Day 99 - Lunch on the job!

I'll never get fed up with this place!

Day 99 - 30 September

It's suppose to be wet season, so why is there all this sun? I suppose I shouldn't complain. Only a month ago I was moaning about the amount of rain I'd been subjected to in China and Vietnam. Sun is good, sun is good. No more moaning about it.

I packed my lunch up ready for the day at Project C. The bumpy road leading us there kept me wide awake after my restless night's sleep. I dreamt something bad had happened to my dad and it was so real, I woke up in a real panic. I even text my dad to make sure he was OK! It's funny how dreams do that.

The morning session went really well, although DK told me my fifteen minute warm ups were getting shorter - I was finishing them in seven minutes or less without even realising. This has now been noted and I will have those kids hopping and skipping around for a good fifteen minutes.

The kids ran around in the sun, laughing and pushing each other innocently which brought smiles to mine and DK's face. By the time lunch rolled around, we were well and truly ready to eat!

I had pork noodles, vegetable crackers and a banana whilst DK had his mum's homemade pork and rice.

The afternoon session were taught out in the glorious sunshine (see, I'm trying to be positive about the sun) and the kids had DK and I laughing multiple times. All in all, it was another great day out.

By the end of the day, DK and I were done!

The view from the cafe moments before the heavens opened.

You see!

I headed out to my new favourite spot, the Khmer Cafe 168 for some Lok Lac and a delightful stack of banana pancakes. I wouldn't have had dessert had it not been for the rain that had me pegged back and unable to cycle back. It was bucketing down.

This addiction is down to my Vietnam group who got me hooked on these in just three weeks! Thanks guys!

Find out more about Globalteer Sports Project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalteerSportsProject

Day 83 - Week 3 of Volleyball and saying goodbye again!

Listening to Khmer music on the Tuk Tuk journey to work.

Day 83 - 14th September

After a last breakfast with Abigail, we both headed around to the Globalteer Office so that Abigail could say goodbye to DK. It was about as emotional as the day when Gordon Brown finished his term as Prime Minster. I suppose somethings are just not able to be expressed.

Our weekly Monday morning meeting to discuss the week ahead focused on 'Family'. Skip, aka Charlie explained to the coaches and I the importance of teaching the kids about this child right and we struck up a couple of debates about different types of families.

Our new game for the week was to set up five small boxes with cones on the field, each with a task inside for the children to complete e.g. Box one the child would have to do 25 dokks, Box two 25 push ups etc. Each child would have to complete all five boxes individually within 3 minutes, which is virtually impossible. We then let them go in a pair, which could be a possibility before finally putting them in a small team of four or five.

The idea of the exercise was to teach them that on your own, these 'tasks' are so much harder than it is with support from others, or with the theme in mind, in life things are harder alone than it is with a family, who give support, guidance and love. It's subliminal in the games we play but the kids go away with something to think about.

I had a meeting with Charlie to discuss my experience so far. As expected, I gave him nothing bad - this project is amazing and every day is more fun. I also took on some basic admin tasks to help out - keep the skills varying I say.

When I finished the meetings, I came back to Bou Savy to go for lunch with Abigail. We went to a Khmer BBQ place and I took on fried rice with river fish. I'm glad I did, it was belting.

The trip to work.

Then my afternoon began at one of the projects, an hour away from us in the centre of Siem Reap. The kids here are incredible, with such a great attitude to sport and learning. It's always good fun to visit them. 

I had a game of volleyball with some of the kids, a teacher and DK. Normally, I managed to spike the ball backwards but I had my A game on and hit a few shots like a pro.

The first lesson progressed well but we found the kids were finishing the drills alone too quickly. We managed to get the social message across which was good but in our second session, we whittled the time down to a minute and a half and found the kids struggled a lot more on their own, which of course was our intended plan.

