ACODO Orphanage Siem Reap, Cambodia

We spent 2 weeks here as volunteers assisting in various ways. The photos below show some of the ways we helped.

We were at ACODO for 1 day when we were invited to a wedding of former employees of th orphanage. We enjoyed being part of a Cambodian wedding which apparently went on for days. This photo shows Robert with the ACODO Director on his left and Roun the English teacher on his right. It was a good opportunity for us to get to know everyone in a very relaxed atmosphere.

On Day 3 we were invited to a concert put on by the Government for International Childrens Day. All Siem Reap orphanages performed a dance and this shows the ACODO children on stage. They excelled themselves as usual. The ACODO band played music for many of the performances and are highly thought of in Sien Reap. One of the boys Soxvy has the most magnificent voice. As guests and sitting at the official table we enjoyed a beautiful lunch.

After this life settled down to a normal pattern of days at ACODO. No more weddings and lunches.

One of the issues that they face is the risk of flooding during the monsoon season. We were here at the beginning of the monsoon and the rains came very early this year. The grounds were flooded but the access to the buildings was ok.




Below shows many of the dances performed by the children. There are about 13 different dances and they are always learning new ones. ACODO employs a dance and music teacher. The daily show is a way of bringing donations to pay for day to day expenses. There are 70 children and they perform about 3 times a week only. More than this would be too tiring for the young ones.


Below is one of the small children. He makes the cutest monkey.










We did get to relax at night when the children were in bed. Here we are out at a local restaurant in our orange ACODO shirts drinking draught Angkor beer, except for Cheryl who rebelled and wore plain clothes.... only joking. Neroli is the other diner and she is a long term volunteer. A fellow Aussie who is a very important part of ACODO. Not sure how ACODO would fare without her. She is loved by all, children and volunteers.

Here is a photo of the back yard. One of Cheryl's projects was to clear this area of rubbish and install rows of clothes lines for the children to hang their clothes. Her other project was to start a garden. Here is a section that we added - ginger, chillies and other kmer herbs. There is a path on each side of the clothes lines. One was left as a path and the other converted to a vegetable patch. So each alternate path became a vegetable garden. It seemed to work well.

A Robert project was to bring in dirt to fill a low area where a new building is in progress. The delivery didn't come at 9am as planned but at 1pm just as the rain came. And when it rains it rains. First the truck got bogged and the tipper would not work properly. Bad went to worse and the end result was a quagmire. The older boys and other volunteers helped Robert to shift it but it turned into a big job instead of an easy one.

Patricia became the mend it lady for the week. Here is a lovely photo of one of the children 'helping'. Now the old treddle machine was a challenge and threading needles more so. Often the children would thread the needles for me which was a great help. I even got to mend some of the dance costumes.

A random shot of Robert playing with the kids. They loved to play hopscotch and ball games. The kids were very happy which was the bit that made us happy.

2 Aussies who came to help. One was a roof fixer. He increased his knowledge of roofing techniques by becoming a roof thatcher and did a very good job. We didn't get the shot of them bringing the thatch back in the tuk tuk. It was a treat....

Here they are leaving in the tuk tuk on their last day as volunteers. Anne and Kym helped Patricia with sewing for a few days which made the job much more fun. We enjoyed their company and met up with them again in Sihanoukville at a waterfront restaurant. They were great fun.

At the end of the show all the children get on the stage and sing a song and thank everyone for coming. It's a wonderful finale to the show and then the guests can take photos and or have their photos taken with the children.

Some more random photos of the dances.

The monkey dance

Hard to capture but this was a peacock dance performed by the older children. It's one of our favourites.

The harvest dance.

Another peacock dance.

This photo shows the stage and the audience. Taken from the classroom built up higher. These high spots are so important when the serious flooding happens.

All the children attend a government school for half a day. When they return from school they come up to all staff and volunteers and bow with their hands in the prayer position and say 'I am home from school'. And we in return say 'Welcome home' or 'thank you' or what ever you wish to say - to about 30 children one after the other. It's such a wonderful experience and it happened twice a day.
We will never forget these moments.

The Acodo Orphanage web site http://www.acodo.org/

Some general information about our stay.

We have been volunteers at ACODA Orphanage since Monday 30th May. Our last day as volunteers will be Sunday 12th June. We have been helping in many ways. Assisting the teacher with english and simple maths and numbers to start off with. Robert visited 'Pub Street' each day to give out fliers to the tourists for a cultural show ACODA has. Then we had an influx of volunteers so we started looking for some other ways to help. First we extended the vegetable garden with chillie bushes, ginger and several other local kmer herbs. Robert has been rerouting water run off from the showers onto the garden. Patricia volunteered to mend clothes with an old singer treddle machine (no power). The children brought their clothes along for mending.

On the weekend Robert has ordered 2 loads of dirt to be delivered to fill in a pit.

We are enjoying the experience thoroughly. The children are so lovely. We are trying not to get too attached but you just do. It's hard not to. They range in age from 3 to 18 years old, not that many of them know when their birthday is. They come from very poor families or one parent families where their parents cannot look after them, or are orphans. Some have mild disabilities.

Education has a high priority. All the children attend an international school for half a day and then they have classes at ACODA. They employ english, general studies, dance and music teachers. Many speak very fluent english so communication all round is very easy. They have a cultural show each night at 6.30pm and the kids perform 2 or 3 nights a week. The show is very good and popular with tourists (in the tourist bible - the lonely planet guide book) Tourists are invited to attend and the donations help to fund the orphanage. A bus load of secondary students from a Singapore school volunteered for 3 days and the children enjoyed the experience so much, especially the older children who had peers to relate to. When the bus left after 3 days there were many tears from both the singapore and ACODO children. It was all very emotional. We were there to try and console the children.