Fun Times in PP

Finally we made it to Phnom Penh (pronounced P - Nom - Pen). The city is another bustling metropolis. Riding in the streets there are cars, SUV's tuk-tuks, bicycles, food carts, and a bazillion scooters (yes, bazillion, I think there is one scooter per person age 12 and up).  We didn't see many people walking at all since scooters are so cheap, plus the sidewalks were taken up by either parked cars or some other vehicle.

Welcome to Phnom Penh

Anyhow, during our visit to Cambodia we wanted to spend a good deal of time volunteering. We knew that HOPE Worldwide had a few things going on in Phnom Penh so we went to check them out.  First we went to the Sihanouk Hospital. The Hospital provides medical care to the disadvantaged and poor.  Many patients receive free care, or they pay on a sliding scale depending on their ability to pay.  Those able to pay are also welcome to come, and many do because they get quality healthcare and also doctors from all over the world volunteer at the hospital. Not having any medical training in our background we wouldn't be able to volunteer there, but we did take a tour around the facility. It was pretty awesome to see the care being provided to so many who could not get care otherwise. We met the staff and learned a lot about the history of the hospital.  (If you have a heart to serve the needy and have a medical background the hospital may be a good fit for you, check out their website for more information: http://www.sihosp.org)

The day after touring the hospital we went to another HOPE site.  This one is a school that provides education to grades 1 to 11 (grade 12 will be added next year) called the Goldstone School of HOPE Worldwide.  At this school additional school subjects are provided that go above and beyond the standard classes that public schools are required to teach (Khmer Language, Science, Math and Social Studies).  The additional classes are English, Computers and Christian Moral Teachings (CMT).

At Goldstone. Vernon trying to keep up with the kids.

4th graders

We had planned to help with teaching English. However, when we got to the school and found out their needs, we volunteered to do two things... teach CMT and assist in coordinating other volunteers who would be visiting the same week we were. (The 9th to 11th grade English teacher, Tiffany, had been doing double duty coordinating volunteers.) It was great.  Muthoni and I split up the elementary CMT classes, grades 1 to 5.  We sang songs with them, taught them Biblical principles, engaged their creativity through drawing, and prayed with them. Though most of the kids spoke limited English, the message still seemed to get across.

It was wonderful teaching these kids (also see the hard work in the background of creating a mural)

Teaching 9th graders

Outside of the classroom Muthoni and I got to help organize a group of high school students from Hong Kong who came to volunteer for 3 days through an organization called Asian Hope. They brought along their guitars, break dance moves, artistic talent and a whole lot of heart. It was so refreshing to see younger people giving of themselves to serve others. With their help we got a lot accomplished for the beautification of the school, but more than that, the school students were encouraged.

Volunteers from Hong Kong

There was a group of volunteers from Hong Kong who came and shared their music and  art talents with the kids.

We also helped paint part of the school fence.

On another day we participated in a toilet building project out in one of the provinces (villages), about 2 hours outside of Phnom Penh. The government had seized land from some residents in Phnom Penh to make way for business and other uses for realestate.  The displaced families were moved out of the city into undeveloped areas to begin a new life.  The site we visited is now home to about 300 families thanks to help from organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Our job for the day was to assist in building walls for the toilets on the ground floor of the stilted houses (see the pics). On a previous week, staff from the Sihanouk Hospital and other members of the Phnom Penh Church of Christ spent the weekend digging holes for the toilets. After that the toilets were installed (pit latrines). So it was our job to enclose them. This was exciting for me as I really enjoy using my hands to put things together. So Mu and I helped build one of them. Later we were told that our help was needed in digging another hole at another house. The hole was to be 1 meter wide, long, and deep.  Initially it sounded like a simple thing.... it took us 4 hours and then hands of about 8 people to dig that hole because of rocks, basic tools, high humidity and a few painful blisters. We thought we'd do a lot more that day, but we had to get going so we wouldn't miss our bus later that evening (see the next blog for where we went).  We grabbed some lunch  at a cool restaurant which had hammocks for guests to sleep after enjoying tasty comestibles.

We participated in a Habitat build.

Gerlinda and Vernon hard at work - or are they?

Part of the team

Lunch break....mmmm bring it on.

After lunch we caught the 'itis

The rest of the time we spent in Phnom Penh was great. We spent time with the church... so refreshing to be around people who aren't trying to scam you :)  We really enjoyed hanging with everyone.  After service on one Sunday we joined the singles and campus ministry on a riverboat ride on the Mekong River.  We prayed together, sang together, ate some great food and got completely drenched by the rain... it was glorious! :)  Also while in Phnom Penh I celebrated my 31st birthday. Mu planned a surprise party at Don and Cindy Fetherman's place (I thought it was just dinner). It turned out great, they made my favorite dish, spaghetti (delicious), baked a chocolate/chocolate pudding cake (Grace - it was soooooo good!), sang happy birthday and just encouraged the heck out of me. (My wife is awesome! I am so blessed to have her in my life!)

