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I wanted to thank everyone again for your generous contributions to raise $1,200 for a full time English teacher for the orphanage I was at. I will keep you updated on the progress as the project moves along.
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We did it!
Jan 29
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My uncle Mike and aunt Kathy surprised me with a $1,000 donation for the orphanage after I had already reached my goal to raise $1200 for an English teacher at my orphanage. At the same time my mom came across a local woman with an adoped child from Cambodia that started Sustainable Schools International. I donated the money to her- check out what she’s doing:
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Success!
Dec 28
Just wanted to let you all know we’ve reached our goal of raising $1200 to provide a full-time English teacher at the orphanage for a year!
Thank you to everyone who donated. It is amazing to me to see even families who are struggling financially reach into their pockets to help those less fortunate.
I will email everyone who contributed a copy of the wire transfer receipt (your portion may be tax deductible-ask your accountant) and keep you updated on the progress of the project.
My heart is full of gratitude!
Quote for the day:
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ~Mother Theresa
Sisters unite
Dec 19
What a great sight to see my sister in BKK airport. I was very impressed at how light she packed. Nice work sister.
Mindnumbing shopping in BKK
Koh Phi-Phi was absolutely beautiful, hence double the price (and sometimes triple) of the rest of Thailand. On our second day there we went on a full day snorkeling trip around the islands. The coral and the fish were impressive and the landscape unreal. Our first excitement of the day was on monkey island when two monkeys ‘attacked’ Cher. I saved her life (hee-hee) by swatting them with my snorkel fins. Then as she swam from the beach to the boat she was nibbled on by a couple fish. At our next snorkel spot, she was stung on her lip by a jellyfish. We got back on the boat and the pain kept getting worse and worse, so we ended up leaving early to get to the Pharmacist. Long story short, the pain was increasing and after 6 hours we decided to go to the hospital for some pain meds so she could sleep. 30 minutes and $30 later we were in bed, and the next day she felt a lot better, and 100% the day after that. Cher is a tasty little morsel…
We were the Goldilocks of Phi-Phi as we moved hotels each night and finally found one that was “just right” our last night there. Our cute little bungalo at the Viking Resort had an outside shower and a lovely spacious patio with sun chair and hammock overlooking the ocean. We
B.J. = Before Jellyfish
didn’t want to leave.
Chiang Mai has been awesome- meeting lots of friendly locals, cute little restaurants and bars, sparkly wats (temples) and a shopping extravaganza (in BKK too…). And massage every day. Love-it!
Heading to Pai again tomorrow to rent scooters and tool around the mountains. Wish us luck.
Our snorkel boat
Temple bells
As many of you know I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to contribute to the orphanage to make sure the
money gets to the right place.
I trust the NGO that partners with the US volunteer organization who facilitated my work in Cambodia and they had the good idea of providing the funding for a full time English teacher at the center.
In a previous post you may remember me talking about the inconsistency and disorganization of the kids’ English studies as different volunteers come through. Speaking English is one of the best skills they can learn to ensure employment opportunities in the future.
My goal is to raise $1,200 to cover the salary of a full time English teacher for one year (that’s not a typo).
If you’re interested please either add a comment to this post or email me at liza_aslor@hotmail.com.
I’m waiting to hear back from my accountant on how to best handle this, so I will be in touch about collecting the 
money.
Times are tough, so of course I understand if you can’t donate right now. I know your good intentions go out to these kids.
There are also many of you who have contributed to me to make this trip possible (you know who you are) and I thank you for your generosity!
Thank you!
Mom (in honor of the Somerville’s, ‘lil Aslor’s, Cunningham’s, Beckmans, Barnes’, Jeff Geraets, Gillens, Katie Passman & Stouts’)
Cher
Margaret
Lynne
Renee
Anne
Kristi
Edie
Amber
Beth
Caroline
Danielle
Jeanie
Jean
—————-
$1200
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Vietnam
Dec 8
Hi guys! Internet access is a little more difficult for me here but wanted to post some pics of my most recent
Monkey man
adventures…
Phu Quoc
A lovely island off the Southern coast of Vietnam, close to Cambodia. Spent a few days lazing on the beach, swimming and scootering around the island. I met a sweet little monkey that took a nap in my lap (hey that rhymes) and had some impossibly delicious, fresh-as-can be bbq’d fish to wrap in make-it-yourself spring rolls. Yumm-o.
