Teams and Travelers

I have a few teams lining up and some people making trips by themselves.
If you interested at all in making a trip please get in contact with us and I can help you connect with some one if you wish to travel as a group.

Here are dates for groups or individuals that are planning their trip.
from USA Nov 1 2009
from USA Dec 18 2009
from USA Jan ? 2010
from USA July-Aug 2010
from Germany Sept 2010
from USA Oct 2010
from USA 2 trips with dates unknown

Quite often you can find tickets for $700.


I was looking online at our fish that we raise. I found that it can grow over 600 pound and 6 feet long in as little as 6 years. I am not sure we will keep it that long as I think he will put a crimp in our budget. We'll keep him s long as he eats for free and does not eat the children.














I am pretty happy with our children right now. We in the past tried to do a work project with the kids where they have their garden raise vegetables and sell them to make some spending money. Well back then our dirt was pretty bad almost all clay. It was too much work for them and nothing really grew. Back then they where making more money picking up nails from the construction than they where in the garden.

This year we assigned the animals we have to groups of children they are responsible for the animal and make a share when the animal produces or goes to market.

It was only this last month that the children started saving their money to do something with it rather than spend it on snacks or toys.
They started to buy their own animals to raise and sell. Mostly chickens while one girl bought a pair of ducks. It is fun they are buying their own seed and some have chosen to free graze their animals. One boy spent all his money on chicks but he rode home with them tied up in a black plastic bag. They did not last long one he got them home. So he waited until his next allowance and went out and bought 2 more chicks and handled them a little differently the second time.
During their free time the kids take their birds out and walk them around our property.
It is funny that all our teenage boys have become little mothers.

So in a couple months they will sell their chickens make a profit and do something else, maybe the same or maybe a bigger animal. The children are also requesting to grow gardens again but in a different area.

It is quite exciting for us as it take the burden of how much money to give the children. We give them so little and lots of time they want more. So now they have finally taken the mater into their own hands.
Also most people I speak to are concerned about the children becoming institutionalized, not knowing how to operate in the world once they leave here. So I am happy and kind of confident that they will not be helpless when they leave. They will no doubt have some problems when they leave but not as many as people might think.

Also some of our children who have been learning music have begun to teach others how to play. Really cool for me to see.
It is almost like I could leave today and they would continue doing the work by themselves. Very exciting.

part B of our Summer.

8 new bicycles in the middle was recently donated by a friend in Anaheim Cali. The 5 older bikes on the left and the group to the left with the sad face are still walking to school.














Pastor Tuy, friends and family from Anaheim Cali. Stopped by for the day. We had a really great time with them. It was also nice to have a connection from our Anaheim friends make their first visit.









Around the 18th of August our pond was very low, almost 4 feet. By early September it is near over flowing again. It is nice when to have more water than you know what to do with.

During the this summer we had hoped to get the children off the property a little more. We where trying to make connections with other NGO's that offer training. We have one NGO who trains people better home making skills and one NGO that teaches better farming skills.
But it did not work out this year. We will try again next year.

We did however get the children to a ma who lives fairly close to us. We heard about him on the Christan radio. He has taken all the NGO advice he can and has put it into practice. I found him him to be a very impressive man.
So we made arrangements for our children to go and learn for part of the day.

They learned how to raise earth worms. I had looked on line before how to do it and it was a major project with materials and things, mainly wood which is harder for us to get or use.
Besides the worms ability to repair our soil they will feed all of our animals from the fish to the pigs and everything in between. Pretty soon we will have high protein diets for every thing.
Mostly our big kids went to this class, girls to.































Shortly after our kids made their own pit to start farming earth worms. We will start pretty small and if every thing works out we will enlarge it to actually produce enough worms to use for the animals and the property.














He also showed us how to micro farm a smaller bread of catfish. The children are very excited about this. They eat the worms and termites. The net is to keep them from walking away, when it rains this type of catfish crawls away.














A gardener looks on as the teacher is going to put the worms on the dinner plate.














He also had some larger catfish like ours.













Plus he had 2 ponds for Talapia.













Then he showed us his gas tank. This tank located next to the bathroom takes the animal waste and collects the gases from it and it is used for lighting and cooking. He has had his tank for 3 years and it feeds gas to 3 houses with about 15 people.














Gas lantern













This is the area where the left over waste is collected and reused for the gardening.
I did not think it smelled bad I guess because the stink was already burnt off.

















Te-a and Tee looking after their litters. We had like 81 piglet this year, the bad weather made it a bit challenging to keep them healthy but we made it. The next litters should be born in better part of the year. We also have an appointment to visit a real pig farm where the kids will get real information and we will see how to do things better so next year we will hopefully deal with less illness.














