Cambodia is a wonderful, exciting country, rich in history and natural beauty. Its people are warm,friendly and hospitable. The shopping is some of the best anywhere in the world: bustling Russian and Central Markets that sold everything from roasted crickets and freshly caught water beetles to the latest look in jeans and ski wear.

But the real reason we were there was to build, and build we did: ten homes in a village that had recently been decimated by fire. Twenty-one families in this village had lost their homes the fire; many had been saving with Tabitha for five years or more. They had stuggled to improve their lives, had built their own homes and many were able to send their children to school. Eleven families left the area, the hopelessness too much too bear. But ten families stayed on in an assortment of lean-tos made from bamboo poles and palm fronds, and, occasionally, tarpaulins.

The 17-strong team from around Australia, Singapore and an American blow-in, arrived bright and early, hammers in hand, to commence building. The basic structure of the homes was already in situwhen we arrived; our job was to hammer down the teak floorboards and put up the walls. Originally we were to build just four homes from the usual teak boards in a different village, but the plight of this village was greater, so the same amount of money was stretched to build ten smaller homes using reinforced teak bark panels.

The team started with great gusto and much noisy hammering. The local people worked alongside us, their children collecting nails and holding the ladders. The great incentive to keep on building was to watch the faces of the people as their homes were finally finished and they were free to put finishing touches to them. Not much English was spoken, so there was lots of pointing and laughing to get the job done. At the end of the day we all collapsed at the beach and plonked our weary bodies in the wonderful warm sea.

The end of the building was particularily emotional - our trip would soon be coming to an end and new-found friends would be flying to their respective parts of the globe but primarily because the families took official possession of their homes. A few quiet tears were shed on both sides. The trip back to the beach was a quiet one, all the hard work had been done, but we all felt as though we wanted to do more. I think we were all taken aback with how doing so little could mean and affect others so much.

It was noted on the way home that the villagers had to walk 4kms to gather their fresh water, so a collection was started on the bus and we managed to raise the money needed to have a well sunk.

So, for anyone thinking of going on a building trip all I can say is "What are you waiting for?" Janne Ritskes is a truly inspirational woman who has achieved so much with Tabitha and positively affected many peoples lives (volunteer builders can't help but go away unchanged either). Doug and Jude are amongst the warmest, hardworking people you could ever wish to meet.

The trip is well planned and fun, with lots of time to explore and lots of great companionship. The only prerequisite is a love of Bob Marley (I couldn't quite come at Bob the Builder...) and a sense of fun.

The difficult part is waiting for the next trip to come around. See you in February!