THIS is what my God does.

In June 2011, I shared L’s story about her husband who left her for another woman, taking all their savings, motorbike and even the son’s bicycle to pay off gambling debts. I was amazed by L’s determination to hold onto God through this time and continued to walk with her through the ups and downs of the following months.

Seven months on, I think it is time to share with you the miracles that L has seen within her own family.

Despite L’s consternation about his motives, her husband began attending church. She refused to sit with him at first because her 3 month separation hadn’t yet concluded. Yet, the leaders of the church could perceive real repentance within him and after much encouragement from them, L begrudgingly accepted him back after only 6 weeks.

The following months haven’t been easy for her. Rebuilding trust is excruciating business. But, now when I ask L about her husband, she has a wonderful contented smile.

He is regularly going to church and reading his Bible. He is far more attentive towards the children and is involved in their learning. Following 4 months of unemployment (after being fired for not being able to pay off his debt to his employer), he is starting work today in an administration role.

He is a changed man who is reconciled to his family and determined to walk a new path. As L says, “It is more than I could have hoped for or imagined”.

THIS is what my God does.

School holiday ideas

It's a three week break from school over Christmas and I'm enjoying the time with the kids. However, I'm not the most creative Mummy around and so when the whining started yesterday I was a little stuck. My ideas for setting goals for the holidays for learning a new skill etc didn't go down so well.

Then, this morning my eldest came to me with an idea. "Mum, can you set us some challenges like the neighbours do with their kid?"

I was delighted and started wtih the most obvious challenge.. "Great! Let's get your room organised and clean".

"Aw Mum. He gets to do fun things like smashing a huge block of ice with a spoon".

My practical mind couldn't comprehend the use of that one.. so we compromised. "How about cleaning the car?" It had all the elements of fun with a practical outcome. And it was only going to cost me a lolly each.

Over an hour later, they are off on another challenge set by themselves and approved by me. Running laps on our rooftop.. distance set according to age and has the double benefit of "training" for an upcoming sports day.

I wonder what they will come up with next while I thank God for creative Moms (yes, she's American) who inspire and challenge us in our own role at home.

I'm not sure if anyone checks this blog anymore as I've been silent for so long.. but I'd be keen to hear any other creative holiday ideas.

Cake not crisis

I haven't blogged for a while. School holidays means that there are plenty of life sharing and stories but my little ones are not so keen on their exploits being exploited. But a new school year has begun and I find myself with a little more space to take a moment to share life.

This time, it's another photo. Steve turned 40 in July and his one request was a cake from Bloom. This was the result. Aren't those girls talented???

His surprise present from me was a book with a whole bunch of messages and photos from friends over the years. As the messages came in, it was humbling to be reminded of the impact of his life on those around him and to recognise this is only a small token compared to the lives he has changed through his healing hands.

He tells me that there is no better place than in the center of God's will... and he tells me he's not joining the mid-life crisis club anytime soon.

Phew! I'm safe for a few more years!

The dangers of being overweight

A photo by Steve of someone having trouble with a heavy back-end.

The story behind the bronze...

My name, bronze medal and 8km run should not really appear in once sentence. But add inaugural, 36-45yo women and Phnom Penh and maybe it begins to make sense. With very few women here running (or even playing sport in general) beyond their teens, a 37 year old woman pounding the pavement is very rare indeed. Then add school holidays and you’ve lost half the foreigners who might compete, and there you have it - me on the podium. Ha!

Our Christian Care for Cambodia team must be an oddly active bunch because we cleaned up the entire medal count for the women’s 36-45 category – Becky Sussex coming in first, Catherine Rogers coming in second and me. Pip Miner, our running legend from Poipet, took out first place for the entire 8km women's event and Dave Painter (later interviewed by tv reporters because of his impressive run and obvious “age”) ran a great half marathon.

Each place getter took home money (I got $12.50), a great basket of fruit and foodstuffs, two coffee mugs, 5 pens, two notebooks, a bunch of brochures, and of course, the medal. While standing on the podium was a buzz, the highlight of the morning was being asked by some local girls to have their photo with me - a place getter.

