It has arrived...

...fall, that is. I'm still wondering why spring and summer are no longer around. Spending the year in limbo, with no set schedule and each day looking very much like the ones before and after it, has left me with a floating sense of time. But, with fall just beginning, I am still hopeful that I'll be in Cambodia before it wraps up. On that topic, things continue to get closer. My one-time funds have been officially in for a couple of weeks now--good progress! And as the one-time funds continue to grow and overflow, they help build up my monthly funds as well, which are now at 90% of what I need. So close! Support raising is now a manner of trying to find just a few more committed people.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy some apple cider (we've even found an orchard where we can press our own!) and switch from mowing the lawn to raking up leaves. Maybe I'll even do something involving a pumpkin--the good old orange American kind, because once I'm in Asia the common pumpkins are smaller and a bluish-white color (although luckily still tasty :) ). The other highlight of fall in country Colorado is the opportunity to drive by local farms that cater to harvest-themed entertainement: corn mazes, pumpkin patches, tractor trains, and so on. One of these farms has the added excitement of a giant inflatable "creature"--reportedly, for those so inclined, you can walk through the creature from mouth to tail and even enjoy the gurgling sounds of digestion during that part of your journey. Any takers?

Grab the Popcorn

I've been in the mood lately to watch movies--which I suppose means I should go rent something. But--just in case you also wouldn't mind watching a movie or two, here's a few video clips from Cambodia :)

Here's a clip during a church service at the KFC Church in Anlong Veng. Anlong Veng, you may recall, is the town I'll be spending most of my time in in northern Cambodia. And while the church is called KFC--sorry, no fried chicken involved: KFC stands for Kampuchea For Christ (Kampuchea is the name of Cambodia in Khmer, the Cambodian language). I had the chance to attend this church service while I was in Anlong Veng in April for the staff training session. Currently, less than .5% of Cambodia's population is Christian, so churches are not highly common. However, I believe that there are several KFC churches throughout the country, one of which is the one that happens to be in Anlong Veng. The service was conducted in Khmer, including the songs. In the early 1900's, the Christian and Missionary Alliance had a missionary presence in Cambodia, and one of those missionaries used a number of traditional songs and tunes as the basis for a Cambodian hymn book. That hymn book is still in common use among the country's Christian gatherings.

FH's work in Cambodia is centered in Anlong Veng, which has a population of about 10,000 in a province that has numerous small villages. The villages surrounding Anlong Veng are where FH is involved in deveopment work. This clip shows some village homes on either side of a road, where I happen to be "filming" from the back of a moving motorcycle. You'll see the back of the driver of the moto, John Tuggy--country director for FHCambodia.

Update on the Latest

Sorry, no pictures this time, just a quick update on where things stand! As of this week, my support needs are down to about $400 a month and only $2000 in one time funds--great! Things continue to progress, which is good, and which is also an encouragement--although I am also sitting down today to make the official list of all the details I need to take care of before I actually head out: go to the dentist, get things squared away at my bank, buy a new suitcase, etc. etc. I am hoping to head out around the end of September or thereabouts. August has been the month of fundraisers--two picnic/donation events, one garage sale and one more this weekend, and a book sale organized at my home church. Those have all contributed to bringing my one-time needs almost to completion! And that's that--nothing else too exciting to report on!

"Hmmm, what should I blog about this time? Let's see, what pictures haven't I used yet?...Oh, transport, perfect!"

So here you go :) Yes, motorcycles (motos for short) are quite the common and practical mode of transport in Cambodia, and yes, I will have one myself. And yes, as you can see in the picture, helmets are available and I will have one.

While many people in Cambodia's cities have cars or trucks, these modes of transport are very expensive to buy, due largely to import taxes of easily up to 100% of purchase price (no auto manufacture exists in Cambodia). So car and truck ownership is limited to those that can afford it. Many people own small motorcycles instead--a good option pricewise, and also good for weaving around traffic and potholes and parking in small spaces. Motos are not always affordable, either, though--a good number of people travel by bicycle. And in addition there are public transport options such as buses, taxis, and the ever-available tuk-tuk: a small cart that seats 2-4 (or 6 or 8, if there are children involved or Cambodians who are good at creatively seating many people in little room) which is pulled by--what else, a motorcycle.

Motos are also readily used to transport more than individuals--anything that can be lashed or balanced on the seat is game. Motos can often double as pick-up trucks, minivans, ambulances (why not drive home

with your IV on a pole?), or the options below:

Getting Closer, and D for D....

So--on my official support report from earlier today (I get them once a week), I am now at exactly 70% of my monthly support needs! And in a close second, I have 68% of my one-time funds. So what does this mean? It means that I need another $702 pledged each month, as well as a little over $8,000 more in one-time funds. Compared to my total needs ($2330 each month, and $25,600 one-time), these remaining needs are a little more palatable. So, while I still have some progress to make, it is encouraging to be this far.

