MAD4Cambodia 2014 Trip - Want to come?

Plans are underway for the MAD4Cambodia 2014 Trip!

Tentative dates are from 27 September - 7 October (although they may change slightly).

If you are interested in going or would like to find out more, please contact Brad Flynn at mad4cambodia@gmail.com or phone 0402 336 036.

MAD4Cambodia 2013 Video

Made a Difference

Isaiah 58:10

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and you night will become like the noonday.

The MAD4Cambodia team have returned to Australia and with it all the daily concerns and pressures that make up our lives.  I would like to think that due to what we have seen and experience in Cambodia, we will not go back to living our lives the same way and may be able to share our experiences with others. Because even though the team HAS been able to make a lasting difference in Cambodia, it is the impression that has been made on OUR hearts by the Cambodians, that has really Made a Difference.

To see a clip of the team in Cambodia please click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJV5AwEjMlU


How can YOU make a difference:

Visit RAW Impact via http://www.rawimpact.org/ to:
- enquire about going on a trip
- volunteering
- make a donation

Visit International Children's Care via http://www.iccaustralia.org.au/ to:
- sponsor a child
- buy a gift (eg chickens) for a needy family on behalf of a friend as a Xmas present.

Day 8 - Rest, Relaxation and Reflection

It was a laid back day for the team as we took in the sights and sounds of Siem Reap. Those that hadn't been before trekked out to  view the famous Angkor temples.   After lunch it was time by the pool, massages or markets. Later on the afternoon the team went on a sunset quad bike ride through the rice fields. Today has been a really nice way for the team to relax after a physical and emotional week. 

PERSONAL VIEW by Jo Clack of the Trip and the Temples 
This morning part of the team went to the Ankor temples. The temples are amazing with the beautiful carvings that tell forgotten stories about slaves, gods and ladies who carry giant snakes. We went to 3 temples but my favourite was Ankor Wat as we could climb right up to the top to get a fantastic view.

I have really enjoyed my experiences on this trip but my favourite time was  at the hospital as I like to help others and keep myself busy. There was a particular girl who touched my heart who was involved in a factory accident. Initially it was just her hand that was amputated but due to infection she had had to have the limb amputated a number of times. When we saw her she had just had an operation to amputate at the shoulder. I had a few tears in my eyes as this was quite personal to me as this girl is the same age as my daughter. 

My most embarrassing time however was driving the quad bike into the rice paddy field not once but twice. I have decided that quad bikes are not for me. 

While exploring the temples the team found a rather odd statue

Jo deciding the track was too mainstream 

PERSONAL VIEW by Matt Sharp of the Trip and the Quad Bikes. 
Today we went quad bike riding to finish off the trip. Riding in the countryside I felt at peace. Seeing Cambodia from the bike felt like I was alone seeing behind the scenes. I could see the bigger picture of why we were here and it made it more real.  

I really enjoyed building the house for the orphaned kids. I am someone who likes to get there hands dirty and see the results of my effort.   Here we need to make sure we do a really good quality job this is all that they have, they can't afford to fix it. Doing what we have done has made me feel like I accomplished something important. 

PERSONAL VIEW by Athol Prior of the Trip
This trip I have loved getting to know the Raw Impact team members, especially those from Cambodia. Troy is a visionary Team Leader & CEO, who is originally from Darwin & more recently from Perth. Alex is a development project facilitator from Newcastle who being fluent in Khmer, is also a translator. Katrina is a nurse from England, who works in the area of developing health & nutrition projects. Emily is a university student from Perth who is working on a family sponsorship program. Lastly, (young) Troy is from Sydney & works as a logistics/IT specialist. 

The Cambodian staff include Daroth, who is a highly skilled audio visual specialist,  and his two assistants Salin and Rado. Then there is Samphal - who worked his way up from being a refugee to becoming an agricultural specialist. Plus Saran, who is an accountancy whiz and who was my work partner on the build site. And finally, Lakena who is an English teacher,  translater and who will be an international voluntour team team leader.

The Cambodian staff are very representative of their country,  being relatively young, intelligent, and with a heart for service. However, they have also been impacted by Cambodia's history: one of them lost an uncle to Pol Pot and another was shot and wounded by the Vietnamese army when Pol Pot was being deposed.

I have found the Raw Impact team to be one big family committed to making a difference in Cambodia,  and I feel privileged to have been accepted into their family for the last week.

Day 7 - Wheels on the Bus

It was a lazy morning as the team prepared to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap. A quick stop at a local bakery with amazing cupcakes then it was time to say good buy to our leaders Troy, Katrina, Little Troy, Lekenha and Em who were not coming with us. It was very emotional for some as we had grown close to each other. 