Srey Mom's daughter provided the entertainment on the way back. After a milk snack, she nestled between me and DK and started playing on her mom's phone and singing whilst music played. She is adorable and a very strong, little lady. She doesn't mind pulling the hairs out of your leg so you scream just like her - I tell you, it's painful.

Abigail and I went to a restaurant for a final meal. I had a Khmer speciality, Bok Choi which was really good - it's a bit like a herby, fried chicken with morning glory and rice. It could be a new favourite!

Then the tears flowed again. No, not from me, but from Abigail. She didn't want to leave and I couldn't really blame her. It's awesome here. But I did tell her she had been an awesome adversary for me in her three weeks here and that she and Dan would see me again, somewhere, somehow.

Best of luck with the masters and be good to Paul, Abigail.

I settled in for the night, writing a little more. I need to get this TV script finished by the24th so every minute is crucial.

So alone again, a new adventure begins . . . Bring it on Cambodia!

Find out more about Globalteer Sports Project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalteerSportsProject

Day 64 - Fitness, Khmer lessons and volunteer meet ups

A steal at $5.

Day 64 - 26th August

Another early start and I was on my Tuk Tuk heading to the AstroTurf again with DK, Seren and the older guy coach (damn, I wish I'd taken his name). The language barrier had been an issue.

My room is a sweet deal.

We had another great run out with the kids as I observed, ran around with them and tried my best to gather up bibs, balls and boys who were shooting at one of the end goals. The social messages flowed again, today was about domestic abuse and alcohol affects on the ability to play sports successfully. I was fascinated to see the kids engaging on these topic, but also saddened knowing that quite a few had been exposed to these at such a young age.

Following the end of another three hour session, I headed back to Bou Savy for lunch and was texted shortly after by DK to let me know that due to heavy rain, we wouldn't be having any afternoon sessions. This wet season is truly wet! 

Unfortunately though, I didn't see this text and headed out to the office, getting soaked in the two minutes it took me to run to it. I was told I'd have a Khmer language lesson with Vith at 4:30 with the other Dan and Abigail, another English volunteer working in a school. 

After a few hours writing sports articles and reading a little more Papillon, I went back to the office and learned number, basic expressions and a little more about Vith. He is quite an inspiring chap and he told me his dream was to be a tour guide one day, given his knowledge on past Kings of Cambodia. I'm sure a trip with him to Angkor Wat would be worth it's weight in gold.

So they have Batman Tuk Tuk's here. I'm very happy about this.

By 6pm, Dan, Abigail and I headed out into the city centre for dinner. We stopped at a restaurant, which I think was called the Khmer Restaurant (original, I know) that had red and white check table cloths. I had a rice dish with noodles, Dan has BBQ wings and rice (I was envious) and Abigail had an omelette (it looked pretty good).

A quick post dinner walk around the night market saw me haggling for Abigail to get some animal print trousers and another item. We got it down to $6 from $12 I think. 50% off is not to be sniffed at, my mum would be proud!

Before getting back to Bou Savy, we stopped for chocolate and banana pancakes (seriously, it's an addiction now) and I went to Angkor Market (a supermarket) for Oreos and Ritz crackers just to snack on. I pick up a few cans of Fanta, finding a red berry flavour for the first time. It wasn't too bad.

Another long day drew to a close and with WWE and The Taking Of Pelham 123 on Fox Movies, I passed out.

Day 63 - First day working at Globalteer

I'm a globalteerer!

Day 63 - 25th August

Early start. I'm used to getting up and jumping on a night bus at 4am but getting up to work again is a strange feeling.

I headed to the Globalteer office to meet my coach, DK. He is a 22 year old, joker of the pack. Perfect for me to learn from and assist with coaching sessions. 

For my first week, our normal itinerary was changed because Coaches Across Continents (CAC) was in town for the week - CAC are a program based in the U.S. who coach different groups of people around the world, including children.

