the old made new.

Every week I have been helping to build up the child care center at a small organization called Daughters. They work with women (many moms) who have been victims of sexual exploitation, and empower them to set themselves free from enslavement through employment opportunities (and a wide range of social and psychological services too).

Their logo is a butterfly, which represents freedom and transformation.

Cambodian children are some of the most gorgeous babies you have ever seen, and each one so absolutely unique.  Big grins, huge eyes; those who love to dance; and ones who like to ride bikes.  It has been a joy to see the transformation of the child care project over the last few months, as they are playing more and more, and sleeping less and less each day.

One enormous lack in the center was resources: toys, books, music, and the like.  Before I continue, I must say THANKS to everyone who sent resources with my parents; they are SO wonderful and useful!  And yesterday I had the amazing privilege of showing the mom’s how to make toys for their children out of recycled objects, and I got to do it with my mom! (And you all know how I love kids, my mom, & recycling!!)

Collecting boxes and bottles; using glue and moto design paper, and rice we constructed beautiful building blocks and shakers.

We sat on colorful straw mats on the floor, with beautiful women and their adorable children.  And mom got to teach them about how what is old can be made new again (in life and with toys).  And she was able to teach them about safe toys and the importance of supervision & stimulation.

And then the creativity and bonding began.  What a beautiful image it was to see the babies helping their moms.  They all make handicrafts for their jobs, so are incredibly gifted, but here they were able to work together with their children.  And THEY themselves were able to GIVE their children toys to play with.  Oh, and the boys loved sitting in the box baskets and pushing them around, and dumping them all out, and putting them back again.  It was really beautiful to see how much fun they had with old boxes, containers, and baskets.

One mom showed me her block, which had intricate flowers on two sides, and a simple triangle and ‘v’ on another side.  I asked her what it was and she said that her son had made those two sides.  Melt my heart!  Praise God!!

It was a truly rewarding day for myself, for mom, and for dad (who worked at Chab Dai and trained over 20 organization staff on accounts!).

our ‘home’ in phuket.

A place of beauty and relaxation.

A place to read more Chronicles of Narnia books.

A place to reunite with my parents.

A place of reassuring my mom that non-refrigerated eggs are okay to eat.

A place of thunderstorms and palm trees.

A place of expense and luxury.

A place for people of all races, from all countries, speaking all languages, wearing all colors and styles (and sizes) of swim suits.

A place where everything is so exactly, always in place, that it makes you feel like you are the only one staying here.

But then this is also a place of getting lost at least once a day.

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Mornings are for sleeping and hot showers.  Swimming laps and taking pilates/ water tai chi classes.  Mornings are sandwiched between trips to the health club for free bananas and fruit & veggie ‘shots’.  Mornings are shorter than usual.

Afternoons are for bathing in the sun, reading (maybe a bit of studying, but not much).  People watching and laughing about how conservative our swim suits are… and how conservative others should be.  Afternoons are also time for a late lunch, maybe a walk on the beach, or a nap.

Early evening seems to be the time for rain to pour.  And the air to become thick with hot rain.  And for dew to collect on the palms of the great palm trees adorned with coconuts.

And evenings are, well, they aren’t so neat and tidy as the rest of the day to describe… no two have been the same so far.  Of course evenings are always just as lazy and food-filled as the rest of the day.  They are later than at home.  It is cooler than at home (air con in the bathrooms and hallways, oh my!).  Evenings here have been spent on a bus from Phuket Town.  A Thai dinner on the beach watching the sunset.  Cooking dinner (which I just burned writing this blog on my balcony!) for the parents in our room.  A cocktail party at the resort (where I shared a story & was able to pay for a nice dinner that night!).  Reading books and watching a movie.  And happily climbing into the down-comforter beds and lying my head on the down-comforter pillows, and not being too hot to put the covers over me.

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A place to unwind and be with family.

A place to lose track of time at.

A place where one can live in their swimsuit from dawn to dusk.

A place at which I wish they spoke Khmer and not Thai.

And a place that is incomplete without my sister (miss you babes!).

And, and a place that is a blessing to my soul: green, quiet, & cool.

a sweet reunion.

So most normal people would take a taxi across a big foreign city, but not me.  I am I guess you could say ‘stubborn’ and/or ‘cheap’ (although I prefer to say ‘adventurous’).   After getting directions from the guesthouse owner and with a hand drawn map in tow, I set out to meet the parents!

I walked to the sky train, up three flights of stairs, and up three more flights (sweating), thinking the whole way, ‘wow, I never do anything the easy way!’  An image of a bright white girl with a large pack on her back and a trailing black suitcase behind her should come into your mind.  I only had to go three stops, no problem.  And I got off and was thrilled (my bag is nearly 15 kilos) that chivalry is present in Thai culture.  This guy offered to carry my bags back down the three flights of stairs that I had climbed three stops back, and then three more.  And he was kind enough to ask the sky train security men about my next mode of transportation: bus.

