7:11 am – Get up at the Ywam base run down stairs to the bell sounding
7:15 – Get my assigned work duty for the morning: Sweep the Gazebo
7:31 – Heat up water for oatmeal and tea
7:52 – Head upstairs to get ready for the day
8:10 – Grab my bike and head to the SaoMao shop to help out long term Missionary (20+ years in Cambodia) and shop owner, Marie Hill.
8:13 – Wipe sweat from my forehead… humidity is already brewing…Did I forget deorderant?
8:16 – See a full on dead, headless, cow on the back of this dude’s moto… work it.
8: 20 – Walk into SaoMao, so glad the fans are on full blast. Say hi to Marie and take another look around all of the cool jewelry made from bullets and wartime materials.
8:45 – Marie runs to get me a helmet to use for the day, I grab the tripod. I take this photo
8:53- Jump on the dirt bike with Marie, make sure I have no straps hanging from my bag, (Thanks Dad) and ride out to the Villages outside Angkor Wat.
9:02 – Get gas, the service attendant gives me a handful of mints… sweet.
9:03 – Take this Photo
9:04 – Feel energized by the wind blowing and excited to see what the day holds… so thankful that Kayla and Thomas said I could go (Love you guys, Banko you too).
9:32 – Arrive at the first village. It’s cool hearing Marie speak Khamer.
9:46 – Set up tripod, dial in camera, thrown mine over my shoulder, start filming one of the natives weave baskets for Marie’s shop. Take this photo
9:52 – Capture kids playing through the “house.”
9:54 – Ask one of the men what he is roasting. Come to find out he killed those birds with a sling shot. Rock on. Take this photo
9:56 – One of the other men happily asks us to come see his new baby. Walk over to another “house” and see his wife and new baby.
9:58 – Oh wow that is a new baby… She was born yesterday!!?!!
Take these photos
10:05 – Think about writing a blog about how we baby the heck out of our kids. I mean in 5 months I haven’t seen a stroller, a changing table, a crib, a pack-n-play or lots of the things those moms register for at Target. I mean right here is a 1 day old baby and it seems just fine out there. Think it’s probably not a good idea, what do I know about babies, and I don’t need a soapbox.
10:34 – Arrive at the second Village where they make more handicrafts and wooden flutes. Shoot bits and pieces for the film Marie is putting together for her shop.
10:42 – Marie reminds me about the mints from the gas station, we hand them out to the kids.
10:46 – Think about how I love the community that these families have.
11:20 – Ride back through Angkor Wat and get one of these
11:54 – Arrive back at shop, review the footage and photos we got from the day. Stoked. Marie suggests that I come back to Combodia….
12:20 – Bike back to Ywam base to grab a quick lunch. Pick up Heather and bike over to Amy’s
1:00 pm – Amy invites us up to the rooftop and brings us cold water! Yay, cold water (not sarcastic at all people)
1:02 – Sarah arrives to talk to us about her position with IJM and her role working with Human Trafficking in Cambodia.
1:20 – Realize there is a lot of misunderstanding of what her position looks like as serving in the front lines on a day to day basis with human trafficking.
1: 25 – Come to love Sarah’s honesty about how short term missions don’t help the girls with there constant disrupted attachment. Think about writing a blog about the things I realized in talking to her. Realize it will probably be a bit too controversial at the moment…
2: 35 – Listen to the story of the massage parlor they raided that ended with one of the girls jumping out of the 2nd story window…
3:40 – Bike to UofN to teach my class with Becca and Nikki and reflect on everything Sarah talked to us about. What a blessing to hear her perspective from the front lines.
4:00 – Teach teach teach
7:06 – Bike back to base, ring my bike bell at every chance I get, dodge the potholes and the other moto’s zooming by.
7:30 – Dinner! No way… is that rice?!
8:24 – Feedback with the team
* I forgot to mention that I woke up at 5:15am to pray and read my bible for two hours like a good Christian Missionary.
Love,
Ash