It was a three hour bus ride to ICCs Light of Hope School where we had lunch and spent time with the kids.  Some of team who had spent time here previously got the opportunity to catch up with their sponsor children. It was a quick stop but some of the team played soccer with the kids while others handed out stickers to the little kids. It was amazing to see that the school is currently installing a bakery and that a class was already baking banana bread to sell in the village. More info on the school including sponsorship is available on www.iccaustralia.org.au. 

3 more hours in the bus and we finally made it to Siem Reap for our last part of the trip. 

Kids from Light of Hope School

Playing soccer Aussie vs Cambodian 

PERSONAL VIEW of the trip by Lloyd Plane

I have found being the team leader for this trip really rewarding as I believe the experience has helped me grow and develop important life skills. It has been great working with this team as everyone has gotten on so well and there have been no major issues. I have felt in my element checking in on everyone and making sure that everyone is ok as many people have found the experience confronting and emotional. I am sad that Kaz in not with me as much of her pre-trip organisation of the team has made this trip as successful as it is. 

I feel like we really did build well on the first two days, it's just a shame that circumstances didn't allow us to finish. Although we didn't get the satisfaction of finishing the house with our hands, we have had a hand in achieving the main goal which is for the children to have a safe environment to grow up in. 

I am really proud of the team. I believe everyone combined their strengths so as a group we were able to do the amazing things we did.   There were a few people who I thought may struggle with building or with the hospital visit. I am really proud that these people pushed through and got the job done to the best of their abilities without complaining. Even people who were unwell still came and did what they could. Towards the end of the trip I felt that individuals within the team were able to share more of the emotions that they were feeling. This was a major part of helping knit the group together so we were able to make a difference in Cambodia. 

Lloyd with his hairy mates

PERSONAL VIEW of ICC Light of Hope School by Ben Hartley

We were only at the school for a short period of time but the biggest thing I noticed was the amount of new buildings that had built since I was here a year ago.  You can really see this school is going places. It was also really good to meet our sponsor child Kangja and be able to speak to her in person rather then through letters. 

The boys decided to play a quick game of soccer with some of the kids and they were really good players. Of course we won the game but mostly that's because we had stolen a few of the best players from the other team. 

It really was amazing too see the basketball ring that the team built last year had survived what looks to be a lot of use. It feels good to actually see that something that I contributed too has added enjoyment to these kids life. 

The basketball ring is in for the long haul 

Mel and Ben were able to catch up with their sponcer child Kangja 

Day 6 - Cold in Cambodia

We packed off early this morning for our last building day at Gunty's Island. It had been raining all night and had not stopped as the two vans struggled to stay on the slippery mud roads. Unfortunately one of the vans got bogged up to the chassis in a particularly muddy patch. It looked like we were going to have to dig it out by hand in the  rain as trying to pull it out with the other van had not worked. Rob Hartley remembered seeing a bobcat down the road and organised for it to pull us out saving a lot off digging.  Little did we know that this was only the beginning of the dramas cause by the rain. 

Bus stuck in the mud

When we arrived at the building site it was still bucketing down and an indefinite stop work meeting was called as it was too hard and dangerous to work on the house. It is disappointing that we weren't able to finish the house ourselves but it was organised for the local builders to finish the job for us when the weather permits.  

The house so far

Family we are building for

Also due to the rain, cooking dinner for the families was going to be an impossibility as there was no firewood for the bonfire. In the end we decided to pool all the food together to make a big lunch to hand out to the families. The girls all washed, chopped and boiled various vegetables, noodles and rice with the help of Gunty's wife Dep (the boys were busy having an extended morning tea break). We were using very traditional methods of cooking which basically consisted of a big wok over a coal fire in an outside kitchen. Using what was available we managed to create a large stir-fry with noodles and a curry with rice. The next step was to transfer the food to the families. This was quite a task as it involved transporting big saucepans of food along a muddy track to the houses. There was many a slip but the food and everyone made it without a fall. It was great handing out the food to the families who regularly struggle to provide dinner. We also handed out shirts, lollies and stickers which put a big smile on everyone's face. 

Impromptu Cambodian Cooking class

Walking the food out to the locals

Not sure if that is a grimace or a smile.  Either way all the food was taken. 

The last disappointment was that we were not able to be able to say overnight at the village. We did however make it off the island without getting stuck in the mud. 

Day 5 - Heartache and Happiness

It was an emotional roller-coaster today as the team went to She rescue, the local hospital and then a funny dress up dinner. 

The She Rescue Home exists as a safe haven for girls ages 5 to 16 who have been trafficked, raped, prostituted or are at risk of any of these things.  We were given a briefing off all the good things that She is doing for these vulnerable girls. www.sherescuehome.org.

