Kampot

Our time in Kampot between the 11th and 14th of March was, as with most of our activities on this trip, somewhat bittersweet. During the house-building project and movement workshop at the Epic Arts Centre, we witnessed both suffering and happiness, resulting in mixed emotions all round.

Our morning started on the 11th March with fourteen sunburnt westerners sardined in the van. We took a rollercoaster ride through rocky, red dust roads into the truly untouched Cambodian countryside. We split into two groups and, after a walk through flat parched fields dotted with wooden homes on stilts, muddied water-buffalo watering-holes, and one lonely volleyball court, we reached our building-site for the next few days: a tiny hut with local builders and families hard at work. The company we worked with specialises in building homes for disabled people in particularly rural and inaccessible villages in the Kampot area. At my group's site lay a 45 year-old widowed mother to two teenage boys; an illness resulting from complications with her second pregnancy left her whole body completely paralysed. Despite her continual chirpy conversation to her neighbours and constant smile throughout the two days that we spent with her, it was a harrowing situation. Her sons are not able to be with her that often, probably because they are working, and she therefore largely relies on the support of her neighbours to survive.

We were all initially very concerned that we would be completely useless and unable to help the builders, but I think that we lent some useful hands in the end. We spent the first day smoothing stalks of bamboo with machetes, and the second day laying these strips down onto the wooden frame that the builders had constructed for the house itself. We tightly laced these together with rope in true assembly-line teamwork fashion to create a floor for the house. Seeing the final floor was incredibly rewarding and, if I do say so myself, it was pretty comfortable!

A particular highlight of the experience was breaking through the awkwardness of the language barrier by dancing along to the Cambodian electronic music emerging out of a rusty radio hanging on a nearby tree as we worked. There was much amusement on all sides by the sight of sweaty foreigners, hammers in hand, performing awkward "dad-style" dance moves.

On the 14th March, we visited the Epic Arts Centre, a organisation that teaches arts skills to children with disabilities, both physical and mental. We participated in a movement workshop led by some of the most energetic, gregarious and inspiring students I have ever met. The workshop was conducted in English, Khmer, and sign. At the end, we performed our choreography creations to each other; dance-based, and semi-acrobatic, let's just say that some were better than others... The session ended with a fabulous performance from the students of a piece designed to educate Cambodian people about the abilities of people with disabilities, aiming to eradicate the stigma that is still very prevalent in this society.

The students were truly brilliant performers: we watched in awe as deaf boys hurled themselves into the air in perfect rhythm with the beat of the music, and as a wheelchair user held his whole body into a handstand, balancing on the arms of his wheelchair. It was wonderful to see how art, music, dance and theatrical training can liberate people, and grant such confidence. Indeed, these students were miles more confident than the children in mainstream education that we have met over the last two months.

The main thing that struck me about these few fantastic days was the happiness of these people. The woman at the house building project smiled throughout the day as she interacted with her neighbours' children, and the energy from the students at Epic Arts was contagious. As we returned to the easy comforts of our homestay at the end of each day, the resilience of these inspiring people in the face of struggle was food for thought for us all.

- Georgie Spafford