Hey all,
Before continuing the Laos journey, I have to back up a little and tell you about Green Gecko Project. And I have a bunch of pics from the new facility but the hard drive on my computer died and took all the pics from my first two weeks with it:( So I'll take new ones, give me a few days.
The Green Gecko Project is where I volunteered for much of my previous stay in Cambodia in 2005-2006. The founders, Tania and Rem, created a safe place for Siem Reap's street kids to come and learn and play and get away from the negative begging environment. I just glossed over a whole lot of issues there in the interest of space, but trust me when I say the kids were in a bad place. The project has grown tremendously since I was here last, driven by Tania's and Rem's passion and dedication. The project has relocated from a one-room school house to a 2-acre compound. They have a lovely Khmer house and several outbuildings for school, washing, playgrounds, etc. A huge step up from the first place, where we barely had room for 30 kids!! Now GGP services 60+ kids, a hell of a feat. But Tania and Rem have a steady support group, with volunteers who stay longer than a week at a time, and Claire, an Aussie who came over to be Tania's right-hand gal.
All the kids are in Khmer and English school (and earning top marks and awards), several of the parents have been given jobs at the center, and on this visit I have seen a HUGE difference in the kids' behavior. I keep saying, my god, they're just not the same kids. I mean, they are, their personalities are as strong and beautiful as ever, but their behavior is so much healthier than when they were begging. It's an incredible transformation. What strikes me the most is how much they act like a cohesive family. They look out for each other, they share (!), and they encourage each other. I mean, they were like that on the street, to an extent, but I think the street life was so unstable and unpredictable that they never really invested in each other, and certainly not in themselves. Now, that sense of identity and self-worth that we worked so hard to instill in the beginning has really taken root. Not only are they invested in themselves, they're investing in their own FUTURE, something they may not have had before.
We went to an end of term party at the kids' Khmer school, where they cranked up the speakers and had dancing and singing contests and raffle prizes. The school is an "International School", meaning it's a private Khmer school with actual educational standards, and there are 50 Gecko kids enrolled there. During one dancing contest, 3 of the 4 kids competing were Gecko kids. They got the music going and our kids started flailing their arms and gettin' down with their bad selves. They were a huge crowd pleaser, with everybody screaming and laughing. Tania turned to me and said, tongue in cheek, "You know, we really need to teach these kids some self-confidence!"
At a party for some donors who were visiting, the Geckos had a quick assembly to say hello and thank you. We all sat inside an open-air concrete and thatch roof structure- the new school building and sleeping quarters before its walls have been installed. In the beginning of the assembly, Tania sat with the kids while they meditated silently for about five minutes. And I mean the children were completely silent. I felt myself getting very emotional, tears welling up, as I felt the wind blowing through the trees and the new school structure, and through my hair. I looked over each of these children and thought of how many times I had seen each of them in the streets at 2 am, or worse, at 8am after having been in the streets all night; how their eyes had looked so old, their hair ratted, their clothes filthy, their faces unreal and plastic as they learned what emotional expression would bring in the most money; the home life where their parents encouraged them to take part in a lifestyle filled with disease, heartache, and hopelessness rather than one with opportunity and achievement. I reflected on how lucky I was that my parents had always told me I would go college, that I would make something of myself. And now these kids, they were about to sit down at real desks, in real classrooms, in their classrooms and with their own books, and you know what- I think for the first time ever these children have the sense that they DESERVE it.
It's been a huge pleasure to come back and see the program so successful, as evidenced by these amazing children and their ability to make something so productive and inspiring out of something so dark. If you want to learn some more about GGP, check out their website. www.greengeckoproject.org
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