One dozen oranges

The first time I walked away, I’d left Yea (pronounced yay, means Grandma) sitting on the muddy road amongst the potholes and stones. Her face was dirtied from the fall that had occurred when she tried to catch the tail of her dogs that were chomping at my running legs. She sat there, swearing quietly to herself - at the dogs or at me, I didn’t know. I’d tried to help her up but with exasperation in her voice and the dogs still yapping, she told me to “just go!!”.

I didn’t venture any further down that street and the next two were also blocked by fighting dogs (it’s mating season). I turned homeward and gave up on my 8km attempt, settling for 7.12kms. Besides, my heart just wasn’t in the run anymore.

These dogs are really testing my commitment to running. I’m not the first. Two other potential running partners (for the longer distances) have recently retreated to the treadmill and I’ve half a mind to join them.

The thing is, not only is running on a treadmill excruciatingly boring (and therefore mentally tough), it is also relatively expensive. At $3.50 a visit to the gym down the road, it’s more than 70% of Cambodian’s live off each day (that said, income is only one dimension of poverty – for more reliable indicators of the incidence and severity of poverty in Cambodia see here). Nevertheless, over a day’s wages for half an hour of running on pretend pavement, when there are “perfectly good” roads outside… I can’t get past it (just yet).

Yesterday morning I skipped my run and went to visit Yea, armed with a bag of oranges (incidentally costing less than $3.50). She received me graciously and showed me the bruising and scratches on her knee. She refused to take the bag but finally accepted a small peace offering of two little oranges.

That day, I left her with smiles and a bridge built. Now, if only the issue of running in Phnom Penh (or poverty in Cambodia!) was so easily solved.

On the road again

I’ve started running again after recovering from some strange food intolerance that meant I couldn’t eat fresh fruit and veggies without being covered with welts but could gorge myself on potato chips (as long as they were plain). After that kind of diet, running is compulsory. (Actually, running with a virus was the cause of this bizarre immune system malfunction).

But I was procrastinating. Without footpaths, it meant I had to join the morning traffic of bicycles, motorbikes, street sellers with carts and the occasional Lexus who makes way for no one. It’s a far cry from running the bushland bike tracks along Bulimba Creek.

My upstairs neighbour was looking to increase her cardio vascular fitness in an effort to better manage hot flushes (can’t wait for that one!) and so we began running three mornings a week. Another never-run-in-her-life friend has joined us, making it three crazy foreigners pounding the pavement / dirt.

Keeping to the back roads avoids the majority of the traffic (but increases the incidence of potholes and plastic rubbish burn offs), we began choosing our route according to the least number of free-range dogs.

But it’s not just dogs who gain entertainment from our efforts. We often get cries of “mouy bpee mouy bpee..” (one two one two..) from the moto drivers waiting for early morning clients. The other week I was stopped dramatically by one standing in front of me with arms waving, asking if I could teach him English. “Ot jeh” (can’t speak it) was my smiling face-saving reply – an obvious lie. “Can’t you see I’m running????” was what I really wanted to say.

The heat is what gets me the most. We’re often sweating before we even start at 6am and my face is bright red for at least an hour afterwards, particularly the days I go out on my own early to add a couple of kms to the run.

I almost quit recently, but my addiction seems to run deep.

Besides, there’s a half marathon being held in Phnom Penh on 18 June for World Environment Day. No, I’m not going to attempt a half in this heat, but the 8km is looking possible…

Fibs, lies and statistics

They have been the butt of jokes since the late 1800s due to their ability to misrepresent the truth (see wiki), but to me, there is nothing better than a bunch of well researched statistics.

So my latest project, reviewing reports and preparing an overview of development and the church in Cambodia for our team, is comparable with eating icecream (which would make the internet an endlessly deep freezer).

My ecstasy is probably due to the fact that I haven’t purposefully consumed statistics for almost 10 years. By the time I’m done, I will probably have a bad case of brain freeze.

As I trawl through the latest reports on the economic status of Cambodia, I delight in discovering the new developments in research methods. Thermal graphs of global health care development are like an exciting new flavour that I’m not quite sure I understand or like.

And while statistics gain bad press for being manipulated by people with “agendas”, there is no denying that they are handy in giving a bird’s eye view of some pretty complex issues, and are powerful tools for influencing opinions and attitudes.

For example, I wonder how hardworking Cambodian parents struggling to pay for their children to go to school would feel to know that public spending on education as a percentage of national GDP ranks the country at 167 out of a total of 175 countries (see cia). This kind of information is politically powerful.

