​Upon settling myself in Kampot I had mixed feelings about my new placement, sure I had friends, a place to unpack my bag and a room to call my own, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to stay. I toyed with the idea of breaking my contract and leaving early but decided that it was just my first-week jitters and that I should really try to stick it out.   As I arrived the previous volunteer was saying her goodbyes and I could see tears forming in her eyes, I gave the situation a slight eye roll and thought that won't be me.  The whole time my focus was on the yoga classes I'd be teaching while I gave little thought to the English lessons that would soon fill my days.  The English lessons which gave me countless hours of bonding time with the girls, time I would learn to cherish.

When I first arrived in Phnom Penh my host Greg started talking about all of these great NGO’s in town and how they support different programs.  I didn’t think much of it and was still not impressed when we visited a few of the shops, to be fair though I was working on maybe 4 hours of sleep.  Now, after having been to Kampot and seeing various businesses set up there I understand what Greg was talking about.  It’s heartbreaking to walk around and see the children begging for money or trying to sell trinkets on street corners, but it’s also hard to know which ones will benefit from your money and which are being used.  That’s what make these businesses so cool, you can know where your money is going and who’s going to benefit from it, and even better it’s money spent on things you’d be doing anyways, I mean you do eat, don’t you?