An hour before this semi-adventure began, I would have said that Bangkok is full of foreigners, but I suddenly went from being one of many, to one of none when the kind gentleman left me in search of the bus station.  I laughed (out loud, several times) of little me walking with my suitcase through the narrow sidewalks, with jagged bumps and through street vendors.  Not inconspicuous by any stretch of the imagination.  I followed the hand-jotted map, past the fire station, past the police station, and to the next junction.  But the scale was (obviously) not to scale and when I got to place I imagined seeing a sign with the picture of a bus on it, it was not there.  I stopped this guy who pointed me in the right direction.  Bump bump, excuse me.  Pit stop to buy a dragon fruit, and the next thing I know I see the bus number I needed: 1013.

So I jetted in the street right as the doors were opening, and a hand reached down to pull up my bag (I wonder if he imagined it to be so heavy) and the doors closed and we were off like lightening.  I showed the ticket man the words scribbled on the ‘map’ and he tried to tell me the price in Thai, which was of no use.  And the only bill I had was way too big for a city bus ticket.  The true blessing was the woman who leaned back, told me the price in English, and paid for my ticket (seeing the note I had was way too big).  Wow!  Such graciousness.  After over a half an hour through the non-tourist Bangkok, the ticket man and the woman gathered to tell me the stop was close and I just said tell me when to get off!  They did and I found the bus doors close behind me just as quickly as before, only I was now in the middle of somewhere, on the side of the road, and had only nodded that I understood where they pointed.

I had already come to terms with the fact that Mom and Dad’s guesthouse was of course going to be across the highway, and over the huge cement divider (it would be too easy not to be!).  Then I spotted the sign, but still no actual structure resembling a hotel.  Then behind me I heard ‘Aimee!’  What a strange sensation to hear your name called by someone in a place that is who-knows-where.  And how sweet when it is the sound of your parents calling you from across the street!  So there we were, waving across the highway.  And then after a moment of amazement that the cars would stop at the red light for me to safely cross (amazing the rule abiding citizens here in Thailand!) BIG HUGS all around!

Mom and Dad and I talked and ate, and talked and had some fruit, and walked, and got on a plane, and flew to the prettiest beach ever.  And the story will continue… stay tuned!

some pictures.

Some pictures to catch everyone up on the last three weeks.  I finally uploaded the pictures!!

Dinner with the neighbors and friends!

team staff retreat at the beach!

my friend muylen and i on the boat to rabbit island.

bike trip to silk island with some friends. and drinking sugar cane juice waiting for the ferry.

relaxing on the island... after a LONG bike ride

creativity: phnom penh skyline

the new painting in our lounge!

swimming update.

So much to share, and this is by no means of highest importance, but it is easy and quick to write.  And as I swam today, I thought you may like to hear.

1.  Today I rented a swimming costume from the gym, because I forgot mine at home.  I did ask if they were washed, and they said yes (although I still felt a bit grungy searching for a suitable suit!).  Mind you, I found one: blue and white checkered with a built-in skirt.  A perfect Cambodian suimsuit (very modest) and better than just swimming in nice street clothes (most common!).

2.  Due to the bad hair experience, I am now the PROUD owner of a marbly-blue latex swim cap.  Yes, yes.  So today: skirt-suit + shiny blue cap = if you are picturing something that can be summed up with the word ‘awful’, you are understanding me completely.  (But hey, it does keep my hair from being any more poofy than it already is!)

3.  Today in the market, when I was doing an awful job explaining what I wanted (acryclic modeling paste for a bit picture in our lounge room), the seller asked me if I went to the PP Sports Club.  Yes, I told her.  She then went on to ask if I wasn’t the girl who fell and split her head open… WOW!  That was months and months ago, and the legend continues…

xoxo.

written yesterday.

Today is another holiday, but a very special one: ‘Victory Over Genocide Day’.  For me this also means a day off of work and school (which I am loving by the way).

After an abrupt start this morning, running at the stadium like I promised my friend, I putted around the house and worked a bit from home.

I made another visit to my favorite place: the second-hand fabric shops (ie. Heaps and piles of fabric of all colors, textures, and sizes).  But I will save that for another blog…

Now I need to retell the story of going to the second-hand market with my friend, Pipor.  Bang Keang Kong Market is known for having a vast array of cheap second hand shirts, jeans (so many!), bags, and shoes (which I happily stumbled upon because finally there is a possibility of finding shoes in my size!).  Pipor and I browsed the jean selection, but for starters I had no idea what size I am in centimeters… BUT here’s something maybe you didn’t know: if you take the jeans and can wrap them around your neck they are the right size.

Ok, so take a moment to visualize a packed market (remember it’s a holiday) and stalls and stalls of jeans, hanging high and stacked low.  I can understand that we don’t know my exact size, when all of a sudden my friend and the seller are choking jeans around my neck.  I was like, um what is going on!!!

Jeans in my size were not prevalent, but I did find a pair of black pants I was interested in, so now another vision of trying on jeans, pants, skirts, or shorts.  In the narrow aisles of the again, crammed markets, I was given a large skirt (with a lining too, how cumbersome!) to put over my jeans.  Two things are unfortunate about this situation: one, I have skinny jeans on and it’s hot, which means they stick to me like crazy; two, I am still standing in the middle, trying to work them off under two layers of skirt material!

