Beach Vacation

After Christmas a bunch of us headed to Sihanoukville for a little Holiday on the beach. We arrived on Friday and I spent the day visiting the AG orphanage for their Christmas party. It was fun seeing the kids again and they still remembered me from last time I was there (4 months ago). On Saturday we hit the beach. I got a pedicure and a massage without having to leave my beach chair -- it felt soo nice! We also ate a lot of fresh sea food. My favourite was the fresh grilled squid dipped in chili sauce.

(This is a picture of me having my first fresh grilled squid on a stick.)

I also met a YWAM team at the orphanage, which was cool. On Sunday the kids had their church service on the beach and then spent the rest of the morning swimming -- so we joined them. It was a lot of fun!

It was really relaxing to get out of the city for a bit and enjoy Cambodia.

For pictures, you can check out my picasa site at http://picasaweb.google.com/Beca.Osmond/Sihanoukville#

Christmas Parties

So far this Christmas season I have attended 6 Christmas parties and one church play. Here are a few pictures from the Bible College Christmas party. Some of the guys put on a little skit about heaven and hell (a Cambodian mini version of the heaven's gates hell's flames drama). I must admit that one of the beautiful ladies below is one of my students. Their play was absolutely hilarious. This is a picture of the big pot of red curry (which seems to be the staple party dish). I have eaten a lot of red curry soup this holiday, but I don't mind because I love it!

Here are a couple of pictures from the staff party for the assessment center. It was a blast! Here is a picture of all the staff.

These two girls teach are training some of the staff on music therapy. They are also going to teach the girls how to play the harp. Sweet eh?!

We played many games including a gift exchange and limbo. One of the games was called fear factor. Bev had to put her hand in the basket and describe the items to me and I had to say what they were. We had a limited about of time and the team that guessed the most vegetables one -- which was us :) It was a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Cambodia! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

As for me, I have had a very nice Christmas which included a phone call from the kids at the orphanage. We were even able to have a delicious turkey dinner complete with Cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes with pecan pie for dessert. Some of the food items that you can occasionally find here is amazing. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas morning.

(Bev preparing the turkey.)

(Myself, Bev & Gary)

(Their Christmas tree.)

(My Christmas present from Gary & Bev was a recipe book called "From spiders to water lilies." I am excited to try some of the recipes ;)

May God bless you richly!

Bon Noel

So today was the day for Christmas celebrations. The day started off with Christmas at the Bible College. In true Bible College fashion we had a lovely little service followed by a fun gift exchange. I received my first Khmai Bible...now I just need to learn how to read it. Then we had red curry (one of my favorites)!

After a coffee break, Bev and I headed to party #2 at the center. I wish I could have taken pictures. The place looked like every child's dream birthday party. Imagine a room that is outside but with a roof and pillars. All around are paper streamers, lais and tinsel. Hanging from the ceiling are handmade lanterns and shiny paper decorations blowing gently in the breeze. My description does not do it justice but the room looked amazing. The girls put on a little show for us that involved cultural dancing and a skit about the birth of Jesus. I was in awe. Then we played a few games and gathered around a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus. It was a reminder of what Christmas is really all about.

After party #2 Bev and I met up with her husband and we headed to party #3 -- a North American Christmas. I was wonderful. It was hosted by an American couple and they had a beautiful tree and the place smelled of cinnamon candles. Then we (a group of Americans and Canadians) sang almost every Christmas carol you can think of and then settled down to watch "White Christmas".

So far this has been a truly wonderful Christmas!

It's begining to feel like Christmas!

It's starting to feel a little like Christmas here. Some stores have even put up tinsel Christmas trees on their doors. Yesterday I attended a Christmas service at the international church that I occasionally attend. It was really nice to sing Christmas carols together. Then at the end of the service, a few people from the church put together an African choir and they sang some Swaheely Christmas songs. It was really cool.

In the evening I went to my Khmai church's special Christmas event. We had a three hour service which included Khmai Christmas songs, a play put on by the youth, some dancing by the children, and of course a good message. (This is a picture of the MC's for the evening wearing traditional Khmai formal clothing.)

(The worship team. We took over the chapel at the Bible College for the service.)

(The play. The costumes were rather hilarious...notice the apron.)

(Some of the kids dancing.)

The message was good too. I even understood a lot of it. After the service we had a "potluck" -- which means a big pot of curry for everyone...plus Canadian food as the Canadians each had to bring a dish. LOL. It was fun.

More Cambodia!

