Andrea and I had yet again a wonderful time with the KKEV Cambodia children and staff. It is always inspiring and humbling to spend time with the children who are masters at appreciating what they have and always make something special with the little they have. As Cambodia just celebrated the Khmer New Year (April 13-16), we spent time with the children from KKEV Cambodia who had nowhere else to go.

Out of the 98 children who live in the children’s village, about 60 had a family “link” (which could be an aunt or a cousin) with whom they could celebrate the New Year. However, 38 of them do not have any of those relations and hence had to stay back in the children’s village. Our idea was to have a good time with them during these festive days – and I think we can say that it all worked out very well.

It was a wonderful mix of visiting the pagoda to receive the Monk’s blessing, playing traditional Khmer games that the Cambodian people only play during Khmer New Year, Khmer dancing, and visiting the waterfalls to enjoy hikes and a picnic. For the kids, the best Khmer game is clearly “finding and cracking the piñata.”

Some of us might have enjoyed this game at birthday parties when sweets are put in a net, hung up high, and the blindfolded child (the kids take turns) tries to hit the net with a stick so the sweets fall out. You might also have seen the sweets put in a cardboard box shaped like a horse. But in Cambodia, the sweets are placed in a clay pot 😊 so the fun of hitting the pot is even better.

When we arrived at the waterfalls, we realized that there was hardly any water, but the children found the water holes that were deep enough to jump into. They climbed the rocks and played “catch me.” The forest was filled with laughter and joy. On the streets, we found ourselves surrounded by water splashing from buckets and water guns – a symbol of welcoming the New Year.

As we all followed the traditional Khmer dance movements, I suddenly felt two little hands rubbing my face with baby powder – with my now white face, I was protected against “everything bad that can happen.” What a beautiful tradition! What followed was that everyone got more baby powder and rubbed it on those around them – so we were all protected.

Back in the children’s village, it was time for the kids to have their dinner, and our special treat was an ice cream on a stick for each of them. You cannot imagine their happy faces – it was a true delight just to observe them. The evening concluded with a movie night.

We had a great time, and more importantly, the children had a great time. I feel so blessed to know these children and the local staff who make it all happen.