Farewell CCPP and all you beautiful souls...

Well here I am, sitting on another over-air conditioned bus with my life once again packed up into one oversized backpack and an overcrowded purse. Both iPods are fully charged and I have two new books and my journal within reach should I feel bored with the scenery. This time, however, I am leaving a town that was a home of sorts- one where I had a makeshift family of international sweethearts and 150+ reasons to get up in the morning. These kids have left an impression on me that I hope to never forget- they are small glimmers of hope in a country with a dire history and a dim future.

There are so many kids that come in and out of CCPP that it is virtually impossible to know all their names and stories- we have over 150 registered and still have new kids showing up daily- but there are definitely a few that stood out to me during my month here. There's the young ones who stole my heart from the very beginning- 'Grumpy' or Tas is maybe one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen- being the youngest out of a family of 9, he probably gets the most crap from his brothers but also the most amount of love. He doesn't really ever paint, he just likes to wander around making little bouts of trouble and small gestures of friendship. Not sure how he acquired the nickname as he is always pretty happy but somehow it still seems to fit him. Then there's 'sharktooth' or Dom- he's a lot like Grumps but is a real troublemaker and no one questions his nickname- this little guy has his front 4 teeth completely rotted out- all jagged and blackened. He had never painted before and would just come with his sister Vandy all the time, but he has recently started scribbling mad amounts of colors together and is selling paintings as fast as he makes them. Then there's Mary, a new little girl that posesses a beauty that makes people stare. She comes now with her two older brothers, the middle one always making trouble and the oldest always looking after the you younger two, and is a mystery to us. Sometimes she comes in with a big smile on her face and other times, it takes us a whole day to even get a sliver of happiness out of those beautiful eyes. Becca is now sponsoring one of the brothers and got to go meet the family. These three kids live on a platform on the beach with their mom and two (even younger) siblings- I was told the father passed away. Madeline and co. are going to try and find a sponsor to get the family into a real structure and/or build some kind of home for them before the rainy season begins. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have something over their heads but a simple tarp.

Then there is Piseth who is an older boy with autism (never properly diagnosed but has all the symptoms) who was a strain on his family for a long time and who now sells these amazing abstract paintings for $40-100/each. His favorite thing to do is to make these stunning canvases filled up with a giant circle in the middle using ketchup-like bottles filled with paint and a knife. We couldn't figure out why he always did this circle pattern until it was finally told and translated to us one day- it is the golden lions traffic circle- the roundabout just up the road from our building. We were all contemplating different deep meanings of the circle before and it was just simply a traffic circle- amazing!

There is Varen who is fairly young but does just breathtaking works and is a charming but cheecky fellow and Chandlon who is new and so polite and has an amazing and very unique style of painting. There's Nyogk who has made me actually think that there IS a legitimate reason why ridaline (spelling?) was invented- though I'm thinking a minor diet change could also help to lower his hyperactivity as the kid is always eating some sugar-loaded dessert of one kind or another. There's Nil, a new ten year old boy that has more hoola-hoopin skills than I have ever seen before and who always uses his 'please' and 'thank you's'. Ho, our cook, is 18 years old and speaks amazing English- she always wears layers of clothes in the blaring Cambodian heat and tells us she's cold as she constantly sports a sweat mustache. There's one boy who always helps us with lunch and picking the kids up from school and who told us wants to be an 'NGO staff' when he gets older. Srey Own was one of my favorite little girls after our first field trip where she drew a beautiful picture of me in the sand- she always used her manners and had a beaming smile that just radiated light. Sing was a veteren kid who was great about taking care of his little brother and was a sweetheart to everyone... The list goes on.

(btw- This is nowhere close to a complete or fair compilation- a month is not near long enough to really get to know that many kids, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.)

As for our crew of volunteers, we had quite the variety as well: Felix, the guy who really got this project rolling, is resigning in sihanoukville to put on a European art show to make money for ccpp and for the new foundation they want to start up in Africa. Taking his place is Madeline who grew up on the San Juan islands and who has spent the last few years working in China and Thailand. Then there's Sandi- a Canadian artist who runs a big portion of this whole production- as a general rule: what Sandi says, goes. Pip and John Brown are both Khemer social workers that do everything from keeping records of school attendance and driving kids to the doctors/dentist to teaching English and disiplining. They are both great guys and are our saving grace when the kids don't listen to us (they speak the language and are male- goes a long way out here). Nikki is a Minnesota native who has spent the last six years in Alaska- she went to school for nursing so she gets to do all the first aid around the house: disenfecting wounds and wrapping toes and scrapped knees and applying anti-fungal cream to the kids we found ringworm on. There is Becca and Sarah- both beautiful Melbourne girls who are/were the social butterflies around town and in the bars every night. Matt and Lisa- a Brit couple who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have come across... I just hope they get married one day and make little children that have the same values and enthusiasium as those two- the world needs more people like them! Then there's Paige and Kylie- gorgeous friends who met in college in New York and who are now traveling and volunteering for a few months after working real jobs for a bit. And Ischtvan, our Hungarian volunteer who was previously working in Dubai and who does not have a single bad bone in his body.

As I was leaving, we were just getting four new volunteers- one, Zoe, is a spunky girl from Amsterdam with a passion for poi and fire dancing. The other three are all from Melbourne and seem to be whole-heartidly good people. I think CCPP is in good hands for awhile...

My emotions are all jumbled as I start the journey home but I am so very grateful for my time here and, most of all, the people that were a part of it all. To everyone helping to run and maintain the successful program that CCPP has become, thank you! To the kind souls that all came together to help volunteer, safe travels and thank you for making my time here what it was. And to the kids of CCPP- I love you all- keep on being kids and please please stay in school and in CCPP- you are all capable of doing whatever your little hearts desire- and thanks- you taught me a lot!

Please pass along the info for ccpp to anyone who may be intrested in volunteering and/or wanting to clear out their closests of acrylic paints and boxes of erasers...

www.letuscreate.org