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Going Beyond Angkor Wat: The Green Gecko Orphanage
Published by Melissa Rodway, Writer
Country: Cambodia 
The Experience
Siem Reap is famous for housing Angkor Wat: the eighth wonder of the world, Cambodia’s most prized possession, and the epicentre of huge national pride. Angkor Wat is the most-featured ruin in the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site; and it was also the set for Lara Craft, Tomb Raider. There is no contest that touring Angkor Wat is a special experience, and if you visit some local community projects benefiting the Khmer (Cambodian) people, Siem Reap will always mean something more to you than just a tourist site.
A contemporary, luxury hotel in the heart of Siem Reap, Hotel de la Paix has a genuinely warm and welcoming vibe, and is run by a charismatic Dane named Christian, who is as passionate about the hotel as he is about the many community projects the hotel supports. Hotel de la Paix is a hip and modern place to relax after a day of Angkor Wat ruins, and Christian was kind enough to invite me along with a few other guests to visit the endeavours that Hotel de la Paix is proudly committed to.
First stop was the sewing school, created to teach young women, and occasionally a young man, from rural areas outside of Siem Reap. For ten months, the students learn to design and create different articles of clothing as well as learn the skills required to run their own tailoring business. While living in Siem Reap, they are given room and board as well as sexual education and spiritual classes. Each student is given a sewing machine upon graduation to ensure they are equipped to begin their business when they return to their respective villages. The program was created by a thirty-five-year-old female manager from Hotel de la Paix who learned that most women in rural Cambodia were dying by the time they were her age. Their bodies gave out from the sheer exhaustion of bearing five or six children while simultaneously engaging in the extreme physical labour necessary for survival in rural areas, such as brick making and tending to crops and rice fields.
The next destination was the Green Gecko orphanage (http://www.greengeckoproject.org) where, for the most part, the more than seventy children that live there are so happy and healthy it feels more like summer camp (although an orphanage like this is probably rare). Before coming to Green Gecko, most kids are found impoverished and begging on the streets, often with babies on their hips to attract money from tourists. Their future looks bleak, with most kids turning to prostitution as they get older. Many have abusive families while others have lost their families entirely. At Green Gecko they are given nutritious meals and lodging, as well as the tools they need to survive as self-sufficient, empowered people. The kids learn to cook, clean, engage in regular hygiene, and develop routines for bedtime, meals, study and play. They are taught English, Khmer culture, dance, music, drama, crafts, computer studies, martial arts, and sports. Green Gecko strives to help the children build strong minds and self-esteem, and to discover passion through activities, skills and talents that bring them a natural inner joy. And as kids everywhere should know—these Green Gecko children know how to play.
Doctors frequent Green Gecko to ensure the orphanage stays healthy, although the kids are thriving so medical visits are happening less often. With most children coming from abusive backgrounds, psychological counseling is important at Green Gecko. Classes in sex education and HIV are taught. There is also a focus on healthy, non-abusive relationships and gender equality for women. Green Gecko works with the families to re-integrate the children back into their homes if and when they can be safe, healthy and harm-free; or into the world as independent, well-prepared young adults.
I was fortunate to be present on the day the kids were receiving fifty bikes and school bags in a program delivered by MasterCard and Hotel de la Paix. In the past two years, there have been a thousand bikes and bags donated from this initiative. Most kids live at least five kilometres from school, and must walk to get there, causing many not to go at all. With Green Gecko’s “teach a man to fish” philosophy, a child with a bike and transportation to school is no longer a child with an excuse not to get an education.
Seeing the uninhibited excitement and pure joy over the bikes did not leave a dry eye; a moment not easily forgotten. Before leaving, there was a final treat: a beautiful, traditional Khmer performance danced by several of the girls while a handful of boys played drums and various indigenous instruments. Although there is a celebratory mood at Green Gecko, it is not all rainbows and sunshine every day. There is, however, a genuine feeling of hope, future and possibility with an unshakeable sense of community and solidarity. Green Gecko is not just an orphanage; it is a home, a school, and a family.
A contemporary, luxury hotel in the heart of Siem Reap, Hotel de la Paix has a genuinely warm and welcoming vibe, and is run by a charismatic Dane named Christian, who is as passionate about the hotel as he is about the many community projects the hotel supports. Hotel de la Paix is a hip and modern place to relax after a day of Angkor Wat ruins, and Christian was kind enough to invite me along with a few other guests to visit the endeavours that Hotel de la Paix is proudly committed to.
First stop was the sewing school, created to teach young women, and occasionally a young man, from rural areas outside of Siem Reap. For ten months, the students learn to design and create different articles of clothing as well as learn the skills required to run their own tailoring business. While living in Siem Reap, they are given room and board as well as sexual education and spiritual classes. Each student is given a sewing machine upon graduation to ensure they are equipped to begin their business when they return to their respective villages. The program was created by a thirty-five-year-old female manager from Hotel de la Paix who learned that most women in rural Cambodia were dying by the time they were her age. Their bodies gave out from the sheer exhaustion of bearing five or six children while simultaneously engaging in the extreme physical labour necessary for survival in rural areas, such as brick making and tending to crops and rice fields.
