Yesterday a neighbour called out to me and told me that she’s off to America at the end of this month (Embassy-willing). Two of her daughters are already there and setting up house. It took an educated guess that the destination she was trying to pronounce was “California” (there are many Khmer already there). They don’t plan on coming back any time soon so I need to stop by soon for a visit to say goodbye.
It is such a common desire. So many friends are keen to leave here and try their luck in the West. We’ve been asked to sponsor a Christian NGO worker to go and pick apples in Australia, leaving his wife and new baby in Cambodia. We refused not out of stinginess but out of a love for them and Cambodia, wondering what would happen to this place if all the Christians left.
Then this week, I attended a conference for the Micah Network on establishing a plan for Integrated Mission. One of the case studies was by a young Khmer man (probably my age, actually) from Teen Challenge who have a youth drug-rehab ministry. As he spoke, you could just tell that he loves Jesus. He also loves Cambodia.
As he was talking about why a family is better than institutionalised care, he asked us “You know how I know this is true?” Then, answered with “Everyone thinks that America is better than Cambodia. Or maybe Japan or Europe. But I want to tell you something… I’ve been to Canada and I know different.”
There was a chuckle from the audience where Khmer outnumbered the foreigners 20 to one. Everyone there knew some foreigner who had relentlessly (and mostly unintentionally) insulted this country by making comparisons with their own country.
“There I had to eat hamburgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner until I was sick of hamburgers. I was just dying for some sour tamarind soup. Oooh, that would have been nice.”
We were all laughing by this stage. The sour soup really is great! And it was refreshing to hear someone insulting the West.
Then he had us in stiches as he wrinkled up his nose and said, “You know, it also smells”.
It was an uproar. The wonderful lady next me was a little concerned I would be offended despite my laughter. She leaned over and said just one word in English, “Homeland”.
There really is nothing like being in your homeland (which my neighbour is going to find out the hard way). Many of my struggles here are not because Cambodia is worse than Australia (although Australia is now #2 on the UN’s Human Development Index compared to Cambodia’s ranking at 137 … not that we should compare) but because Australia is my home.
It’s a good reminder as we pack up and head home in less than a month (for just a year).
And then there will be times when even Australia doesn’t match up and I will have to remember that in the eternal scheme of things we are all only travellers passing through to our eternal Homeland.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Bold and the Beautiful
One of Ridge’s teenage sons from his first marriage, Creek, was out partying on the weekend and was involved in an accident on his motorbike. Amongst other things, Creek’s hand was mauled badly and looks like it will need to be amputated. His Mother, Dawn, has contacted her niece-in-law, Carly, who lives in the city working as a cleaner, with the hope that she will be able to help pay for the operation and hospital expenses. Carly agrees to help some.
However, her own meagre resources are stretched after paying for the face-saving Wedding of Brook, her orphaned teenaged niece, to her 17 year old boyfriend/lover. After getting married, Brook’s husband refused menial work like labouring in the fields because his Dad was head of the village. He has big plans for renting out farming machinery but has no investment capital. Brook got tired of her lazy husband bumming off her and she gave up her job working in a factory. Now Brook comes to Carly in tears because they are out of money and her husband is hitting her. His parents agree that Carly should help financially because she is Brook’s closest relative.
Hearing that Carly is helpful, Ridge’s second wife, Sandy, has asked Carly to take in one of her five children so that he can get a better education in the city. Of course, Carly would need to pay for schooling and upkeep. Carly is angry. When she complained to her ex-husband (who ran of with his lover) that he should pay something towards their own daughter’s education, he refused pointing to the recalcitrant non-paying Uncle Ridge as a fine family example. The insult that Uncle Ridge’s second family is seeking her help leaves her fuming.
That’s just this week’s episode. The other week, Ridge’s brother, Peak, was shot in the stomach when a thief stole his motorbike. His school aged son, Hill, was also shot through the hands with the same bullet as he rode pillion hugging his Dad. Despite being ostracised by this family for her differing religious beliefs, Carly was contacted in the hope that she would help to pay for the operation needed to save Hill’s hands.
Could it possibly be true? What do you think?
