Tracy's learning journey at UNACAS

This trip to cambodia gave me an opportunity to learn a lot about myself.

Firstly, being at unacas made me see how fortunate i am to live in Singapore. I am blessed with so many things. The kids and teenagers at unacas are stuck there. Their every day routine are going to school that are at least a few kilometers away from their home at UNACAS. The younger kids have to walk to school under the got sun while the older teenagers cycle to school because their school are much more further.

Then they go back to unacas and have lunch. After that, they either play or sleep and for some, have classes.... Then they have dinner. Level 1 students have english lesson after dinner.

So basically, they have their daily activities around UNACAS... Not like us, have computer, smart phone, can go shopping, watch movies at cinemas and not in some open spaces. And we have proper infrastructure like toilets, bathroom, drinkable water and no bugs or cut in the electricity. Most importantly, we have a great government that really take care of its citizens. If you see what Pol Pot did, experience the impact, see how the kids with no parents or single parents are living, i think you will really come to appreciate our government and be really grateful about our stability.

So when i was back in Singapore, i really appreaciate what i have. Like for the first time i see my bathroom and bedroom, i was really happy. Like finally no bugs or flys! And don't need to pee in the bushes and trees already. That's what we did when we were in the village building house and all the village kids were staring at us.

But i sort of miss living in Cambodia. The time at Cambodia passed really slowly. We can moved a lot of bricks and stone but the time still passes really slowly.

And for that 2 weeks at Cambodia, there isn't a lot of stress like in Singapore. In Singapore, have to stress about projects, work, money, expectation and etc. In cambodia, it is really just do and all you have to worry is that you can't help the school or what you did is not enough. So that time when the plane touches Singapore's ground, everyone was telling each other that they felt stress already, because in Cambodia, everyone forgot about the life in Singapore and felt really being part of UNACAS...

In Singapore, i slept at only 3 or 4am and wake up in that late afternoon. Then i use internet, eat, watch tv and use internet until the midnight again. It was a no-direction lifestyle. But in Cambodia, i slept at 12 am and wake up at 6am. Then we wash clothes and get ready for infrastructure work, either at village building house or at UNACAS's garden helping to build the boundary. Then get ready for lunch. Lunch was really satisfying because it was like a reward for our hard work. Everyday was meaningful.

I am really happy that i am able to interact with the kids at Cambodia. I always thought i cannot communicate with kids. I interacted with kids in Singapore but they always give me those cold reaction or just ignore me. At least in cambodia, i grew close with a few of the kids there, though i don't know how i did it. Maybe because the kids at UNACAS are more mature. I really enjoy interacting with them. Last day at Cambodia i was really sad to leave the kids at UNACAS and even cry. And it was the first time in a very long tine that i wrote letters.

I will also really really treasure my education. The people in Cambodia really studied hard because they all know that education is the only way to improve their living condition. But they don't have the opportunity to study like us. At Don Bosco, i met this girl who is the same age as me, 20 yeats old, who is studying in "printing department". But her interest was Science and she couldn't study science because it is very expensive. So she was asking me to tell her more about my science course. I also couldn't tell her much because i also not very sure what i was studying. I just told her i study bacteria, virus, plant. Then i showed her some picture of my microbiology work like bacteria growing on agar plates. I asked her why she wants to study science. She told me because she wants to be a nurse and the reason was because she wants to help people. I felt really guilty when i heard her reason. Because everytime i made a choice for my education, it was whether i can earn a lot of money. It was never about helping people. And at that moment, it sort of made me think so why did i study biotech? And i decided that i should just follow my interest and study only what i like since i have the opportunity to. Yeah, so i will change my course when i graduate from my poly.

Now i still miss Cambodia, but minus the bed, toilet, bathroom, bugs and the suntan i gotten from the infrastructure work under that super big sun. I miss the stressless life in Cambodia.

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