Turner (nicknamed Hooch) and his co-coach, Spring were soccer coaches from North Carolina and St Louis respectively. They were coaching the kids and the Cambodian coaches who were learning new techniques to engage with youth trainers and to ensure children taking sports classes received a social message that affects everyday Cambodian life. Specific topics included health and wellbeing, safe sex and HIV, drugs and alcohol, and domestic violence. Powerful stuff but the way in which the coaches approached these issues was great.

We conducted a few drills in a circle before we opened up into heading and passing games. The kids were great, laughing and running around without a worry on their mind. It was amazing to be a part of. I also met another coach I'd be working with - Srey Mom. She was joking around and laughing so I knew we'd be having a giggle at some point in the future.

By the time the three hour session, running from 8 to 11 had finished, I was told by DK I'd have a break until 2:15pm, when we would head out to our afternoon lessons. It was a strange concept to me, taking a break during the middle of a working day but honestly, given the heat, I was glad to get out of the sun!

I headed back to Bou Savy, grabbed some spinach with rice and pork and relaxed for a while. I began my book, Papillon - a true story of Henrì Charriere and his time in French Guiana (if you get a chance, read it or watch the film with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, you won't be disappointed) - and let the hours drift away.

When I headed back out, DK, Srey Mom and I visited two places - we'll called them site A and site B. At site A, the kids were introduced to me as a teacher and I observed as DK took our half of the 30 or so class. Srey Mom took the others to another part of the yard. 

We played the circle games again, asking kids to do funny warm ups and name their favourite kinds of fruits, countries, best friends names etc. once the first fifteen minutes had passed, we set up three teams of 6 and they faced off against each other on their concrete yard complete with goals and basketball hoops. 

Before I knew it, 60 minutes had passed and we were packing up to leave. That was my first real lesson done. A memory I shall never forget.

We headed to site B, a slightly bigger school with a sand volleyball court. Srey Mom wasn't feeling too good so DK introduced me to the class, and they asked me questions - my name, age, birth place, if I had a girlfriend (that was strange from a group of 5 - 16 year olds) - and then DK asked me to take one half of the class, applying the things I'd learned from earlier in the day whilst he took the other.

I was a little nervous but before I knew it, I had all the boys playing football, 6 on 6 in four separate teams. It was good to see them getting a little competitive. DK took the girls to play volleyball on the sand pitch. We tried to get them to mix but they were adamant they wanted to play the sports they had chosen. A challenge we'll have to tackle in the coming weeks.

As I refereed the game, I realised how great kids could be - they were well behaved, letting each team take their turn without interference, even if they were bored and when one kid fell down, another would pick him up and pat him on the back before they continued.

By the time an hour was up, I was wishing for another hour. They boys had been awesome and it just reaffirmed my good decision to take up this project. *Haggling for likes alert* - Check out the Globalteer Sports Page on Facebook and like it. It is such a great and worthy cause, making hundreds of underprivileged kids happy in Cambodia and it could use a bit more exposure! Thanks. 

FOLLOW HERE - https://www.facebook.com/GlobalteerSportsProject

When I returned to Bou Savy, I was told that there was a football game on at an AstroTurf across town. It was my Sport Manager Charlie's team, who wanted to play against Hooch, Spring, me and the other coaches. I've missed competitive football so much so I jumped at the chance.

By 6:30, I was in a Tuk Tuk, suited in my new United shirt and Adidas trainers and headed to the pitch. By 7:15, we were on and Charlie's team gave us a lesson - the score was 11-3 (they play together regularly so our mixed together team did pretty well considering). We were unlucky too and I carry a large share of the blame after missing six or seven great chances - the bloody thing just wouldn't go in, hitting the post, bar, keeper, a gecko on the line and anything else ridiculous you can think of. Next time!!!

Back at Bou Savy, I had a quick dinner then showered and headed to bed. I was finished for the day. 

My first day on the project was successful and if the standard was anything to go by, I knew I was in for a treat!