Day Ten -- Monday, July 11

Monday -- back to work!  Today's assignment was to deliver and install "ball tanks", smaller versions of the rainwater collection tanks that we have been retrofitting for schools.  The ball tanks are meant to hold enough water for one family to make it through the dry season, about 4,000 liters.  The tanks are made in three pieces and must be transported separately and assembled on-site, which is quite a challenge with the vehicles and equipment we have to work with.

Who needs a Ford F-250?  The bottom half of a ball tank on a little Daewoo pickup.

An A-frame and block and tackle to move the top half.

The family and their neighbors with the (almost) finished product.

Shelley and the "Mary Mack" kids.

The site today was in the poorest village I've seen in either of our trips here in Cambodia, or for that matter in any of my trips to other parts of the world.  The poverty was almost overwhelming.  They also have well water containing arsenic at 10 times the levels that are considered safe.  It's good that a team of Christians like the folks at RDI are reaching out with help.  We installed two tanks today for two different families.  All of the children of the village came out to see "the foreigners" and the "new technology".  Shelley played with the kids while the men worked on the tanks.  She taught the girls to do the "Miss Mary Mack" hand slap game.  They were very shy at first and weren't eager to participate, but by the end she had won them all over -- including the boys.

The tank we built last year is looking good!

In between our two trips with the ball tanks, we went back to the school where our team built the tank last year.  It was so great to see that place where we spent five days last year, and it made us miss John, Suzanne, and Doug again.  We arrived during the break between the morning and afternoon sessions, so there were not many kids there.  We did recognize one boy from last year, Nadera.  He saw Luke and immediately said, "Luke!".  How great is it to know that the time he spent playing with the kids is still remembered one year later!  The other rewarding thing was that this tank and the grounds around it were very well maintained.  It tells us that the school values the service we provided and the children they serve.  We were only there for 15 minutes or so, but that little side trip made our day!

The trip home from the second ball tank featured a pretty strong rain storm.  As the "elders" in the group, Shelley and I got seats inside the cabs of the trucks.  Chad, Luke, and a couple of our Cambodian helpers were not so lucky... they got drenched.  Oh well... T.I.C.!

Day Nine -- Sunday, July 10

Pastor Di and his wife, Sopean (a.k.a. Ming)

A great Sunday here in Kien Svay.  We began with worship at the Khmer church.  Pastor Di preached from Galatians 5:1-15.  As I was reading the passage two verses jumped out at me: "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (6b) and "...serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." (13b-14).  Here we are, thousands of miles away from home, trying to express our faith through love and service.  How appropriate, hmm?  Yet as I was considering that thought, it occurred to me that this verse is meant to be lived out in Fort Worth, Texas, too.  I don't need to travel halfway round the world in order to do the only thing that counts.  My faith needs to be expressing itself through love at home, too.  Thank you, Lord, for fresh inspiration from your Word.

The Sunday lunch tradition here is to go into Phnom Penh and dine at "The Noodle Shop".  Fried noodles, 7Up and bottled water = $3.00.  Can't beat it.  After lunch we went to "Seeing Hands", a spa that employs blind masseurs.  A one hour massage (which was excellent by the way) for $6.00.  Yes, $6.00.

The Seeing Hands Spa

We then took a trip to the Lucky Supermarket.  They carry some western brands, so we restocked our snack stash with nuts, chips, and Oreos.  They also carry Asian brands (like Fish-O) and squid snacks.  Um, pass...

How can you pass up a snack with a name like this?

The last stop was the Russian Market to further stimulate the local economy.  Oakley sunglasses with protective case for $7.00 and a NorthFace backpack for $13.00.  Shelley bought some stuff, too.

Tonight will be special.  We're doing a Skype session with our Bible Study group back in Fort Worth.  It should be fun!

Day Eight -- Saturday, July 9

Saturday -- a day off from work.  It was a great day.  The team (Shelley, Chad, Luke, Da, Lori, and I) left bright and early for Wat Phnom Chisor, an ancient temple ruin on top of a mountain.  There is a climb of around 300 steps to get up there, but it was well worth it.  You can see for miles around, all the way into Vietnam.

The ruins at Wat Phnom Chisor (courtesy Chanda Cheng)

Lori and Shelley do their Sampson impression.

