what they have to try and make money. This truly deserve  us to look up to them! (: We should LOVE the little kids at the orphanage wholeheartedly. They are innocent little ones that for some reason, ended up at the Farm Orphanage and they do not know what they did wrong. When they needed the love, no kins were around for them. But if every year, we could go down to the Farm Orphanage and shower them with some love, i'm sure they will appreciate it and that's what they really need. One's love (: We should respect all the Cambodians because without them, we won't have rice to eat and we wouldn't have enjoyed the trip so much! (: Also, I realise that most of the people in Cambodia are very friendly (: At the night market, even though we bargain till we get one for one dollar, they may feel upset inside, but they still put on a big wide smile and thank us. (: I think this is something good to learn. (:


I really LOVE the Cambodia CIP and i wish to go back again! (: I could never forget the people in Cambodia, not to mention all of our friends who went too (: I miss Cambodia..

Love♥,
WenXuan(:

Monday, November 8, 2010

Hola. :D Wanyi here.


One thing i learnt about myself
I learnt that people really shouldn't take things for granted. Like our clean water, we bathed, wash hands, drink, and everything without thinking that what if 1 day we ran out of clean water ? How is everyone going to survive. Before I went to Cambodia, I really never think of all these. I used water like nobody's business. Until I went to Cambodia, seeing them have to work to get their own water (water pump), I felt really ashamed. Also, I realised that I can actually be a construction worker. :D I never knew that so much effort is actually put in to build even a small incinerator, a toilet. What about houses then ? I must really admire construction workers. 


One thing i learnt about my friends
I learnt that many of my friends actually have hidden potential. Some could really build up the bricks nicely and firm, some could really paint real well, and of course, to teach the little kids too. They are like really transformed into a little teacher once they step into the classroom. It amazed me that how people could actually have hidden talents which they might not have a chance to discover and work on it.


One thing i learnt about Cambodia
I realised that Cambodians are really welcoming and friendly. Just by sitting on the bus travelling to the school, on the way, people who saw us, will turn and look at us smiling or waving. Its really heart-warming to see people being so friendly to you even if its the first time you see them. At the Farm Orphanage, the little kids really touched my heart. How they are so much better than us. How positive they look at their lives. How brave those kids really are. Even though our lives are much better then them, have a comfortable home, parents that cared for you, warm beds, they really lived their life better than us. They never give up & keep learning when they faced any set back. We should really really learn from them.


Bye ! 
Chia Wanyi, 
Group 2.
Yo, Joshua here:)


One thing i learnt about myself
One thing i learnt about myself is that i tend to fall asleep during long bumpy bus rides. Each time we needed to head for the primary school, our bus took a bumpy route there. It was indeed a very bumpy road. The bus would be tilting to the left and then to the right and back to the left again. Everyone would go 'WOAH' whenever the bus did that. Luckily the bus driver drove slowly, ensuring we do not come flying out of our seats. Five minutes into this roller coaster ride, i would always fall asleep. Honestly, i do not really know the reason to this myself. While everyone else was excited about the bus tilting to one side, i was sleeping soundly in my seat. The bumpy road did not bother me at all.


One thing i learnt about my friends
One thing i learnt about my friends is that some of them are able to connect with the Cambodian kids well. As i was helping paint the mural, i saw some of the other groups playing with the kids. One of the games they played together was 'Husband and Wife'. Although it took a bit of time for my friends to explain the game to the students, they both enjoyed it in the end. The Cambodian kids were actively participating and seem to be having lots of fun. It was like they knew my friends for quite some time even though they only met about an hour ago.


One thing i learnt about Cambodia
One thing i learnt about Cambodia is the Cambodian people are very grateful for what they have. Even though they do not have proper clothing and housing, they are still happy with what they have. They are always smiling and waving at us. They do not give us sulky faces. They look and work towards a brighter future and not just complain about what they do not have. This is something we Singaporeans should learn from. We are always taking what we have for granted and not appreciating them. I think that we all can learn a lot from the Cambodians. Cambodians FTW:DD


Joshua, Group 5
Hi , Darius here .

'What have i learnt about myself ?:
I learnt that i really enjoyed helping the cambodians , especially teachinig  the kids at krobei primary school. They were really fun to teach and they really made my day . I have also learnt not to take things for granted and be grateful for the things i have . Like being able to have drinking water almost everywhere i go .

What have i learnt about my friends?:
I learnt that my friends have very good team work and leadership skills . They are able to work together and know how to lead the group well . They are also very friendly and kind . I have also made new friends during the trip to cambodia .

