Closing out 09

So what happened in 2009 ?

First, we would like to thank those who have made sacrifices to support this year. I am aware that some of our supporters have even lost their homes this year, yet we have not lost their support. We keep this in mind as we use the monies given to us, to use those funds with care.
Thank you.


Well if you have time you should look back over the past blog posts to see the pictures and get more information.

In short; we continued to helped raise 36 children along with 6 other staff.
We accepted 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls throughout the year.
We have 8 children learning and playing music on the drums, piano, guitar, and electric guitar.
11 of the children have been using the computers learning to use Word, Excel and email. 28 of the children are studying English.

On average or children have between 50 to 60 students per class.
29 of our 36 children are placing top ten in their class.
22 of our children have improved their school score on average of 14 places.

VeChi at age 13 skipped 3 grades from being in 3rd grade not knowing his alphabet or how to read or write to being in the 7th grade knowing how to read and write, learning English and playing the guitar is now number 10 in his class.

SreyOwn went from 44th place second years ago to placing number one the last two months.

Needless to say I glow with joy when I get their scores. I am so happy and proud of their work.


We currently own 12 pigs, 9 of them reproducing mothers. We have 10 goats still and 13 turkeys, some rabbits, geese, chickens and fish.

We repaired water damage in the upstairs bathroom.
We are building a small house for our laborer.
We had a bio-digester methane producing waste tank built that replaced most of our propane usage.
We built a worm farm, micro fish farm, and composting area.

Some of our trees we planted from seed have began to produce this year.

We will add tile to the children walls and repaint the interior next year.

Our July Firecracker Golf Tournament was a blessing raising over $12,000. US dollars or their college education. There is another event planned for July 2010.

For the future we hope to expand our properties to build a team house, medical clinic and possible a private school to cope with the over crowding and poor education our children get at the local school.

You can always connect with me via Facebook or emailing us and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Have a wonderful New Year,
Kit

End of the Year

I am sorry the last blog said I would write again soon and it turned out to be longer.
We just have an a lot of things going on right now.














We put some tanks near our pig pen to collect their waste. While I took a break from digging the holes I looked up and noticed this tree frog pinched between a split branch on the tree only a couple feet away..















Our Pastor blessed us again this year with a second trip. The children always request that he play some worship for them. They are really proud of their American Pastor.



















We did celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we do not normally celebrate any holiday, but we certainly enjoyed it. You do not know you miss something until your reminded of how good it was.















One of our many projects happening last month was changing out our planter box. There were to many cobras hiding in the bushes before and the children had a bad habit of braking the branches off. It also really cleaned the yard up and the palms are able to withstand the constant straying of soccer balls.




























Sour Sup I believe related to the Cherimoja fruit, Ream Planted this tree from a seed a couple years ago it is about 8 feet now and bearing it's first fruit this year.



















It's hard to see them but Vuthy has about 5 long bean plants growing.



















Wut's spinach is coming in nice.

































Lim's cucumbers are doing well.











































Our spinach, the geese killed our first batch so we had to start over with a net this time.















We have a verity of water plants growing this year,a real nice ecosystem finally. So much is living in there, much of it we did not stock.















Our lawn mowers at work. Ours put out gas as your uses gas. :)










Were growing some sugarcane this year, a little snack later for the kids. I never realized how long it takes to grow, it's taking for ever.
















This is our worm farm we have been feeding the fowl, fish and pigs with the worms and using the soil for our gardening.

You'll never guess where we are at. Under ground in our new Bio digester or methane converter. It is the only and the last time we'll be able to do this. This system takes out pig waste and captures the gas for our use in the kitchen.
It is saving us 2 to 3 bottles of propane every month now















So we have about 6 cubic meters of space in a large underground dome. The waste is pushed in one side and the old stuff is pushed out the rear for use in the garden. Our 9 pigs produce enough waste to take care of most the cooking we do.


















Sadly the best brick work I have ever seen in Cambodia is buried. It finishes up to look like an igloo here is the rear end of the tank.

To start off we needed a lot of waste a couple tons. Pastor was kind enough to lend a hand in the moving it to the tank during his "vacation". :) A bit of warning to other guest, there is always a Dirty Job here to do.










































That is one big pile. As you can see Tong has had it up to here with this kind of labor.














It's about 6 feet deep here at the exit and maybe nine feet in the center.

We have been repairing the bathrooms as they were not sealed properly, we are lucky as there is not any water damage to the floor.
We will be painting the interior of the building.
We are adding tile to the walls in the children rooms.
We will be making more tables and beds.
We have started a house for our workers to stay on the property.
We are also making a compost pit and a micro cat fish farm.
Oh also we have to seal our gutters the leak into the house.

So we are off to a busy start, but I like projects so it is good for me, keeps me going.

We will be celebrating our Christmas on the 26th all the gifts are bought.
We plan on eating a goat for the holidays but we are having a hard time choosing which one. The biggest male is the one who needs to go because he is getting mean but he is also our biggest and best breeder. The other males are half his size.

We plan on learning how to grow two different types of mushrooms and we still have a chicken farm to visit, plus we found a lady raising crayfish. I have been wanting to do this for a while as shrimp sells for $5 a pound here but no one raises crawdads which are easier and can live with out water.

We have a visitor coming for 3 months January 27 please keep her trip in prayer that it will go smoothly and comfortable, as she is a young lady traveling by herself for the first time to a foreign country.

I will really try and not let the month go by before we post again.

Kit

P.S. I will have some very nice photos of the children soon. We have a professional photographer Erica Simon from New York going to drop by. This should be a treat for the children and their sponsors early February .