The next destination was the Green Gecko orphanage (http://www.greengeckoproject.org) where, for the most part, the more than seventy children that live there are so happy and healthy it feels more like summer camp (although an orphanage like this is probably rare). Before coming to Green Gecko, most kids are found impoverished and begging on the streets, often with babies on their hips to attract money from tourists. Their future looks bleak, with most kids turning to prostitution as they get older. Many have abusive families while others have lost their families entirely. At Green Gecko they are given nutritious meals and lodging, as well as the tools they need to survive as self-sufficient, empowered people. The kids learn to cook, clean, engage in regular hygiene, and develop routines for bedtime, meals, study and play. They are taught English, Khmer culture, dance, music, drama, crafts, computer studies, martial arts, and sports. Green Gecko strives to help the children build strong minds and self-esteem, and to discover passion through activities, skills and talents that bring them a natural inner joy. And as kids everywhere should know—these Green Gecko children know how to play.
Doctors frequent Green Gecko to ensure the orphanage stays healthy, although the kids are thriving so medical visits are happening less often. With most children coming from abusive backgrounds, psychological counseling is important at Green Gecko. Classes in sex education and HIV are taught. There is also a focus on healthy, non-abusive relationships and gender equality for women. Green Gecko works with the families to re-integrate the children back into their homes if and when they can be safe, healthy and harm-free; or into the world as independent, well-prepared young adults.
I was fortunate to be present on the day the kids were receiving fifty bikes and school bags in a program delivered by MasterCard and Hotel de la Paix. In the past two years, there have been a thousand bikes and bags donated from this initiative. Most kids live at least five kilometres from school, and must walk to get there, causing many not to go at all. With Green Gecko’s “teach a man to fish” philosophy, a child with a bike and transportation to school is no longer a child with an excuse not to get an education.
Seeing the uninhibited excitement and pure joy over the bikes did not leave a dry eye; a moment not easily forgotten. Before leaving, there was a final treat: a beautiful, traditional Khmer performance danced by several of the girls while a handful of boys played drums and various indigenous instruments. Although there is a celebratory mood at Green Gecko, it is not all rainbows and sunshine every day. There is, however, a genuine feeling of hope, future and possibility with an unshakeable sense of community and solidarity. Green Gecko is not just an orphanage; it is a home, a school, and a family.
When to Go to Siem Reap Orphanage
The most comfortable days in Cambodia are during December and January with temperatures in their mid twenties. March until August is the hottest time of year with temperatures in the mid 30s to 40s.
Places to Stay Nearby
Search over 900,000 global hotel deals from over 30 merchants. Book via Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline and the websites of popular hotel chains.
Location. This hotel is located in Siem Reap . Area attractions include Angkor Wat . Features. Phal Chea Hotel has an outdoor pool . Complimentary ...
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The spacious, family friendly, lodge is situated away from the center of Siem Reap. Away from all the big hotels and busy street life, it ...
$125008 KHR+
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More Experiences Nearby
- Trek the Ruins of Angkor Wat
- Time ceases to move at Angkor Wat as you step out of modern civilization into an early 12th-century temple complex in the central Cambodian jungle. In fact, the jungle is actually growing in the Angkor Wat Temples—literally! Tree roots and branches are growing through, on top and inside the temples, making for a scene of culture and nature intertwined. It's hard to explain a place that demands such attention based on its sheer size, and sustains your interest in a gripping search over the layers of detailed stone carvings. The Angkor Wat complex encompass over a hundred stone temples in ...3 miles away.
While You're There - Tours and Trips Nearby
Located near the small town of Siem Reap, the Angkor temple complex is comprised of countless ceremonial structures built between the 9th and 13th centuries ...1.06 miles away via Siem Reap.
$141+
Located near the small town of Siem Reap, the Angkor temple complex is comprised of countless ceremonial structures built between the 9th and 13th centuries ...1.06 miles away via Siem Reap.
$141+
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Books and DVDs
- Cambodian Cooking: A humanitarian project in collaboration with Act for Cambodia
- Joannes Riviere is a talented young French chef who is considered an authority on Cambodian cuisine. He is the chef at one of Siem Reap's most prestigious hotels, Hotel de la Paix.
- Cambodia Now: Life In the Wake of War
- This work examines Cambodia in the aftermath, focusing on Khmer people of all walks of life and examining through their eyes key facets of Cambodian society, including the ancient Angkor legacy, relations with neighboring countries (particularly the strained ones with the Vietnamese), emerging democracy, psychology, violence, health, family, poverty, the environment, and the nation’s future.
Elsewhere on the Web
- The Green Gecko website
- The GREEN GECKO project is an initiative founded to benefit the lives of street children in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
- Cambodia Childcare Volunteers near Angkor Wat
- English has become an increasingly helpful language to learn for Cambodian children as the tourist industry grows in the country. You can help give these underprivilaged orphans a brighter future by volunteering.
Media References
- Top 10 hotels with a heart (newspaper)
- Sleek Siem Reap stay Hôtel de la Paix within easy reach of majestic Angkor Wat, is actively involved in the local community through a multi-tiered charity and social scheme.
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