Afterparty

While it's unbelievably kind to have family members sacrifice to visit you on your graduation day, a eighteen year old is still an eighteen year old. And, that means traveling with friends after graduation is high on the to-do list. no matter who flew 16 hours in economy.

But, because Forrest is Forrest, he didn't head to Koh Samui with other graduates, he headed to work with kids in Cambodia with other 18 year old world-changers like himself. He actually saved two kids from drowning on this Cambodia trip, but I have no photo documentation from any part of this trip.

As for our other travelers, I kind of offered Cindy's assistance to my Cambodia contact in Kampot, who got really excited about a nurse visiting and lined up 100 children for a clinic (only Cindy knows how useless I am).

So, Forrest headed to Cambodia with a small group of students, and Cindy and I took Joe and Taylor and headed to Cambodia with a large amounts of medicine and supplies.

That left Ellis, Claire, Jeff, and Nana in Hong Kong. Their adventures were much cleaner:)

Of course, the pseudo-medical team would return to HK after three days, but Forrest wouldn't return until after the family had left for the states.

Let's start with the clean group. Taking Nana to The China Club was a must.

And, because the stars were aligned, the sky was clear and the view from the top of the old Bank of China building was perfect for Nana.

In Cambodia we have a couple of partners who are working tirelessly to change a very broken country. Charia is one of them. She is with Transworld Radio, but she also helps her husband run a school in one of the slums, and she helps other people in Cambodia who have no voice.

We were with Charia to help a group of people in Kampot, which is about 3 hours from Phnom Penh. Charia's husband is from this area and his mother and step father still live there. When I told Charia my sister would be visiting HK for Forrest's graduation and that she wanted to visit Cambodia, Charia was happy. BUT, then I told Charia about Cindy's nursing, and Charia was thrilled. She started planning immediately. 

(Taylor met Charia for the first time in February 2014, and this was Taylor's third visit to see Charia.)

Charia planned the day for us to work in Kampot. She got her team to go with us so we had a driver, an amazing photographer, and extra translators. And, she planned for one hundred children to see Cindy.

Here are some of Kol's great shots. Of course, he had wonderful subjects :-)

Taylor and I prepped the kids for Cindy in the only way we knew, which was washing. Taylor and I quickly learned the kids like to see the magic of peroxide. Poor Cindy lost a lot of peroxide to us, though.

Joe started in the washing job, but quickly moved ranks to assistant to Cindy.

This is what I was good at - holding children and pretending to know what the heck Cindy was doing. 

Cindy was in care mode instantly. She assessed the environment and had the supplies out and ready to go in a matter of minutes. Joe became her assistant and was able to get her what she needed quickly. 

I'm sure I was standing next to her holding a child and otherwise completely useless. 

This sweet older man sat with us all day. He has some knowledge of medicine, so we were able to confidently leave the extra supplies in his hands.

After visiting Kampot, we had opportunity to visit another partner in Cambodia. Tim and Mel Chan work for YWAM in Phnom Penh. Our family first met Tim and Mel in February 2014. They run a ministry in one of the many slums of Cambodia. I told them we would be visiting and asked them what they needed. We took in loads of vitamins and other supplies. But, Tim also thought it would be a good idea to have Cindy sit with the woman who has a little health care training and has been coming to help in the slum (sorry, Cindy, this is the only photo I had).

This is where you find out how small our world really is. Tim and Mel work for YWAM and have been working in Cambodia for over ten years. Tim is Cambodian and Mel is American. BUT, Mel grew up less than 40 miles from Chatsworth. Her parents live in Chattanooga!

I couldn't just let Cindy and Joe go to Cambodia without seeing something other than slums. We jumped on an early morning flight from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and took a tour of most every ruin in Siem Reap, then got back on a small plane the same night and flew back to Phnom Penh. Talk about filthy.

 We only spent three days in Cambodia (in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap), but they were three packed days.  We returned to Hong Kong and had a few more days to visit before Nana and Cindy and Joe had to head back.

  Tai Tam Country Park is just across the street from the kids' school, HKIS. This is also where Ellis learned that cross country running, as a sport, is really painful in the heat and hills of Hong Kong.

Oh, the beauty of our first digs. We lived in Regalia Bay for three years. Wow, the views! Wow, the electricity bills:(

And, we ended our family's visit at the Peak on an breathtakingly beautiful day. I love this city.

The trail around the top of the Peak is only 3.2 kilometers. It's completely flat and gives you a 360 degree view of HK. It's one of my favorite spots in HK. AND, there's a Starbucks at the end (or beginning, as it's a loop trail).

Beautiful, but HOT 😎