by Kendall Schoenekase, Graduate Nursing Student

The morning began bright and early today as we set off for the 6 hour drive to Battambang
at 6:30am. In addition to our Cambodia team, our Freedom’s Promise translators, who will be with us during out clinics in Poipet, joined us on the buses. This was a wonderful experience, as the translators began teaching us about the Cambodian culture, the villages, their home towns, etc. from their perspectives. We listened to Cambodian music, tried Cambodian food along the ride, and picked their brains on anything and everything we could think of. We even shared our culture with them, teaching them about western medicine, country music, American practices, etc., that they wanted to learn about. Aside from these wonderful interactions and new relationships formed, the ride was a bit rough- literally. The roads were bumpy, the driving was unique, the nausea was REAL, the bathroom breaks were uncomfortable…. It was definitely an experience! One of the best parts of the ride was simply looking at the land and the towns we drove through, taking in as many details as possible. We finally arrived at the hotel in Battambang, which was beautiful! Kasey, one of our Freedom’s Promise translators and a Battambang local, then showed all of us around her town for the rest of the afternoon/ evening. The first stop was to Province Hall, a house/ building that was built over 100 years ago, but was just recently opened to the public as a museum. There we learned about the history of Battambang and took quite a few fun photos!

The evening continued with the bamboo train- who knew we were going to be going on a real life rollercoaster in Cambodia! These little bamboo train carts fit 4-5 people on each and took us on a true adventure through the country land of Cambodia. It was absolutely breathtaking, to say the least. To make it even better, the scorching hot sun finally calmed down, allowing us to enjoy beautiful weather.

The last event of the night was by far my favorite experience of the entire day. We hiked up hundreds of stairs (sweaty as can be/ gasping for air) to these incredible Buddhist temples that were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It is difficult to find words to appropriately describe the beauty of these temples. But we were not the only visitors of the temples, as there were quite a few monks at the temples as well! For half an hour or so, we explored the temples, took pictures, and had a blast, before making the journey back down.

Reflecting on this long, but exciting day, I must say that our team is quickly becoming a family. While we have only been here for a couple of days, it is amazing how open, honest, and comfortable we are all becoming with one another. We have experienced more highs and lows together than I can even recall, and we haven’t even started clinics yet! I am thankful to have had these days together to become a family, as I know we will need each other more than ever as we begin our first clinic here in Battambang tomorrow.