Peace
I hope the face of this little Cambodian child will never be forgotten by you. I know I will never forget her.
We were going to tour the Cambodian countryside on quads. Our guide asked us if we were interested in getting new dolls for children along the way. We thought sure, but why new dolls?
Early on we stopped at a little shack along the road, covered in dust. It was a little market. Our guide went in and came back out with a small box. My thought was, strange, how many new dolls can fit in that box and what about the boys, shouldn't we get them something.
As our guide got closer I could see that the box said Top Ramen on it. My gosh, these were not "new dolls", he was saying "noodles". We were going to be feeding children! Flooded with emotion, we asked for a second box.
Heading down the road we saw a small group of boys who had been playing near a canal. Our guide stopped and opened a box of ramen. Shy at first, the boys accepted. One boy immediately tore open his bag and began eating the dry, hard noodles right out of the bag.
Heading down the road again we turned off on what looked like nothing more then a foot path. Along the bath children began appearing out of the forest and running alongside of our quads. More and more children until there was about 30 when we stopped in a little clearing with a few tiny shacks.
Our guide instructed the children to be polite, say thank you and only take one bag of noodles. As the children gathered around us, they were so polite, they smiled and they were quiet. The children gathered themselves with older children at the back and the younger ones at the front so they would not be missed.
At this moment I was, as I am now without words. Where most of us come from we can't even imagine life like this. These children were the offspring of parents and grandparents who survived the Killing Fields. Still today, most Cambodians have have very little after everything was taken away in the years between 1975 to 1979. Millions lost their lives.
The beautiful faces of these Cambodian children are etched in to my heart forever.
This little girl was at the front of the group. Her beautiful eyes were focused as she held up her tiny 2 fingers. I smiled at her and said just one as our guide had directed. She was maybe 4 and she smiled and said thank you and walked away with her one little packet of Top Ramen.
As we were leaving the crowd of children began to disperse and I noticed this little girl standing with her mom who was holding a toddler. Too small to be in that group of children, they watched from this sidelines. I knew then that this little girl had been asking for a second bag of ramen for her little sister. I stopped, opened up the box and handed mom a second bag of ramen. She smiled and graciously thanked us.
Those moments changed me. I can not think of this little face without tearing up to this day. I can't imagine what it was like for these mothers, trying to feed their babies.
We live in a world of plenty, yet we so often complain about what we don't have. Our children feel intitled, it's never enough. Even our poor live like royalty by comparison.
In all of our travels, Cambodians were the kindest people we have ever met. They have overcome unspeakable suffering, yet they are not. Their lives are still difficult, yet they are grateful for what they have. They are happy, they have their loved ones. How different the world would be if we could learn from their example.
Peace.