So a few of you have been asking about when I am coming home... and I am please to announce that I have been approved to stay another 6 months. YIPPEE. So I guess that means I`ll possibly come home in the summer sometime. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

More Pictures

If you are interesting in looking at all the pictures that I took today with the kids, they are posted in my picasa at: http://picasaweb.google.ca/Beca.Osmond/HOA

HOA

Today after I finished teaching at the orphanage, I decided to spend sometime just playing with the kids. Here are some pictures from my evening.

(This is one of the girls who has started to call me mom. I don't know what I should be doing about it, but she is precious.)

(Today we were learning about emotions... this is Dinal and his lonely pose. He doesn't look to lonely to me.)(Sompa, one of the older girls, is grinding the spices for tonight's dinner.)

(This is Kim, the orphanage director, with Danit.)

Shortly after class finished, the older kids all had to go to their church for music lessons. They are preparing for a special Christmas concert. While they had their lessons, the rest of us decided to take the younger children to the riverside.

(Two of the kids are on my head which is why it looks severed from my body.)
This is Sothir (in the black) and Kim (in red). Sothir is one of the guys who usually translates for me.

It was a very fun evening!

The Small Things

Today I received a thanksgiving card from my family. One of the sayings on the card is:

"when we count our many blessings, it isn't hard to see that what we value most in life are the treasures that are free..."

It's so true. My favourite Christmas gifts that I have received so far are the cards from my nephews and nieces and some dried maple leaves packed into a card. As I am writing this I am breathing in the scent of dried maple leaves and it brings back so many good memories. I think it may even be one of my favourite smells. I passed the leaves around to my students today so that they could smell them too.

Don't get me wrong, I am not homesick. Well I am, but not for Canada -- which is really odd. I am homesick for the kids at the orphanage. Somehow those kids have grown on me. I realized today that when I left the orphanage I left my heart behind. I love those kids so deeply. Two of the girls today were hugging me and calling me mom and inside I wished I was really their mom and that I could love them and care for them forever. Eikes. It's scary.

Today's Heartbreak

So today while I was at the center I saw one girl sitting all alone on the swings so I thought I would go talk to her. When I asked her how she was doing she told me. This young teenager has a one year old son and she really misses him. She's under 15 by the way.

As the time to go home was drawing near I sat down beside another young lady. This girl is one of those people who are beautiful inside and out. She told me how she is excited because she gets to go home soon. She told me a bit about her family and about how they are all Christians and how she learned some English at her church (note: we were talking in Khmai). Then she started going through some songs in English that she knows. One of them really struck me. She started to sing: "In His time, in His time. He makes all things beautiful in His time." Wow. I wanted to bawl like a baby. I can't imagine what this girl has experienced, but when she sang this song she sang it from her heart. What an amazing example of faith.

Christmas Time in Cambodia

A dear friend of mine sent me the list to this person's blog about Christmas in Cambodia away from western commercialism and the real St. Nic. For those of you interested in reading it, you can access it from:

http://msainfo.org/articles/the-real-santa-claus

Its just something to reflect upon as we enter the Christmas season.

Life and Death

Last night I stood by a dying man and watched his heart rate slowly decrease. My friend (who is also one of my Khmai teachers) was called to go to the hospital to pray for a man who worked at the Bible college and she asked me to go with him. We spent 2 hours standing beside him praying for him as he lay unconscious. Shortly after we left he passed away. The critical care unit of the hospital consists of one room with beds side by side (literally one foot away from each other). A child was playing with some of the medical tools on the floor. The room was crowded with people.

I left the hospital tonight in a very reflective state. I was constantly reminded tonight of how grateful I am for Jesus Christ and that I do not need to fear death because death means that I will get to spend an eternity with Jesus. Last night was a reminder for me of the things that are really important in life.

Variety of Thoughts

- The director of my orphanage posted a video of the kids. If you want to watch it you can find it at www.youtube.com and search for "Hope orphanage". It should say "A great video of a great orphanage in Cambodia...please watch and get involved".

- We think that one of the older students at the Vietnamese school is being sold in the evenings! Sick eh!

- A couple days ago I drove past a tuktuk which had two old white guys in it. Sitting beside each of them was a younger Cambodian girl. One of the girls was affectionately rubbing the arm of the man next to her. Unfortunately they looked too old to do anything about it but still young enough to make you sick to your stomach.

- On different note, the street people are back and street ministry was fun. I played with a couple of the kids before it started and they were soo cute. It's heartbreaking knowing that at the end of the day the kids stay there and sleep there amongst the garbage, urine stench, and adults sniffing glue. The girls were missing, except one. I can only imagine where they were and what they were doing. We are planning on starting to teach Khmai and English to another group of street people who live close to my house. Unfortunately the government made them move and so now we have to find them before we can begin.

