Ahhhhh....the end of another busy day....I am exhausted.

We had a FULL day today......I woke up @ 6am....we ate b-fast then had a bible study and prayer session @ 8am...that is a norm each day. We went to the kid's school and met them and other children....I think they were all orphans. I actually read a book to the 5th graders and we went over ABC's and words that correspond. These kids are sooooo gracious and sweet. They all stood up and sang a song for just me.

We went from there to Tuol Sleng.....where they murdered and tortured tons of people. We went into the torture rooms...the beds are still there and some of the mechanics they used to torture. Most of the blood is gone but there are permanent stains. How sobering and pathetic that this happened!!!!! There were many floors.....4 buildings total (that used to be a school before the Khmer Rouge took over). There were these huge wooden brackets (shaped like an upside down U) in the square (garden area in center of the 4 buildings) where they would tie a prisoner up by the arms (behind their back) and lift them up to torture. Once they passed out they would lower them and dunk their upper bodies (head first) into a fertilizer solution to induce the drowning effect and the person would come to......then they would torture some more. I took a lot of pictures of the faces of victims. Even babies were among them.

We ate lunch after that then went to the Killing Fields. The mass grave sites. There were remnants of the clothing these people were killed in all over the place. I picked a piece up....I wanted to take it home as a memoir but decided against it out of respect. There is a tree there that they would take small children and whack them into it to kill them.........how on earth can someone do that? Anyway....... I took tons of pictures.

We went to the orphanage and played with the kids again......they sang a lot of songs for us. Some of the girls did a sweet little song and dance...they are so graceful for as young as they are. I am finally getting the names down. It is hard to remember names, let alone names that are not familiar. Sreyka, Sreypoursh, Heang, Sarrin, Visay.....etc. I can't imagine saying goodbye to them next Friday (the 13th).....it is hard enough to get away each evening. And I will MISS THEM sooooooo much! One of the boys said to me......"God bless you and your family". I told him I had a husband, 1 dog and 3 cats. (we leave the 14th for Thailand)

We alos welcomed a new orphan today....His name is Lin Daah. He was kind of scared....but he enjoyed the hot dinner and warmedup to the bunch fairly quickly. He agve hugs to all of us before we left. I cannot imagine how it would feel to be dropped of at an orphanage to start a brand new life with people you do no know.

We went tot eh student center inthe evening....college students live there. They are alos all very welcoming and sweet. We introduced ourselves, did a mini Bible study then prayed. Thank goodness for Crisa......he is a good translater. He was also an orphan....but now has a college education and is working on his thesis.....top in his class too. Thjis is the type of opportunity I hope all of the orphans we sponsor will have. A chance to turn the future of this country around.

OK......goodnight! p.s. please send me comments.....I love to hear from family and friends!!!!!

Tomorrow is a cooking class........more of the children.....and then an outreach on the streets of Cambodia!!!!!!