2 weeks of Cambodian lifestyle have really changed who i am. I’m not saying that i have miraculously become patient or less testy. What i’m saying is that i now see the world in a bigger picture.
In the past, all i know and all i do are for myself, i don’t call myself a selfless person in the past. Yes i may have donated to charity from time to time but that’s all i mostly do or have done. I’ve never gone beyond that, never gone that extra mile.
Two weeks in Cambodia have taught me that I could be greater than this.
It taught me to be frugal. In Siem Reap, there was a village which my team and I went to, we had to wash and bathe the children. I thought it was as simple as that, what more could you expect? When I went there, there was more to it than I had imagined. The village area smelled like a pig sty. The only source of water came from a pipe which you had to keep pushing up and down a lever to get. And what was more shocking to me was the things they said.
“The shampoo smells so nice.” It was lice soap to get rid of those pests that are-slash-were ‘sleeping’ among their hair. When I had to dry their hair, it was so rough and their hands… they had calloused hands. For someone of their age, 5 to 12 to have such hardened skin, is saddening. After the program, it turns out that they used detergent to clean themselves because its cheaper. Detergent! It’s not even safe to use it, especially to a child.. If I knew they were in need of shampoo, I would have brought some to them, who knew it would have been so vital.
That day, I learnt to be frugal. And it was only lesson one.
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