My Church!

Two weeks ago my pastor borrowed my camera to take some pictures of the church (I went to the international church that Sunday). They announced the new leaders for the church and prayed for them. So I thought I would share with you a few of the pictures. This first picture is of our congregation. Pastor Neit is in the very front in the brownish/gold shirt and his wife, Pastor ChenRot is in the first row of people standing up. She is wearing the solid black top.This is a picture of Pastor Niet praying over one of the new leaders.

This last shot is a picture of the young people who attend the church -- some of whom are my friends, students, and even my language teacher. They are wonderful, very encouraging, and a lot of fun!

Response to Homeless Situation

In response to your comments on the street people being put into jail, I don't know if its a better place for them or not. We are talking here about a Cambodian prison. They wouldn't get much food there but maybe to them a shelter is better than selling their children. I don't know?! What is the worse of two evils?

Water Festival

Last night I went to the water festival with Tabi and her assistant teacher Socheat. The streets near the waterfront were packed with people.

We went and ate dinner at a restaurant along the waterfront with a balcony, so we had an excellent view of the festivities.

There were approximately 400 boats entered into the race, some had rich financial backers while others didn't.After the races they put on a nice long firework show accompanied by floats.

We played 'guess the float' as each one represented a ministry in Cambodia such as the ministry of financial or agriculture. It was a challenge as there were sooo many floats. After a while we got bored and went back to my house for some sticky rice.

A Smile

This morning I went with Marije to the airport as she is going back to the Netherlands. After I left the airport I was plagued by loneliness as not only is she gone but most of my friends have left the city for the holiday too. I was walking down the street feeling down and I past another foreign couple and the girl smiled at me. It was just an acknowledgement kind of smile but it encouraged me so much. So I just wanted to encourage everyone to keep smiling because you never know whose day you can brighten. :)

Street Ministry Cancelled... Why?!

2 weeks ago I went to help out a couple of my friends with street ministry. They do a 30 min presentation with puppets and songs for families that live on the streets who usually sell their children at night. I was going to join again tonight but it was cancelled. Why? This week is the water festival where people from all the provinces pack into Phnom Penh for boat races. So, the street people can't be around right?! Instead, they are arrested for the week. Injustice!

Tuesdays and Thursdays

I just thought I would highlight what I do on my favourite days of the week. Every Tuesday and Thursday I teach at the orphanage and at the Bible College. I get to eat lunch at the Bible College (soup and rice) and I have language class in the afternoon.

Today, I was teaching the kids at the orphanage about buying things at the market. As it would be too difficult to take them all to the market -- and too expensive -- I decided to bring the market to them. I went shopping yesterday and bought various things (which I got a discount for because I was able to say in Khmai that they were for Cambodian orphans). Praise the Lord! So today I brought fake money and all the things and set up shop at the orphanage. Each child had to dialogue with me to make their purchase at the store. It was so fun and they loved it because they got to play with fake money and get to keep something! Here's a picture of our chezzy shop and a picture of the kids with their new items.
Every time I go to leave the orphanage, several of the children smother me with hugs and then stand in the street waving goodbye and blowing me kisses. It is my favourite part of the day.
This month I teach at the orphanage first thing in the morning and then I go straight to the Bible College to teach. This is what happened to some of the stuff that didn't get "sold" :)
Don't worry, my students study too.
Another praise report: this afternoon's language class went well and afterwards I chatted with my landlady for 20 min in Khmai. It is amazing how much I can understand! I just have a lot of difficulty with asking questions in Khmai and speaking Khmai to a group of people.

I just want to say thanks you again to the small group that sent all that stuff with me. Some of the stuff that I still had I used today for my little store. Thank you for bringing a smile to many children's faces.

Tuol Sleng

Last Saturday Marije and I finally went to visit Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng used to be a high school and then it was transformed into an interrogation and extermination center during the Khmer Rouge. Sadly, those used as guards to torture and kill were children between the ages of 10-15.

In the following picture, I am walking through one of the rooms containing the cells where the prisoners were kept. You can still see blood stains on the floor. Between 1975 and 1978 it is estimated that a total of 10499 prisoners were kept here. Unfortunately only a few lived to tell about it. Our tour guide told us that they would keep prisoners for a month, then, whether they were able to get any information out of them or not, they were killed. Even foreigners were killed here including one or more Canadians. Babies too were murdered on mass.

Before prisoners were taken to their cells, they were forced to have their picture taken. To do so prisoners had to sit on this horrid contraption which held their head in place so that they looked directly at the camera. Also note in the picture below how the victims number was safety pinned to his throat instead of his clothing.

