All is Love (Place of Rescue)

I apologize for the delay. Rebecca and I have moved back to our respective places to school or work or whatever it is that we do. I know.. we are still behind on a few posts. But no matter how "busy" we get, Cambodia keeps coming back to me. Since coming home, I just seem to be attending all sorts of sharing nights, women's nights and even a benefit concert - all supporting an AIDS shelter and orphanage called Place of Rescue. It seems to follow me everywhere I go, so I suppose it's finally time to pay it its due hommage.

Like I mentioned in our last post, HIV and AIDS is an epidemic in Cambodia. Since the last post, I've actually learned more about this problem. HIV/AIDS were unfortunately brought via tourists after the genocide and Pol Pot's regime. Not only had Cambodia seen mass murders of the educated forcing a huge generational gap (more info on this in a future post), but soon after the Khmai people were having to face yet another problem of HIV/AIDS. This meant a large number of orphans and elderly people.

Because this is such a problem in Cambodia, I suppose it was only fitting that we were able to visit two AIDS orphanages: Jeevit's House and Place of Rescue.To call Place of Rescue an orphanage is to put it lightly. This NGO located just outside of the capital city of Phnom Penh is a community unto its own. I don't know the exact math, but that's about 250-plus people all living at Rescue. This includes orphans, grannies, families living with AIDS, and single mothers. In one brief tour of Rescue, let's just say it's not hard to fall in love with everyone you meet. Kids wave wildly, grannies smile with blackened teeth, and babies hide behind their house moms in curiosity.


What intrigues me is that each person living at Rescue comes with their own unique and painful story that brought them there, yet they all blend together as a family. One little guy was found at a hospital with his mom. His mother was delusional and claimed that she was going to eat her son. Another group of kids had witnessed their father murder their mother. Some children were abandoned because of AIDS. Despite their situation, the past doesn't matter. Rescue offers them hope, a future, a family (a really big one, at that! They even call director Marie Ens "grandma").

Place of Rescue is something pretty special to me. My old home church has been involved with them and four years ago, my brother had the privilege of visiting. Coincidentally enough, his first visit there at the age of 22 was also my first visit there at the age of 22. I remember him regaling us with stories of how he fell in love with Rescue and of all the kids he was able to meet. One particular girl is Reaksmai. She was 14 when my brother had met her. Her mom had just died of AIDS and she was left alone with an older and younger brother. My brother and Reaksmai would write each other back and forth even after he had come home. He would send her pictures of our family and she would send back pressed flowers. It was awfully cute.


Fast forward four years and I'm at Rescue. Rebecca and I met with an awesome team from Calgary to run an English camp and teach a couple of classes. Each class received one student teacher who was a kid at Rescue. The interesting thing is that out of the 6 student teachers we could have gotten, Reaksmai was ours. It was like the stars aligned and I couldn't help but smile. Over the week, we enjoyed getting to know each and every one of our students. We really grew to love each other as a class. We got an intermediate class of kids ranging from maybe around 10 to 18. I loved how some of the younger kids who were amazing at English would assist the older ones who were having difficulty. I liked watching each child's potential spurt through, whether it was through their artistic abilities, their dancing, or even with how quick they picked up English.


As each day passed, we dreaded our fateful good-bye day, because we also felt like a part of their family and we just didn't want to leave. It amazed me how the concept of family could be found in a sea of 250 people. Not a day passed where I didn't receive hugs, or didn't get a kid holding my hand. To be honest, my heart aches a little bit as I write this just cause I miss them so much. After a week of playing with parachutes, running relay races, talking with kids, learning English, dancing to Michael Jackson's thriller, and learning bible stories, it was time to come to an end. They threw us a Khmai party complete with the kids doing traditional dances for us, teaching us how to dance, and a delicious meal. The night winded down and a heavy feeling overcame the room. It was a flood of emotion and chaos as hugs were being given and tears were flowing.


I am rarely an emotional person. I don't cry in movies (not even in Titanic), during good-byes, during funerals, nothing. But this day held an exception. I hadn't been feeling well that whole day (blame it on a bad piece of pizza). Having spent the majority of the day near a toilet, I heard a knocking on the door. It was our Khmai friend Chanthol telling me it was time to say good-bye. I walked out of the bathroom and immediately became bombarded by hugs. I held my composure as many of my students cried during their goodbyes until I ran into Reaksmai. Her cheeks were already stained with tears. Although I hadn't started crying yet, she began to comfort me. I'll never forget the words she said, "I'm going to miss you. If you ever feel lonely, remember that you have a sister in Cambodia. If you ever feel sad, remember that you have a God that loves you. Don't forget me because I will never forget you." As she said that, she took off her ring and placed it on my finger. My eyes welled and tears formed.

As we took the hour van ride back to our hotel, my mind flooded with thoughts. My good-bye with Reaksmai reminded me that Rescue is a place of love and it shows in each child because the love they received is the love that they give.