Fish market
Roll your own spring rolls with bbq fish. Don't mind if I do!
Dalat
The guidebooks aren’t kidding when they called it Le Petit Paris.Compete with an Eiffel shaped radio tower, the little city feels like a European getaway. Kind of strange, but lovely. It also reminded me a lot of Colorado with a much cooler climate, mountains and pine trees. De-ja-vu…
Easy Rider
Motorcycle mama. That's me
In Dalat I met Dung (pronounced Yom, if you were wondering), an unofficial but awesome “Easy Rider” who took me on a 3-day motorcycle tour of the central highlands. It was so much fun- just the thrill of being on the back of a motorcycle if fun enough indeed, but to be winding through the mountains, fields and villages of Vietnam, off the tourist path was amazing. Hey- did you know Vietnam is the #2 producer of coffee (with Brazil coming in first place). There are coffee fields as far as the eye can see and beyond. Just about every house had their front yards (and sometimes the streets) covered in drying coffee beans. And they harvest
Coffee, coffee, coffee
it all by hand. Anyways, I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee. And poor Dung had to stop every hour for me to go to the toilet. Honestly one of the best
Dung & our first feast
parts about it was hanging out with Dung in the evenings. We always went to the best places to eat and would feast for about $1.50, drink a few beers and chat. You could say he was my paid friend. 
Always nice to have a local show you around.
Surprise! I tried to save him but he hopped under my bed...
Nha Trang
Last stop on the motorcycle extravaganza was Nha Trang, a fun little beach town. I’m loving lazing on the beach (again)
Beach time snax. Mango-ginger flat bread
and wandering the streets in search of the good food. I found this lady who serves sticky rice, coconut milk, banana and tapioca ball soup (oh my yum) and go to see her every night. A lot of the vendors just pull a cart up on the sidewalk, put a couple tiny tables and chairs out and cook up the most delish stuff. Fun.
My Cambodian Family
Dec 3
The fam
I forgot to tell you how great my host family was while in Phnom Penh.
Living there are the parents, one daughter and 2 sons (all in their 20’s) and
Brother drives me to work
the grandmother. They have another daughter who is married with a son that lives close by.
Traditionally you live with your parents till you get married there. The oldest son was my age. The grandmother was a bit senile, so she seemed a little confused when I walked in the door each time, but when I would stop to say hello she would grab my hands and
Cambodian wedding (trying not to look so tall)
tell me how beautful I was.
They had a lovely 4-story house (a typical style for middle class) and I had the entire 3rd floor to myself with a patio in the front and the back. I had a big empty front room to do yoga in the mornings.
They cooked me loads
Out on the town
of delicious Cambodian food and packed me lunch on work days. Fresh fruit (many of which I’ve never seen/had before-yum!) and cold water all the time.
The daughters were so sweet- took me out on several occasions, one of them invited me to a wedding of her husband’s cousin, the
Lunch
other took me to the S-21 museum on the weekend. I experienced my first 3-person scooter ride and a small scooter crash with each of the sisters. It’s not a true Cambodian experience without either of those events it seems. The youngest son drove me to work and picked me up every day. Only the daughters and the oldest son spoke limited English, so I couldn’t really communicate with the parents or the grandmother, but so much can be said with a smile and a bow.
The mother gave me a beautiful blue silk scarf with the traditional Cambodian checker print. She must’ve asked her daughter how to
My front room for yoga
say “A souvenir for you” as she handed it to me.
There were some tears when I parted and I hope I will see them again. Maybe I can come back when Pheap (the youngest daughter) gets married.
