They spent a seemingly exorbitant amount of time touching and comparing skin colour, pointing out each of my freckles and laughing at my friend's armhair. Set up in 1995, the orphanage is a small Utopia, protecting more than 120 children from the atrocities of Cambodia's past and present. Fields of rice, fruit and vegetables, and hens provide the necessary sustenance. There is silence and peace across the land except for geckos, geese, crickets, frogs and cattle. There is not a hill or a mountain in sight, just tall palms scattered over untilled fields.
Life is tough.
There will never be any great future for the children, but no one can say life isn't better than it was, and it is far grander than nearby villages in the area. In fact, visiting the centre is a surprise to an outsider accustomed to rural Cambodia. All walkways are swept clean daily and there is no intrusive trash - not a single discarded bag. The homes appear to be in good repair. Everything is efficiently organised, from the half-hour morning exercise sessions conducted by the older children to the marketing administered by the programme director.