Watch Your Step

Landmines: yes, Cambodia has them. This is another topic I am often asked about. Cambodia actually has quite a few landmines, remnants of years of conflicts between several different factions. Buried in the ground, they were originally intended to kill or maim enemy soldiers or to explode advancing tanks and other heavy equipment. Unfortunately, even though the conflicts are over, the mines are still present and dangerous; they are set off by farmers, animals, or construction traffic. Cambodia today has some of the highest rates in the world for number of amputees (due to landmine injuries) and number of mines in the country. So--the general rule of thumb in rural Cambodia (and most of Cambodia is just that: rural) is to stay on the beaten path. While de-mining operations have been under way for awhile, they are a tedious process, and there is a lot of land that has yet to be made safe. Areas that are known to be heavily mined (particularly along national borders) are often marked, as in this picture.

If you are curious for more information about how the presence of mines impacts life in Cambodia, and how the de-mining process works, check out this recent episode of a show called In Harm's Way about dangerous occupations. It is informative, although I warn you that you'll be getting your info along with a hefty dose of melodrama and suspenseful music :) Here's this link if you want to watch all or part of it (on the right, click on the landmine episode to view it):

http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/in-harms-way

Alaska??

So I never imagined that my itinerary to SE Asia would include a journey via Alaskan Airlines....but such is reality! And having an itinerary means that the good news of course is this--my funding is all in, and I am headed to CAMBODIA! The time has actually come! It has been good to see God's provision throughout this process and now to see His timing as well.

Back to itineraries: I leave exactly four weeks from today, on November 17th (a Monday). I'll leave Denver at 8:00 am to fly to Seattle--this would be the Alaskan portion of the trip (too bad I can't take a side trip up through Anchorage or something :) ). From Seattle I head to Seoul, Korea, via Asiana Airlines, and from there directly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I land in Cambodia around 11:00 pm on Tuesday, the 18th. People always ask how long the trip actually takes, and I have never done the math, but I believe it's right around twenty-four hours of travel. The upside of long flights is that they still serve you food en route, and even for those of us who fly economy class, there are movie, game, tv, and music choices galore to keep us busy when we are not trying to snooze. Anyone who feels inspired can pray that I also get to sit in as many window seats as possible as I travel :)

So yes--the long awaited time is here. God is good. Thanks--many thanks--to all of you for all of your help and support and interest and prayers! Only another month until you get real live Cambodian updates!

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.