I was pleased when I got them on, and relieved that they were much cooler than my skinny jeans.  I think the seller could have said any price, at this point but $1.50 was worth it because there was no way those were going back on- it would be have been difficult in the heat in general, let alone in addition to a dual-layer skirt and people mulling around me!

We bought ingredients to make my favorite soup, and tonight I happily ate with good friends, and a newly met neighbor who helped us cook (and brought three adorable kids with her!).  A day for the books!

new years.

a new year and decade: 2010.

2010 goals:

• Take a dance class.
• Finish reading the whole Bible.
• And for the next three months: walking 2x a week & Khmer school!

back to school shopping.

Tonight I rode my bike (yep, after a few months I am friends with her again!) to the ‘we have everything related to school’ store for some supplies.  Tomorrow morning I start a 3-month Khmer class to learn how to read and write Khmer.  The school is the Royal University of Phnom Penh (check it out here and here) and I will be there every morning from 7:30-9am.  (Yikes!)

I am excited about a few things:

• Being in a classroom setting again.
• Having this specified time to study, review, & hear Khmer being spoken.
• Reviewing the basics again BUT putting the real Khmer letters with words (instead of my own English-phonetic-spellings).

I am grateful for Chab Dai’s flexibility & willingness to let me pursue language study more aggressively.  Please pray for me to have a learning spirit, humility, & energy to put in the studying needed to master learning a new alphabet & language!

I will keep you posted on my studies…  off to finish my flashcard construction.  xo.

my visit to CHRYSALIS.

Yesterday I visited one of Chab Dai’s member organizations, CHRYSALIS.  The director asked me if I spoke Khmer and when I said, ‘yes some’ he started talking only in Khmer.  I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t!  I got most of what he said, but since an interview is a bit important for the detail bits we switched to English.

Anyways, I was SO impressed with what they are doing.  Read about them & pray for them!

A sneak preview of the next Hands of Hope newsletter (lucky you!):

One of Chab Dai’s most diverse members, CHRYSALIS, is a Cambodian Christian training organization that aims to facilitate positive change through creative personal development services.  Essentially, they host fun, dynamic trainings based on experiential & creative methodology, that encourage good communication, emotional awareness, team work, empowerment, & self- confidence.  Cambodia culture has a rich history in the creative arts, including stories, music, art, drama, & games.  CHRYSALIS uses this foundation to engage participants in activities that let them express their feelings, build trust, understand their personal value, & break down social barriers.

Since CHRYSALIS began in 2004, they have been partnering closely with other groups (including Chab Dai members) who are committed to serving people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Their trainings have made a difference in the lives of: women coming out of the sex industry, victims of domestic violence, children who have been victims of human trafficking & sexual abuse, prisoners, people with disabilities or HIV/AIDS, & more.  They also facilitate workshops for organization teams & caregivers.

Their trainings cater to meet the specific situations of their participants.  Their baseline courses include: Personal Development, Who Am I?, Team Building, Communication Skills, & Conflict Resolution. Most courses are at least two half-days long, and many are over the span of several months.

Participants who have completed personal development courses report having ‘the opportunity to explore and understand our feelings, [and] to build confidence’.  One woman declared, ‘[Now] I know who I am very clearly and I love and value myself very much’.

How does CHRYSALIS relate to our vision to end human trafficking & sexual abuse?

You may be asking yourself this now, as you read my blog.  Well, they absolutely do.  CHRYSALIS works with women and children who have been victimized by trafficking, domestic violence, or rape to empower them to value themselves.  Value and self-confidence offer a person the opportunity to make good decisions and take healthy risks in their lives.  Cambodia is primarily Buddhist, which is a religion without a creation story, hinged on the beliefs of karma, reincarnation, and only getting what you deserve.  Although now not claiming Christ, many of the Western countries (USA, Canada, & London) are still operating off of a Christian ethos, that primarily tells its citizens that all people are valued, have one life to live to its fullest, and can make big changes no matter how small.

CHRYSALIS trainings are based on the belief that each person are created & deeply loved by God; that each person is unique and has been given special abilities and treasures waiting to be discovered; and ultimately aim to reveal this through caring interpersonal relationships.

Please pray for CHRYSALIS today with your family or church group, specifically that they would be able to find more funding to continue developing more trainings & helping more people discover the love God has for each uniquely-created person.  Also pray for the 11 staff on their team to have energy & wisdom to facilitate these trainings.

CHRYSALIS is a grassroots organization that is making meaningful impact on individuals in society who would normally face discrimination.  If you would like to know more about who they are & how you can support them, please contact chrysalis@online.com.kh

jeremy leaves.

Jeremy, my friend & co-worker at Chab Dai, left last night.  He spent two months here in Cambodia taking photographs for Chab Dai and several of our member organizations.  He educated and practiced the art of taking photos that maintain the dignity of the people he photographed (not re-exploiting their troubles or plastering a victim’s face with a heart-wrenching story).  His work is fabulous, creative & innovative, and he has a really fun blog.  Check it out:  http://jeremyincambodia.blogspot.com

Also, for everyone in Sacramento, he will be having an art show downtown in March sometime, so stay tuned for more information.

Cambodia misses you already Bong!