And D for D...that would be Discipling for Development, the approach to development that is in the process of being implemented in Cambodia. Community development seems like a simple concept at first glance: some communities do not have their basic needs met, so through "development" these needs are provided for. Upon seeing the problem of an unmet need, the most obvious solution seems to be the following: those who have give to those who have not.

However, while simply providing for a need (giving food, water, shelter, education, healthcare, etc.) does meet the need for the moment, it rarely addresses the longterm nature of the need.

This is where D for D comes in. Discipling for Development is an approach that was constructed by Mission:Moving Mountains, which is a ministry of the Navigators, a well-known Christan evangelistic organization. This is how M:MM describes D for D on their website : "Discipling for Development® is a ministry that helps people in community to become all God intends them to be. This is a God-empowered, relational process, in which experienced facilitators assist the people of a community to grow in their ability to solve problems and to reproduce this process in other communities. Ongoing transfomation of individual and collective thought and behavior results in personal growth and improvement of community (health, agriculture, water, and relationships) for the glory of God" .(http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/movingmountains/)

Did you catch all that? :) Traditionally, development has simply been the process of providing resources (which a community may not want, feel they need, understand how to use, or feel ownership of). With an approach such as D for D, the process of meeting needs is different. The community is enable to define and recognize their own needs, and decide on how to meet these needs. Then the community is able to meet their immediate AND future needs.

Lots of big concepts to try to grasp! It's a lot for myself and the Cambodian FH staff to grasp as well. So, several individuals from the Navigators will be doing ongoing training for the FHCambodia staff in D for D over the next few years. One of these training sessions took place when I was in Cambodia in April. The following pictures show some FHCambodia staff during these training sessions.

Say Hello!

So the tidbits from Cambodia continue...just like in any culture, Cambodian culture has typical ways to greet people. For us Americans--we have the "Hey, how's it going?," a smile, maybe a handshake and some small talk. In Cambodia, a greeting is often accompanied by a gesture (as seen above) called a sampeyar. Similar gestures are used in cultures in India and elsewhere in Asia. In Cambodia, the hands are held flat, with palms together, in front of the center of the body. This is done by both the greeter and the person or people being greeted, often at the same time, and often while words of greeting are spoken (the equivalent of our "Hello, how are you? I'm fine"). There are many subtle variations of the gesture: holding the hands at chin level, at nose level, at forehead level, bowing the head slightly or bowing to a greater or lesser extent from the waist. These variations are meant to convey differences in respect, based on the relative positions of the greeter and greetee in society. You show more respect to those who have a higher position than you, and less to those below you. In general, the higher the hands are held and the deeper the bow, the more respect is being shown. For example, an child greeting an adult would hold the hands higher on their body. The variations are subtle and take time for an outsider to learn. This may seem complex, but consider our own culture: we greet people differently based on whether they are old friends or new aquaintances, our boss or those we supervise, family members or restaurant wait staff. These differences are subtle as well and are difficult for outsiders to categorize: how brightly should you smile? give a handshake or a hug? a delicate hug or a bearhug? should the person be addressed as sir or m'am, or not? do you greet an individual differently than a group? what variations are acceptable for personal preferences?

One of the challenges of entering a new culture is realizing just how much of our lives and actions are dictated by culture--and how differently things can be organized in each culture. Entering a new culture requires one to relearn all their cues for how to live--from the subtleties of how to greet someone or say goodbye, to traffic laws and shopping etiquette. Adjusting to the loss of familiar cultural cues and struggling to learn a vast set of new ones leads to what is commonly called culture shock or culture stress. This learning goes deeper than learning a new set of behaviors--values and worldviews are vastly different in each culture as well. Entering a new culture brings these deeper differences to the forefront, and brings up many questions as well: do I value something only because of my culture? Does my original value mesh or clash with the values of my new culture? Is either of these values consistent with Biblical values, or both, or neither, or something in between? and so on.

Dance, dance...

For your viewing enjoyment...a little video of Cambodian dancing! This was the last night of the FHCambodia staff retreat, at the end of my second week in the country. After a big and tasty banquet, it was time to party! Karaoke and dancing are a common way to celebrate in Cambodia--at events such as this one, at weddings--we even danced a few times as a fun break during our staff training the week before. The hand gestures you see here are based on traditional Khmer dance movements. Called "apsara," the movements are highly controlled and symbolic when done formally. Less formally, if you want to join in--walk around the room in a circle with everyone else, and copy the hand and feet movements, and you'll fit right in. Khmer dancing is similar to dances done in Thailand and Laos, and representations of the movements are found carved in the ancient Cambodian ruins at Angkor Wat. If you are curious, you can check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_classical_dance

Another video clip with more dancing and the karaoke setup: