One night trip to Kompong Som, initiated by executive committee of SSEAYP International Cambodia and participated by more than 40 active members, set off on 26-27 of May, 2007 in a main attempt to launch clean- up campaign and to distribute basket to sellers for the sake of environmental protection.
 
We left on a bus for Kompong Som resort, Sihanouk Ville, at 6:30am. Along the way, everyone on the bus was delighted and enjoying themselves so much. They were singing and chatting non-stop. Four hours passed without anyone noticing it and the bus reached the destination at around 11 am. We took a rest at Ou Chhoeu Teal beach. A banner stated “Please dispose the rubbish in litter-bin” was hung near a bungalow where our working-team was relaxing. The banner was an attempt to draw visitors’ or tourists’ attention that we came here not only for fun, but also to contribute to the fight against pollution.  Before beginning our clean-up activity on the beach, we had lunch and went on singing accompanied by James’ guitar sound. Local people and tourists of all age would occasionally glance at us due to our loud sound. They would feel more aware of our purpose after they saw the banner hung nearby.

A nice picture with our banner

Nice job, nice people gave us a nice lunch together.

Another picture together!

It was at 3pm.  Each member was wearing a unique collared shirt, gloves, and a mask. We worked in pair with each pair holding a black plastic bag, and one special pair holding the banner. We started to walk and pick up trash from one side of the beach to the other. This activity was launched in order to wake people to start to take part in environmental protection. The environment would be clean if everyone was willing to protect by throwing trash into bags or litter-bin. People who were swimming, sunbathing, eating, and chatting, started to look at our team who were actively and tirelessly picking up the rubbish on the beach. Our activity was welcomed by many people including expatriate tourists. Some people helped us pick up rubbish and put it into our plastic, and some others expressed their appreciation for such initiatives. We spent two hours on amassing rubbish. Despite tiredness, our team was still delighted since they could do good act for the sake of their society. After completing their work, everyone went swimming together until late evening.

Unhappy to see all these on the beach, but happy to pick it up!

Here found a bottle!

Rubbish collection creates other new rubbishes.

Altogether with the rubbishes collected!

Never do we miss a dancing party after all!

The next day, May 27, was our last day there. After having breakfast, we had a meeting to recall the good memories in which we have worked hand in hand together. The meeting concluded that our team spirit became stronger and stronger. That is whenever there were any projects including book donation, education outreach, SSEAYP dissemination, etc. to be held, our members always took part in them regardless of even though they receive no financial benefits and sometimes have to spend their pocket money. When the meeting came to an end, we departed the hotel for another beach in order to distribute basket to bungalow owners.

A circle holding-hand tightens our smiles together

As soon as we arrived there, one of our members unfortunately became dizzy and vomited. Everyone felt frightened to see her condition. However, she became resilient after our group members cooperatively took care of her and helped revive her from the near-unconscious condition. We were quite sure this condition was caused by the environmental condition we were in. It was very stuffy there. This alerted us that “We must protect our environment otherwise it may spoil our lives in different ways”. After having lunch, we distributed baskets to bungalow owners. Each owner got one. We proposed them to tell their customers to dispose every unused materials or rubbish into the basket or litter-bin in order to keep our beach clean. We feel that the two-day campaign could raise awareness of environmental protection among many people. The banner was hung permanently on two separate trees near the beach to remind people to throw rubbish into the litter-bin.  Having finished our task, we left the beach for Phnom Penh at 3:30pm and reached the destination at around 7:30pm.    

August 24, 2007
By Mr. Bun Ying, Ex-CPY05