Tuesday Travels #4 (come along as I prepare to visit Cambodia!)

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015 ShirleyjdietzLeave a comment

Donated craft supplies that I sorted - the girls will love making jewelry from all this! — Donated craft supplies that I sorted – the girls will love making jewelry from all this!

This week we got assignments – aaaaagh! I’ve had nightmares about being back in school ever since. I’ve done some of mine already, the most fun one of course. I’ve learned how to make ninja balls and you can too if you go here http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyfxIryiD8A.(please disregard the annoying movie commercial that comes first…) I will definitely be using this little idea to make gifts for kids.

Also on the assignment list was to pick out some songs and print song sheets. Daughter Julia has been asked to take her guitar and we will be singing worship songs with our missions team every morning and teaching a few more active songs to the kids. A number of the children show real musical talent both in singing and playing keyboard and guitar. They just seem to pick it up from watching others and, you guessed it, from youtube. They often create dances based on the songs. All of them like to clap and move so music is one of our favorite things to share with them.

We have a memorization assignment. That is going to be the hardest because we have to try to learn some Khmer, which is the language they speak. One of the house mothers spoke the Bible passage we are learning on a video but unless I can slow her down in some way – like to about half her speed – I am never going to be able to tell where one word ends and another begins, let alone what they mean. I already know the English version. We’ll see how the rest goes…

Notebooks for the school kids. Thank you for all the donations!

Since I’m able to take two free checked bags with me I usually offer to carry some of the supplies and gifts the group collects. I was given the two bags this weekend, one with medical supplies and the other with mostly toys. The challenge is now to get all the stuff I’ve collected in those bags too, without going over the 50 lb. limit. I’ve been gifted with notebooks for the school, toothbrushes, jewelry making supplies and crafting materials. I spent one evening sorting the jewelry components and I believe the girls and women will have fun putting those things together.

We are getting close – twelve days until I start my journey. I always get a little excited/nervous at this point trying to make sure I’m not leaving some important thing until last. Prayers appreciated!

Tuesday Travels #3

May 18, 2015 Shirleyjdietz3 Comments

Palace building in the sunset, along Mekong riverfront park, Phnom Pehn.

These preparatory days before the trip are going fast, and even as I answer people that it’s still three weeks away, I know I’ll soon be in that moment when it’s over. I can’t get started on the strangeness of time, it always freaks me out. That’s the main reason I like to count the days of anticipation as part of the trip. It gives me time to savor the coming experience and I can make the trip seem much longer.

This week I’ve seen the list of people going on the trip. Three of us will arrive first followed by six others later during the week. I checked my passport again. Some countries require that you have at least six months left before your passport expires, and I have over a year left on mine. I had checked it earlier knowing that renewal, if it was needed could take quite a bit of time.

And there was the matter of making sure my immunizations were up to date. There’s always that sliver of a chance that one could come down with Japanese encephalitis, or dengue fever, or yellow fever, or malaria, or… the list goes on. It’s hard to imagine how people stay alive over there with all that going on. My strategy is going to be trying to avoid mosquitoes and this will probably be the worst season for them. I didn’t buy travel insurance when I bought my flight, but I’m still considering it. I’ve not been inside a Cambodian hospital but I’ve heard that getting medical treatment in a foreign country can be a pretty scary thing, and getting transported home when you’re already sick can be expensive.

For the first time, I was required to read policies and sign waivers for visiting the children’s homes of Asia’s Hope. As the number of their visitors increases they are finding the need to update their policies and protective measures for the safety of the children, which I totally understand. It made me realize that my first visits four years ago were really quite informal and unstructured in comparison.

Tomorrow I’m going to get some reprints of my family pictures – one for each of the two houses where I spend time. They have big bulletin boards on the wall of their main fellowship room where they post pictures of all the people who sponsor and visit them. One year we saw pictures on the board that had been taken the night before when we first arrived at the airport. It really made me feel special.

This week I went through my stash of Mary Kay products and chose the things I want to take to give the ladies and older girls. I came up with a few other things as well and started thinking about how much room it would take in the suitcases. I’m allowed to check two free bags on an international flight and other years they’ve been dedicated to medical supplies and presents and it will probably be the same this trip. I’m sharing one of my favorite pictures here, of the craft that our team leader brought for the children last year – Rainbow looms and rubber bands. They had such fun making bracelets for themselves and all of our team that I am taking them more rubber bands this year.

Everyone made these bracelets, which means the rubber bands were gone pretty quickly.

They love to sing and I know a fun song I would like to teach them but I can’t remember all of it. It is a sign language song with signs for many different animals. The end goes “I know many signs including I LOVE YOU”

. If anyone knows this song and has the music and words for it, please send it to me and I will be forever grateful.

Tuesday’s Travels #1

May 4, 2015May 4, 2015 Shirleyjdietz1 Comment

My friends in Prek Eng 5, children, houseparents and caretakers — My friends in Prek Eng 4, children, houseparents and caretakers

It is a little over four weeks until I am traveling to southeast Asia once again. On Tuesdays each week I am sharing my preparation and thoughts about this trip.When the trip actually starts I will share each day’s events in journal form for all who are interested in Cambodia and Asia’s Hope orphan homes.

And the family of Prek Eng 5, children and adults

I am very excited that I will get to see all the children I have come to know and love – it has been 18 months since my last trip! Many of them have done a great deal of growing up in that time. They are farther ahead in their schooling and better at speaking English. Thanks to Facebook, I have been able to see many pictures and have even had some internet calls from the families so I’m not totally in the dark about what has been going on. I am impressed with all the improvements that have been made to the campus in Prek Eng (suburb of Phnom Penh). They have planted gardens and harvested many fruits and vegetables. The latest project is raising chickens!

I finally got my letter written to last year’s financial donors in case they wanted to send money with me again this year. I know there will be some need that will be evident when I get there because I pray that it will be revealed and that the amount donated will be just right. I have been amazed every time to see that happen. But I know I should not be surprised, just joyful that I get to see it and have a part in what God intends to do.

We are gathering things to take with us for the medical portion of our trip and also gifts for the children. First on the list is prescription eyeglasses. The health clinic will be held in Phnom Penh this year and is an outreach to a particular community in need. Some living there need glasses but cannot afford them. We are able to test vision and supply glasses along with the routine health checks and counseling.

Gifts for the children include deflated soccer balls, simple jigsaw puzzles (100-250 pieces), yarn, card games, candy (no chocolate), badminton rackets and shuttlecocks, and girly things like headbands and barretts. I am also trying to take Rainbow looms and rubber bands since they were such a big hit the last time I went. It’s always a challenge to take things that don’t weigh much or take up a lot of room since we have restrictions on our luggage. I am always trying to think of things the children might like to do but don’t have access to where they live.

If you have ideas from past experience of games, crafts or toys that you think children would enjoy I would love to hear from you. Children range in age from 5 to 17. If you have prescription eyeglasses to donate please mail to Shirley Dietz, 5001 10^th Lane E. Bradenton, FL 34203.

Getting ready is part of the fun of travel!