Like I’m sure most other third world countries are, Cambodia
is a pretty harsh place to live. There are areas of the city where trash fills
the gutters, sickly cats and dogs roam the streets, some street vendors and
restaurants could cause even the bravest traveler to raise an eyebrow in
regards to sanitation, and the sticky mixture of intense heat and humidity can
be almost unbearable.
Sounds fun doesn’t it? One of my FAVORITE aspects of
Cambodia is that for every single less than desirable attribute it may have,
there are at least five beautiful things that completely overshadow it. I mean,
just in this past week there have been many things that have given me pause
solely due to the simple beauty they have shown me. I’d like to share a few.
First off, Cambodians are some of the most humble people
I’ve ever met in my life. Even though I’m a poor college student, I’m pretty
sure I have more money right now in my bank account than many of the people I
now see every day will ever have in their life at once. Even though they’re
incredibly poor, they are so kind, giving, and open to complete strangers. I
was riding down the street on my bike with Dan and his wife Zoya one day and
they both randomly broke into a ballad of the Arthur theme song. No sooner than they had started, a random tuk
tuk driver pulled up alongside of them and started singing along. He obviously
had no idea what they were singing, but that didn’t stop him from chiming in
his very own rendition to the theme of an American child television classic. I
couldn’t help but smile.
My first day working at CYN, I made a new friend.
Unfortunately I still don’t know her name because she barely speaks any English
(and Khmer names are really hard to pronounce), but she has become one of the
friendly faces at work that I enjoy trying to communicate with. Any time there
would be moments of prolonged silence, she’d get my attention and start
jabbering away in both Khmer and broken English. She’d always start off with an
apology that her English wasn’t very good because “she was poor” to which I’d
do my best to reassure her that it was perfectly fine since I was incredibly
ignorant in the Khmer language. She was able to convey to me that she was
studying history at university and then had no hesitation in whipping out her
phone and showing me pictures of a school trip she had been on over a holiday
week with her class to some signature Cambodian historical sites. After a time,
she abruptly paused and turned me and asked “If you have one wish, what it be?”
and I had no idea what to say. I was truly taken aback by her sincerity and
eagerness at a seemingly childish but actually thought provoking question. So I
turned the question back on her to which she immediately got a huge smile on
her face and said “I want to be teacher. No take money from kids.” I then
decided that my wish would be that I could’ve filmed her response so I could
relive that humbling experience over and over again.
While we Americans have Crossfit and Zumba, Cambodians have
jazzercise. And I’m not talking jazzercise in an indoor gym; I’m talking about
jazzercise in the wide open public eye. Every morning and night, you can go to
one of the open plazas in the heart of Phnom Penh and join one of the many
groups of people exercising their hearts out. A few of the interns and I
decided to accompany our host mom who we call Om (means grandma) to an evening
of jazzercise, and let me tell you, it was pretty epic. We arrived to see a few
speakers set up and already emitting a thumping workout beat. Om excitedly
introduced us to one of the instructors before signaling us to space ourselves
out. The next thing we knew, we were shuffling our feet, punching the air, and
waving our arms at the instruction of a Cambodian version of Richard Simmons.
It was pretty much a dream come true.
I’ve really never known very much about the Buddhist
religion, and quite honestly I still don’t know a whole bunch, but this past
Sunday I was able to see how beautiful of a religion it is. I, along with two
of my fellow interns, was invited this weekend to attend a Buddhist religious
ceremony with one of the host families. The whole thing was obviously in Khmer
and so I didn’t understand any of it, but that didn’t keep me from marveling at
the pure devotion the people in attendance had. They’d pray to Buddha, then
pray to monks, then pray to Buddha again, all with pure humility and reverence
on their faces. At the end of all the praying, they fed the monks with a
sumptuous feast. Even though the ceremony starkly contrasted with my personal
religious beliefs, I somehow knew the worshippers were genuinely doing the
things that they believed would help them be the best people they could be. And
that was incredibly beautiful to me.
Perhaps the most beautiful thing I’ve seen so far in
Cambodia also happened this past Sunday. After the Buddhist worship ceremony,
we all headed to the local LDS Church to witness history being made in
Cambodia. The first two Stakes ever in this country were created by Area and
General Authorities. I was incredibly grateful and humbled to be sitting
amongst Saints of Zion as they raised their voices in song and then sustained
their new Stake Priesthood leaders. The excitement of the members, along with
the Spirit, was almost tangible through every hymn and testimony. The members
here are so solid and they shine with the Spirit of God. The Global Church is real,
the Gospel is so true and it truly is spreading to every willing heart.
Although Cambodia has gone through and continues to experience incredible
hardship, the Church is the brightest beacon of hope this country has. Heavenly
Father knows and loves His children no matter their background, ethnicity, the
language they speak, or their gender. The events that transpired this past
weekend strengthened my testimony of this; I can’t express how thankful I am to
Heavenly Father for that.
It really is a beautiful thing.
Until next time.
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