Work, work, work!

Life has been so busy! Ever since our first week of cultural/historical exposure, we have been on the go constantly. After leaving Siem Reap, most of the group went to Kampong Cham, the province where most of our project work will be taking place. However, I, along with 5 other team members, went back to Phnom Penh to work at Cambodia's first dairy farm, Moo Moo Farms. We did a service project here at the beginning of the program, but now, we would have the opportunity to help the founder, Kenny, with a different project. He wants to provide free milk to school children in the area, but his business doesn't have enough revenue yet to provide it free of charge. So, he enlisted the six of us to research the best model for reaching out to donors in America to help raise funds for this cause. We spent several days in the city seated at a coffee shop (gotta take advantage of that WiFi) researching different donation models in different social enterprises. We found many different options, and it was difficult to know what the best one would be for Moo Moo Farms. We met with Kenny several times and were able to put together a pretty solid plan for reaching out to donors. I never knew how much I'd fall in love with milk. I really did fall in love with Kenny's vision of providing milk to the children. Nearly half of the children in Cambodia are malnourished and have stunted and/or wasted growth. The calcium, protein, and different vitamins in milk could help children grow more and grow stronger, along with strengthening their immune systems. I really hope this project can take off.
Working at Moo Moo Farms was a huge eye-opener for me. It allowed me to explore the world of social enterprises. Before, I always thought of business as evil, full of greed and conceitedness. However, working at Moo Moo Farms helped me to see the good side of business, the side where business owners are trying to make money but also improve the world and society around them. I could see how passionate Kenny was about helping the children. He wasn't in it solely for the money; he wanted to make a difference, and owning a business was giving him the resources to do so.
After working in Phnom Penh for a few days, the six of us went to Kampong Cham to meet up with the rest of the team. Since coming to Kampong Cham, we have been so busy. Most of our projects have been teaching-focused. We have taught classes about sexual health, water sanitation, food safety, recycling/environmental safety, English, public speaking, and more. One of my favorite projects has been installing a playground and a water well at a primary school in rural Kampong Cham. The kids were so excited to get a playground, and once the slide was up, they would not stop going down it. Over and over and over again they'd slide. I hope the teachers can keep them inside their classrooms long enough to learn still! I'm so proud of the projects we've participated in and the work we have completed. It hasn't been easy, but it has been so worth it already just by seeing the faces of the students as they learn something they didn't know before or their enthusiasm for applying the new concepts they had learned with a desire to improve their country. I know each of those students will change Cambodia. They are so smart, and I'm so grateful I have been able to be a part of their journey. So sad for this trip to be ending!

Group photo after our class about environmental safety. Recycling, deforestation, pollution, all the good stuff.

This little guy was helping us move sand. Then, when he got bored, he distracted all of us by climbing on all of our shoulders. 

These girls spend their Saturdays coming to school for an English Club. They are so dedicated to learning. It's amazing!

Got blessed with the best HELP group! Group photo at the bamboo train in Battambang!

The Moo Moo Crew! The 6 of us came back down to Phnom Penh to do some marketing work for the dairy farm. Here we're riding the ferry across the river to the area where the farm is.

From the back, everything looks normal. But if you saw the students' faces, you would see grimaces, giggling, and extreme discomfort. This was our sexual health class, a VERY taboo topic in Cambodia.

These kids were SO excited for their new playground. They slid down over and over and over...and over. They probably haven't stopped since we left. Hopefully their teachers can get them off the playground long enough to teach them something in class!

Right now, Moo Moo Farms gives free milk to these orphans near the farm. Kenny is trying to expand his reach to public schools in the area. We came to help him come up with a good pitch deck to pitch to donors to help fund the milk handouts.