And for my Aussie friends, I’m wondering how many of us would continue to complain about Government services and spending knowing that we are one of the lowest taxed nations in the developing world, noting that northern European countries are taxed at twice the rate we are (see tai). Anyone going to join me in asking the Government to increase our taxes?

I love statistics for their power to inform and change. Unfortunately, attitudes change hard.

Giving well (or sharing nicely)

Late last week I wrote to my local MP (again) highlighting the need for Australia to increase our aid in order for countries like Cambodia to have a fighting chance of meeting their Millennium Development Goals. Apparently, there is talk in the latest federal budget of cuts to international aid.

Aid cuts would be devastating for many lives and even small increases in aid makes a huge difference in people’s lives. This is because the purchasing power of each dollar is so much greater in developing nations meaning you get much more for your money.

For example, through project funds Steve has paid for laminectomies for patients plus three days of inpatient care for US$600. In Australia, this operation costs at least $15,000.

Then, this note pops into my inbox shouting “Aid to Cambodia rarely reaches the people it’s meant to help”.

This emotive little opinion piece in the Washington Post is basically saying that the aid money that goes into Cambodia will invariably build bigger and better houses for its leaders and that donors should refuse to give any more aid until corruption is addressed.

Honestly, I can’t refute any of it. From what we hear on the ground, the article speaks a version of the truth. However, I am concerned that such articles only serve to create greater distrust and reduce giving.

Already, Australia is giving well below the agreed 0.7 per cent of gross national product and groups such as World Vision have given up on this target now only asking for the Australian Government to meet the 0.5 per cent target. And an embarrassing amount of this is tied to the purchase of Australian goods and services (dubbed “boomerang aid” – the aid that gives back).

The solution is to give aid in better ways. There is much research and many policies written to address these (see The Reality of Aid as an example) but all boil down to a simple few rules.

1. Share your toys nicely – no need to give them all away just one in every two hundred.

2. Give. Don’t rent them out or lend with interest.

3. Make sure there aren’t unfair rules with how they can play with the toys or that they have to pay daddy to fix the toys.

4. The struggling families need to agree to treat their children well and share the toys fairly, being honest with how they are used.

5. Don’t use your wealth to make huge numbers of toy boxes or toy parts at a loss and then dump them on other poorer families who are trying to make these for a living.

While the parents argue over these rules, I am encouraged to see is that there are an increasing number of kids who recognise already that they have plenty of toys and are willing to share. However, I am amazed as to how many (even amongst our own supporters) still distrust organisations to manage toy distribution.

Giving to well established organisations with a proven track record in these countries is always a very very good start.

Celebrating Easter

It’s the most significant event within the Christian faith, however Easter is often seen by many Aussie Christians as an opportunity for a break at the beach and enjoy an Easter egg hunt or two (or seven).

In Cambodia, it generally occurs just after Khmer New Year. The new year celebrations are the largest on the Khmer calendar and so when Easter rolls around most people are just a little partied out (and chocolate melts terribly fast in the current 40 degree heat).

What makes celebrating Easter so difficult?

Fundamentally, the message really is a tough one for marketers. Talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection is a problematic because you need to mention the “s” word (sin) in a world where most people would rather think of themselves as basically good.

The Christmas message of God humbling Himself to become a baby gives us warm fuzzies. The Easter message of this God being murdered for our sin is horrifying and that He rose again sounds like the stuff of Hollywood movies.

Indeed, a nativity scene can be cute but a Jack in the box Jesus as he rises from the tomb goes beyond tacky.

So, if you’re like me, you’re stuck with melted chocolate (fair trade even if you are finally convinced that it’s worth paying the extra $2 for slave-free fair priced products – see World Vision’s Chocolate Buyers Guide) feeling somewhat at a loss as how to celebrate this deeply significant event with my neighbours and friends.

Buying an Easter chicken might help ease the conscience throughout the self-indulgence and is a whole lot better for the waistline (see TEAR), but there’s got to be a better way to share the best news ever.

No condemnation. Peace with God. Eternity with Him.

Preferably with something ice-cold.

Cast your bread

On Sunday afternoons, we attend a little home church with another Australian family who live around the corner. At around 3pm they set up the laptop and the adults listen to a sermon while the children play in the next room. Last week the church grew by 50% when a new family from the UK joined in.

Last week we finished a series on Ecclesiastes where the ongoing theme has been gift (being gifted with the life we have) rather than gain (trying to achieve). With this perspective, the verses about the meaninglessness (or temporary nature) of life are no longer depressive but freeing. When everything we have is viewed as a gift (time, possessions, relationships, grace), we are able to stop chasing the wind and live with contentment and generosity with these gifts we have received.

