“Mom, I am going to eat Mary Jane ’cause she won’t leave me alone so I can eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich!!!”

“Uhh, Celia you can’t eat dogs, its not right.”

“Uh huh, I will grow up and be a chef and make chicken dog.”

I love my niece.

I spent a few hours this morning reassembling one of my favorite lego sets, Fire Breathing Fortress. Several years ago, closer to a decade than I’d like to admit, this wondrous castle fell into disrepair and, having lost the manual, I lacked the instructions to put it back together. So it sat in a garbage bag in storage throughout some of my High School, University and Cambodia years. But this morning I felt the need to de-stress a bit so I unpacked my old legos, looked up the instructions at peeron.com, and set to work. It was quite rewarding to see it come back together though I was missing a few pieces, most critically the dragon cage gate, but everything came together thanks to improvisation.

I thought I wasn’t suppose to get sick once I was back in North America. Not sick for real, anyway.

He picked me up at 6:30 and we went to eat at a nice restaurant that an uncle in Scott’s host family owns. It sort of makes sense that Sakhoeun would take us there; he was the one who introduced us to Scott’s host family and helped us set it up back when we hardly had a clue what we were doing. That seems like so long ago but Sakhoeun was there helping us then, back when we had no translator and almost no language skills.

We sat down and Sakhoeun asked if I knew wanted to drink Beer. I said no. He laughed and said, “I didn’t think so, you Mennonites don’t drink Beer. See, I know.” Then he went on to tell me about the foreigner he had had dinner with the night before who apparently knew how to drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and sing karaoke. But he did say that I was better looking as I wasn’t so skinny. The waitress disagreed though; she thought the other guy had been better looking. I didn’t feel particularly judged by this tale; mostly I was relieved that it wasn’t going to be a night of awkward relationship killing refusals to drink. I can’t tell you how sick I am of those.

After a bit Sotherith arrived and the three of us proceeded to eat a nice large meal together. Actually, first Sakhoeun asked me if I wanted to pray. I shouldn’t have been so surprised – he has been working with Mennonites since I was seven years old. What a realization that was. We had a variant of prohok called puchok that left the fish mostly intact, snau teah, and cha: sike goa bon. There were some awkward moments thanks to my slipping language skills but it was a good meal overall. Sakhoeun and Sotherith told me that I would forget all my Khmer in the states unless I found some Cambodians there to practice with. I responded that I was losing my Khmer here but I’d heard that most MCCers who went back found that they spoke better Khmer than most Khmer Americans. Sakhoeun said that the kids raised in the States usually didn’t learn any Khmer. We talked a bit about Larry, Mike Roberts, how handsome Sakhoeun use to be, whether or not I’d recognize Sotherith in five years, and about what Khmer foods I would miss the most.

Sakhoeun kept on putting more food in my bowl and explained that he thought I should eat up good Khmer meat while I had the chance because he knows that back in the States I’ll be eating a lot of vegetables – he knows us better than I thought. He praised the duck, an all natural Prey Veng duck. They don’t have duck like that in America he said. It’s true. Like most Cambodian poultry the meat was tough but the flavor was good. I’ve actually come to prefer that tough flavorful meat though I still haven’t come to enjoy crunching through all the bones.

Towards the end of the meal Sakhoeun gave me, my family, and my finance a simple but nice blessing. I couldn’t translate it all but I caught enough to know that it was a formal Khmer blessing. It was really humbling.

We talked a bit after that about how long I’d been here and Sakhoeun was surprised that I’d been in Prey Veng for three years, then we figured out that that was because I’d only been the adviser for PVIO for two years and two months. Before that it was Sarinda. Which lead me to initiating a talk about how difficult it is for them to have a new adviser every couple of years. I suspected and they confirmed that the constant transitions are rough and more than a bit jarring. I said it in one of my early reports but this was a good reminder that PVIO was a real blessing to us when we first started setting up the MCC Prey Veng office. They really helped us in a lot of ways. It wasn’t until I became their partner adviser that I got really frustrated with them and I think a good portion, though certainly not all, of that was the language barrier. I have learned so much from these wonderful maddening government officials – some of the best in Cambodia I’m convinced. They manage to accomplish so much while engulfed in a culture of corruption that I’m only now beginning to get a grasp of.