However, her own meagre resources are stretched after paying for the face-saving Wedding of Brook, her orphaned teenaged niece, to her 17 year old boyfriend/lover. After getting married, Brook’s husband refused menial work like labouring in the fields because his Dad was head of the village. He has big plans for renting out farming machinery but has no investment capital. Brook got tired of her lazy husband bumming off her and she gave up her job working in a factory. Now Brook comes to Carly in tears because they are out of money and her husband is hitting her. His parents agree that Carly should help financially because she is Brook’s closest relative.
Hearing that Carly is helpful, Ridge’s second wife, Sandy, has asked Carly to take in one of her five children so that he can get a better education in the city. Of course, Carly would need to pay for schooling and upkeep. Carly is angry. When she complained to her ex-husband (who ran of with his lover) that he should pay something towards their own daughter’s education, he refused pointing to the recalcitrant non-paying Uncle Ridge as a fine family example. The insult that Uncle Ridge’s second family is seeking her help leaves her fuming.
That’s just this week’s episode. The other week, Ridge’s brother, Peak, was shot in the stomach when a thief stole his motorbike. His school aged son, Hill, was also shot through the hands with the same bullet as he rode pillion hugging his Dad. Despite being ostracised by this family for her differing religious beliefs, Carly was contacted in the hope that she would help to pay for the operation needed to save Hill’s hands.
Could it possibly be true? What do you think?
Work in Progress
I almost removed my recent post on marvellous melons as it was attracting a little un-wanted attention from ogling Googlers (they seem to have passed on now). While they would have been sadly disappointed, I am also aware that my recent blogging outbursts have not been particularly gracious, loving or kind.
Obviously, I am not the greatest example of someone who walks with Jesus … and I am nothing like Him.
When I am hateful, intolerant and impatient, He is only ever loving, patient and merciful (SO patient with me).
His love for is never-ending. His forgiveness is far-reaching. His creativity is unmatched. His wisdom is beyond anything we can ever fathom. His ways are just.
I’d hate anyone to judge Him on my example. So for my friends who are not yet Christians, please don’t let me be the only “bible” you ever read. Go get the real thing. I’m still a work in progress.
Obviously, I am not the greatest example of someone who walks with Jesus … and I am nothing like Him.
When I am hateful, intolerant and impatient, He is only ever loving, patient and merciful (SO patient with me).
His love for is never-ending. His forgiveness is far-reaching. His creativity is unmatched. His wisdom is beyond anything we can ever fathom. His ways are just.
I’d hate anyone to judge Him on my example. So for my friends who are not yet Christians, please don’t let me be the only “bible” you ever read. Go get the real thing. I’m still a work in progress.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Before returning to Australia I'd like to get something off my chest.
Maybe I’ve been in Asia too long, but I just don’t understand why Australian women insist on flashing their breasts at strangers, and even worse friends!
We had a visitor recently whose t-shirt was so low-cut that every time she leaned forward (intensely interested in the conversation she was having with my husband) we saw more than her interest. I realise that she wasn’t trying to seduce my husband. But what was she doing? Trying to prove that she is still attractive at 40?
To be fair, she may not have realised her fashion “boob” (I must give credit to my thesaurus for that witticism). I too have made the mistake of wearing a top that swept way too low - I was six-months pregnant and the bridesmaid’s dress had fit just fine a month earlier. But when cleavage becomes a central part of our wardrobe, what are we saying to the world? I value your desire or envy more than your friendship?
So, I’d like to cut a deal with my sisters fond of plunging necklines. I’ll keep my fabulous abs tucked away from your husband’s eyes and you keep your marvellous melons for viewing in your own bedroom.
Sour grapes? Yes, indeed. Mere grapes…
We had a visitor recently whose t-shirt was so low-cut that every time she leaned forward (intensely interested in the conversation she was having with my husband) we saw more than her interest. I realise that she wasn’t trying to seduce my husband. But what was she doing? Trying to prove that she is still attractive at 40?
To be fair, she may not have realised her fashion “boob” (I must give credit to my thesaurus for that witticism). I too have made the mistake of wearing a top that swept way too low - I was six-months pregnant and the bridesmaid’s dress had fit just fine a month earlier. But when cleavage becomes a central part of our wardrobe, what are we saying to the world? I value your desire or envy more than your friendship?
