So long awaited pictures

Early January our children received shoe boxes from Samaritan Purse Via Assembly of God in Takeo. My sister who was spending the week with us has a friend who works at the Las Vegas distribution center and wanted pictures of them getting boxes. So our children got the boxes about a month earlier than the other children at church.

It is a good contact for the future in getting any free left overs.
Anyway they had a blast getting fun little things. These boxes where from Australia.
Oh if I can say putting a picture in the box really makes a difference. The children so badly want to see the faces of people who help them out.
The one boy Darow got one photo and every one pasted it around and around and they teased him because of the little blond girl that was his age. It was much fun.


Melor and Chow brothers both had teeth pulled thank you Calvary Alpine. Chow also got some glasses.


Darow getting his teeth looked at.


The nail brush was though to be for cleaning teeth.

Chow Channee Tate
Sam and Darow feeding the Rabbits. One of Sam's favorite things to do.

Bow
Tea and Tee arrived yesterday and seem to be very good boys. So this brings us up to 9 boy from age 8 to 14.

new year

Hi All,
How are you?
We had a great Christmas with the children. They had school that day so we held activities in the afternoon. We arranged some pants in the shape of a Christmas tree and wrapped candies in tinfoil to hang on the tree.
We had bought a few thing for them about a dollar each child for note books, toys, pencils, pens and playing cards.
We ate some really good curry, they said they where so full that their curries at home never had meat in it. They ate two and three bowls. We confirmed their thoughts about Christmas and let them open their gift bags.
Later we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows, then we let them try smores. The smores where really a sweet cracker the marshmallow and left over chocolate icing from Sam’s birthday cake.
Despite the lack of real ingredients to make the smores they where a big hit.
Melor who did not like the marshmallows plain loved them cooked.
We invited Reams family and their children for the fire. It was a lot of fun for the children to run around like crazy. I also got some great pictures of the building at night.

During this last month Ream and my challenges with the children has been introducing someone to a modern live style, learn English and also trying to get their schooling on track. Three of our children are failing, one is about a C + and one is an A.
We are counseling the older child. He takes 12 classes at one time two each day for six days. His home work is usually very little maybe 10 questions or read a page and he only test once every one or two months.
Ream and I are trying to meet with the school and encourage them to do more or maybe a little different.

We are thankful that the boys have been so gracious to us as we adjust schedules and rules.

We have rotated crops since the rain has stopped. It has been good for us because everyone else has been harvesting rice and not planing we have some vegetables the market does not have.
We have our first cantaloupe growing and a couple of watermelons that look promising.

The four duck we have, have been putting out eggs now we have twelve baby ducks with more on the way.
Our one pig is due in January, we are praying the price rises so we can make a profit.
Pig prices dropped last month as it does once and a while. The price went from twenty dollars to two dollars, which was quite dramatic for many people.

I would really like some of the villagers to learn how to butcher and eat their own pigs. It is unheard of for them to do that here. They don’t really know there is different meat in the pig, they buy it chopped up and eat it.

For those of us who like dark meat they have chickens and duck here that are all black meat and taste wonderful. The ducks are expensive but the chicken are not, reason being the chicken are not popular. People do not like the way they look so they do not buy as much.
It is like dark meat generic and name brand, I like being able to buy a good thing for a cheap price.

The weather has made its change from really hot to not so hot. I was wondering why it seemed so cold in the morning but the thermometer say 80 F. Then I realized we’ve dropped 30 degrees.
That is like 40 and 50 F degrees in America which is cold. So I now understand why people say they get cold here.
I have to say while I was unaware of how valuable the quilts would be.

We have had a few thing around mostly snakes. We have had two in the building and quite a few outside. They have all been different types but none have been poisonous.
We bought a fish tank to put some of these things in so the children could have a safer look.
The last two snakes we caught where water snakes, so we filled the tank and took some fish from the pond. Now we have crabs, frogs, snakes, fish and a few water bug for show.
One of the snakes is half green and half yellow the other is a black and checkered white snake. I am told the black and white one has a stinger on the tail, like a bee sting. I am not brave enough to find out even if I do not believe them.
Any how when I change the animals it is always a big hit, even the neighbors come to see.

We also put a case out that has different things in it. Last month we had a lot of shells from the beach. Now we put a lot of older dollar bills from theirs and near by countries.

Anyway life is good.

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.

Dedication

Pastor Pat Calvary Chapel Fallbrook Present us with the key for the Orphanage.

These beautiful young ladies are from the Christian school Ream's sister in-law runs.
They do dances as fundraisers and really help the day to feel like a cerimony.
I would not have thought to hire them but I am sure glad they did.
Reams' cousin is the one kneeling in blue i think Ream said she 13 or some thing like that

This was the kitchen in use for the 150 guest.
Thats Ream back in the purple.
The dinning room was set up so nicely. The decorations where done by Sandy Olsen. When they said Sandy was coming to paint I was a little concerned because Sandys'favorite colors are lime green and purple. But Her tast where perfect for this with out seen it she matched everything wonderfuly.


During the day different villagers have dropped by to view the building many of them stopped to whatch Sandy paint. Again Sandy did a wonderful job and thank you to Jill for all her help in decorating and painting.


Sokon and Whitny