The team then went to the local hospital to provide some comfort to the patients which many off us found extremely confronting. As we entered the institutionalised looking building we were met with screams which definitely gave us a clue that this was no western hospital. The screaming was due to the patients getting the bandages changed on there horrific injuries.  The team provided as much support as possible but there was very little we could do for the many motorbike, burns victims and amputees.  We did help volunteers from ICC hair washing, and give out protein and milk drinks to those that wanted it as nothing is provided by the hospital not even dressings or medication. 

PERSONAL VIEW of the hospital by Amy Chapman

This morning we visited a local hospital. It was nothing like I expected and like no hospital I had ever seen. Our team came in and helped wash people's hair and gave them some protein shakes and milk drinks. Some of the patients had significant injuries but there appeared to be minimal pain medications eg no antibiotics and only saline drips. However they were so grateful for our help and I really enjoyed caring for them and helping them. There was a particular man that was in the hospital with his family. He was in serious pain and I spent a bit of time washing his hair and gave him a nice head massage. As I was leaving the room his family and him stopped me and said thank you over and over even though I felt like I didn't and couldn't do anything significant to help. I will never forget this experience.

Amy and Jo washing a boys hair who had fallen off his motorbike and Broken his leg

Rob and Matt also washing hair in the hospital. 

PERSONAL VIEW of hanging out with the locals by Mal and Kylie Topperwein.

Malcolm, Kylie and Em hung out with some local kids and threw balls, frisbees and jumped rope. After starting with 2 kids we were soon surrounded by many who were eager to play catch and skip. Then some hats began being distributed; the first was given to a local Nanna who had the most thankful smile. The sounds of fun and the smiles of the children as more joined in the games with us were infectious. As we were getting ready to leave, there was an almost endless stream of high-fives given out as we headed for the tuk-tuk and the children fairwelled us with the biggest brightest smiles and waves as we disappeared around the corner. 

 

Sun smart Nanna

Fun is a universal language

We were all pretty wrecked emotionally by the mornings activities so Troy gave us a challenge for dinner.  Everyone drew a name out of a hat and went to the market to spend $10 on an outfit for that person to wear out to dinner. As you can imagine it was a welcome release and many a strange costume was purchased (much to the grief of the wearer).  

While we were at the market we also needed to buy food for the family we are staying with in the village. The only problem is each pair was only allowed to spend $2 max on dinner and breakfast to feed themselves and a Cambodian family!!!!  There was much frantic bartering going on in the market but we all walked out with rather small bags of food.  

As the team are staying out at the village tomorrow night and as they are lacking in the wifi (and running water, flushing toilets...) area there will not be a blog tomorrow. 

Day 4 - Can we build it?

It was rise and shine early today as we needed to complete 2/3 of the house by the end of the day. There was a lot of girl power happening with many of the chicks using hammers, drills and circular saws for the first time. All of us pulled together and the floor and the beams for the walls and roof were built. Days without a workplace injury has been changed to 0 as Lloyd Plane stepped on a nail but I am pleased to announce that he was very brave and didn't cry. Also included in the injury count is Rob Hartley who fell off his scooter.  Apart from making everyone late home there was no serious side effects of the accident. 

After an externally hard days work, we had a lovely relaxing dinner on the roof of our hotel which has a magnificent view of the Phnom Penh city skyline. 

Ben, Matt and Bob the builder (Rob) excited about riding their motorbikes 

Cute kids at Guntys 

Building materials delivered by horse and cart 

The house goes up

Day 3 - The Building Begins

Some very keen team members started the day off crazy early doing training with the Cambodian Police. Troy Roberts and his team run fitness and other training for the Cambodian anti trafficking police as this training is not provided by the government and some fitness freaks decided to join in.  After breakfast we pushed a mini bus to its limits on a ride on very rutted road to Gunty's island where we started building a house for two children who lost there mom to aids 3 months ago. Gunty has organised for the kids, boy aged 5 and a girl aged 13, to live with a teacher from the school but they did not have anywhere to live. There was lots of sunscreen and more plumbers cracks than necessary as the boys went to work on the house while the majority of ladies interacted with the kids from Gunty's school and the surrounding orphanage. To celebrate our achievements we had tarantulas as an appetiser which a few insane people actually tried. 

Athol teaching Amy which end of the hammer to use

Jo hanging out with some pretty cute kids

Nom nom nom. Yummy tarantula for a snack. 

PERSONAL VIEW by Lyn Prior of the kids at Guntys 

Today I was looking forward to spending time with the kids at Gunty's island. I got to spend a lot of time with the kids from the school and also ones that came in from the village. I taught the kids knuckle-bones which they had never seen before but within half an hour I had gone from teaching 2 kids to 12 who had not only mastered the game but created new ones using the knuckle-bones. It was great interacting with the kids and there was no language barrier as they all spoke English quite well. I also did some other activities such as colouring in, sticker books and some much needed nit removal. I am really looking forward to tomorrow as I feel in my element playing, helping and giving attention to these kids. 

