Newsletters

With our regular newsletters, we aim to keep you posted on all the interesting and important news and updates of our programs and various activities. Enjoy reading! 

September 2005

            	
Dear friends and partners, This morning, our development staffs are off to Banteay Meanchaey - all 31 of them - they have gone to have a look at one of our youngest programs but they have gone with trepidation. You see, most of the staff is used to traveling for long hours on motorbikes - in the heat or the wet - it doesn't matter - they are used to long hours and very hard work. But Banteay Meanchaey is one of those areas where even motorbikes cannot go. Our young staff walk anywhere from 5 to 10 kilometers per day - just to meet with the families.
                
The staff has a special task to do. It is to visit a community with 2000 families - very poor families who live on a large hill called Phum Malay. These families have so very little but the worst is that they have no water. Wells have been dug to 200 meters and still there is no water. The chief of the commune has asked us to help them finish a pond that would provide water for the 16,000 people living there. It's a large pond - 40 meters by 20 meters - its depth is 5 meters - the discussion must be as follows - would these 2000 families be willing to dig the pond another 5 meters deep to a depth of 10 meters - and would they be willing to find stones to make the wall? If so, Tabitha would supply cement and other materials to build a wall around the reservoir - of course this cannot be started until March of 2006, when the water from this current monsoon season is gone. This all came about when I met with the staff of Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchaey last week. It's never an easy trip to travel to our communities in either area - this one was much worse for Kameak was behind the wheel of the car. He is a wonderful man but his driving abilities leave me breathless. I asked Vannak, a Siem Reap staff - what he liked most about the work. He said, he loved the way he became part of the communities and how people shared all their problems with him - he loved the way that people had changed - when he first came - the people would not even look at him, they walked with heads down and no smiles - he loved the way that changed as people saved and were able to buy things like dishes and sacks of rice, things they hadn't been able to buy for years. Dinat, another staff, was comforted by his words, as his new area is people who are unable to smile and greet him - the problems seem so big - my dream is to see these families laugh again, he said. My last evening there I had to work out a marriage agreement. It's not the first time and I suspect not the last time either, that one of the staff have asked me to be their official parent. This time was very special. Ani, our manager in Siem Reap, was asked to be the wife of Theavy - a rather nice man. Ani lost her first husband Dara, 5 years ago - their marriage was based on love and mutual respect. At that time, I had been asked to intervene as neither family wished to see this union. Once again I was asked to counsel and set agreements because Ani was frightened. She was frightened that this marriage would not be the same as her first marriage, she was frightened that the love would not be the same as the one she had with Dara. We talked openly about these issues - we talked about the children involved, we talked about the different faiths. At the end, both Ani and Theavy were much relieved that so many things that were frightening for both were out in the open. Then Ani asked me what one thing I demanded from both of them - I said that they both must promise me never to go to bed angry with each other - they must always resolve their anger before they went to sleep. This they promised to do. When is the wedding - possibly during the Christmas holidays. I came back to Phnom Penh well satisfied with the work - I came in time to be with Chanthou - our cottage industry manager. She had her second entopic pregnancy and lost her baby. What bothered me most was that the ovarian pregnancy had burst 2 days before and she had walked for 2 days with pain. The doctors were very good - they were able to stem the raging infection inside her body. Did you not know, I asked? No, she said, there were no signs - and you were not in town to talk things over. I asked for help from some other staff and they helped. I no longer want my own baby, she said, I am too old. Can you help me adopt a baby - one just like Miriam? This week is a normal week - one full of the joys and pains of life. Life is a precious gift - I am honored to be a part of so many lives - I am humbled by the gift of life of so many others. I praise my God for this gift - I am thankful that each of you are a part of my life. Janne