On Friday last we loaded up a van with 13 of our 6th– 8th grade students (if you are counting heads, Socheat is on the floor playing a game on his telephone) and headed for the big city of Phnom Penh to meet ex-Watopotians at their place of study and work.
The first place we stopped was to visit Ya and Mengty, who are in training to become silver smiths at the IL Nodo organization. Mr. Sina, who grew up at Wat Opot and is a father and University graduate, is now our Phnom Penh coordinator for those Watopotians living in Phnom Penh. He was the organizer of the outing. Mr Sombaht (in black) is one of our university students.
Our next stop was at the Korean trade school to visit Thear and Viseth. Thear has graduated from the 6 month program of motorcycle repairs and is now working at a shop to get more experience. Viseth has just started the program.
Everyone was hungry by the time we got back into the van and so we headed for the Royal University to eat at the campus resturant where we caught up with Mr. Nith who is another of our University students.
Mr. Nith is standing behind me and Mr. Dara is standing on the othe side of the table. Mr. Dara is our week-end counselor and co-organizer of the event. In the green shirt is Mr. Neal who is volunteering at Wat Opot for a month.
After our meal we assembled in a shady spot on the campus to hear presentations by ex-Watopotians about life in the city. The discussion was good and everyone appeared to have enjoy themselves…
but the afternoon Sun was hot and the kids were anxious to get back to Wat Opot…
While waiting for the van to come, the children posed in front of the statue near the entrance of the University. One of the children asked why the statue had a broken head and no arms. Somnang came up with a possible answer. “Maybe he was skateboarding on the curved roof (of the building in the background) and lost control at the bottom.”
Thanks for stopping in!
The Watopotians