Our Profound Life Experience
As you saw in the video, Self Help Community Center or S.H.C.C is a small school located just outside Siem Reap, Cambodia in Krobey Real. It provides free additional education to twelve villages based around Krobey Real. Each student receives an additional hour of schooling free of charge. S.H.C.C. was founded and is run by a community local, Sambath Chourn.
When returning to his home village of Krobey Real after a six-year absence, he noticed that his community was not evolving. Lack of education is a direct result as to why the people of his community are not prospering in the modern day economy. With the money he earned living in Siem Reap he started S.H.C.C.
How did we find this place? A fellow traveler told us about her experience volunteering. We wanted in on the action. She said they weren’t looking for any teachers at the moment but were looking to maybe make a promotional video for their website. “We make videos!!!” we said in unison.
We got in contact with Sambath and were on our way to help out S.H.C.C. not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into…
The next ten days would turn out to be some of the most profound days of our lives!!!
Because we were doing such a big project, Sambath invited us to stay in the village. This gave us a real taste of what being a Cambodian really means.
The family that we stayed with consisted of tailors and security guards that worked in Siem Reap. They seemed to have it a tiny bit easier than the farmers or fishermen but not by much. Our family was also small, with only three children. The only way we could communicate with our family was through sign language and Rockstar, the youngest brother, who was the only member of the family that spoke English. The bond that we formed with this family surpassed anything that we could have possibly imagined despite the language barrier. When they found out that it was Kinsey’s birthday while we were there they planned a surprise party for her. Throughout our stay, lots of laughs, hugs, hitting and tears (hitting in Cambodian culture is a sign of affection) were exchanged! To the point where they invited us back after we had finished editing the video for a celebration at the local pagoda. The time we spent living with this family taught us things about life and ourselves that we could never learn from textbooks or lectures. They have touched our hearts and souls and we miss them every minute. 
The people of Krobey Real work from sun up to sun down. Children as young as six or seven work besides their parents farming, fishing, sewing and basket-weaving all to just to make ends meet.
Because the government does not fund public education the poor get the short end of the stick. They can barely afford to clothe and feed their children let alone pay to provide additional schooling. In return, this leads to fewer opportunities because they are uneducated. The jobs left for these people are physically strenuous and low paying. It is a vicious cycle that S.H.C.C. is trying to break.
The Cambodian poor do not have access to basic health care needs. Most adults have more than a few teeth missing and the others they do have are rotting. Tooth decay is apparent as early as five years old. After walking back from the market, a family invited us in for a shot of rice wine. They were very happy to have us there, so of course they were all smiling. Instead of white pearly smiles we got toothless and rotten grins. Even the little boy we were living with had tooth decay and he was only twelve.
With families as large as eleven and twelve people, the majority of rural Cambodians have absolutely no education on sexual health and birth control. This results in a lower standard of living in a place where the standard isn’t very high to begin with. While biking around the village, one woman held up her baby and began yelling to us. Sambath told us that she was saying, “Come take my baby, you can take care of my baby.”
Sambath is an Inspiration!! What he showed us we will never be able to reciprocate. The selflessness that Sambath lives is a lesson that everyone should take a chapter from. He is not in it for the bragging rights but to truly help the people of his community. Sambath, it was a privilege to have met you and to have worked with you. Hopefully, we have helped a tiny bit for your cause and all those beautiful kids. We will Never Forget you!!!!
TO DONATE: Please send a Money Gram or Western Union to Sambath Chourn in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Send him an email at chournsambath@yahoo.com with the reference number for pick up!!
Thank you for ALLLL your help in making S.H.C.C. grow and Grow and GROW!!!!!!
For more photos, check out our Flickr account ———->>>
