September proved to be a very busy month here at Wat Opot. With the completion of the new volunteer dorm, the girls moved into the former volunteer house and It didn’t take them long to adjust to their new surroundings. For those of you keeping track, with the new addition of a 17 year old, we now have 19 girls/young women at Wat Opot. Because the girl’s new home is centrally located, visitors are now serenaded by the voices of Korean pop stars upon entering Wat Opot. It’s undecided whether this is a good selling point, but the recent Japanese volunteers didn’t seem to mind.

The day of the big move, it may have been the first time no one had to ask the boys more than once for help, a move has never gone so quickly! Within hours they had helped move the girls out and without hesitation, they took over the empty rooms in the children’s dorm (now known as the boy’s dorm’).

Because of large donations that have come in over the last few months, we were able to purchase mattresses, blankets, pillows, fans, clothes racks and other items to give the kids a more comfortable set up. The great thing about living rural is we were able to support the local community by buying everything in the village market. Kids will be kids, so to help them take responsibility for their new things, once everyone was settled in; inventory was taken with their signature confirming everything they now have. It seems to be working because a couple weeks later they are very proud to show me how everything is in order. We are still tweaking the boy’s dorm though, possibly converting one of the large wooden sleeping spaces into 3 more rooms because the boys/young men total 39!.

Besides the excitement of new rooms, school was starting soon! Again, thankful for generous donors, we took to the local market again to buy the massive amount of school supplies, uniforms, shoes, backpacks and lastly…BICYCLES. The high school (7th – 12th grade) is a few kilometers down the road, so every Watopotian entering the 7th grade gets a new bicycle.
For our record breaking total of 12 new 7th graders – this was a moment they have been looking forward to all summer long.

Happy Happy faces!!

Even those who were not getting a bike celebrated the event such as Mr. Thy, who already has one and may be thinking about all those he let borrow his over the summer – paybacks!

With our continued effort in teaching them responsibility, they were required to sign a document when they received the bicycle; a contract of sorts that holds them responsible for the bike throughout high-school. They must care for the bike and anything beyond the normal up-keep, they must take financial responsibility for.

Wat Opot kids are growing up to be international or maybe inter-cultural in a sense. They are growing up in rural Cambodia but are made aware (because of volunteers and the internet) that there is a much bigger world out there. The high schoolers know that in their village some kids don’t get a new bicycle for school; but that in places in the world some kids get a new motorbike or even a car. They know that in their high school a student doesn’t have to go to school but with the right payment to the right teacher, they can pass the final exam and move on seamlessly to university; they also know that’s not an option for them.

Wat Opot kids get ecstatic over a new bicycle, which is understandable, but they also get excited when given a new mattress, pillow or even a couple of wire hangers. The challenge now is to help them understand that along with new items come new responsibility and organization, but with many things in their life, with the right support and guidance there is every confidence that most will come through with shining colors.

With the large amount spent on education this month; we have added a breakdown.

Thanks to all who made this possible!

The Watopotians