It is heart breaking to see what we as human beings are capable of doing. Many of the guards who worked at Tuol Sleng are now working freely in Cambodia. I pray that they will find God's mercy. I also pray that Cambodians will be able to forgive and find healing from a cruel past.

If you haven't read "Tears of My Soul" by Sokreaksa Himm, I highly recommend doing so. It is about his experience of living through the Khmer Rouge and how he learned to forgive those who brutally killed his family.

The pictures...take 2

Here are a few pictures of things I mentioned in my previous post. If you want to see more pictures of the countryside then please refer to Marije's link in the post below.This is the ferry that we took to the island.

This is Chloe, the girl we met on the ferry. Her moto driving skills were excellent. I was amazed at how she managed the mud with two of us on the back of her moto -- though there were a few really bad areas where we had to get off and walk.This is the cattle guy that I had mentioned -- notice how he is smiling for the picture. With in a minute of this picture being taken that big bull decided to plough one of his horns into me. This strange looking this is called a jackfruit. It tastes like a weird blend of an apple and a pineapple.

Silk Island Photos

So it is taking way to long to download all these pictures, so I am only going to put up a few. For the rest, please refer to Marije's Picasa at:

Foto’s weer in Picasa. (duurt wel ff voordat ze erop staan..) Kun je bekijken via de volgende link:http://picasaweb.google.com/marijeleusink/KohDach?authkey=ZPDIwg9InH8#
I felt like including the dutch just for fun :p

This is a boy by the riverside. Marije took this picture while I was taking in Khmai to a lady trying to find out how much it would cost to take a boat instead of a moto to the island. On his head are "noem jeik" which are banana cakes wrapped in a banana leaf.

Here is an arm of bananas in a banana palm tree. Here you usually buy bananas by the hand and they don't like to sell you a single banana or even half a hand.

Sorry these two pictures are the only ones that will upload for me -- so check out Marije's pictures. The picture of the cattle guy walking towards the camera smiling is the one who's cow rammed into me.

Silk Island

Happy King's Birthday! I do love all the Cambodian excuses for a holiday!

Today was the King's birthday so Marije and I decided to do some exploring. 10 km outside of the city you can take a ferry to this island known for its silk production. It's not a big tourist attraction which made it really fun. We got off ferry onto a luscious island with grass and trees --banana trees and jackfruit trees -- and it had lots of beautiful flowers. It was so refreshing to feel the breeze off the water and smell air that was not fresh out of the exhaust pipes of the million motos.

As we walked along the muddy road, every child we passes wanted to practice their English and say "hello" or "goodbye" (they used them interchangeably). We also made some friends on the ferry who wanted to show us around. One girl, Cloey, took us to her house to show us how they made the silk, then later she took her moto out to find us because she didn't want us getting lost. It was very sweet of her.

While walking, we passed several guys walking their cattle. One of the guys (see photo) smiled for the camera and then as he passed his bull decided to ram me with his horns. Thank goodness it didn't hurt too much.

By the time we got home, we were both exhausted and covered in mud-- but we had a wonderful time!

I will post the pictures as soon as I get a good enough Internet connection to upload them.

Inspiration

This week I have gotten to know some of the students at the Bible college a little better. Yesterday one of my students had to go to a hospital near my house so he offered to drive me home. On route we stopped off at his place to drop off his school stuff and I got to meet his beautiful wife and child. He lives in the rich new part of the city -- except he lives in a little tin shelter beside the gate of one of the many big luxurious villas. He also was working three jobs on top of studying at the Bible college. However, in class he said that he was going to give up being a security guard (which he does all night long until 6 in the morning).

I feel like I have been given a little glimmer of insight into what this guy is sacrificing to go to Bible college. If he didn't go to Bible college he could work all day to support his family. To me it is inspiring! His story reminds me of how blessed I am. It also reminds me to pray for my students -- who all have given up something to be there.

They were also telling me about how they wake up and pray at 5 in the morning. I AM SLEEPING AT 5! Their passion and dedication is amazing!

Jelly Bellies

Today I ate part of a cows stomach... or at least I tried to eat it. It is white and furry looking and tastes like rubber. I chewed it for a while but it was too chewy to swallow. At least I tried it.

Phnom Penh

Marije decided to take her camera around and take some pictures of everyday life in Phnom Penh. Here are a few of her pictures: (Ducks -- still alive -- being transported somewhere.)

(Electrical work)

(Our fruit lady at the market near our house.)

(Meat being sold at the market.)

(Metal being transported...I see this regularly.)

Sorry I haven't taken many of my own photos yet :{