It was a pleasant low-key farewell. I’m glad I didn’t say no when he invited me.

People I know around town have started exclaiming in surprise when they see me – ‘Are you still here, I thought you went home?’ It’s jarring to hear this as I ride to breakfast, as I have done almost every morning for the last years. It leaves me feeling like the deal is done, Prey Veng is no longer my home even though I’m still here. At times I feel desperate to escape to Phnom Penh – to finish this journey in a place that is familiar but which has never been home. It’s only natural that my sense of belonging is swiftly crumbling as I approach the end of my time here, the question that I’m wrestling with is how to best weather these feelings.

The week before my farewell party was a hectic one. I made my last trip out to Angkearhdei with Miles and Ruth on Tuesday. I’m glad that they’ll be taking over the project but it feels strange to hand over responsibility for it after all I’ve been through. There was also a final visit to this year’s Irrigation renovation site at Kompon Th’nol on Thursdays and a long meeting with the program directors and Sakhoeun about plans for the future on Friday. Interspersed with those visits I was doing the usual paperwork, setting things up for the team meeting on Friday afternoon, and running around organizing my party. I had signed up to lead devotion for the team meeting and I ended up reading Isaiah 58 – not quite the standard inspirational or reflective reading.

Saturday, I had a nice breakfast with the Millers and Yordys but the rest of the morning was crazy. I had decided that for my farewell party I was going to serve herbal tea and coconut milk instead of the usual soda. It was fun and cheap. I spent some time Friday brewing Peppermint and Lemon tea then on Saturday I took a big plastic container and went off to have it filled with coconut juice. It ended up taking eight coconuts to fill it up and all the Cambodians who saw it thought it was rice wine. It turns out that eight coconuts costs the same as four cans of Coke and provide about twice the liquid. Good to know. While the drink selection was a bit unusual the food was some of my favorite Khmer dishes; fried pickled cabbage with pork made by the Kuyteal Lady, prahok k’tee made by Barbara’s amazing cook Nuah, and a chicken curry soup by the Wiederkehr’s cook Sarun. The food was great. Though I forgot to tell the Kuyteal Lady, whose real name is Aul Runh, that we would have three dishes so she made a ton of fried pickled cabbage… The Wiederhehrs, Sarun, Danni, and I ended up eating the leftovers for three days! I felt like I had picked cabbage coming out of my ears – that’s one Khmer dish I won’t miss for awhile. Ruth cut up all the vegetables for the prahok k’tee, bought fruit, and made cookies – I was glad for her help. David and Lana helped me wash dishes and set up the tables, if they had not been there I don’t know what would have happened – life would have gone on I suppose but the party wouldn’t have been finished in time. Little things like napkins and rice plates would have been missing if Lana’s sharp eye hadn’t noticed their exclusion! I had to run to place we were renting the tent from to ask why they hadn’t given us plates for the rice, so weird.

I was running around for most of the farewell party itself too. Serving drinks, fixing problems, greeting people. Sakhoeun had another engagement so he left early which ruined the speech I had prepared – it’s hard to make a speech directed towards your partners when they aren’t there. Ming Pheap and Amara showed up from Phnom Penh, they had come all the way in just for my farewell! I wish I had been able to spend more time with them, they headed back right after the party as Amara had her accounting exams that evening. Sam Ang surprised me with a gift, a recommendation from the people of Prey Veng as penned by him. I wonder if I can include it with my resume? I doubt it but I may have it framed when I get home. The speech I ended up giving on the fly was alright – at least no rotten fruit or vegetables came flying my way.

There was about an hour of good food and good company. The Cambodian ladies took over cleaning up and, for once, I let them dissuade me from helping since it was my party. In short order everything was packed up and everyone was leaving. Suddenly I was left alone at the office with nothing to do but wait for the tent to get picked up. That’s when I started writing this post. I was sitting up in the office in the still after having seen everyone scatter back to their lives. It left me feeling not quite sad, not quite happy but certainly reflective.

