I’ve now been here for 36 hours. Back at my old guest house, Horizons. Back with people who have already become my old friends. But most importantly, back to Anjali House.
Anjali House moved a few months ago and I was eager to see what the new building was like. I know it always takes time to move into someplace new and to find the right way to use all its quirky spaces. The new building definitely needs some getting used to, but really, I think it has great potential. First of all, it’s huge. It was originally a single family house of a wealthy Siem Reap family, with carved wooden doors, wide open spaces, an upstairs gallery, and the highest ceilings I’ve ever seen. Weirdly, the rooms themselves are small, even though you could drive a tuk tuk through the hallways. But overall there is a wonderful sense of space, and it is cool — much cooler than the previous tinderbox. Take a look:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So, this was a big change. But there were, inevitably, changes in the kids themselves  over the year, just as there’s been changes in their city and their country. So I decided to use the idea of change as this year’s theme. What changes are there within ourselves, our countries, our world? What makes these changes? How does one change affect another? Interestingly, I chose this theme even before I realised that the catch-word for the political demonstrations that erupted in Phnom Penh after the last election was also change. People  had taken to the streets chanting the word, and that is definitely something I will bring up with the kids, gently, later on in the workshop.
I started by playing them David Bowie’s “Changes”. That song has some surprisingly difficult lyrics, but they understood much of it, once I read it to them. And then we brainstormed ideas and responses to these ideas, until we were ready to write a group poem. There is a morning and an afternoon group, and each wrote excellent, though quite different poems. I can’t show them to you yet, but I will when I can.
All in all, it was a great first day. And now it’s definitely time for a nap, but so far, so very good.