TOGETHER WITH THE CHILDREN OF INTER CAMPUS CAMBODIA

Visiting the children of the Mission Possible school in the village of Roong, where it was 30 degrees during the cold season

PHNOM PENH – The Inter Campus delegation paid their first visit of the season to Cambodia, to the village of Roong near the capital, Phnom Penh.

There to meet us were the boys and girls of an elementary school built and managed by local partner and NGO, Mission Possible. They have been looking after the health and education of these children and their families for years now, in this small and remote village among the rice paddies of the Cambodian countryside, as well as helping in some particularly disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Phnom Penh.

Along the route that leads to the village in an hour and a half, we passed through the chaotic and incessant traffic of the city, as well as through breathtakingly lush and green countryside of the rural areas. In fact, the rainy season had just ended, giving way to the cold season. It made quite an impression on us to see some children training in gloves and sweatshirts since, although it may be the cold season, temperatures were well above 30 degrees centigrade.

They were intense days we spent with the kids, always smiling despite their extreme poverty and the difficulties of everyday life, the enthusiastic instructors Samrech and Kia, and the group of Mission Possible volunteers. In addition to the usual training, the workouts there seemed to be even more fun since, culturally speaking, children there are not used to games that involve them in this way.

During the visit there was an entertaining Christmas party, complete with a play in the Khmer language about the birth of Jesus, and gifts for everyone, from new Nerazzurri shirts to rice and fish for the poorest families.

 

13.12.2013