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict,
And the sun refuses to shine;
For there hangs God’s Son in the balance,
And then through the darkness he cries:

“It is finished!” The battle is over,
It is finished! There will be no more war;
It is finished! The end of the conflict,
It is finished! And Jesus is Lord.

Still in my heart the battle was raging,
Not all prisoners of war have come home;
There were battlefields of my own making,
I did not know that the war has been won.

Then I heard that the King of the Ages,
Had fought all the battles for me;
And that victory was mine for the claiming,
And now praise His name I am free.

It is finished! The battle is over,
It is finished! There will be no more war;

It is finished! The battle is over,
It is finished! There will be no more war;
It is finished! The end of the conflict,
It is finished! And Jesus is Lord.

It is finished! And Jesus is Lord!

This is a hymn that my family use to sing when I was growing up. I haven’t heard it often since those days. Actually, I’m not sure if I’ve heard it at all since those days. But I was singing it to myself as I sometimes do and I felt like sharing.

There was one big turning point though. I was at my last expatriate Bible Study and started talking to my friend Barbara about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind – the fate of my cats. The Umbles happened to be there taking a break from Phnom Penh and let it be known that they are actually looking for a cat – possibly two. I introduced them to Stoopid and Ch’kout. They want to talk it over more but the cats, though maybe just one of the cats, who kept me sane and gave me good company might just end up in a good home. It was an immense relief and, though it seems silly compared to the greater struggles of the world, I felt very cared for – the Lord provides is what came to me in words. Though I’m trying to keep from getting my hopes too up until I get that confirmation that they want them.

Time flies. I made my last trip to the school today with Miles and Ruth, who will be taking over the program for me. It was a good visit though a strange one. It’s hard to believe that I won’t be out there again for years. It’s hard to comprehend that I’ve been working with them for over two years now. The Primary School Hunt seems so long ago. Now I’m going home. Then I’m getting married. Life lives. I just hope I can keep on living it. I’m afraid that suburbia will steal my soul, all the comfort and security comes at a price. I’m scared that working to earn money rather than to promote my ideals will change me. But, at least for this next bit, that’s what I need to do.

I’ve been inviting folks to my going away party and I ordered the tent for it this afternoon. Twenty-five dollars for a eight by eight meter tent with five tables, forty chairs, and all the plates, silverware, and pots. It’s definitely a different world from the wedding catering information Crystal has sent me.

I feel conflicted about leaving. I’m happy and sad, relieved and dismayed, panicked and calm… I guess that’s enough of an glimpse at me for now.

What a disservice to society cartoonists have done by portraying these fiendish agents of destruction and ruin as innocent and cute creatures! Felines have been the friends of humanity for ages but now we denounce them in media while promoting the plague bearers that caused the deaths of countless human beings over the centuries? It is scarcely believable! The blinders have been removed from my eyes! I shall not forget the reek of mouse-kind in the years to come, they have earned themselves a mighty and unrelenting enemy in my personage. Ever shall I hope from this day forth that Tom succeeds against Jerry and that Shere Khan does away with Mickey in a dark alley. Let Minnie fall to that Darn Cat and if Garfield refuses to do the job let another more worthy feline take his place.

A Hard Year for Poor Farmers

The rains came early this year bringing cool relief from the dusty hot season but putting the efforts of enterprising farmers who had planted rice along the Sap River’s edge at risk of ruin. Families of farmers worked desperately to harvest their rice before the rising waters swallowed it. Despite their effort much of the grain that was gathered in time was premature or could not be dried out before mildew set in.

Then, in the heart of the rainy season, the daily deluges that farmers rely on to irrigate their crop abruptly stopped for two weeks. This short drought ruined over 25,000 acres of rice across Prey Veng province. Around Angkearhdei Village thick paddies of once lush rice drooped and wilted beneath the hot sun. Much of the rice that was lost only needed a few more days of water to finish maturing. Most of the families who live in Angkearhdei depend on their rice crop not only to support them financially but also to serve as the stable of their diet. Even in good years families are stretched trying to keep food on the table, in bad years families can be forced to take desperate measures to fight off starvation. Many go deep into debt that they can never hope to repay as rice farmers. Then they travel to Thailand to work illegally or send older teenagers to work at construction sites or garment factories in the Capitol.

