Background...


BACKGROUND...

We will be working with the Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO), in a border town called Poipet. In Poipet the largest source of employment is day labour, 8-10 thousand people cross the border each day to transport goods back from Thailand; working conditions and pay is poor. Poipet lies in the shadows of ten super-casinos, they provide little economic benefit to the local area. The influx of tourists and gamblers attracted by the casinos has encouraged the sex industry to flourish. Child trafficking has taken a stronghold in Poipet, and its the poor families who are at risk of being lured into sending their children into Thailand where the risk of trafficking is high.

There is Hope! CHO works in the local community, and they envision 'a network of strong, hope-filled communities where adequate physical, psychological and spiritual needs are met.'


The work we will be doing with CHO is varied and includes; Helping to build a safe haven centre for children who have escaped the child trafficking industry, learning Khmer, the local language, taking an active role in children’s clubs and ‘school on a mat’, assisting CHO staff in their work in the community, working with individuals from different cultures and faiths, especially the Buddhist culture, praying for and visiting those suffering with HIV/AIDS, taking an active role in the life of the Church through worship, sharing testimonies, taking bible studies and preaching.


Tuesday 29 June 2010

Guest blogger; 12th - 30th June

Hello!
Welcome to another blog, sorry for the delay. We now have 2 and half weeks left in Poipet and so though this week we would ask Emily Perry to be our guest blogger. Emily has been here for the duration of our time here and was on the same transform trip as us last year and now works with ‘Hope for the Nations’- a NGO working with CHO. We thought it would be interesting to have a different voice give their take on our time here. Enjoy...


After spending nearly six months with the three boys, I feel like I am highly qualified to comment giving all their faithful follows insight into the reality here. On arrival here there was a comment made by a CHO staff member; “their bodies are fully grown but their faces are so young!” since then we have worked them hard, got them a tan and stood and watched these boys turn into men.
Shall we begin with their living standards! Each boy keeps himself well groomed and kept for most of the day light hours; occasionally showing some spontaneity and experimentation with facial hair. However the rooms which they inhabit showed me a different story. They occupy two rooms the first of which has become their dumping ground for many unusual objects and a home for the world’s population of ants. I have caught them purposely leaving food for the ants to continue their city! Their water bottle pile has become something to marvel at. No bottle goes to waste as they collect them all and store them for that one grand final project that is yet to be worked out. A few ideas that have been tested include a bowling alley, sofa, decorations to be hung around the bedroom and a rather successful water feature! One of the regular activities that takes place in the front room is hair cutting. I know this because the pile of various coloured hair is swept up and remains in a corner to surprise any visitors. Maybe they are saving it for an art activity but I haven’t been brave enough to ask that question yet!
Their day consists of devotions, 66% of the team are regular attendants to this early morning activity, the other 33% catches up after breakfast. The morning at the safe haven keeps them busy before they return to the office to spread their sweaty love around us all. The safe haven school gets a treat in the afternoons with having English lessons and bible stories.
Calum enjoys sharing his years of wisdom with people who have limited English language skills and his safe haven grade 1 class! They enjoyed learning the theory of light being a spectrum of colours and the full science behind the theory. They have become the most educated grade 1 class in all of Cambodia!
Paul thoroughly loves the outdoor mans work and looks like proud local farmer with his straw hat coming back from a successful harvest when he has done a morning labouring at the safe haven.
Alex, (the pastor for the people) has his own following who arrive every day at 5 o’clock (often a lot earlier) to enjoy the English lesson. So far we have one love note and a fight started by a protective girl controlling the young rabble.
What a tremendous delight to have been part of their story here and to have them part of mine. They have tales of reaching village groups and whole schools with the gospel, and also memories of moving piles of rocks from one place and then back again the next day. Either way these boys are faithful to the cause and keep their eyes on the bigger picture. Humbly and unified they have impacted this community by simply being.

Blessings, look forward to another guest blog next week.
Calum, Alex and Paul.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

May 22nd – 11th June

Welcome to yet another blog, we’ve had a busy two weeks being back at CHO, hence the slow blogging! Since our return from the village we have been back into a fairly regular schedule, working in the morning and teaching at the Safe Haven School in the afternoons. There have been a few teams come through after a short break and so was nice to see some fresh faces and talk with them. We are delighted to see Rebekah with us again (she came before, in February, for a short time). She has been to CHO numerous times and will be working with the ‘School on a Mat’ project and Safe Haven School implementing a new curriculum over the next six months. Rebekah works for one of the NGOs (Hope for the Nations – works in nearly 30 countries worldwide, founded in Canada) that support and sponsor CHO.

We ended May mostly working at the building site for the new house for trafficked boys at the Safe Haven Centre. That building now is nearing completion and is currently having the roof put on. There is a lack of finance for this building at the moment so your prayers would be so appreciated for money to finance the construction.
Since then we have been building a road through the Safe Haven and will continue to do this for the rest of the month (well, until it’s finished!). There is a mud/dirt road already running through it, but with the rainy season on its way (it is raining more frequently now in the afternoons) we have been putting small stones on top to keep the road in place, making it possible to walk on when the rain comes.


Paul, Calum and Thea working on the road (Alex is working, just taking the picture!)

We joined with several hundred children on the 1st of June to parade around Poipet for ‘International Children’s Day’, to promote children’s rights and stand against trafficking and child labour. Every year, CHO sponsor and organise (together with local schools) a parade around the city like this. Out of the hundreds of children that came, over 200 were kids from ‘School on a Mat’. It was a hot, but joyful and special day.


School children at the start point of the parade



Parade on the main road at the top of the City

With Rebekah now implementing a new curriculum into the Safe Haven and Mat schools, we have started to do more varied lessons in both schools. We have done art, music and puppetry lessons with the children; drawing, weaving, making shakers and puppets, with more diverse lessons to come. A new art exchange program has begun, with the Safe Haven and Mat School children drawing postcards which will be sent to schools in Lancaster (England), Kelowna (Canada) and Hong Kong. The children in those schools will then send their own postcards back to these children, so it is exciting to see the beginning of this process.

Other updated news; in addition to our morning devotional talks, we will now speak at church on Sunday morning’s – Alex started at the end of May with Paul and Calum to follow. We unfortunately said goodbye to Dara, who has been translating for us since arriving in Cambodia. He has been a good friend and fun to be with. We wish him all the best. On Fridays we are now playing basket ball with the Canadians at Victory Church, down the street, and a few Filipino guys who work at the casinos. There has unfortunately been a stop to the STREET outreach event due to some difficulties. Please pray for fresh ideas for an outreach project that we can start before we leave in just over a month.

Our time left in Cambodia suddenly seems somewhat limited (the time is flying past), but please keep us in your prayers.
With our love and prayers,

Blessings from Cambodia ...

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