Lyn teaching the kids knuckle-bones

Having fun playing ball

PERSONAL VIEW by Rob Hartley of the building 

It was hard but rewarding work today as we started building the house. Because it was over 2m off the ground it made normal jobs extra difficult.  It was amazing to see how the locals worked with hand tools and do a better job than I can with power tools. After the last couple of days where we have seen and heard all of the bad things that has happened to Cambodia, I felt like I was able to give back and achieve something worthwhile today.

Building 101 Cambodian style

Day 2 - Culture Immersion

Today the team was fully immersed in the devastating history of Cambodia and how this has helped shaped the current culture.  We visited the Killing Fields where prisoners under the Pol Pot regime were brutally killed and buried in mass graves. A number of our team also went to S-21, where prisoners were tortured prior to being loaded into trucks and sent to the killing fields. We however finished the day on a high note as we visited the kids at Nu Picks orphanage. We played games with the kids and helped serve hungry kids off the street there dinner.  Being at Nu Pick's and seeing what he has done was an especially nice way to finish a day full of horrific history.

PERSONAL VIEW from Kylie Topperwein of the Killing Fields

In year 10 I conducted an assignment on Pol Pot, but by visiting the killing fields and hearing the personal stories was very real and confronting.  In particular I found the killing tree, where babies were killed by bashing there heads against the tree and thrown in the pit beside there mums, was extremely horrific and devastating.   What really struck with me was the philosophies used to justify these inhuman acts 'better to kill an innocent person by accident then not kill an enemy by accident', and 'to kill the grass you have to pull up the roots'. This has really put what we are trying to achieve on this trip into perspective. That we are not here to have a holiday, but to somehow help make a difference to a broken country. 

Mass grave of 450 victims dug up at the killing fields

Many remains have been dug up at the killing fields but more bone fragments and clothing are found everyday 

PERSONAL VIEW from Amy Chapman about Nu Pick's orphanage 

Tonight we went to Nu Picks and I expected the street kids to be sad and malnourished but every single kid was smiling and happy. We spent the time kicking the ball around, playing with balloons and making up games with bouncy balls.  It is amazing and surprising to see the difference between Nu Picks kids and those out on the streets of Phnom Penh. You can definitely see that God has his hand in this amazing outreach.  It is a relief to see that although this country has been through so much, there is a family who are will to give so much of themselves to try and make Cambodia a better place. I felt like I was able to help make a difference by playing and feeding the kids and showing them love but mostly they made a difference to me by showing me that you don't need everything to be happy. 

The boys helping dish out dinner to very hungry kids

Nu Pick and a group of very hungry kids off the street

PERSONAL VIEW of the day by Mal Topperwein

We were only there for an hour but it was such a different hour then what was spent at S-21 and the killing fields. There is such a polar opposite between the Pol Pot philosophy of terror and Nu Pick's of unconditional love. The way that Pol Pot was trying to poison the roots of the country is in such stark contrast to the nurturing philosophy that Nu Pick is fostering with his children.

Mangoes growing through the razor wire at S-21

Cell at S-21 where prisoners were tortured and sometimes killed

Day 1- Is Cambodia Ready For MAD4Cambodia Team?

 Today the mad4cambodia team arrived into Phnom Penh in a flurry off tuk tuks overloaded with suitcases. It was a day of acclimatisation to the sights and smells of Cambodia and in particular the dreaded "crossing of the road". We soon got the hang of it as our fearless leader Lloyd Plane bravely strode out amid headlights and horns with the team following behind like baby chickens. The hotel we are staying is surprisingly nice although there has been the occasional flooding of the bathroom and bed configuration mishap. However it is nice and close to the markets which we managed to quickly view before it closed. Our team leader, Troy, took us out to an amazing dinner to help acquaint ourselves with the local food. By the look of happiness on everyone's faces as plates of curries cooked in hollowed out coconuts and mock tails made of freshly squeezed juices, it was a huge success. A quick massage and ice cream finalised day one of what we believe will be an epic tour! 

  

Rob Hartley is overwhelmed by the variety of home wares at the market

Hang on Tuk Tuks can be crazy

Hotel room with a view

First dinner together as a team

Getting ready for MAD4Cambodia 2013

Everyone on the MAD4Cambodia 2013 trip are madly packing as it's starts in 2 days!!! Make sure you save this blog to your favourites or enter you email address on the left to follow, as regular updates on what the team are up to will be posted.

Monster Fundraiser!

A special screening of Monsters University will help raise funds for communities in Cambodia.

Where: Hoyts Carousel (map)
When: Sunday, 14 July 2013 at 2:20pm
Ticket Price: $16
Sales close: 3 July 2013 or when sold out.

Buy tickets online or contact Karen (0422 449 339).