Yo ho, yo ho, a teacher's life for me....

Ok, I survived the dangerous and exhausting journey to the beach, where I was put at mortal risk by such hazards as sunshine, beautiful waters, and plentiful onion rings.

What? It was a terrible peril! Really...

Anyway, by now, I am sure that at least 1 of you is wondering what I actually do from day to day to take a vacation from.

This is one of my newer students taking a custom-made test.

Well, you all know by now that I do sound for the church. That was referenced in one of my last posts. I also teach Aidan and homeschool him (also mentioned previously). One thing I have not gone over in more depth, is one of the roles I play at Sak Saum.

Aidan helps out once in awhile.

I have many names here... I am called Ry, Ryry, gecko, and sometimes Aidan, 'not Eric', and a few others. My favorite name though, is 'Teacher'.

Completely captivated by my teaching style... or the light reflecting off my head. Either... Ok, both.

At Sak Saum, I get to teach English to a class of girls (and 1 guy). I have roughly 12 students, and I am currently teaching them a combination of phonics, grammar, and conversational English. My goal is to help them learn to both communicate, and also to be able to read and write. Because I wasn't given an end-date to the classes, I had the unique opportunity to plan the lessons with a long-term goal in mind.

The results have been pretty good. I've only been teaching for a little while, but the majority of them understand and can spell/speak/read a number of words and the numbers. Soon, we'll be starting on common phrases.

I know, I know, sounds exciting doesn't it? What do you mean, 'boring'?!? Did you forget who was teaching?

Testing, 1... 2...

Seriously though, I do try to make it as fun as possible. Aside from my own antics and occasional poking fun, I have guest teachers like Aidan, who comes in once and awhile to teach them silly songs (like the CBA song - alphabet backwards). I also have my trusty assistant Rhiannon, who helps out by administering tests, and generally giving me funny looks (which the class laughs at).

See? I'm funny! Kinda...

As you can see in the photos, I also give tests on a regular basis. I get a different sort of funny look for those.

First rule of test giving - don't leave the answers on the board. Yes, they look around for them. :)

You have to understand something. In this country, opportunity does not come easily. Being able to survive, have a family, and live in a home that does not consist of a tarp and a few scraps of rust is a pipe dream for many. These girls (and the dude) will one day look to take the things they've gained and learned from Sak Saum and try to build successful and full lives for themselves. That's what makes what I do important. You see, opportunity here is measured in communication. They could easily go work in some factory or try to start their own business, but having a firm understanding and fluency in the English language will open doors for them that would have remained shut otherwise. People respect education, and see it as something special. In this, I can give these special girls (and the hombre) a gift that may one day lift them up, and bless them and their families.

See why I like this job so much? Here, let me give you an example:

Chantoun - brightly shining.

This is one of my students, Chantoun. Her prior education level was basically non-existent prior to joining Sak Saum. Now we are teaching reading, writing and speaking English, and I believe Rhiannon is going to start teaching her basic and intermediate math soon. Awesome! To be honest, Sak Saum has done a lot for each and every person in the program. I'll tell Chantoun's story in the future. Trust me, you'll be amazed. As of right now though, she's earning good marks in my class and is truly enjoying learning.

So, in a nutshell, I get to be with some very nice people, help them grow, and get to see my efforts rewarded. What more could you ask for?

Oh yeah!

Oh yeah, cake! Yep, for my birthday, my students surprised me by pretending to be late, and then hauling out this beauty. You may remember the last cake I wrote about (see the post, Chicken Cake!!!). I assure you - this cake was all deliciousness and no chickens were harmed or insulted in the creation of this pastry.

They also gathered around me (read: surrounded me without warning) and prayed for me. I was very very touched, and might have cried if I hadn't been, you know, in front of a bunch of people.

So let me ask you - if your friends loved you enough to surprise you, and do heartfelt things like this, wouldn't you want to help them? What if your friends needed the one thing you knew how to give? Would you give it freely? Happily?

I love my job. :)

Vacation, take two.

We had some new visitors come in this week. Who? My brother and sister in law and my nephew! We're off for another adventurous trip to Sihanoukville. When I get back, I'll tell you all about it!

Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity...

As you all have probably guessed by now, a lot goes on here. Why haven't I blogged more? Well, it's mainly due to a lack of pictures. At today's event, however, I made sure to get plenty!

Pre-party warm-up

What did we do? Well, in simple terms, we had a party!

You see, here in Cambodia, we just recently celebrated (I use that word loosely) Pchum Ben. This is a 15 day festival wherein the gates of hell are supposedly opened temporarily to allow spirits to return. People then 'celebrate' by giving food to monks, and feeding the dead.

Chinese Burial Mound (Small lake not originally included). They tried to celebrate here, but left when it became obvious they'd have to swim.

Let me recap that for you. In America, we celebrate holidays by giving people a day off, usually with pay. Sometimes we give gifts, or just give thanks. In Cambodia, the holidays take. They take food and money from people that shouldn't have to be without, and give to the dead, or to people who say you need to honor them to not wind up being one of the hellish spirits that return (Wikipedia the word Merit and this holiday if you need more info).

