Progress at Honour Village

The last two days have seen some rapid changes at Honour Village (HVC), but that seems to have been the case since we first learned about this place.  Here's a brief overview in pictures....

Construction on the new building has moved forward at a rapid pace.

January 18 - Tiles about 2/3 done and brick walls partially cemented over

January 18 - Walls being cemented

January 19 - Walls completely cemented and tile floor completed. 
Tile grouting still to be done

January 19 - Tiling the kitchen floor 

Gordon has begun to cut down some of the desks that were too high for the children, and we have now hired a local man to plane the new wood that Gordon has purchased to build new benches/desks.

January 18 - Gordon and Tee Tee reconstructing a desk

Planing the wood - a very noisy job



January 19 - Gordon and Tee Tee (and OB Happy) testing the re-sized desk out for size



Four new children arrived late on Monday, and are adjusting well.

January 18 - Drawing pictures with Riem, age 3, the youngest of the new arrivals

Moira and Jill have arrived from the UK, bringing loads of supplies, and are enthusiastic about getting some new programs together.

Loads of new toys, games and books brought from the UK by Moira and Jill!

Jill, Moira and Christina (and me taking the photo) working out some programming for the kids

Several of the staff and volunteers are working diligently to get the tea towels with the HVC logo sewn and packaged, so they can be sold to raise more funds.

Honour Village dish towel.  Email me if you would like to buy some!

Sue demonstrating how to fill the steam iron

Sadly, Wednesday was Christina's last day.  She is a teacher from Portugal who bonded well with the children, and there were many long faces when she left.

Christina and some of the 32 resident children

The children love the new Matchbox cars that Gordon and I brought along.  Next year, I think we'll bring some more, as well as one of those road map carpets.

Playing with the little cars

We sang some 'action songs' in English with the children, and they sang some songs in Khmer for us.  The highlight of the day for me was when two of the children performed the traditional and graceful Apsara dance, which dates back over 1000 years. 

Christina joining in the action songs

Apsara Dancing - I wish I had a video of this!