Next we drove into Phnom Penh and met up with A.C., Caleb, John, and Vicki for lunch at The Pizza Company.  It was SO good to have some western food for a change.  Khmer food is very good and Ming Sopean is an excellent cook, but rice three times a day gets old.

If this doesn't make you a vegetarian...

After lunch Shelley, Luke, Chad, Lori and I went for a stroll through the streets of Phnom Penh.  We walked through a local market and were overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and smells of a true Asian market.  Butcher stands (we don't need no stinkin' refrigeration) were especially potent to the senses.  We saw a complete "farm to the shopper" process with the poulterer.  I must say I'd rather just buy my chicken in the little styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic.

The Silver Pagoda at the Royal Palace.

Following the visit to the market, we went to the Royal Palace where the King and Queen of Cambodia reside.  It is quite an impressive campus with palaces, museums, and a Silver Pagoda.  Watching people by the hundreds come in and burn incense and kneel to pray to a giant statue of Buddha brought home to us the real reason we are here... such spiritual darkness is more overwhelming than the marketplace could ever be.  We individually took time to pray for the people there, that one day they would pray to the Creator, the God of the Universe.

Dinner was at a place called Steve's Steakhouse.  Steve imports all his beef from the U.S., and he knows how to make a real hamburger -- juicy and delicious!  Dessert was apple pie and ice cream and chocolate mousse.  Yum!  If you're ever in Phnom Penh, I highly recommend Steve's.

Our just desserts at Steve's Steakhouse.

We capped off the day just as we started the week -- at a local housewarming party.  This time we missed the food, but enjoyed dancing in the local way (not sure I can describe it, a cross between line dancing and the hula...).  As Luke said, "We can check all of the boxes for this day!"

Tomorrow, Sunday, we'll be back worshipping in the local Khmer house church.  But now, some much needed sleep.  Enjoy your Saturday, everyone.

Day Seven -- Friday, July 8

Another day retrofitting tanks. Today was the hottest and most humid since we've been here. The first school we worked at had almost no shade. In addition, there was a nest of some kind of flying insects (termites?) beneath the cement pots we removed. We started spraying RAID on them when one of the teachers stopped us. Evidently, the nest is like a honeycomb (although black like tar) and he wanted to take it home to eat. Not kidding! We told him we had sprayed poison on it but he continued to remove it and lick his fingers. We looked at each other and said, "T.I.C." (This is Cambodia).  This is what it looked like before the RAID (the nest is in the middle cylinder):

The Cambodian "to-go" cup.

The second school had much more shade and there were a lot of children. Luke and I spent a long time playing with them tossing the football. Many of the kids could speak more than a little English and so we were able to engage them in a bit of conversation. We saw one boy with a cross necklace and asked him if he believed in Jesus. He said yes and we said, "We do too! You are our brother!" Several other children indicated that they were believers, too. I was surprised because this school is literally in the courtyard of a Buddhist temple. Yay God!

Providing much needed medical care.

Shelley went out separately again today. Here is the story of her day: "Taught a Bible story, played some song games, balloon animals, bubbles and coloring pages with about 60 children. Ate lunch, then to another village where I assisted in nutritional class for 10 pregnant ladies, followed by BP checks, general health assessments and Q&A. Was allowed to pray for all of them, although none are believers. Found a little boy, less than 3 years old, I think, who had burns and blisters on his low back and buttocks. His mom boiled water and he got splashed. I cleansed and dressed his wounds. It broke my heart - again. This is one reason why many of the mothers don't want to boil the river water for drinking; they are afraid of the accidents. Watched one malnourished mother trying to nourish her 3 month son - he weighed about 10 pounds. Gave out more prenatal vitamins. The medical team are trained lay persons with much heart for helping. A little girl fell out of the house - equivalent of a 2nd story - and broke her leg. Our team tried to persuade her mother to take her to the hospital, but they are superstitious and fear the doctors will cut off her leg. Please pray for her - the mother has agreed to go on Monday. So hard to deal with the cultural fears and get them on the right path. So grateful for opportunities to help in small ways."

Another prayer request: last night there was another powerful storm. We found out that a house in one of the local villages collapsed and killed one of the occupants. Pray for the family and that the response of the local believers will meet their needs physically and spiritually.