I don't have words to describe how I feel about this, so I will let my stand-in express this non-verbally:

"...really?!?"

So, that brings us to today. Now that the 'holiday' is over, we decided to throw a party of our own. One that celebrates life, and the next generation.

Cambodians will fight for their right to party!

How did we do this? Well, their holiday took the food from their mouths, and gave it to the ah... "living challenged". We did the opposite! We put food in their mouths!

A whole lotta 'dogs.

Serving up a storm!

Yes, we fed them giant hot dogs (the buns were basically small loaves of bread), snacks (including lobster flavor, which is a real treat here... ew.), and a drink. We brought all the kids to the upper room and sat them down. Solomon said some things to them and played a little game, and then they prayed over the food.

He prayed, then they repeated if they wanted.

How many children came to our lil shin dig? Over 200.

In a word, loud. :)

After everyone was fed and given juice of some kind (Aidan skipped the juice - he wasn't a fan of "preserved wax gourd" flavor), they adjourned, allowing the kids to wander off and play around on their trip home.

Happy party goer!

All in all, it was a successful party. The kids had fun, and so did we.

See the smile?

So, what did I learn from all this? Well, I learned that:

1. Hot dogs are universal.

2. I need to take more pictures - I miss writing these posts!

3. I've been here 6 months and still get funny looks.

4. ...and lastly, that the best way to come against a culture that throws away its meager earnings, is to show them a better way by giving without asking for anything in return, and not demanding recognition or honor (and teaching them too, but that's for another post).

We also learned it's not fun to be sat on. Well, at least Rhiannon did...

Until next time!

Building a future

4 months ago.

Do you remember this building from my early posts? It's near the Upper Room, where we hold church service. What is it?

This is the Kairos Training Center. It's a rather large building whose purpose is to help build a future for both the ministry, and for the people of Saang.

What's it used for?

Don't forget to take off your shoes! Why do we do that? Um... this is located in a village full of cows... where people walk. Through cow... nevermind. :)

The main section of the building downstairs is being used as the new sanctuary. We hold church service here, and will eventually hold other venues, like the youth service. Upstairs, you will find classrooms for teaching English and computer skills, as well as a nice library/reading room. At the moment, we're still getting everyone moved into that area, and I haven't had a chance to get photos yet. The classes we will offer here will be open to all, and geared toward lifting up the community and providing first rate education.

Sound check, 1... 2...

As of this past Sunday, we had the grand opening of the new sanctuary.

A note about buildings here - it's not easy having an indoor church. Yes, it's great for rain... and some of the bugs, but you also encounter other issues. For instance, all people coming in must remove their shoes. There's a whole lot of dirt to track in, and it's just cleaner that way. There's also no food or drink, which is common in the US as well. Then there's babies...

Friendly ushers await their chance to help you in any way possible!

What? No, we love having children! Of course they are allowed! We just want them to wear pants.

Hmm? Yes, you heard me right. Common childrearing technique here is to allow your children, sans bottoms, to go wherever they want. Literally. So as a compromise, we provide diapers, and instructions, at the door. :)

All this aside, our first service was beautiful. We got to do things we had been wanting to do for awhile now.

Yup, that's me. See the watermark? Not my photo. :) Check https://www.facebook.com/GospelCommunityChurchofSaang for more.

One of those was to have a fully-equipped sound system. Prior to now, we had 2 speakers, a sound board that someone apparently stuck in a dryer along with some rocks (that's how well it worked, anyway), and 3 microphones. Well, 6 if you count the broken bits as their own mic.

Now we're completely decked out with enough microphones, monitors, and electronics to go around! Who's the sound guy? Yours truly. It's really amazing how many of the skills I picked up (shout out to my sound mentor, Mark Reed!) that have become useful here. Seriously. Don't believe me? How many English majors actually teach English now? How often does knowing how to program in dead computer languages come in handy? Right!

Say it with me. "Sa'aad" (Sa-ahd). Beauty comes in many forms.

We also got to honor two very special women. These are the Yays you've heard me talk about. They're both very old (one is 80!) and love, really really love, everyone. When they see me, or get a hold of me in the case of the blind one, they smile big and say things I can't understand in little singsong voices. The sightless one rubs and hugs my arm, and then buries her face in it laughing. A greater blessing I don't think I could show you than these two.

We honored them with a couch. They normally sit on bare stone, or wood. Now, they sit on pillows. We put the small child/mom chairs back there too, so they are delightfully surrounded by children. We also give them water whenever they come. When you come, whenever that is (hopefully soon), please stop to meet them, and give them your arm.

You'll walk away brighter and happier, I promise.

We're happy you came!

Our grand opening was a huge success. 14 people came forward at altar call - not from any pressure, or fire and brimstone talk you get in some other places - but because they felt called to d so. You could see it plain on their faces. What's more, you could see that it made them happy to do it. Nice.

The pillar did not come forward. It just kind of stayed there... A fact for which we are all thankful!

So, as a start to reaching out, the opening was a smashing success. Soon, I'll post other ways that we are helping and raising up the community. In the mean time, I leave you with one more smile...

Yup. You knew he was around somewhere!

See you soon!