Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Traveling in SE asia is cheap. It’s cheap because the majority of the people live at a level that most developed countries would conside severely sub-standard. Since we have been spending so much time taking advantage of this we figured it was time to give something back. Cambodia seemed like the perfect place for it.

Not only is Cambodia a poor country, but it is also trying to crawl out from underneath Pol Pot’s 1970’s genocide. Couple that with thousands of unexploded landmines around the country and you get a lot of problems. In Siem Reap there is a childrens hospital that sees over 1,000 children each day. It’s estimated that without this hospital 28,000 children would die each year. The most common problem is Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever is easily treated as long as the right medical treatment is available, a blood transfusion. Unfortunately there is always a massive blood shortage. We had read about this hospital a long time ago and had agreed that since “it’s in us to give” that we wanted to do just that.

We headed to the hospital in the morning and arrived just as they were opening the clinic. There were mothers and children everywhere. They don’t have fancy chairs like in waiting rooms at home instead everyone sits on mats on the floor. We were ushered into the donating lab as the patients and mothers looked at us with curiosity.

The donation was quick and easy and ended with a bag of goodies. We were thanked at least a half of dozen times including from our hotel manager, the man working at the Dr. Fish place we visited afterwards and the security guard at the hospital.

I loved every part of Cambodia but I owe all of that to the Cambodians. They made me feel as if I was guest in their country instead of a tourist. Whether we were shopping in the market or walking down the street we were met with smiles. Bartering was done with laughter and joking as opposed to seriousness. I never felt like I was being cheated, ripped off or taken advantage of.

Siem Reap was an amazing city. It was cute and clean. I had some of the best food I’ve eaten since being at home. The downtown is littered with beautiful restaurants at a steal of a price. Most of the places have tables on the street which means that you’ll have a few people try and sell you some of their wares as they are passing by. Sadly though it is often children or disabled people and more often than not you have to say “no thanks.” Jerry was different though.

We were sitting on Pub Street (think Victoria Row) when Jerry came up to our table. He’s a 16 year old kid who had his leg blown off by a landmine. He lives apart from his 6 brothers and sisters and sells books to try and help support him and his family. He was a genuinely happy guy and we had a great conversation as he told us about his family and his books. He had a constant smile on his face and even sang us a song after we bought two of them. .

Cambodia was an experience I will never forget and can’t wait to return to. It was hard leaving and I did so with a heavy heart. For me it was like going home for a week. Being able to walk down the street and smile at the passerbys is not something to take for granted.