Normally the homeless children here would be sorting through garbage to collect anything of value (cans bottles etc) or selling flowers, blacelets or books to tourists before going home are midnight.
So, come 6:00 Sharon, Nick, and another 3 of their friends, Julian, Jon and his wife, whose name escapes me at the moment, gathered up around 30 homeless children in central Siem Reap with the intention go give them a massive feast of chicken rice, drinks and two barbequed chicken pieces (a leg and wing).
Our dining table!! 30 children plus adults!!
Never have you seen a happier bunch of children at a dinner table! It was so incredible to see how thankful some of the children were! Not only that but what surprised me more was how smart these kids are. These children weren't some of those brain drained 12 year olds we all know who spend 4 hours a day watching television, some, including our little friend Proen (pronounced like "prawn"), could have basic conversation in about 5 languages. These children may have been on the street, but they were definitely getting an education. Very street smart.
Proen is in the blue Batman t-shit. Speaker of five languages, though he assured us that he
certainly wasn't Batman. Batman was his father. He is merely Batboy. You have been warned!!
Anyway, I don't want to go on about how special this was. I just want to leave you with some pictures and, hopefully soon, a video of the evening I put together. Its so awesome to see people do things like this, when they could easily push aside these children and pretend they are not there.
Boys being boys!!
This kid is the BIGGEST poser!! But also a kick arse street fighter! Afterwards we were messing around on the street outside and I damn near got an elbow to one side of my face, followed by a spinning backfist to the other side... Below is his actual size compared to me... Just keep quiet, yeah??
This lovely lady was one of my favourites! She kept making me sit next to her and kept hugging my arm.
Here we are looking at ourselves in the digital display on my camera.
Our end of the table at the night markets
These two (above and below) are brother and sister. They are SO CUTE!! The girl sells bracelets and flowers around the main pub / club area each night. I actually saw her as I was putting this post together and I touched up the photo a bit at her request! Such a girl - Cambodia's next top model? She was the most thankful for the dinner. The night of the dinner she gave Nick and I a bracelet when we saw her later. Last night when she saw Tash and I have dinner she gave Tash a free flower and both of us a big hug!
This girl is feeding her sister. less than 2 years old. Notice the seats. There were no highchairs so we had to put three plastic seats on top of each other so it was high enough! :)
Two of the four dead set legends that made this happen, Sharon and Julian.
'Nuff said
Just so you know, this dinner cost about USD $200 for 30 children (though it could have been done for about USD $3.50 a child if they only gave chicken rice and one drink). Earlier in the day a saw two American tourists scwabbling whether a bill, for the two of them, was $5, or $5.25.... And the end of this dinner, the children were so thankful, and went on their way sorting through trash and selling their wares.
If you are ever in a place around this world which provides you with an opportunity like this make sure you do it. It was one of the best meals I have ever been too!!
Daniel
Check out my about.me profile! and follow me on twitter @TheDanFactor
this is really touching! thanks for sharing, and spreading joy among the street kids in siem reap :)
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