Still laughing…

Bronze

A bronze medal with Olympic rings on it is something I never thought I would see in our house. Stay tuned for more photos and the full story...

How hard can it be?

Steve often arrives home from work exhausted and flakes out on the couch until dinner – woe to anyone who disturbs the couch rest (ok, that’s an exaggeration but it sounded good). For the last four months, he has been treating patients four days a week in a room at Mercy Medical Center on the other side of town and it has been draining the life from him.

Really, you ask. Only four days a week? How hard can that be?

I must admit that I’ve wondered that too. But over the months, the stories come out and now I think he’s a bit of a champion (even if he is a growling bear at times).

Picture this.

Each morning Steve rides half an hour across town on his chugging old Dealim motor scooter, trying to avoid the other motorists who seemed determined to kill him. As he sits at a set of lights alongside a beat-up truck belching smoke, he tries not to think of the research that shows that Phnom Penh air is five times more polluted than Bangkok – heck even the air is trying to kill him!

Arriving at work without any signs of outward harm, he has no idea what the day will bring. Although he has a number of patients already booked in, the hot-house of a room at Mercy Medical Center comes without air-conditioning but with a condition to also treat patients referred by the doctors there. As these patients are often from the countryside, he must see them immediately before they make the long journey home.

Did I casually mention patients from the countryside? These patients are the most difficult Steve has even seen. Not only are their physical complaints compounded by years of neglect, they are often illiterate and poorly educated. For Steve this means that their spoken Khmer does not resemble anything we’ve ever been taught and their understanding of concepts of tendons, ligaments and other fanciful physiological imaginations is zip. Symptoms are often masked also by the general complaints of dizziness, headaches and full body aches which more than likely relate to dehydration or years of MSG use, but can’t be ignored by a physio. And rather than exercises, these patients would much prefer a cure-all tablet (wouldn’t we all) so as Steve sends them back to the countryside he has serious doubts about the productivity of his last hour or so.

While he probably won’t see these patients from the countryside again, he has many regular patients who have really grasped onto the value of physiotherapy and his appointments are in demand. He frequently has patients calling at all hours demanding, begging and clamoring to be seen. It’s enough to cause the normally gentle Steve to speak harshly and refuse treatment for those who continue to pressure him.

However, physiotherapy in general is a poorly valued service in Cambodia. Steve estimates that there are only around 350 physiotherapists in Cambodia (approx. one for every 30,000 people) and these have been only trained to a Diploma level. Unlike Australia, physiotherapy does not attract the best and brightest but ranks lower than nursing.

It’s something he’s working on.

For the last few months, he has one or two Khmer physiotherapists shadowing him as he treats patients, asking questions and learning treatment techniques. They work at a local hospital in the mornings and follow him around in the afternoons. Steve actually enjoys teaching but into the afternoon the room heats up to unbearable levels and he is often weary from the morning patient load. He is concerned that he often doesn’t have much energy to teach these guys but they seem happy enough with the scraps that he can give and keep coming anyway.

But training has been a significant part of his work for the past five years through his involvement in the Physiotherapy Upgrade Training Program. This program is supported by Singapore General Hospital who provided the funding and lecturers while Steve supervisors the clinical training. As the program has progressed, the top graduates have gained further training in Singapore and are now virtually running this year themselves.

But the last two weeks, Steve has been helping out by lecturing on the lower limb for the 5^th promotion of this program. And he has been a different man. Teaching in aircon only minutes from home really makes a difference. I visited the Physio School the other day and found a patient, clear and even joking Steve working with a bunch of physiotherapists keen to upgrade their skills.

It was a pleasure to watch and I’m no longer afraid to approach the couch of an afternoon. (ok another exaggeration). Next week, he is back in the clinic, supervising two to three physios at a time as they apply the skills they have learnt over a full working week - it's a seriously tough job