Loneliness

A friend shared a story with me. I'm not great at re-telling stories so here is just the gist:

A poet had written a verse on 'Loneliness'. He had it inscribed onto a stone and put up in a corner of the park. Many had been to visit it and they could sense the loneliness from reading the stone. How come, you must be wondering? What verse could be so powerful to give such feelings to a reader? Well, we will never know, because the poet had scratched it out.

Why in the world am I sharing this with you? Well, I've many times lived alone and many friends have asked (especially the Cambodians, because its uncommon for a single young woman to live alone) how come it is that I don't feel lonely and scared. My reply to them is always that 'because I am never alone, never have been and never will be, no matter the circumstances.'

I believe that loneliness is something we feel when we have not found what we are looking for...when in fact all that we need is around us already! I seldom feel lonely because I know that there is always Someone watching over me, Someone who loves me and prays for me. I have found the love, prayers, blessings and all sorts of other stuff that keeps me from feeling lonely, in all the people who stand beside me, even though they're far away.

Thanks to all of you out there....Love always...Prema

The Gems... Part 1

Here are few of the students from the morning session of the last semester (July - Dec 2006)

Mona is good at sorting...coins, dice, pawns, chips.

Ouy and Thanu...it's not often we can catch them sitting down to play.

Water colour drawing is a favorite activity among the children. Lily, Sakura and Thanu from the morning session are very good at expressing their thoughts into pictures. Among the afternoon students, Siew Lenh is most creative, coming up with different pictures each time.

Lily, very focused with the blocks.

Sakura enjoys piecing puzzles together.

The world of friends...Part 1

There're just too many out there whom i can call friends...but here's a start. These people are beautiful souls who in their very own way, make the world a better place to live in...






The divine friends must be attracted to and enamored of each other and ever be ready and willing to sacrifice their own lives for each other. Should one soul from amongst the believers meet another, it must be as though a thirsty one with parched lips has reached to the fountain of the water of life, or a lover has met his true beloved. For one of the greatest divine wisdoms regarding the appearance of the Holy Manifestations is this: The souls may come to know each other and become intimate with each other; the power of the love of God may make all of them the waves of one sea, the flowers of one rose garden and the stars of one heaven.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 425)

Gems 1st Annual Party

Oh, it was a great evening, with great weather and a great team preparing together....so many things to be thankful for! It is the end of the year. The school just started its break on Friday and the teachers and parents decided to have our first Annual Party in conjunction with the Human Right's Day. We had a picnic in a new park just by the river.

We had banners and flyers and many people were interested in what we were doing and that was a great opportunity for the Battambang town people to become aware of our school. But of course, besides that, we had the kids singing (8 of them this year), playing games and doing some arts activities. Oh, we also gave out prizes to the kids for the virtue that they've been practicing well throughout the year. Here are some pictures for you to get a feel of the day's event!

We sent the banner to be made at a shop..it came back without our school's name in English...but just as quickly as the error was detected, the guys came back with stickers to show GEMS... but it did a whole lot of publicity for the school in Khmer!


Kids and parents behaving very well ;) while waiting for the program to start.


That's me telling the story to the kids about Little Anna who shares what she has with her friends.


The kids sang 'Baby Beds' which had a little lamb with its mother sheep in the green meadow.

Great Websites!

Here is a website for anyone who would like to prepare simple materials to keep kids busy. If you have any idea of more websites like this, please share them! Thanks.

http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com

Beautiful Cambodia

Now that i know how to publish pictures...why stop? Here are a few scenic pictures i've taken around Cambodia....i guess it's not hard to love Cambodia when you see how beautiful it can be :D

At the Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia


Not far from home in Battambang Town


Boat Ride from Battambang to Siem Reap

Gems!

Blogging is relatively new to me...so please share your comments and suggestions for improvement. I thought I could start with sharing some things about Cambodia, Gems, CORDE, UniED,...well, life as it is here for me. I'll start with Gems...here are some pictures. Enjoy!