Mission to Cambodia 2014
from Emily Patton, Nursing student

After over 30 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Phnom Penh! From the moment we walked out of the airport, we have literally (and I mean literally) have not stopped sweating. I think this is the first time many of us have experienced 95 degree heat with 85% humidity. Anyways, we were happily greeted at the airport by 3 Cambodians that our instructors have come to view as family and took two buses to “The Golden Gate Hotel” where we unpacked and got ready to explore the city. We stopped at a place called the Java Café and it was not only extremely cheap (by American standards), but to my surprise, was full of mostly American and Europeans.

Afterwards, we walked up and down the streets of Phnom Penh, getting a feel for the city and the culture of Cambodia in general. Picture big streets with stores and vendors on both sides and mopeds zooming down the middle of the street recklessly ignoring any type of traffic rule. In Cambodia, pedestrians certainly don’t have the right of way so when you cross the street, you really have to be careful. I was immediately stricken with the poverty of the country. Walking through the city streets, there was often a smell of sewage and trash as little children come up, put their hands in the prayer position and beg for money (many of whom had deformities from land mines left from the Khmer Rouge regime). Some children would walk with us quite a while up and down the streets. We wandered down “Art Street”, where every store sold pictures and statues of Cambodian culture.

For dinner, we ate at a very nice restaurant near our hotel and had the best red curry with brown rice I’ve ever had! My first day in this unique country was definitely eye opening, but after seeing the need of these people, I am so thrilled to be here and know God has big things planned over the next few weeks.