Outside of those things we just toured around the city, trying to avoid eye contact with Tuk-Tuk drivers ... TUK-TUK, Sir? TUK-TUK?  ... from every corner of Phnom Penh you can hear them... I can still hear them now...  But yeah, we walked to the National Museum, passed by the Royal Palace, took pictures of a number of monuments, enjoyed the night market and, our favorite, took night time strolls along the lively waterfront boardwalk.

Independence monument in Phnom Penh.  Around the time we arrived P.P the King was celebrating his birthday.  This means that Cambodian's get a national holiday for 3 days!

Outside the Royal Palace. Vernon chasing birds.

A section of the Royal Palace

Visiting the National Museum which held a lot of history on Buddhism.

View of Phnom Penh.  At this small park, there were lots of people exercising around 6pm, just like in Bangkok.

A lot of people use scooters and motorbikes.  It's not uncommon to see a woman sitting with one or two children on the scooter.  The amazing thing is how balanced she is.  The scooters move pretty fast and she gracefully rides along.

You would think these are for sale, but noooo...these are people's scooters parked outside a strip mall.

Boat ride on the Mekong River

Sunday boat ride with friends from singles and campus ministry 

Mmmm...yummy snacks on the boat

We got together in groups and prayed

Fun times!

I'm loving the PP night market.

Loads of food stalls to choose from. Most of them make stir fry

Best juice ever. Fresh sugarcane juice with lemon and ice. I'll be starting this business on my return home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!

Vernon had a memorable birthday thanks to Don and Cindy. In the picture - Grace and Grace. lol!

 Cornelia and Tiffany

He looks a year older.

Hanging with Briana, Gerlinda and Jennifer

With Cesar and Jennifer Lopez

Don and Cindy - thank you for your love

Our overall impression of Phnom Penh after 17 days was that, despite some its annoyances, we really enjoyed being in the city. We felt safe, we felt life all around us, we felt loved by all the disciples we met, and we knew that God was taking care of us.

Stay tuned for the next update!

Border Crossing - A Hard Lesson

We left Koh Chang on May 16th to head to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The trip was supposed to take 10 hours: 4 hours from Koh Chang to the Border, 1 hour at the border, then 5 more hours to Phnom Penh. Well, the first 4 hours worked out fine but when we arrived at the border things just didn't go our way.

Being a US citizen I was able to get a visa online easily. We tried the same for Muthoni but the website always showed her visa as "pending". We figured, "fine we'll just have to get it at the border and pay twice".  So we arrived at the border and hopped in the crazy long line to exit Thailand.  We filled out the forms and approached the patrol counter.  They reviewed Muthoni's passport and realized she was a Kenyan citizen. The patrol woman said "Oh, you don't have a Cambodia visa yet? Before I give you the exit stamp you should go to the Cambodia side and get the visa." We thought that was nice of them because if we got the exit stamp and then found out for some reason Cambodia wouldn't give Mu a visa, we could just go back to Thailand and not have to pay for a new visa.  So we went over to the Cambodia side and ran into an even longer line and mass confusion.  There wasn't any clear direction on where to go.  There were windows marked but it didn't seem that the signs mattered. Mu went to the visa application window and started filling out forms.  She showed the Cambodian patrol her passport who then reads through her passport. "Why don't you have an exit stamp from Thailand?" Mu said, "Because they want to make sure I can get a visa here before I exit." So then the patrol officer sends her to another room to talk to one of the commanding officers.  I was still standing in the crazy, long line to get my entry stamp for Cambodia as all this was happening.  Then Mu walked out of the office and came to me. "Vernon, you need to come in here with me." ... "What's going on?"  ... "I think the guy wants me to bribe him." "Oh boy... okay."  So we walked back into the office and I immediately ask "What is the problem?" ... "Sir, please have a seat."  In my mind all I could think was that there was no way in the world we're going to pay some bribe, we'd been scammed already in Thailand... and remembering Nigeria just made me angry.  He said that there was a problem because we didn't have proof that we had financial means to support ourselves in Cambodia.  So we say, "Well I got a visa and didn't have to show any of that. Muthoni is my wife and she'll be with me the whole time. Why do we have a problem?"  We showed him a copy of our marriage certificate and even copies of our bank statements. We were fine financially.  After that the commanding officer makes a call, I assume to his superior and then hung up.  "I need to see that you have $500 to travel in our country."  This made Mu and I very nervous. Prior to me coming in the office, he asked to see $1,000. We had no desire to just whip out that amount of cash... they may want to take it all.  So as not to reveal where we kept our cash we stalled, "Well, we need to go outside and exchange some money to do that."  Then we asked, "If we can prove that we have at least $500 will we get the visa?"... "Yes."  With that, Mu went back to the Thai side to get the exit stamp and along that 100 yard walk back to get the cash out of the bag.  While she was there I got back in line to get my entry stamp and finally got it.  She came back money in hand, but still no exit stamp. "Really?! What the heck?"  We showed the officer the five hundred, counting it carefully and watching around the office. He said, "Okay, you may go."  Sigh of relief.  So then Muthoni went back to the window of the patrol woman who issues the visas. She reviewed her passport for the third time, noting down all the countries she's been to and still says, "Where is your exit stamp from Thailand?" ... (This has to be some sick joke or we are being scammed... come on already!) But no help from her... Muthoni ran back to Thai side to get the stamp and ran into another huge group. No one was willing to let her cut ahead so she had to wait quite a bit to get to the window.  When she got to the Thai patrol officer and explained what was happening, again, the officer still refused to give her an exit stamp. Mu had to tell this officer to call the Cambodia side.  Finally, she got the stamp.