Though our pond was pretty low we got some plants growing in there. Which was great for our echo system. We have and incredible amount of life in there that the children like to eat. We only planted the large cat fish everything else came from some where else maybe dropped off a birds foot or something.













We also have a lot of these really colorful frogs living in the pond.













Six and a half pounds now. During the dry season we empty the pond and its fish to dig out any mud that has fallen in. So we put the largest fish in mother in-laws pond once and a while they are caught and we put them back in our pond. We think we will just keep letting these grow.













We had a boat building contest.
Judged on looks and performance.













What I was most surprised was by the amount of creativity there was and some real design.
Most of them had and old shoe as the body but they added sails and paddles and all kinds of things they thought would work.
Vuthy looked and worked well.

















Chow got second for looks but quickly sank. The wholes in the bottom and not having any sides made it more of a submarine.

















Channee ad Melor a group effort paid off. They got third for beauty but number 1 for performance. The made a rubber band propeller and a sail that worked great.








































































































I was looking at windmills to use here awhile ago. The only ones I could find we really expensive. Then shortly after I made an information request on face book. Ream saw one on the way home. Every time we drive by it now it is umping water. What is great is that it is drawing a large crowd. Hopefully this means some change in the area.











































Back in the trees. I had the though that this would make a better picture. How ever our children look so small compared to the building. I was hoping they would line the balconys.
I also I got extreemly sick. The wind was so bad I almost got sick up there and I had a head ache for 3 days.













It does give some of you a better perspective of how large the building is. This is about 30 of our children out there boys on top and girls on bottom.













We did also make it to the Zoo again but my memory card dumped so no picture.
My sister took some so when we get her copies I will post them.

Thanks to though who supported our Summer activies this year. I am sure the sponsors will hear about it in their next letters.

Summers coming to and end

We did quite a few things this summer.
I will have to load some more pictures soon so lets call this part A.

Part A consist of the Vacation Money Donated to us this year, and we put it to a good use.
First we stopped at the Genocide Center known better as the KILLING FIELDS.
The children know very little about this or what went on just a few years ago.

The grand parents understandably do not talk about it and they do not really have parents to share with them.
They need to know and understand a little of what their country suffered. For one so they do not repeat it and two they know why their country has so many problems. One and two equals three and that is you and me. Do they even know why I am here or why this place is our chosen interest.

By the way our youngest children went to the play ground. While we walked through the newly remodeled site.














The fresh rains always opens the grounds to the past.
I have been here a few times when opportunity for good impressionable photographs present themselves.
I often wonder why they do not just clear out the entire place picking up the bones and teeth, but I suppose it would not make the same impact as it does.
This a common picture from this genocide site with clothing, arm or leg bones and teeth.
The shell casings were a new find for me this time. It is kind of for me a more real connection to the fact that these people were killed. It is not just a grave site it is a crime scene.













From the Killing Fields we went to the Toul Sleng museum where most of the people were taken from and killed in the fields.


























Later that day after lunch and a rest we went to the skate park.
For parents you remember perhaps the time to helped your child learn to ride a bike or roller skate. It is scary your so nervous for them that they will get hurt. Well times that by 35. I though Ream was nuts. I was so sure we would go to the hospital next. God bless the group that chose not to skate. How ever it turned out okay, only one injury a slight wrist sprang.
Melor was skating barely when a girl came fling in and they went flying. I saw it all in slow motion so I remember it well. She first with her left hand hit his chest grabbing his shirt midway. As she continued to push past her hand clinched Melors' shirt and ripped it wide open buttons every where. They both did a little spin and Melor ended up on bottom and she on top. She was quite embarrassed and quickly got up and skated away with her face covered.
Melor how ever was extremely stunned. He has no idea what happened or by who. He did not even know his shirt was wide open.

While is was kind of funny the poor look on Melors' face was so sad it just made me want to hug him and say it was okay.

















So this is a we are having a lot of fun picture.







































How ever most of the time it looked like this. Half the skate floor was covered by AGHO kids falling down or in some strange way trying to get up again.


















Kim was kind enough to get out there and give some more lesson.































The next day it was a newly discovered water park out in the middle of a jungle.
This was a blast completely fun all day long.














Mommy on the Zip line



























Tee on the line

















My high speed really comes in handy.

















Lim saying high to the sky.


























Our staff Phon taking the plunge. She got pretty beat up today. She rode the raft with me one time bounce around and flipped over and that was her last ride.













Sedung and Te-a













Sam coming off the slide.













A really nice set up for Cambodia I was impressed.













Melor and Tee













Tee got stuck and had to walk out.













Vuthy and looks like Channee













Channee













Nite and Chan Chow













Chi













Vuthy and feet

















With a good push and a little lift you can get a lot of air.













Needless to say we had an incredible day and can't wait until next year.

Post B soon will have more educational part of our summer.