House Building in Cambodia

We stepped out of the Phnom Pehn airport straight into Tuk-tuk-moto-car madness - every man for himself. Families on motorcycles, cars heading into oncoming traffic and trucks crossing the center line are all par for the course on these busy streets it seems. Our little tuk-tuk weaved in and out of the mayhem and safely deposited us at our hotel where we met our house building group, which consisted of 1 other Canadian, 3 Americans, 1 New Zealander, 1 Singaporean.

The next morning was an orientation day, where we met the founder of Tabitha who spoke to us about our project as well as Cambodia's terrible recent history. Following the meeting we were taken to S21, a former high-school converted in the 70's by the Khmer Rouge into a prison/interrogation/torture compond. Next was a very sobering visit to the Killing Fields. The orientation day was meant to give some context to our experience here. Although it was short, we feel that it was very effective in doing just that. What these people have been through, and the repercussions that continue to flow from the Khmer Rouge regime of the later 70's, is terrible to see. Yet even with all this, there is much evidence that the country and its people are working hard to make things better.

The house building took place in a rural village about an hour and half's drive from Phnom Penh. It was difficult to witness the poverty in the village, but it was wonderful to interact with its people. The many warm smiles, humorous attempts at conversation and playful times with the village children made for lovely memories.

There's no doubt the housebuilding was at times challenging (extreme heat and humidity, trying to get nails in straight during torrential downpours, etc.), but we loved every sticky, sweaty minute of it. It was truly rewarding to be able to see the impact this organization has on the lives of these people. The picture above (the one with the village children) shows a typical hut that some of the villagers lived in before we built their new houses. Huts like this get swept away each year in the rainy season and must be rebuilt. Now, with a solid house built on stilts, this will no longer be a worry for these families.

As we were leaving on the last day, it began to rain. It was a great moment as we drove away and watched the families go into their houses for the first time.