Tabitha newsletters
December 3, 2003
Dear friends and partners, It is the month of the Christmas season - for Tabitha - Cambodia - it is the month of preparation and celebration of the reason for our existence - of Jesus' birth and the miracle of love. This miracle of love is expressed in so many ways. Last week was one of those moments -
Nov 3, 2003
Dear Friends and partners, We are just finished our first month of our new fiscal year and what a month it has been. Our first highlight is that we have sold more than $70,000.00 in the month of October. Our highest ever sales month and what a joy that is. Now $30,000.00 came as a result of our bedcover sales promotion in Singapore - a show put on by the Friends of Tabitha in September. What impact did this have on our work force? We had people sewing and cutting in all parts of the building. Customers had to weave their way over bodies and bedcovers. Our weavers were so busy. It was a noisy month but it was a good noise. There was a lot of joking and story telling - a lot of competition on who got to get me to say, wow, is that ever nice first each day - or who got the first hug, or who got the first, are you sure that's the right colour? Then we got more orders from Singapore, USA, and the UK for Christmas items - stars everywhere, scarves and shawls being delivered and packed - toys being made to order. It was soo very good after a long hard summer.
Septmeber, 2003
Dear friends and partners, During the past two months, so very much has happened. We had our annual staff meetings and made plans for our up coming year - beginning in October. Our vision is to reach out to 16,000 families with 128,000 people - a vision that is reachable and manageable. The decision came after we reached a milestone in August when we had over 11,000 families in our program. It came after the elections took place - a very peaceful and well run election. The opposition did not win and as is their norm, they take defeat very badly. But there was no violence.
June 2003
Dear friends and partners, Today is the beginning of the election campaign for the national parties and the city is noisy with the sounds of promises and challenges. The favorite methodology adopted by one and all is to load party members and sympathizers on trucks and roar down the city streets - yelling and singing. There are 23 parties vying for seats in the national assembly - so often campaigns cross each other in the highways and byways - then the noise trebles - mostly, its good fun. Those on the trucks are given free t-shirts and 10,000 riels for their day of yelling. Its a good way to earn a few dollars. Many switch between parties -one party in the morning and another in the afternoon so that they can receive double the pay.
May 9, 2003
Dear friends and partners, I was asked this week to compose four short stories for children attending a Sunday school class. They had raised some money for wells and wanted to know about children involved in our program. The teacher suggested I include a story about Miriam. I wrote the stories and as I was re-reading them, I thought I should share these snippets with all of you. Do enjoy them and remember why they were written. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SINO
April 2003
Dear friends and partners, It is hard to believe that another month has passed - April and the hot weather have arrived alongside pestilence and war. All have their own impact on our work here.
January, 2003
Dear friends and partners, It is hard to believe that the first month of the year 2003 has already passed. So much has happened since I last wrote to you.
12 Dec 2002
Dear friends and partners, It is the time of the year when so many of us live in expectation of the Christmas Season ahead of us. It is a time of renewal, of hope, of laughter and love. For us, at Tabitha, it is no different, except that Christmas and New Years are not celebrated in Cambodia. We must create our own season of expectation and hope.
September 2002
Dear friends and partners, Its Monday morning, the beginning of a new week - it is a week that promises to be full of blessings - a week of reaching out and being touched in return. The last month has been so very full of blessings. I would like to share just a couple of these with you.
Aug 2002
Dear friends and partners, As the time of the year draws near to planning for our next program year which begins in October - we begin the process of evaluating our past work. It is a time of renewal and thanksgiving, a time for recognizing our weaknesses and celebrating our strengths. It has been and continues to be an extraordinary year. A year of consolidation and understanding; a year of forming long term sustainable programs; a year of growth. So how best can I begin to describe what is accomplished?