So, I’d like to cut a deal with my sisters fond of plunging necklines. I’ll keep my fabulous abs tucked away from your husband’s eyes and you keep your marvellous melons for viewing in your own bedroom.
Sour grapes? Yes, indeed. Mere grapes…
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Weekend News
Each Monday on my way home from doing the weekly shopping, I buy the weekend paper (confusing the newsstands with why I want old news). It’s actually the colour insert of the Cambodian Weekend that I enjoy flicking through while trying to get two and a half year old Mr Happy to take a nap. Articles range from sneak peaks into the workings of a local factory specialising in “stressing” jeans to a report on a rock concert by a peace activist in Cuba.
This Monday I didn’t even make it to the coloured insert (with an extra few pages commemorating the old King’s birthday). The front page held me.
“Father, Four Sons Electrocuted in Floodwaters” by Phann Ana
A father and his four sons were electrocuted and two others were injured in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district when an electric cable fell into knee-high floodwaters inside their home, authorities and witnesses said.
The father, Mak En, 65, and his sons Mak Phea, 30, Mak Livon, 28, Mak Livin, 26 and Mak Livan, 23 were all killed when Mr En was electrocuted and his four sons came to his rescue.
“They are all gone!” cried Khin Khon, 58, wife and mother to the five deceased men, at a funeral ceremony held at Wat Uttarawattey in Russei Keo district on Friday. “In just 15 seconds, my husband and four sons… all disappeared.”
Ms Khon and her youngest daughter Mak Dina, 19, suffered electrical shocks and narrowly avoided the same fate when attempting to rescue their five family members who lay motionless in the floodwaters.
Flooding that has plagued Russei Keo district since last year was largely responsible for the deaths, relatives said.
Residents in Russei Keo and other northern parts of the city have said in recent months that the government’s decision to allow real estate developers to fill in natural lakes in the district has lead to severe flooding.
It’s a tragedy on so many levels. In responding to it, my tendency is to despise this country and its leaders that would take $79million to allow the developers to fill the lakes and flood the surrounding suburbs without recourse.
But as Steve reminds me, it’s because of the darkness that we’re here and the hope that it can change that sustains us. Hate momentarily energises us, but will eventually only drain us.
I just pray that I can gain some clear direction over the next year to know where to invest my heart and skills, and gratefully give up my treasured Monday rest-time with the coloured lift-out.
This Monday I didn’t even make it to the coloured insert (with an extra few pages commemorating the old King’s birthday). The front page held me.
“Father, Four Sons Electrocuted in Floodwaters” by Phann Ana
A father and his four sons were electrocuted and two others were injured in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district when an electric cable fell into knee-high floodwaters inside their home, authorities and witnesses said.
The father, Mak En, 65, and his sons Mak Phea, 30, Mak Livon, 28, Mak Livin, 26 and Mak Livan, 23 were all killed when Mr En was electrocuted and his four sons came to his rescue.
“They are all gone!” cried Khin Khon, 58, wife and mother to the five deceased men, at a funeral ceremony held at Wat Uttarawattey in Russei Keo district on Friday. “In just 15 seconds, my husband and four sons… all disappeared.”
Ms Khon and her youngest daughter Mak Dina, 19, suffered electrical shocks and narrowly avoided the same fate when attempting to rescue their five family members who lay motionless in the floodwaters.
Flooding that has plagued Russei Keo district since last year was largely responsible for the deaths, relatives said.
Residents in Russei Keo and other northern parts of the city have said in recent months that the government’s decision to allow real estate developers to fill in natural lakes in the district has lead to severe flooding.
It’s a tragedy on so many levels. In responding to it, my tendency is to despise this country and its leaders that would take $79million to allow the developers to fill the lakes and flood the surrounding suburbs without recourse.
But as Steve reminds me, it’s because of the darkness that we’re here and the hope that it can change that sustains us. Hate momentarily energises us, but will eventually only drain us.
I just pray that I can gain some clear direction over the next year to know where to invest my heart and skills, and gratefully give up my treasured Monday rest-time with the coloured lift-out.
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