Sunset from my back patio
I heart Cambodia
Nov 30
Another amazing week
My afternoon kids
with the kids! One day we talked about colors and the verb “to want”. I had a bag of balloons and we took turns asking “Do you want a yellow balloon?” They would reply with “Yes, I want a yellow balloon” or “No, I want a blue balloon”. I love to see how excited they get about small things like that and just the enthusiasm and
My morning group
silliness of kids in general. It’s unfortunate to realize that there isn’t a whole lot of consistency to their English studies- when a new teacher comes in, there is no guidelines to what needs to be done next, what the kids know already- no sort of organization. I wish I could’ve been there longer to help come up 
with some sort of system. Maybe next time…
On my last day we played games- “What time is it Mr. Fox”, limbo, duck-duck-goose and sang songs. They love to sing! I went to the gas station and bought popsicles for everyone which was exciting.
The kids love seeing pictures and videos of themselves. We spend many hours taking photos and videos on my camera, looking at the pictures. Often they would take off with my camera to take pictures and would come back with all sorts of funny pictures. I keep trying to upload a vidoe of them, but it doesn’t seem to be working…
A new volunteer came in that week and she has initiated getting some of the kids medical attention. She was actually able to get a doctor to come into the center and check
out the kids who were having some issues and get treatment for different things as well as HIV tests. I gave her $100 because she was paying for everything out of her pocket. I also gave the center $80 to finish the 2 new bathrooms they just built- to make doors and add plumbing to run water to the
New bathroom!
bathrooms. They were very appreciative. My mom, sister and my friends Margaret and Lynne have offered donations and I will be arranging supplies like tooth brush/paste, detergent, rice, etc… for the center. Thank you for your support!
One of the babies had an abcess on his bottom that had to be lanced and the doctor had to clean it out the next day because of course it had gotten infected. Later he was in the babies room just crying by himself (as he often is) and I was able to pick him up and calm him down. I cuddled him for about an hour, him leaning forward on my chest so as not to have to sit on his tender bottom and even got him laughing at one point. It is so tragic to me that a little one like that who is in pain doesn’t have a mama to baby him when he’s sick. I wish I could’ve stayed another week just to take care of the little guy.
It was tough to say goodbye to everyone, but I am so thankful for the experience. I hope to be able to do it again for a longer period of time someday. I hope to do some similar work in the States as there is a huge need there as well for community development and support for the poor.
Until next time,
Love, Liza
Love the nose crinkle
Wow. Ok. Where do I start?
CPCDO
I made it to Phnom Penh safely and have just started my second week at the orphanage. Let me just say these kids are AMAZING. The first day I walked in the gate 3 little ones ran up with hellos and hugs which was so cute made me feel so welcomed.
The baby room
There are 71 kids at CPCDO ranging from about 4 months to 17 years old. Typically I teach English to a young group for an hour, then an hour to an older group in the morning, play for an hour, then a 2 hour lunch break, and then I repeat the same in the afternoon with a
Lunch time
different group of kids. It’s funny as I didn’t get any guidance really- on my first day they said, “here you go, now teach some English!” But it’s great cuz you could do just about anything and the kids are happy- they’re very eager to learn English and just love the interaction. We
New toys!
talked about body parts one day and we ended class by doing the hokey-pokie. They had never done it before and thought it was hilarious- “…you put your nose in and you shake it all about…”
Their living conditions are hard to see. They only have 2 toilets for all of them (although they’re in the process of building 2 more); the kids sleep on wooden bunk beds with no mattress or padding; the building isn’t fully enclosed, so when it rains hard the whole place floods; many of the kids wear the same dirty clothes days on end; there is no soap for them to wash their hands; no diapers so the babies run/crawl around without bottoms and wee/poo wherever they are; and on and on… It was a bit disturbing at first, but I’m starting to realize that these are living conditions for many of the population here in Cambodia anyways, not just the orphans.
I have 2 especially special little boys there who I really want to take home
My boys
with me. One is probably about 1 and the other about 3 or 4 years old. They follow me around everywhere and want me to hold them all the time. When I have to put one of them down to go to the bathroom, they will usually stand there and cry at the door till I come back out. It is one of the most incredible feelings to walk in in the morning and watch their faces light up and raise their arms to me to pick them up. It brings tears to my eyes to think about having to leave them at the end of the week.
