Diary

2007-11-27 - Sad and happy things at work

In my own room all the children are handicapped. I would like to give special time for every of them, but I don’t have enough time to do that every day. But every week I give special time for everyone by getting them out or just keep them in my arms. Every morning I say hello to everyone by smoothing their stomach. It is the best thing in every morning to get smiles back. Smiles get my tired eyes open finally. I have noticed that children know when I am coming. When I am at the door of my room, for example a girl called Srey Mao laughs and cries of joys. She seems to be so happy to see me. It is lovely feeling to notice that they have waited for me. I am the sign for the children that soon they get to the playroom. We carry children to the playroom and every of them are happy because getting to the playroom is the happiest thing at the morning. At the playroom children can be together with the other room’s children, with their friends.

Some days I see also the things what I wouldn’t see. When the local nannies hit child’s head to get food down faster, feels it very very very bad. Then I try to show by my way that if you give little pit at a time and slowly the child eats well. I think that on that way the eating is more comfortable thing for the child. For me maybe the hardest thing is that the rehabilitation of the handicapped children is less or there is nothing. In Finland I am a sign language instructor in my profession and I have some work experience with handicapped people. In Finland my job is to get handicapped people in the same level with society. It is sad, that here they don’t do that. The handicapped children just stay in the mattress and look at the roof. It feels that nannies think that it is better if child can’t walk because then they don’t have to watch them all the time. We, volunteers, spur on them to walk. My specialty is finnish sign language and to get people to communicate in some way is very important thing to me. It makes me feel bad that I haven’t seen any speech therapy here in Cambodia. There is no way handicapped children could communicate. I think that many of these handicapped children could learn to communicate if they would get some speech therapy or if somebody would teach them some important signs.


Although we see a lot of sad things, luckily we see happy things also. Few weeks ago to the orphanage game a new boy. At the beginning when I tried to wash his teeth, he was just crying and turned me away. I made a decision that I gave him a toothbrush for two weeks every day when I wash the teeth of the other children. After two weeks he opens his mouth and asked me to wash his teeth also. I was so happy. One day a boy called Roseal asked to get to the school to study. Of course he gets in and now he is studying every morning at the orphanage’s primary school. It is nice that also the handicapped children can ask and do what they want. Rushy boy is getting more and more stronger when they moved him to the other building. He has learned to trust for himself by Sanna’s help and now he has learned to stand by himself and he also takes some steps. When a blind boy called Keara is crying in the playroom I take him to swing and suddenly he starts to smile. I can say that sometimes the feeling inside of me is very emotionally.

I think that I have got used to the life here in Cambodia. Every thing what I see doesn’t make me surprised anymore. For example the traffic doesn’t make me as terrifying as in the beginning. Although to get from place a to place b is always little pit exiting. Sometimes I stop to watch the life true the tourist’s eyes and when I see the motorbike with five or six people, feel it terrifying. Sometimes also in the car could be people so much that the back seat is full, also the back container is full, but also in the driver’s seat sits two people. How they drive? I don’t really know. One day, I also noticed that I am really far away from my home, because in the orphanage’s playground walked three wild monkeys and they were stealing foods. Never before in my life in my workplace’s yard haven’t been monkeys. The world is unbelievable, I can’t say anything else.

The rain-season has now almost stopped and that’s why here isn’t damp anymore, but still hot.



Kind regards, Anna Halttunen