It's March, 2011, and I'm sitting in my room, at my desk, back in kiwiland. The last time we met on this blog was just after Christmas. A lot has happened over the past few months.. so come with me as I share some of the key highlights.. this will be yet another long chapter :)
5.0 A Webby Family
The last 2 weeks in Cambodia went by in a flurry. By then, I had my final day at Web Essentials and was looking forward to some time off before shooting home. Even though I was no longer an employee at Web Essentials, I still found myself going into the office almost everyday that I was in town. On some occasions I needed to be there e.g for a presentation, photography training.. but on others, I just wanted to be there.. you see the funny thing is, staff at Web E are not just my colleagues, they're my friends and I would even say my Cambodian family.
Over time, I've developed quite a strong bond with some of them (especially the girls) and my role was not limited to the "graphic design advisor" but also I felt like it broadened into a big sister. This is new to me, being the baby girl in my family and being brought up in a foreign land.. I never really had the opportunity to look after younger siblings or cousins. So being in a position, where I could share some of the life lessons I've learned was incredibly fulfilling - even though I'm only a few years their senior, what I did know was enough to make a difference in their lives.
I think even I was surprised at how much I missed being with the staff.. haha. I love how receptive they were. So willing to listen and adopt. These are great traits of the young Cambodian generation. They do not let their pride get in the way, but instead are open to change and new ways of being.
I see bright futures for the staff at Web E - blarringly bright!
5.1 People come, People go
One thing I've come to realize is that God works in wonderful ways by providing the right people at the right time. I didn't see it at the time, but looking back, it's amazing just how smoothly things transitioned.. let me explain.
Just recently 2 new staff members joined the Web E team. They are expats looking for new opportunities to work in Phnom Penh. Both are Christian and have attended the same bible study as I before. As you know, we have bible study and prayer meetings during lunch time at work on mondays and wednesdays respectively. They have been going well with a regular bunch that gather together each week. One concern I had was who was going to take over the bible study. This was soon wiped away when Christoph (new expat) joined in one of our bible studies, it became clear that he should lead it, alongside with Mary (girlfriend/other new expat). They are amazing! I'm so glad they came and felt led to lead the sessions.
Another huge blessing to the company is with my replacement Miss Tais. She's a talented young graphic designer who joined us just a few months before my departure. It was soo good to find her. She has now taken over my role and continues to lead the graphic design team.
It's great to know that even with my departure, things will continue to flow and hopefully the company to continue to progress.
5.2 A Good Shepherd Orphanage
So around Christmas time, a few of my friends and I decided to spend more time with the children at the Good Shepherd Orphanage. Now I've never been to an orphanage before... so I wouldn't know what to compare this one to.. but from my time there, I have to say the children are very, very special.
Only recently, the 26 "orphans" (I'll explain later) have found themselves without a Ma and Pa. It's a tragic story, yet with a hopeful future. About 10 years ago a German couple Elizabeth and Martin saw a need to reach out to the children of Phnom Penh. Some were parentless, and others had parents we could not provide... and so Elizabeth and Martin decided to start The Samaritan Project and founded the Good Shepherd Orphanage to house these neglected children. During their time, they adopted not 1, not 2, not 3 or 4, but 5, yes 5 Cambodian children. How bold and daring!
I didn't get to meet the pair and their family because when I arrived, all of them were back in Germany for Martin who was receiving treatment for the leukemia he'd been battling with since 2002. Unfortunately it was battle that could not be won and he sadly passed away 2 days before Christmas last year.. and Elizabeth is now back in Germany handling 5 children on her own. One can imagine the challenges she's now facing emotionally and physically everyday.
So what about the orphanage? Good question. Back in September last year, a young Swiss lady (Monika) came to assist Elizabeth and Martin with running the Orphanage. She came under the impression that she would be here for a year under the supervision of E&M. Little did she know what God had in store. Now that Elizabeth is back in Germany, all of a sudden, Monika finds herself the sole caretaker to over 2 dozen cambodian children ranging from 3 to 16 years. What's more is that english is not her first language.. nor is it the children's, so you can see how communicating can be a challenge.
