Oct 29 - Kampong Cham- Eco Village-orphanage

Kampong Cham is the second largest city after Phnom Penh...strangely quiet, it seemed to us, until we learned it was a holiday.

But these young people still worked and here are going home from work in the factory...

There were dozens of these trucks..

We meandered through rice fields...and having never seen a rice field I had no idea how green and lush they were, and much like any other grain field-

 ...to visit an Eco village supported by AMICA, a French organisation, then on to the 12th C temple of Wat Nokor - this one very in the style of Angkor Wat, so I'll save photos until then - to finish off the afternoon by visiting a Cambodian orphanage.

In every village we had come to, the children had followed us around and had asked, nicely, for treats or money.Some of us were uncomfortable with a repeat performance at the orphanage. So at lunchtime the passengers of La Marguerite decided on a gift-giving plan for the children of the orphanage to avoid favoritism and the individual giving of small gifts like pencils and notebooks. We collected money  from everyone before leaving for the afternoon excursion, stopped at the market on the way out and bought school uniforms. With the money collected, we bought 57 uniforms for boys and girls of various ages, and donated the balance to the orphanage to help defray daily expenses. It costs 40 cents a day to feed a child...the money we donated will feed 3 children for a year.

The orphanage has 92 children, there are 20 orphanages in Cambodia. And I am told, these are the lucky ones...many children live on the street. The director was grateful for our contribution and the children sang songs for us...