Day Six -- Thursday, July 7

Daniel supervises my bicycle "repair".

As we were walking to The Coffee Shop for breakfast this morning, we came across Daniel, a four-year-old Khmer boy who lives on the RDI property. He was walking his bicycle. The front tire was rolling, but the back tire was locked and he was skidding the bike along. I saw that the chain was off the gears, so I motioned for him to come over. I turned the bike upside down and put the chain back on the gear. Unfortunately, it was too loose and kept coming off again. I had no tools, so I pantomimed that I was sorry, but I couldn't fix it. As we walked away, he began yelling at us in Khmei. I told Shelley that he was probably complaining that I broke it. On our way back we saw his mother with the bike upside down and Daniel standing near as she worked on it. She speaks a little English, so I told her that I was sorry and that I had tried to fix it but couldn't. She said, "He say..." and then searched for the words. I helped her, "He said I broke it, didn't he?" She laughed heartily and said, "Yes!". I guess I've got some making up to do with Daniel...

Thursday is a day off of school in Cambodia, so there were no children at the schools we went to. This was a disappointment since some of the best parts of the day are playing with the kids. The work does go faster without them around, however. At the first school, Lori was able to talk to one of the teachers about the rainwater tank. They had been using it regularly until the treadle pump broke awhile back and they were glad that RDI contacted them to come out and retrofit it. We were very happy to help someone who was actually using and taking care of their tank. There is always a lot of trash on the grounds at the schools. Littering is very commonplace everywhere, as they don't value clean grounds for some reason. So, we always try to set an example by picking up the trash around the grounds and we pray for the school, the teachers and the children as we go along doing it. Today, the teacher took my picture with his camera phone while I was picking up trash. He told Lori in Khmei, "My wife will never believe that a white person was picking up trash!"

The second school was very near a wat. We had some free time, so we went over to take a look. We ended up spending quite a long time talking to one of the monks, named Chantha. He was 24 years old and had been studying English and he was able to converse with us quite well. We asked how he had decided to become a Buddhist monk. He said that his family was very poor, and that essentially it was his best chance to get an education. He is able to study all the time and is learning English and the Balay language (like Sanskrit) in addition to other things. His decision had nothing at all to do with spiritual matters. He asked why we were there and we told him about the work that RDI does. We also told him that the reason we volunteer is that we are followers of Jesus and that we share His love in acts of service to the Cambodian people. He found that interesting and made a point to let us know that in Cambodia, "all peoples are free to choose their religion, but we ask that they also respect Buddhism".

Chantha the monk and the kids who came to see "the foreigners".

Duc umbeau!

As we were coming back we stopped at the local "watering hole" (a roadside stand), for some liquid refreshment. Chad, Luke and I had the "duc umbeau", which is freshly squeezed sugar cane juice over ice. Very tasty!

As she did yesterday, Shelley went out separately with a medical team. Her story begins here: "Went to a village that has no believers - the poorest people I've met. It was so interesting watching Tiara teach about prevention and treatment of water-borne disease (yeah, that's diarrhea). This is the 4th week they have taught nutrition and health lessons and the relationships are growing. We gave prenatal vitamins to pregnant and nursing women (thank you for the donation, Deborah!) There was a pregnant young woman with a 19-month-old baby who needs, but can't afford, surgery. Her husband died two weeks ago. I was able to help with securing transportation and funding so she can get the care she needs. Shared with her and 5-6 friends/family that it is Jesus in our hearts that causes us to love and care for her."

Time to wrap it up for today. We have dinner and then praise and prayer time -- in English!

Day Five -- Wednesday, July 6

Today Shelley and I went to different locations in the field.  I went with a team that was retrofitting more rainwater collection tank systems.  The team went to three different schools, but were only able to work on two.  One was in such disrepair that we couldn't even begin to fix it.  The other two schools were similar situations as we have encountered.  The tanks were not being used, probably due to complexity and lack of preventative maintenance.  It seems that culturally, no one really does preventative maintenance on anything.  So RDI is faced with changing behavior along with providing access to clean water.  In addition to retrofitting the tanks, they are implementing a three-phase process where they provide items in stages, with subsequent phases contingent upon the school administration maintaining and taking care of the earlier phases.  They are also employing a "train the trainer" strategy where they teach the teachers the lessons on hygiene and safe water handling and let them teach the students.  Both of these tactics should work better in changing behavior.  The ultimate goal is to reach the people at the household level, beginning with the schools.