Having never been to South East Asia nor any experience running an Orphanage, Monika is doing an exceptional job. I think most of us would crumble at the demands and pressures, but she's a trooper! This woman is truly demonstrating God's love and complete faithfulness and dependency in Him. She drives the children with an old truck to church every weekend, painted the walls in the bedrooms and main hall, put up new shading in the playground, takes the children to the dentist, organized a great christmas party for the children with gifts and games and still has energy to play volleyball with them. (Btw, I think daring to drive a stick in Cambodia is a feat in itself with the traffic and all.. let alone with 26 children at the back..!). The good news is that she does have a small team of young Cambodian helpers who come in to teach the children and spend time with them each day. Even so, it's a tough role for one person to fill.
So what the orphanage is looking for is a couple who feel called to run the orphanage and be the mother and father to these children. Many of these children have already lost their biological parents, then to lose Elizabeth and Martin has been hard on them. So if you know anyone or if you yourself have thought about serving God in this ministry, let's talk. If you would like to know more about how you can get involved, email me and I can connect you with Monika and/or Elizabeth.
Also, the orphanage is in dire need of a new second hand car. They currently have a small van that is in constant need of repair. It is neither safe or reliable. So I'm hoping to have a fundraiser event while I'm back in NZ. However, if you would like to donate to the orphanage please email me and we can go from there. Jean.Ng86@gmail.com
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Children playing in the front courtyard of the orphanage.
No fancy toys round here.. just a bamboo stick :)
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| In my last week, Monika repainted the walls in the main hall of the orphanage and wanted to do a painting to signify the Good Shepherd Orphanage. With the help of the kids, I took the project on as my way of contributing to the orphanage. |
5.3 Bong Paoun Update
From my previous blog, I talked about getting involved with the Big Brother/Sister, Young Brother/Sister Project. Over the last few months, much has happened. Well, it feels like a lot, but yet it is far from where it could be.
Chendra (13) and Srey Nit (10) have started attending school. However, there have been times where they've skipped class for several reasons. Srey Nit often misses class because she has to look after her baby brother while her mum goes to sell at the markets. The Bong Paoun Project found a child care center for the baby, so that Srey Nit can go to school, however, the baby didn't seem fond of the center so the mother decided to withdraw from it, and hence force Srey Nit to look after the baby. The sad news is that the mother is again pregnant.. Chendra however is more promising. His enthusiasm has won him pencils and coloured paper at sunday school. I hope he'll continue to go to school. They both seem to enjoy going to school, but family circumstances have often staggered their attendance.
Building a relationship with these children has not been a walk in the park. Mainly because of the language barrier. It's been extremely frustrating. They come up to me and speak to me, but I didn't understand.. I felt so helpless.. Good thing for me, is that I did have the help of Web Essentials staff and my partner Sophea who would pay a visit with me either at lunch times or after work. They would be my translators. There were times when I wanted to go by myself, but knew that it was almost pointless because I couldn't understand what they were trying to say...
On Sundays, we would ride a tuk-tuk together to church. This was an exciting time for the children as they treated each tuk-tuk ride as an excursion. Most of the time, other children in the slum would want to come along... on one occasion, 9 children sat with me in a tuk tuk and Sophea led the way in front on her moto! It was great to see how much joy they had riding a tuk-tuk through town. I think they enjoyed Sunday school.. though not all the children did. Some, like any other child refused to participate. They would get distracted and often complain about being hungry...which is totally understandable given their circumstances..So after each service, we would stop by a local vendor to buy a pack of rice with slices of grilled chicken/pork and cucumbers for $0.75-$1.
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Many children from the slum are eager to ride in the Tuk Tuk to go to New Life Fellowship Church on Sundays.
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| Srey Nit with her pack of rice after church on Sunday. She dreams of being a doctor to heal her parents from sickness one day. |
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| Chendra (13) and his younger sister Srey Pouv (12) |
A a few days before I was to fly out, I found out that Chendra and his family had moved to another slum area. My partner Sophea and I was led by some of the other children to the area of his new home, but we couldn't find him. I was hoping that the new area would be an upgrade from the current Boeng Trabek slum, but from the look/smell of it, it wasn't any better. So it's sad that I didn't get to say goodbye to him.. but I'm sure I'll get to see him again one day.
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Slum area where one of our paouns (Chendra) and his family moved to.
