A world full of children ~ less than abundant

Please click on these images to see them closer...

What is it like to not have electricity in 2012? No running water in your house except for the old timey pump in the middle of a central mud hole. A place where everyone bathes in the broad daylight. Is it only in National Geographic magazines, or do these places really exist today?

It is hard to totally visualize the real poverty and lives of the people you only see on TV. You see it, but it's not that real. You can't hear and smell it. You can't feel the rain or touch the child... These are images on a screen brought to you while you are on your couch, in your brick home, sipping lemonade and if you need to pee you can go to the toilet inside.

Well I am here to share my 5 days in Cambodia, the smells, images, and most of all the feeling that lingers in my heart. I won't have to describe that in words, you can see for yourself...

We left a fancy smancy hotel in Thailand and arrived to Siem Reap Cambodia to a sub par hotel by tuk tuk. It had brown running water, not hot, and no pressure. But there was a bed and TV. How could I complain considering the living conditions right next door below my window was a thatched roof awning only, wet nasty ground from the nights rain and the outdoor kitchen, or should I say a chopping block and a few pans. I have no idea how they actually cooked or where they slept. Oh, and the screaming baby, not crying, but blood curdling screams and often.

Cambodia is known for it's fabulous temples especially Ankor Wat. The temples were amazing and something quite different than I have ever seen before. But the memory I have today is not fallen down carved rocks, it's the eyes of the children and the way of life I witnessed them living. They played with rocks and plastic bags and were butt naked in the dirt. The hope I saw in them while they looked at me.. I can not describe the smells of sewer, nasty fish, stagnant ponds, burning wood and car exhaust. None of the sniffs were pleasant, matter of fact the only thing I can remember smelling good was the perfectly placed flowers on the ground outside one temple and the smell of bacon cooking in the morning from my bed and breakfast. Everything else reeked of poor.

I could write about this and that, what we ate, and what we saw and what effected us. But I am a visual person and I will just share that instead.

Their way of life was just that, their way of life.

 This 12 year old boy is not at a soccer tournament...

 I wanted this one...

 This is how we were greeted on the quad bikes in the country side by hundreds of children. 

So today, as you sign your kid up for summer camp, think about whats on sale at the mall, or cook that tenderloin.. please consider giving more of yourself to those that don't have anything but hope.

I sure want to change my life to be more of a giver.