The plan was to clean the new dorm on Saturday and then move in on Sunday December 7th so that the CLEW students wouldn't miss any school. However, when I went over to the dorm on Friday, there were still 4 guys there building the closets and it didn't look like they would be done any time soon. We talked to the girls to see if they wanted to delay the move but they were emphatic that they wanted to move that weekend. The old dorm had already been sold and the new owner was asking them daily when they were going to move out. It was an uncomfortable situation and they were anxious to get to the new dorm. So, we decided to condense it to one day with cleaning in the morning on Sunday and moving in the afternoon.
I arrived at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday to start clearing a way for the girls to get in. The guys building the closets had left quite a mess around the front entrance. Shortly thereafter, the convoy of girls started arriving on their bicycles and motorcycles. The cleaning began with teams going from top to bottom. With so many people, we were done by about 9:30.
I arrived at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday to start clearing a way for the girls to get in. The guys building the closets had left quite a mess around the front entrance. Shortly thereafter, the convoy of girls started arriving on their bicycles and motorcycles. The cleaning began with teams going from top to bottom. With so many people, we were done by about 9:30.
Convoy of students arrive by bike and moto
Next step was for everyone to go back to the old dorm and start filling up the moving truck. It took two trips to get everything loaded and moved. The things coming from the old dorm were really dirty so more cleaning was necessary. Some girls were in the library & classroom cleaning the computers, desks and bookshelves while others were sorting out the 2 kitchens.
Moving truck arrives from old dorm
Noodle Break
Dish cleaning time!
It became clear that all the stuff from the old dorm kitchen was in desperate need of a good wash. So, Bandol organized teams on the back patio to start washing everything. They brought an old bed frame around to the back to load everything on to dry. It took a couple of hours and a lot of scrubbing and laughing but they finally got through the pile of stuff.
A Cambodian anecdote
At the old dorm, the girls had one small fridge to share between 24 students, equivalent to what we would call a "beer fridge" in Canada. Many places where these students are coming from have limited or no electricity so they are not used to the luxury of being able to keep food and drinks refrigerated. Cambodians have other ways of preserving food like drying fish or meat and using salt. However, with two nice kitchens at the new dorm, I went out and bought 2 new full size fridges for them and figured they could use the old fridge as a drink fridge or for overflow.
When the movers unloaded the old fridge, I wondered why we bothered to bring it at all. It was all stained with rust on the front and it was filthy inside. I looked at Bandol and said what should we do with this? She said that she would call a used appliance place and see if they could fix it up. Sure enough, within 3 hours a tuk tuk had picked the fridge up, taken it to the shop, had it cleaned and repaired, and returned it back to the dorm. And the total cost including transportation was $30!! Where else in the world could you get that kind of service at that price??
When the movers unloaded the old fridge, I wondered why we bothered to bring it at all. It was all stained with rust on the front and it was filthy inside. I looked at Bandol and said what should we do with this? She said that she would call a used appliance place and see if they could fix it up. Sure enough, within 3 hours a tuk tuk had picked the fridge up, taken it to the shop, had it cleaned and repaired, and returned it back to the dorm. And the total cost including transportation was $30!! Where else in the world could you get that kind of service at that price??
First meal together at new dorm
It had been a long day and everyone really pitched in to help with the move. I thought it was important to recognize their hard work and start off the first meal together with pizza! The girls love pizza so there were claps all around when this was announced. I really wanted everyone to sit together at tables with chairs because they have not been able to do this before. The previous dorm had a small dark kitchen with one table and a few stools. To eat together they had to sit around on the floor of the main room where they study, sleep and have English lessons. So, for the first night in the new dorm, we set up all the new tables and chairs into one big long table and 28 of us shared pizza. It was a fitting end to the day!