Toilets go straight down into the Black River.. |
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| Children rummaging through the rubbish along the Black River near Chendra's new house. |
5.4 A Silhanoukville Wedding
On my last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of my good friends Nathan and Priscilla. If you recall, Nathan is how I came to Cambodia. My initial time was volunteering at Hagar Catering & Restuarant where he's the GM. In the course of less than a year, he found his one true love, stratigized an engagement that involved an elephant and a boat cruise down the riverfront, and with Priscilla planned the most beautiful beach wedding! I have to give props to you Pris! I think it was clear that you did most of the planning and arrangements :)
I think it helps that I already love Silhanouk.. It's a beach town, 4+ hour bus ride away and on the southern coast of Cambodia. Having grown up with a beach just a few minutes drive away at home, I thoroughly missed the ocean when living in Phnom Penh, so it was great to feel the freshness of a sea breeze again. A few of our close friends from PP joined the wedding which made it even more fun.
The wedding was amazing! Elegant + Simple = Stunning. The notion of beach weddings have always appealed to me.. I mean, who wouldn't think so after flicking through the glossy spreads in bridal magazines.. I had never been to a beach wedding before... and after this experience I think it's confirmed.. beach weddings are the way to go - more specifically beach weddings in a tropical country... Haha - I'm allowed to dream aren't I ? :P
I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my last weekend in Cambodia. Good friends + wedding + beautiful beach = good times!
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| The newly wedded Mr and Mrs Chan |
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| Beautiful bride Priscilla and her Papa |
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| The man of the hour Nathan Chan with the Phnom Penh girls :) |
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| Love this bamboo alter made specially for the wedding |
5.5 Farewell
Before I knew it, it was time to say good bye.. I think that's the worse part about living overseas.. it's saying goodbye.. and as much as I would like to keep all my friendships, the reality is that you're bound to lose touch with some people. It's sad, but it's true.
So to say goodbye, I had a boat party along Phnom Penh's Riverside. The river front is lined with small boats ready to hire for $25/hr. It used to be only $14.. or even lower if you had your bargaining skills honed.. but anyways, it was a fun evening. Friends and colleagues all joined together this one night as we floated up and down the river. For some it was their first time on a boat, so it wasn't just a special occasion for me, but for them too.
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I don't know why they were screaming.. but it seemed fun so I joined in.. AHHH!!
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Mimi (US), me (NZ), Deen (US) and Socheaya (CMB) trying to strike a Khmer pose..
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Just before leaving for the airport I got to say bye to the kids from the Boeng Trabek slums
Oh New Zealand.. what I love about you is that you almost never change.. haha. It's a week since my return and I must say, life here is good.. I would say almost perfection.. an evening walk to the beach with my mum yesterday again confirmed just how blessed we are to live here. It's such a peaceful, tranquil country.. with sheep grazing on green rolling hills and hobbits frolicking around.. (jk). I've come to appreciate so many things that I took for granted before I left.. like how clean the streets are, how safe I feel walking around my neighbourhood, to see the clear blue sky and twinkling mars and jupitar at night... I love that there's no mosquitos biting my face in the middle of the night.. and not being covered with dust every time set foot outside the house... not having bugs fly into my face while driving along the road.. not feeling sweaty after being outside for more than 5 mins.. haha those are things I will not miss about Camboland.. :P I've come to the conclusion that NZ is a nice country yes, but it's not for me. I feel like I have a greater purpose somewhere outside of these islands... I'm thinking China as my next stop :) Even my folks are thinking about going to China.. and my oldest brother too.. so who knows.. perhaps the Ng family will be in China very soon.. :) But Jean you're already 25? Isn't it time to think about settling down? Oh no my friend.. it's not time.. not yet.. :P I'm not sure when I'll go back to Cambodia.. I want to go back to visit, but I'm not sure if I can commit to working on a long term basis.. I really want to polish up my mandarin and head over to the mainland. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do, but I'm open to new opportunities. One option is to teach english. I've yet to connect with people in China.. but we'll see. I know God will open doors. So that's all for now.. it's been an amazing journey and thanks to those who have followed me along the way and supported me financially and through prayer. This is not the end, but the beginning of something new :) I leave you with some photos I recently took of kiwiland.
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| Quite Stunning isn't it? taken from Okura Hills, 20mins north of my house |
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| I arrived home on my 25th birthday and celebrated with my family at a Japanese Restaurant |
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Not a big fan of sake, but the cups are fun @.@
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Kevan (oldest bro) has a talent of flying backwards :D
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Also Okura Hills.. Auckland is known to experience 4 seasons in one day |
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Kevan is a plane... :D
Til me meet again!
Jeanie |
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