I’ve taught them duck-duck-goose, some “Sound of Music” songs (Do, a deer a female dear… and, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…) and they really seem to love playing hangman. The stickers, books (thanks Margaret & Anita!), balloons, crayons, coloring books and bouncy-balls have been a big hit! I also bought some new school books with the money some of you donated already!
I feel very lucky to be here and definitely feel this has been the most intense, challenging experience so far, but of course the most eye-opening and fulfilling. I had my first wave of homesickness after my first day, but am feeling better now. I have to say though, as much as I’m enjoying my travels, I will be happy to come home! Although my tune might change when I’m bumming around the Vietnam beaches!
>See all my pictures from CPCDO on snapfish
>See some videos of the kids at CPCDO on youtube
More to come!
PS- If anyone is interested in donating to the orphanage, please contact me. I can arrange to get the money to them or arrange to buy supplies with the money (bikes, extra food, school supplies, etc…).
Love, Liza
Cambodia
Nov 19
Angkor Wat
Oh mama, is it hot here! If I realized how hot it would be I would’ve chosen a room with a/c, but instead for some reason I decided I needed a bathroom with hot water. No need for that here.
Of the 4 days I was in Siem Reap, 3 of the days I was up for the sunrise. The first day was spent watching
Ta Prohm
the sun rise at Angkor Wat- I had the good advice to enter the less popular east side to avoid the crowds and hiked up to the top of one of the towers to watch the sun rise. Already getting hot by 8am, I checked out a couple other wats in the area and headed home for breakfast and a nap. Headed out to Phnom Bakheng for the sunset which was incredible, minus the multitude of tourists that didn’t quite understand how much more lovely it would be to enjoy in silence. So I practiced meditating within the chaos- as one of my teachers says, you should be able to meditate on the busiest street in New Delhi. That one’s going to take some work…
The rest of my days went something similar to that- up early to see the sun rise, exploring more ruins, nap and then back out again. I went to Bayon, Banteay Srei and other little ones along the way. One morning I went on a sunrise horseback ride. It ended up just being me and the guide (a young girl from New Zealand). The sunrise through storm clouds was like nothing I’ve ever seen- we rode though the country side, by rice patties, lily pad ponds, rual homes, a pagoda and some more ruins. At some point it started pouring rain- completely beautiful and a welcome cool down. It’s been so long since I’ve rode but the feeling of cantering on a horse is hard to explain- exhilrating might have to suffise for now. Needless to say, I’m still sore…
Giddy up
I’ve been learning about the recent history of Cambodia- mostly of the Khmer Rouge regime in which 1-2 million Cambodians (about 1/3 of the population at the time) we’re killed between ’75 and ’79- by forced starvation, exhaustion or murdered under this communist rule. I watched the movie ‘The Killing Fields’ one night, but felt the book “Stay alive, my son” gave a better insight to how the people were tricked into their imprisonment and how the respectable ideals of socialism can get so easily distorted by human nature’s desire for money and power.
I have felt very safe on my trip so far, but I have to say the driving in Cambodia is craa-zzyy. Thailand was pretty interesting, but for some reason it feels worse here. Maybe it’s because Im riding around on the back of motorcycle taxis here and I was mostly in tuk-tuks in Thailand. There really seems to be no rules here other than ‘try not to crash’. People drive on the wrong side of the road quite often; there are hardly any traffic signals or stop signs (and if there are they are more of a ’suggestion’); people don’t wait for an opening in traffic to turn or go through an intersection. Its basically a free-for-all. Its the only time so far I fear for my safety- sometimes I just have to close my eyes and hope for the best. You see families of 5 riding on one moto; coconuts, dead chickens, firewood, bags of concrete or whatever stacked high and wide; men toting 50’poles on them. I wish I had the chance to get photos of them as they wiz by. Fascinating. I’ve learned how to ride sideways when I have a skirt on and had my first experience as the 3rd passenger on a motorcycle last night when the younger couple from my host
Ta Prohm
family took me out. I think I’m fitting in just fine…
I’m in Phnom Penh now and am finishing up my 3rd day at the orphanage. More on that later. All I’ll say now is that the kids are amazing and I want to bring them home. Really.
Toodles,