What have i learnt about the cambodians?:
i learnt the that the cambodians are very kind and friendly . When we went to the farm orphanage, we were welcomed by a huge group or friendly children and teenagers. They had a big smile on their faces and they introduced themselves to us . I made alot of friends at the orphanage. I also learnt that the cambodians are people who will not get upset easily and will not show you that they are upset even though they are. When we visited the night market , i went to stalls to buy some stuffs . When i bargained with the seller to lower the price , they kindly reduced it without showing any unhappiness . When we told them that we did not want to buy the things from them anymore, they would smile and thanks us even though we did not buy anything from them .This shows that they are very polite people .

Thats all i have to say . Bye :)

DARIUS (Group 3)

REFLECTION !!!

What i have learnt about myself ?
i have learnt that i am able to bargain with the people who were selling
beautiful stuffs at the night market ! and i also realise that i am not that bad in painting  !!
i really enjoyed the painting session at the Krobei Primary School.

What i have learnt about  Cambodia ?
i have learnt that cambodians are very polite and kind.At night market,when i
bargained with the people selling those stuffs,they did not frown and they were willing
to give me at a lower price..!they were so sweet! :) i gained more knowledge about
Angkor Wat.And i really enjoyed the moments that i have spent at the farm orphanage.
those cambodian kids were so cute !!! :))

What i have learnt about my friends ?
i have learnt that my friends were very talented .they drew nice pictures on
the wall.it was very beautiful!they also painted it nicely...i enjoyed the cambodia trip!
it was fun and i was able to make alot of friends in Cambodia !! :)

>>>Janaki (Group 4) <<<

My Reflection!!!! xD

What I have learn about myself:
I have learned a lot of things from this trip and the one thing that I have learned about myself was that I should not take things for granted. In this trip, we went to so many places, seen so many things and experience so many things that we would not be able to see and experience in an urban country like Singapore. One thing that really shocked me was the housing that they lived in in the village. It was so different, so unlike the housing we have seen and stayed in Singapore.While Singapore's houses are built from bricks and cement and some even more expensive materials, the houses in the village are built from just wood, sticks, bamboo, dried leaves and for the better ones, zinc. Bricks and cement are used only for the more privilege ones or for the community. For example, the village school. Not even all parts of the village school are made up of bricks, for those parts of the school where there is not even enough bricks, they would used either zinc metal plates to act as their roof or wooden planks. So as compared to the housing we have in Singapore, I really should not take things for granted.

What I have learn about Cambodia:
I have learned many things from Cambodia. My first impression of Cambodia was actually not THAT pleasant. That was when we first came down the plane and into the airport. You know what that means..... Custom Immigration!!!! Yeah..... Actually, I don't expect the people working there to be happily smiling and laughing away like in Singapore because I do know that they are a very conservative country. However, I certainly did not expect the people to be working with a scowl on the their face!!! Seriously!! I'm not kiddin'!!!! The atmosphere in the Custom Immigration is seriously freaking tense..... There was NOT A SINGLE SOUND at all, except for the stamping of the chops on our passport. However, all of these first impression flew out of me when we set off on the road. It seems like the local Cambodians are not like the people in the airport, so solemn and depress. They are the complete opposite!! They are so friendly and waved as our bus passed by them, which is something that us Singaporeans would never be caught doing. Another thing I had noticed about Cambodia was that they held a very positive attitude towards life, they have the courage to lift their heads up and faced the next day with hope and positivity, despite around 90% of the Cambodians have suffered and lost many of their family during the war which ended only recently,around 2 decades ago. That is something that we Singaporean really had to learn from them, seeing from how many suicide cases we have every year, those Singaporeans really do not cherished their lives. Every time something unfortunate or undesirable happened to them, they just give up their lives without thinking how much it would hurt their loved ones and family. One example is the children from the Farm Orphanage, they all look so happy and looking forward to the next day even though god knows what kind of horrible past they had before they were send to the Orphanage.

What I have learn about my friends:
From this trip, I have really learned and understand more about my friends. Surprisingly, I found out that some of the girls in this trip are very emotional when we are leaving the Farm Orphanage. They were like sniffing and bawling and crying their hearts out. I also met a lot of new friends in Cambodia. They taught me a lot of things such as basket weaving and apsara dance. The thing I have learnt most was teamwork. Since we are not allowed to go anywhere alone, we always have to stay as a team. So it means that we have to keep a lookout for one another. 

