I learned a lot from my time in Cambodia. Some were heartbreaking, some were light and funny and some were things you could only learn and do over in Cambodia. Here is a list of my top 10, not necessarily in order of importance, just in order of when they come into my mind.
1. Cambodian kids are good at thumb wars (picture to the left). When we were at the House of Rainbow Bridge, an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS the kids wanted to destroy me in thumb wars, and sometimes they did. I have small hands.
2. Pan fried Tarantula with the right dipping sauce actually tastes pretty good.
3. You can fit a family of 4 and a 50lb bag of rice on a 125-cc motorbike.
4. The red light only means stop when there is a car rolling through the green light to the right or left of you.
5. Using a spray hose instead of toilet paper erases all forms of rash and chafing when you have intense diarrhea.
6. World Vision is more than just a giant organization, they are a group of people that deeply care about the poor and do what they can to reach out to them. We sat on the streets with them one night and watched them love kids by giving them food, educating them on how to survive in their environment and rescuing children from the streets.
7. Rice is the ketchup of South East Asia, it goes on and with everything.
8. Kids are resilient. We saw many kids on the street living. They gathered themselves in community and did what they could to survive and get by.
9. It only takes one step of obedience to make a difference in the life of a person or community. We saw so many NGO’s who saw a need, took a step and changed lives.
10. God is truly with the poor. His heart and hands are with them. He loves them and has big plans for their lives. They are not forgotten.
