Khmer New Year is always an exciting time for our kids as it traditionally involved a small trip somewhere. This year our normal celebration was sadly not possible due to the travel restrictions. But we were not going to let that get us down!
On the first day Little Hearts founder, Tony was able to organize a sponsor and hire a boat for the family to have a day out and maintain our own safe isolation bubble. The kids were all up early in the morning with the older ones preparing picnic baskets for the day. It was a rare opportunity for the kids to get out together, enjoy the scenery and spend the day swimming and playing in the river. Many of the kids even came prepared with their own homemade fishing rods they had spent two days cutting and stripping bamboo to make especially for the day.
On the second day at the Little Hearts home, we were lucky enough to have a visit from our local elder who came to teach us about traditional Khmer crafts and cultural decorations. This knowledge is often passed down through generation and was a rare opportunity for our kids. We wove harnesses for clay pots and filled them with colored powder and sweets in preparation for traditional Khmer games.
The third day was our biggest celebration, even at home we were able to organize a unique day for the kids. In addition to traditional games, we set up a colour-run obstacle course made from bamboo and classroom furniture. Some of the older kids made colour bombs out of cornstarch and food colouring and for a short time the impacts of covid were almost completely forgotten.