Well.......this is my reflection......uh......I seriously enjoyed this trip..........uh.........Thanks?
---------------------Elaine Goh---------------------------------------------
REFLECTION:

One thing i have learnt about myself
Okay, one thing i have learnt about myself is that i am really too weak. I couldn't endure and fell sick on the second day. I have now learnt to take care of myself when away from home (Home Sweet Home!), and also to swallow pills (-_-'!). Although i did little compared to the others i really really hope that it was helpful. I enjoyed painting the kids classrooms exteriors, laying the bricks for the toilet and trying to teach and interact with the kids. I know now that i am very lucky to be born in Singapore and to be able to get an education as well as have a chance to go overseas and interact with others.

One thing i have learnt about Cambodia
I thought that since Cambodia was considered a developing country, it would be filled with only small huts and plantations. However, the night market there was very cool and i was surprised to learn that AngKor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world was located in Cambodia. Angkor Wat was utterly fascinating. The Cambodians were also very very friendly and were willing to interact with us though we came from a different country.

One thing that i have learnt about my friends
Over at Cambodia everyone is serious and they help out and take turns to doing their jobs. My friends also took care of me and made sure i drank A LOT A LOT A LOT of water and ate my medicine (Thanks!)I'm really happy to be able to know more about my friends and work together with them.
Many thanks to all my friends, and the teachers who accompanied me when i was at the hospital.

Bridget (Group 1) :)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Reflection

Hey Jun Yang here, One thing i learnt about myself is that i take things for granted.We always think that watre is very easy to come by as everyday we have clean water available to us.But in Cambodia, most of the population do not have access to clean drinking water.Therefore we must learn to cherish what we have.

What have i learnt about Cambodia:
The locals there are very friendly and lead very peaceful lives.When we were on the bus, we saw many people frowning at us, but when we waved at them, their smils turned to smiles and they waved back.You do ont see that in Singapore.Every day the farmers grow enough crops to feed themselves and their family, they do not want more than thay need, in order words,they are not greedy.

What have i learnt about my friends:
They may appear unfriendly on the outside, but once you get to know them, we can get along very well.We are able to think and work fast.For example at the schhool, when we saw the children were getting bored,we came up with games to entertain them.

Thats all for my reflection.Thank you(Oh Jun Yang, Group 1)

Reflection

 Hi :) Hafiz here. And here is my reflection...

What have I learn about myself
1 thing I learn about myself is to be more gentle with things. Before I went to this trip, I was quite violent with the things I worked with. But this trip made me a bit more gentle. For example, the painting of the wall. I help Hui Yu draw some parts of the wall. And at first I pressed the chalk so hard that it kept on breaking into half. But I soon realise that we have limited resources and we had to use what we have. With this, I tried using the chalk more gentle and it worked. It stopped breaking into half. And I used the chalk which had broken into half to save resources.

What I learn about Cambodia:
1 thing I have learn about Cambodia is that the people there are very friendly. At first, I thought the people in Cambodia, was going to be fierce or grumpy. But I was wrong. And in Singapore is it not like that. In Cambodia, as we ride through the way to the primary school, I realise that the locals living by the road were actually waving at us and saying hi. This was weird to me as in Singapore, as I walk pass anyone, no one seems to give me a smile or say hi. They are just minding their own business. But in Cambodia, it was different. They are friendly.

What I learn about my friend:
1 thing I learn about my friend is that they are not all bad. At first, some of the students looked very unfriendly and fierce. But as we get together, I soon realise that they are not bad at all. They are very friendly. Even though we just met, it is as if we met a long time ago. We joked around as if we were old friends. And I was having the time of my life in Cambodia. We all get together easily. And it made my trip more memorable and a pleasant one. Thanks everyone for making this trip possible and a memorable one :)

Well that's my reflection. Thank you for reading :) By Hafiz (2N7),Group 3 :)

Reflection :D

What have i learnt about myself ?
I have learnt that i was able to do many things that i didn't know i could have done it . For example , i never knew that i was able to mix cement and lay bricks . As a Singaporean kid , we were not really exposed to these kind of hard labour but i am really glad that i could adapt to my surroundings quickly and accomplished what i was assigned to do .

What have i learnt about my friends ?
I have come to know that my friends were all very great leaders while we were at the primary school . Everybody was able to lead on their own and we could all thought of last minute things . For example , we had about 1 hour before school ends for the children and we had about 5 mins to plan what we wanted to do next . So everyone thought of playing various games and in the end , the children really enjoyed the games that we have organized for them .

What have i learnt about the Cambodians ?
I noticed that the Cambodians leads a very happy-go-lucky lives . Despite struggling to make ends meet , they are always putting on a smile to anybody they see . When we bargained till they do not earn a profit and instead lose money , they still decide to sell the product to us and still put on a smile for us . I also noticed that as Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world , most of the Cambodians are farmers . Many of them live in huts .

Janice Chai :D
Group 3