It dawned on me that, as much as we needed our weekend break in Siem Reap, we couldn't completely switch off from our reason for being here in South East Asia. We absolutely missed the children as well as the friends we've made since we got here and we were looking forward to getting back to work.

Over the weekend, we discussed improvements to our lessons so that our students could continue learning with the same momentum without being overwhelmed by too much information. Fun must remain the key to holistic learning and the Helen O'Grady curriculum dishes that out in buckets.

We know the children love our classes as well as our company, so we decided that as of this week, we’ll stay on after the lesson and spend a little more time with them - so we’ll be introducing some arts and crafts into the mix. Yay!

As expected, we got a rousing welcome from the street children at LRDE after our weekend absence. They came running out to greet us, waiting in turn to take our hand or hug us - not gentle hugs, mind you, but big eye-popping squeezes. Cries of "My friend ... my friend... how are you? ... I am happy!” rang out as the kids ‘high-fived’ us with great big slaps - not sure how good our influence is here, as they have happily substituted their more traditional reverent greeting with our very irreverent Western one! But hey, if it makes them happy…

There was more activity than usual on the front step of the restaurant – the boys were getting a much-needed haircut to the joy of some and the chagrin of others. It costs $70 for around 140 boys to get their hair cut once a month, we learned. But hygiene is essential when you live on the street.

Oh, by the way – Navid (the cute little guy with the open sores on his legs and feet) kept his promise and kept his wounds clean and his shoes on, evidently. And this simple act of giving him a pair of shoes seems to have indebted him to me for life because he didn’t leave my side for a minute today except while I was teaching my segment of the lesson – but even then, he would catch my eye and wave from across the room? Cute? Tal-gdim, I say!

We noticed many new faces today – halfway through the lessons three tuk-tuk loads of children turned up (Chiara’s reaction: “Il-Ġiezu ħanin, x’gej!”) The numbers at LRDE have increased because, we are told, word about my zany team of teachers and assistants is spreading, and children who haven't turned up for some time have returned. This is a very good thing, but LRDE have to cater for this increase. No genuine case is ever turned away so we’re probably going to be pooling in to get a few sacks of rice and some other stuff to see them through a couple of weeks.

Quite a few individuals have contacted us through Facebook or email asking how they can help improve the prospects for these children. I can confirm now that we are looking into sponsorships of long-term education programmes for the children. We want to be able to offer something that should improve their prospects and make them self- sufficient - while allowing them to stay within their own communities.

We will be setting up a series of meetings with the directors of the orphanage and of LRDE to gather information for a small campaign that we intend to kick off when we get back home to Malta. We want to get to know the children personally and what their individual needs are. We also want to know how best to ensure that any sponsorships go as smoothly as possible. I know that sponsors will receive regular progress reports and letters from their "godchild" and regular updates with pictures.

What the children need in return is a guarantee that this is a long term commitment that may last many years and shouldn’t end after a couple of months.

If you are interested in supporting our initiative and have any specific questions you would like us to ask while we are here PLEASE GET IN TOUCH.

One last thought for the day. Tomorrow is my birthday and I know that the rest of the team will be reading this blog in the morning, so here’s a little message for them: I HOPE YOU PLANNED SOMETHING AMAZING FOR ME TODAY – or else I’m slipping a tarantula into your rooms.

Choom-reap-lear

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