Ream had some work to do at the school in the morning so I spent my morning with some of the girls from the orphanage baking 4 large cakes for the party. Ream chose carrot cake flavor which got a lot of "oohs" and "aaahhs" as people would come up to the third floor and smell them baking. It was interesting cooking in an oven that was small and would only hold one cake pan as well as the one knob for the oven that had "MIN" a line around the dial, and then "MAX/ON". I'm thinking it was running about 250 at the maximum based on how long it took them to cook. But it was a very social event and I loved the idea of cooking birthday cakes in Cambodia. The other cool thing about the morning is that because Kit and Ream's apartment is on the third floor we could see everything! I enjoyed watching the kids play and doing chores out in the yard and we could see Vanak who helped get the eggs and oil from the market (she had to make 2 runs) come in the big gate on her bicycle.
After the cakes were baked and cooled I got Grace, Sam and Joe to decorate the cakes after I frosted them. They did a great job! It was a fun activity that they all got into.
While I was up in the Carson's apartment, Benjamin was impressing the kids downstairs with his math and science skills! Alfven said they were trying to stump him.
Anna tried to climb a tree like a monkey during some down time. During a bit of down time I wandered around the orphanage grounds. That then turned into a prayer walk about blessing the land that it could produce healthy, abundant crops, that the animals would multiply and get a good price at the market, that the surrounding neighbors would see the Lord's hand of care and blessing upon those who love Him and walk according to His Word. This would come up again in a conversation today but I'll save that for the other day's blog.
Around 4 o'clock the party got started! It began as the old grill got rolled out to the yard and many of the carnival games from the day before returned to be made into new games for the birthday party. There was a game where the kids would hook legs by lifting their legs bent behind them and connect it in a big circle. They seemed to really like this game!
Then came the water balloons! That brought with it a ton of laughing, screaming, running and stalking!
One of the balloons landed in the covered animal area in the chicken corner and there was such a racket from the animals as those free ones squaked and ran and the caged ones rattled their cages to get out. Grace and Benjamin got soaked and had to change from dripping wet clothes. While they were changing Samrang was waiting outside our window with a balloon and mischievous grin!
There was also the idea for a slingshot between the see-saws. They started by putting water balloons in the bucket, then just water, then candy.
Anna loved having a water balloon and it took a while for her to throw it.
Then off the third floor balcony came the water balloons! Several went up to the second floor where everyone has access and started throwing the water balloons before Kit went to the third floor to throw his. The funny part was that Kit would throw handfuls of candy off the balcony for the kids to get as well as the balloons. So they would have to dodge the balloons and grab the candy. One of the boys was able to catch the water balloons in his shirt so that they wouldn't break as they came down! Then he could use them as his ammo!
The kids went up to the second floor and took turns throwing a bean bag into buckets. If they made it they got the candy inside the bucket. There was a ton of candy and all ages enjoyed playing and getting some.
There were more games with beanbags from all sorts of different angles and groupings.
Alfven got some candy too :)!!!!
The kids moved the tables and benches outside and we all sat down for a dinner of grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and watermelon. From talking with the kids throughout the day, they were all so excited to get this fun meal. It was one of their favorites and a rare treat :)
After dinner the music got turned up and dancing started in the great room. The kids do some very traditional dances and some very contemporary dances. They are segregated when they dance though and I don't if that is the orphanages rule, their culture or just the way they feel. There is a guide book that we got and read for applying for this mission trip and there are specific rules on gender behavior to protect the children.
While the kids were playing and dancing, as the sun went down, Kit, Ream, Alfven and I (as well as Joseph and Benjamin for the most part) sat and talked a lot! We talked about a ton of things. Ream can remember running from the Khmer Rouge when the fighting would get close to her village when she was a little girl. She said there was a lot of running to be safe from the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese. She said whoever came into town took any men or boys they could find and made them fight for them. Then if the other side would come in they other side would make them fight. Her Uncle fought for both sides because of this. She also said that the Killing Fields museum that shows one of the places where so many were taken is only one of about 1,000 fields like that in Cambodia. She used to play in rice paddies and they would find many, many bones from people. Kit said that millions were also starved because both sides would take the food from the people and use it or export it for a profit.
While we were talking the cow calf snuck up on us in the dusk. It was getting pretty close by the time we realized it was there. What was happening was that it was trying to play with one of the dogs and the dog had come over to us! It was hilarious to watch this calf get all excited and buck around when the dog came out. They ran around the yard a bit together and the calf was just trying to play. So funny!
Then we headed inside for the presentation of the birthday kids! As you can see in the picture, this was a very big deal! The girls got into some of their prettiest (and borrowed) clothes, did their hair and make-up and were set for the party. The boys had gotten all cleaned up and were in their finest clothes too. It was precious to see! We sang and blew out the candles.
Then the presents were given out. Each child is supposed to think of 5 things they want and the workers would try hard to get them 2-3 things from their list. Some of those things included backpacks, clothes, ponytail holders, hair conditioner, underwear, etc. Joseph was impressed with how happy their gifts made them. He commented that I had kept wanting to get lots of pictures of their beautiful smiles and now was my chance. So here's a few of what I took:
Then complete and utter mayhem broke out! The cake was being served and someone started putting striped of icing on peoples faces. The kids had such a great time running around and tagging their friends with icing! We all got icing all over our face! But the funniest was Joseph. All the kids have been saying that Joseph is very quiet and he is. That's just his personality. He hangs but he's not much on chit-chat. Anyway, a bunch of girls targeted him while he was just standing around. They ambushed him with cake and by the time he came up for air he had cake in his ears, hair, down his shirt, etc. He was laughing so hard and took it as a great sport! This morning even one of the older ones giggled when he walked out and said "sum toe" meaning "sorry" :)
I know it's blurry but it was the best I could do from all my laughing!!!
We headed back to our room and took some more showers to wash all the cake off :) I was going to sit down and write the blog but Joseph wanted to talk about some ponderings of poverty, opportunities, economics, types of governments, etc. We talked and talked. This is a huge subject but the verse that comes to mind is the one that says "To whom much has been given, much will be required". In my mind, those of us in the US are the "haves" and we need to really think about what the Lord wants us to do with it. We can do something.
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