This is the truck that transports us to and from our field assignments each day. That's eight of us in the back along with all the gear. The Cambodians aren't so strict on vehicle safety...

Both of our schools today had lots of children all day long, so we had a lot of opportunities to play with them and love on them through boo-boo care.  Lori and A.C. were quite busy all day long and had to make due without Shelley.  They provided outstanding care.  At one point, Lori called me over and said, "You raised boys, right?  What do you do when they bump heads and their lips are cut and bleeding?"  My answer was only partially satisfying since we had no ice nor stitches...

A freshly retrofitted tank -- and the water is working!

For a report on Shelley's day, I'll turn the keyboard over to Shelley herself.  Her narration begins here: "Started the day riding on the ferry to a village surrounded by water. Did post-op visits, wound checks, BP checks and participated in a Bible Study. There were 15 women, 5 babies, 5 men & 14 children. Several among the women professed to be believers, with 5 asking to be counseled for baptism.  At the end of the lesson the leader asked me to share a word. God was good to give me some good words of encouragement and a translator (thanks, Da!) to share them for me.  Oh, and I almost got up the nerve to pat a big cow -- but not quite!"

At one of the schools, this hog was "hiding" in the bush.

Thanks again for your prayers.  We continue to need them!

Day Four -- Tuesday, July 5

We've been told that this is the beginning of the rainy season.  Well, we had a torrential rainstorm last night, and as I write this, there is another really big one.  Miss Vicki told us when we got here that "I put you in Bungalow #1 for a reason.  The last tenants said there was a leak, but they didn't tell us where or any specifics, so I'm hoping you can help us".  Mission accomplished.  At 4:45 a.m. I woke up wondering "why is my bed wet?".  Turns out the leak is right above my bed and it drips right in front of the fan so it creates a shower effect.  I hope the guy who came by to look at it today got it fixed.  I guess I'll find out... 

Today was our second day in the field.  We again visited two schools to retrofit their older, unused rainwater collection tanks.  The kids at the first school were so happy to see us.  Those who are learning English know how to say, "How are you?" and "What is your name?"  They have also learned to respond "I am fine, thank you" and "My name is ____".  They love to show off their language skills.  When we weren't busting up concrete or digging trenches for new PVC pipe we played Frisbee with the kids.  For some reason at this school, Frisbee more closely resembled "Kill the Man with the Ball."  We ended up adding a kid or two to Shelley's boo-boo care line...

Luke prepares to enjoy some chicken fingers.

Chad receives a gift from two schoolgirls.

We got back to RDI (www.rdic.org) in the early afternoon and we got a tour from Marc, the head of RDI.  Although we had a tour last year from John, we wanted to see what had changed and get a feel for the ministry from Marc's point of view.  He shared something important with us that I hope I can articulate in this note.  Because much of Cambodia's well-depth ground water is contaminated with arsenic, most of the wells that have been dug by well-meaning organizations are actually dangerous.  Arsenic poisoning of this type doesn't begin to show symptoms for7-10 years, so people continue to drink the water, not realizing that it is killing them.  One of RDI's services is to test well water and educate the people on safer sources of water (shallow wells and/or rainwater that has been filtered).  The important message that Marc shared with us is that as donors to ministries or charitable organizations, we have a responsibility to make sure that even the most well-meaning organizations are actually doing good with the funds they receive.  There are many organizations in Cambodia, even Christian ones, that are "helping the people of Cambodia" by digging wells poisoned by arsenic because they don't better.  The message: be an informed and conscientious giver.

Dinner tonight was awesome.  Luke had asked Sopean (a.k.a. Ming, our cook) to fix Doug McPherson's favorite -- chicken and dumplings.  They were delicious!  Too bad Doug is in Fort Worth...

Lori emerges from cleaning out the bottom of a tank.

Well that's it for today from Kien Svay in Cambodia.  For those of you who are praying individuals, please continue to pray for our efforts.  We need physical strength and stamina, spiritual strength and insight, and tender hearts to see the less apparent needs and wisdom to know how to meet them.  Thanks everyone!