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.