4 boys

Out front for staff photos

Darow (Row) is eight and in the second grade. He is from the same village as Channee, which was helpful because he did not want to be here and when he saw Channee every thing changed.
He came with the pants and 2 shirt he was wearing with no shoes.

Normaly the Khmer family will dress up to go any where no matter what.

If it means leaving the property Ream puts makeup on.

So to see the state of this boy and his grandma was very different.

But he is wonderful and starts school Tuesday.

Channee came 11-24

Channee is 13 and is in the 5th grade. His grandma has cared for him since his was 2. Her heath is failing and she wanted him to be better care for. She said the last meal together was rice porridge. She told us he take care of her, he works the garden and catches fish to sell. We are told they live in a bamboo shack on someone else land. It was hard for her to give him to us because he is all she has but she knows this is the write thing.

Unlike previous grandma's we have met she is thinking about his future.

Ream and I are going top put money though her church for her to make up for Channee being gone.

If any one would like to do this for us that would be fine.

We can not give it to her directly. We can't have any money pass that would be thought of as buying a child. But we believe her sacrifice should be softened. It really helped Channee to know someone was going to help support her, so eh could think about himself now.

Bow came 11-09

Bow story was in an earlier blog about his family eating mushrooms.
Melor came 11-09

Melor and Chan Chow are wonderful boys, you can see it in Chan s' face. He always has a cute little smile. Melor is very responsible and caring. He will be a great help to the other boy who come.
Chan chow came 11-09

Chan and Melor playing horse shoes

Bow, Chan, Melor, and Reams cousin playing
Bow and Chan getting ready for bed.

3 boys

We have been a little busy.
We accepted 3 boy November 9.
Two of the boys are brothers and real sweet ones. They are very kind, smart, polite and shy. They where being raised by there Grandpa who leads a cell church in the village.

Our 3rd boy is sweet as well, but needs to be loved and nurtured.

He lost 5 of his family members at dinner. They ate some poison mushrooms by mistake.
He and 2 sisters where not there to eat dinner.
He spent some time begging when he was 5 or so.
He was fund by a man who started a near by school. He lived with him for a little while until he died. A second care taker also died.

The family that brought him to us has 4 of there own children and could not continue to care for him. He spends most of his time watching the cow in the field and staying up late watching soaps with the family. His school is behind because of all the free time he has had the last 3 years he day dreams a lot.

Ream and I have extra classes for the children to pick up where the teachers here fail.
The last three home works he has gotten A's on he was so happy.
We also told him we would have to hold him a grade if he does not try his hardest.

Then we where told that the teachers and the school will not do this because they get money from Japan for the children advancing, so no one fails here. We might have to bribe them to hold a child back, what a terrible system.
He is in 4th grade and should be in 2nd.

We teach them Math, English, and the Bible a long with tutoring their other classes.
Think he will catch up. He likes having a good family and is trying hard to do what we ask.
The other day the children where writing thank you letters the their sponsors and he was in tears because he can not write well. I should think his sponsors will be blessed for what they are doing for him.


We have given them some space for them to do a garden and of course there where nails in the dirt from the construction. Every time it rains I clear the yard of the ones that wash to the surface but it has turned out to be a blessing. We held a little economic class and told they would recycle them and would learn how to use the money for church, spending and saving.
They are going to use the money to buy a chicken and sell the eggs.

Ream told me they where so excited about this, she said I would never have to look for nails again.
When their next play time came they where out there coming the grounds.
In 3 days they found about 12 pounds of nails and other scrap.

One child asked if they would have to go home and pick rice this year and Ream said this is your home and we have no rice. He told Ream he wants to go home and stand at the gate of his grandpa 's place while they pick and ask what they are doing. He want to pretend he does not know what rice is. It was funny for him and Ream.

Over all we are tired with less sleep, but the days are fulfilling and meaningful.
We love what we are doing and the children love us for it.

Please pray for the orphans that are trapped by their care takers. We have had 4 enquires about bring some children only to have the care taker keep them. They are selfish and have said so. The care takers are old and make the children care for them. In away I understand their need to have the children's support. But the children also do not go to school and they will grow up to be disadvantage and it creates only more problems for the future.
The challenge here is there is no old home there is no service for the elderly so they cling to the children.
The one boy cooks, cleans, cares for the animals he does every thing for his grandma, which is nice but he is ten and he's not going to school. She might be dead in 5 years and he will have nothing.

I would like to support these types of families and replace their children with a care taker for the old people so they will let the children go to have a better future. We also met a lady here how is trying to start an old home but she only has land so far.

Thank you for your prayers on these things.