Day 16: Performance at High Level + my thoughts on the kids
Enough time has passed on the tour that I am now able to ascertain each child's personality and know a little more about them. Here are some of my thoughts and details on each kid.
Leena: She is the most quiet of the girls, but has the most adorable smile. She tends to play with the other girls rather than the boys.
Channa: She was quite sick when the tour started, but now that she is feeling better, I am able to see her goofy personality, although she can seem pensive at times. She is Channy's older sister.
Mastad: Her older siblings, Kapriel and Sok Naomi, were on the last tour. She is the youngest child on the tour, as she turned nine early on our travels. She likes to sit with the adults on the bus and during mealtime.
Sreypick: The most 'huggy' of the kids, as she frequently greets me with a tight embrace. She seems to be a bit of a tomboy, as she frequently sits with and plays with the boys.
Sreypow: Her two older sisters were on the two previous tours. She is often curious as to what I am doing, as she is often hovering by me when I take people's payments at the marketplace, or when I am writing the blog.
Channa: The tour gremlin. She routinely harasses the adults, and is by far the most extroverted of the kids. We all love her dearly, even if she is giving us gray hairs. She is Channa's younger sister.
Wan: I always think that he is up to something, as his smile is naturally mischievous. So far he is the funniest to watch dance, as his facial expressions are rather animated.
Veebol: He is the most quiet of the boys, but also appears to be the best behaved. I was initially nervous that he was sad before I realized he is just a quiet child. Some of the adults refer to him as "meatball" because it sounds like his name.
Reat: He was very sick when the tour started, but has finally got better. Now that he is healthy, I see that he loves to tease the girls and routinely agitates them. He gives me a goofy grin whenever I call him out on it.
Reaksa: Based off what I have seen, he appears to be the ringleader of the boys. He has a very cool demeanor, as nothing seems to faze him. Even when I try to wrestle him, he seems to view it as a minor nuisance.
Daro: The boy whose tooth had to get pulled. Aside from that noteworthy identifier, he seems to have boundless energy, as he is usually sprinting around wherever we are.
Heang: A very friendly boy who likes to check in on me from time to time. He is also the best at video games, as he routinely won every race in Mario Kart, and every match in Smash Bros.
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I awoke at La Crete to be greeted with more photos from the team members at their various billets. It seems like lots of memories were made!
After bidding farewell to La Crete, we hopped on the bus to go to High Level. We watched Tangled on the way there, but most of the noise on the bus came from an electronic game device that Shelly gave each child. The adults began harassing Shelly after, wondering why she would give such a noisy device to all the kids. We have limited the use of the devices to be only on the bus, as we could see them causing problems in churches and homes. The kids were okay with this rule.
Once we arrived at High Level, we put on a mini-performance for High Level Christian Academy at the nearby church, High Level Christian Fellowship. I regrettably missed catching the funniest performance moment of the tour so far, as the segment in which the boys climb on each other in the Praying Mantis dance went wrong, and all the boys collapsed in a heap. It was a fun detour for all involved, as the school kids got to interact with the team, such as helping demonstrate the different uses for a krama (the traditional Cambodian scarf-like garment) or learning some of the Coconut Dance.
After our time with the school kids was over, we made the short drive to High Level Evangelical Church, where we would be performing in the evening. The kids seemed more interested in the marketplace set up than our previous stops, which made me wonder if any of them had actually stopped and taken the time to look at what we had out on the tables. The church graciously served us supper, and shortly after it was time to perform.
It was another great performance from the dancers, and the adults spoke well during their testimonies. The real highlight came after the performance, where the congregation gave an excessive of donations. Even when items were purchased, I was met with several instances of being told to keep the change, which was often quite generous. One particularly heartwarming moment was when a young boy gave $60 of his own money to the team so that each kid could have $5 to spend on something sweet. High Level, thank you so much for your generosity!
The next blog post will cover two days, and will feature the kids going bowling. See you there!
God bless,
Adam Sylvester
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