My team has now just arrived to our tenth ministry site, a women’s home put on by Teen Challenge. The site has been open just five months right outside the capital city of Phnom Penh and currently has ten women, three children, and a baby (named Rebecca!) housed here. I use the term women loosely because the individuals here are just teenagers with stories dark enough to age them considerably.
We’ve only just begun to hear b
its and pieces of their backgrounds. First meet Howe. Before being taken in by TC she was kept in a closet, let out only to be fed and raped by various family members. Howe now is pregnant with her father’s child. Even with the language barrier it’s clear that Howe’s pregnancy is not a joyous time, but rather a constant reminder of her past. Next meet Nite. She was gang raped by a group of men, leaving her with a now five year old girl named Pi Sai. Another woman was forced to “dance” by her husband. One night on her way home from work she got chased down and knifed by a group of gangsters. She now walks with a permanent limp. Another mom has two sons, Jam and Samnong. Their ages are ten and six – both as joyous as you could believe.
Now that you know just a few of their stories, you won’t be surprised to hear that anger runs rampant in this place, and isn’t always handled well. Everyone’s first defense is inflicting pain through words and actions. It’s sad to see this vicious cycle, but understandable considering nobody has had a role model in their life to gage what is appropriate or not.
The women do show their soft side however, and have begun to warm up to us. We paint their nails and they braid our hair, and sometimes just sit together in an understood silence. The children run around yelling, “Say my name!” which I think means something to the effect of, “What is your name?” Little Samnong has recently latched on to “Bek-KAH” and likes to scream that at me with this slap-silly smile on his face. I of course return the favor by obnoxiously screaming his name back to him. The beginning of a friendship? Six year olds…I tell ya. Lol.
The last four days we have been celebrating the Chinese New Year, so I’m not sure what our typical day-to-day will look like. So far it's just been getting acquainted with everyone and a trip to the beach. (We
got rained on, which was the cleanest shower we've had in a while – such a beautiful thing!) There is not internet at our site, but hopefully I’ll be able to grab WiFi again to keep you posted on what our part will be in the development of these kids and this campus will be while we’re here.
P.S. Holy creepy-crawlers! Mosquitoes, ants, rats, geckos, and all the other “question marks” I am unable to name run this country….thank the LORD for mosquito nets as our first and last line of defense should an attack happen during our sleep. World Race. Here we are! = ]