For more information on Place of Rescue, visit www.placeofrescue.com ! (Support them - country singer Paul Brand does :P )

hiccups & run-attack-jump-for-a-piggy-back-ride

Battambang. It’s the second largest city in Cambodia. It is about 303 kms away from Bangkok, the last city we were in before Cambodia. That’s about 6 hours away by land. Yet, we ended up taking the most roundabout way to get there. Live this day of travel with us…

Bangkok to Hong Kong: 2-hour flight. 2 hours of layover. Hong Kong to Phnom Penh: 2-hour flight. In Phnom Penh, we took a far too overcharged tuk tuk to our guesthouse. (Like I mentioned, this is the very same guesthouse that forgot about our booking and thus, forgot to pick us up at the airport like they had promised.) 12 hours later, we were at the bus station. 2 hour wait. Phnom Penh to Battambang: 5 hours. I’ll spare you from the long story of confusion and stress, but let’s just say it took us an additional 4 hours to end up where we were supposed to be – at the YWAM guesthouse.

In simplest terms, a 6-hour commute turned into a 17-hour long haul. Times like this, I think God’s got a pretty funny sense of humor.

Aside from these hiccups, we absolutely loved Battambang and its small town vibe. We met a lot of new friends and also hooked up with ones we had gotten to know in Bangkok. The pastor’s house that we were staying at made amazing meals topped off with fresh fruit. Although we only saw the pastor and his family in passing, we came to love them. During Pol Pot’s regime this family walked days upon days from Phnom Penh to Battambang in an attempt to survive the genocide. They continue to stick together as a family, living with grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins in this one home (plus all the mission teams and guests!) With all these people living under one roof, they are incredibly overprotective over all of us – wanting us to be safe and feel loved!

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Our week in this city was spent with a couple of different YWAM programs. We tagged along at the base during English lessons, participated in some dance lessons, and our favorite… Jeevit’s House! Jeevit’s House is an HIV/AIDS orphanage only a few blocks from where we were staying. It’s this beautiful house found in the middle of a slum. It not only addresses the needs of the kids who live in the house, but impact the community as well.


It all started with one baby girl - abandoned, sick, orphaned, and yet beautiful. December 2007. They took her to the hospital to get her checked out. They discovered she had AIDS. In Battambang, orphaned children who are discovered to have HIV or AIDS must go through a difficult process of being shipped down to the capital city of Phnom Penh to live at an orphanage. Laura, who started Jeevit’s House, began to have a dream. She wanted to have a center where “all the children abandoned, orphaned and ravaged by this disease, rather than hopelessness and death may find hope, life and healing”. Fittingly, they named the little girl Jeevit, meaning life.

Laura doing her thang!

Three years later in March 2010, Laura’s dream came to reality. Today, while Laura is only in her 20s, she plays mother to two brothers. Ruen is seven years old and Rain is ten months old. Although they only have two children living at the house, Jeevit’s House also serves the community around it – through rice giveaways, hygiene tutorials, and just loving on families.

7-year-old Ruen
Baby Rain

Rice packages in the background

We were able to join in on a few days of their community outreaches. Rebecca and I loved it. We’ve come to realize that our love for children just naturally ooze out of us, and Jeevit’s House is in no short supply of kids! These little guys are definitely not shy. Every week, kids from the community, as well as some moms drop by the house. It’s so obvious how much they love this environment. It’s not only a chance for kids to run and play, but it gives moms valuable skills and resources to raise their children. It also helps bring the community closer, as these members come to get to know one another.

Haha. The boys loved styling her hair

We played games with the kids, colored with them, received endless hugs, and were victims of run-attack-jump-for-a-piggy-back-ride. Although by the end of the day we were completely exhausted, we loved it! There’s an exuberant joy and care-free attitude that runs with children, even if life isn’t running so smoothly.

Coloring!

Crazy boys!

HIV/AIDS is a running problem in Cambodia, and even furthered by poverty. Tragically, this means a lot of HIV/AIDS orphans – whether this is because of a death of a parent or because parents have sent their children to orphanages hoping they will be provided for. Parents who do keep their children are faced with incredible hardships! Moms who have HIV or AIDS fear that they will pass their sickness on to their baby through breastfeeding. Unfortunately, these women cannot afford to buy milk with the right essential nutrients. Instead, they buy condensed milk, which contains mostly sugar and has no nutritional value. As a result, these kids grow up malnourished with rotting teeth.

Mama and baby!

Thankfully, Jeevit’s House stands, its desire to “help enable families to stay together and to help orphans find their place in new families” – to provide children with food, clothing, school supplies and fees, medical costs, and the ability to stay with their family or be part of a foster family.


Check out www.jeevitshouse.org! You can see pictures of all the kids they support, get more information, and possibly financially support this new organization.