The final sermon focused on Ecclesiastes 11. Here are the first two verses from the NKJ version which struck me. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.”

According to a number of commentators, casting bread is thought to be a symbol of being generous with what you have because it will return to you. Give widely because (as the CEV version stated) “you never know when disaster will strike”.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom which encourages us to save for the rainy day (check out the NIV translation for a typical modernised view on how to manage our money). However, in such uncertain times, with floods and earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, we are encouraged to be generous which, according to the Message, is a high yield investment.

For those with not much to give, the preacher encouraged generosity of spirit – extending grace to someone who has done you wrong, being generous with your time, slowing down and being wholly present with whoever you are with, and view each day as on opportunity to bless rather than a compulsion to achieve.

But I think that most of us do have money to share. For us, the message is particularly timely as we are currently making financial decisions regarding our abundance.

Jesus, please give us the courage to give while we can because times are uncertain. After all, it is a gift not something we have achieved.

Dried fish and white flesh

I’d bought the dried fish out of pity. He’d been roaming the streets, eager to sell from the basket on the back of his cranky old motorbike. His teenaged country-bumpkin enthusiasm was being ignored by others, so I relented and purchased that fish that I knew I’d probably give away (it’s not a favourite of mine).

His response shocked me for days. He lowered his voice, put his fingers in the universal sign for sex and said he’d always wanted to “know” a foreigner. Despite his obvious gesturing, it took three times for the unusual request to register in my brain. I then went into autopilot – a smile, a shake of the head, a “no, that’s not polite”, and a quick retreat. My pity didn’t extend that far.

It’s widely thought in Cambodia (and many other parts of the world) that Western women are loose. I guess it’s our largely inappropriate dress habits where flesh reigns (particularly amongst the tourists unaccustomed to the heat of Cambodia). And another foreign import, pornography.

Magazines, tv, internet – we’ve got it all in Cambodia and it is highly accessible. You only need to go down the street to one of the local coffee houses at the right time of day to catch your dose of white flesh (or any colour really) on tv.

My guess is that I was the first real-live foreign woman that my fish-seller had met off screen. He was flabbergasted that I could speak Khmer and was keen to make the most of the opportunity before him.

But this incident was not allowed to fester into self-righteous indignation (a particularly revolting evil). With God’s perfect timing, the very next Sunday I heard an excellent sermon by a fellow team member, Rolf Lepelaar of CMS Australia, on the topic of pornography.

In Matthew 5:27-29, Jesus taught “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”

Obviously, looking at a woman lustfully is nothing new, but this past-time has flourished and grown by some estimates into the seventh largest industry in America – larger than Microsoft, Google, ebay, Amazon, Yahoo and Apple combined. Its invasion into the heart of society is further evident in the statistic by Sex Tracker, an adult search engine, which reports that 70% of pornography is viewed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m – that is during prime working hours.

And good Christian, don’t pretend we are not a participant in this. Rolf had some stats for us too.

One survey found that 50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women are addicted to porn. One pastor did not believe the results so he surveyed the men in his congregation. 60% had visited a pornographic website in the past year.

And leaders seem no better. One counsellor for a well-known mission agency in Europe stated that 60-70% of the missionaries in that mission agency are addicted to pornography (could this be due to greater isolation and less accountability?). Rick Warren did a survey in the USA of 6,000 pastors, and 30% said they had visited a pornographic website in the past 30 days.

Obviously there are some pretty good excuses going on amongst us that suggest we don’t see it as that bad after all. But these justifications seem kind of weak if Jesus was saying it is better to pluck your eyes out rather than participate.

And just one note on that - Jesus was obviously not advocating self-mutilation in order to enter heaven (through Him is the ONLY way). Instead, He was highlighting how drastically we need to address this seemingly harmless sin – it puts our very soul in harm’s way.

I appreciated Rolf’s thoughts on the impact of pornography on a marriage as an example of the damage it does. God’s design for sex within marriage draws us out of ourselves towards our spouse, to the person that we have promised to exclusively devote ourselves for life. It is a mutual giving of self.

With pornography, a spouse focuses inwards on their own arousal and gratification without needing to fulfil any responsibility, expectation or demand. The unblinking faces of strangers are not disgusted by body odour nor are they angry that he stayed out late after work. Nor will they respect him or show any love, warmth or desire. They provide no companionship or joy.

I am so sorry if my fishy friend has been exposed to such a relationship-killing, soul-destroying foreign import that caused him to proposition this foreigner. To know Jesus would bring him much more life.

As it does for all of us.