Breakfast Program

Living from meal to meal for many months of the year families often see sending a child to school as a luxury that deprives the family of work. Even young children are often sent into the fields to gather fruit, herbs, fish, and other foodstuffs. While small this contribution to the family’s diet is seen as a valuable one. Good nutrition has proven value in child growth and education but in Angkearhdei by providing breakfast to students Global Family lessens the burden of struggling families by one meal a day. For some families that one meal makes the difference between sending children out to scrounge for food or sending them to study at school; for others it makes the heavy load of a poor rice farmer that much lighter. For the students it guarantees that they will never have to sit through school lessons hungry and ensures that at least once a day they can eat their fill.

Since Angkearhdei School began providing rice porridge for breakfast Teachers report that attendance is up fifteen percent, tardiness has dropped to almost nil, and that children are much more attentive in class. The parents of Angkearhdei don’t want their children to grow up uneducated but they want them to have something to eat more. Global Family is helping the parents of the young students of Angkearhdei not to have to make the difficult choice between the two.

Bathrooms

In 2003, construction workers took advantage of a government contract to add extra sand to the concrete mix for bathrooms of the Angkearhdei School so they could sell the concrete saved for personal profit. The result was that five years later the bathrooms were crumbling buildings with gaping holes in the floor left locked for fear of the children hurting themselves.

Basic sanitation is uncommon in Cambodia, according to the World bank only  four out of twenty-five Cambodians have access to toilets. There are over 200 families living in Angkearhdei but there is only one bathroom other than those at the school.

Thanks to Global Family’s help the school’s bathrooms have been made safe again and two new bathrooms have been built that will last for many years. Teachers report that children no longer do their business in the schoolyard or along the side of the road, now they use the school toilets. Sot Mern had this to say the bathroom renovation and construction, “This has made the school a cleaner healthier environment. We can teach about good hygiene with confidence again, before we felt that it was frustrating to teach about it when the students couldn’t practice it. There is another benefit, the recess period is a much more peaceful now, it’s cut down on a lot of teasing.”

New Teacher Scholarship

Phon Ravy will be the first Angkearhdei Villager to graduate from High School since the Sot Mern, the School Director, became the village’s first High School graduate in 1993. For years the Phon family, poor rice farmers, have worked hard to ensure that their son gets a good education so he can have a better life.

Now Global Family is supporting with a scholarship to help Phon Ravy finish studying at a distant High School and then at the Provincial Primary Teacher Training Center.  When he finishes the young man will return to Angkearhdei Village as the first of a new generation of teachers and hopes to inspire more students to continue school beyond Primary School.

Phon Kea, his father, feels strongly about the value of the education he himself never had and the future it will give his family, “We worked hard so that our son could get an education. It was difficult to send him to study rather than help us but I thought we are still young and strong. But when we are old how can he care for us if he is a rice farmer? He would be caught up in trying to care for his own family. He would be struggling from meal to meal like we do. But if he has an education he will be able to care for his parents in their old age.” Phon Kea is also supporting his younger sons through school.

Library

While the Angkearhdei School Staff work hard to instill a love of learning in their students there is not much in the rural farming village to engage them. To broaden and deepen their education Global Family is helping to establish a library for the School. So far the library includes picture books, storybooks, historical biographies, dictionaries, and simple farming books. Angkearhdei Students can now often been seen sitting out recess to read a book or borrowing books to read at home.

Thank you!

Many Angkearhdei children stop studying even before completing Primary School. Their families believe that the work they can do is more valuable than the lessons they can learn in school. Sot Mern, the School Director, has been trying to change that attitude for years and with your help through Global Family he’s coming closer.

You can find more information on the program at the Global Family website. Oh, the little boy on the page is a student at Angkearhdei. That’s exciting – this is the first I noticed.