(While all this was happening the bus company kept asking me, "Are you ready yet? The bus needs to leave no later than 12:20pm.")
Mu ran all the way back, 12:30pm. ("Hey mister, tell her not to run anymore, the bus is already gone.")  Mu went to the window completely exhausted and hands over her passport.  I said, "Babe, the bus is gone."... "What?" I had to go and console her.  The woman in the window said "So sorry Miss" as Mu was crying.  "What do you mean 'sorry'? You guys gave her the run around for the last hour and you say 'sorry'?"  What are we going to do?

"Hey mister, I may have another option for you.  You can ride on a chair like this one on a bus with just 12 people. It's very fast and will take you to Phnom Penh in just 4 hours." ... "How much?" ..."800 baht each."  "What?  That's too much. Our bus from Koh Chang all the way to Phnom Penh cost that much and now we're half way and you want to charge double?" ... "This is your only option if you want to go today." (I'm so mad at myself just reading what I'm writing right now.)  "Sweetie, what should we do? We can be there today or we hang around here, either way our bus is gone and we'll need new tickets." So thinking this guy was trying to really help us we said okay.  We hopped on a couple of scooters and rode into town where we would get another bus.  We paid for the scooter ride and the bus ride.  The bus would come at 2:15 so we waited.  Then the bus, actually minibus showed up.  We loaded up our bags and tried to hop in.  The ladies collecting the tickets tells us to hold on (in gestures and smiling because she didn't speak English.)  "Babe, really? This is our bus right?" "Yeah, that's what they said."  Then, the minibus was fully loaded except two seats. "So can we sit now?"  Nope.  The bus driver came around and pulled out two 8 inch tall, 8 inch long, 10 inch wide plastic stools and sets them on the floor behind the empty seats.  "Woah, woah, woah! No way, that's not what we paid for!"  Mu got the guys from the "office" and they said "So sorry for your trouble at the border. But the seats are for reserved passengers only. It's only 4 hours and some people aren't going all the way to Phnom Penh so you can take their seats when they get off."  Muthoni's head was about to explode. I felt like I'd been shot 6 times.  "Babe, we paid for this, I just want this day to be over. Lets go. 4 more hours and all this will be over."

We sat on these little plastic stools for what seemed like a lifetime

Yeah, our first few hours in Cambodia were really rough.  We felt so abused, so taken advantage of, so helpless, and really quite bitter towards all the people we had interacted with at the border. But we rode the bus all the way to Phnom Penh and chatted with some of the other passengers who paid just 200 baht for their seats (grrrrrr!!!!) The bus stopped at one point to take a break and one of the men on the bus offered to switch seats with Muthoni.  "Thank you so much sir."

So there were lessons learned here.  Definitely some things I didn't think people would do to other people and proof that where people don't fear, let alone know God, they will be ruthless and do what ever they can to take advantage of others in their distress.  We had to pray much about this whole scene and we put it behind us, though it still has left a mark in our minds.

"Please, God, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing.  And forgive us for not turning to you sooner to take us through this. Please help us to get rid of any bitter feelings and distrust. But also, Lord, give us great discernment and strength as we continue in our travels so that this will not happen again."