“Sit
down. Buckle up. Enjoy the ride.” Nobody told me that during my first day with
Team Increase as we partnered with In His Steps, an NGO located just outside
the city of Phnom Penh. I soon realized that this community center is
really the embodiment of the “church.”
They are a group of people, a wall-less church, that drive to and visit
the members of their community every day.
Each
of the following snippets will consist of
(1)
the part of the rollercoaster ride,
(2)
the events defining that stage of the ride, and
(3)
the thoughts going through my head at that moment.
The Loading
Platform:
Forty
minute bus ride.
“I wish I had
brought my iPod and something to read.”
The Ascent:
While
visiting orphans and members of the church in the community we rode a motor
bike to our first stop where a woman with arthritis lived.
“She loves
attending church, but it’s difficult for her to walk the 200 yards to get
there.” “What? Just seeing me come to pray brightens her day.” “That Operation Christmas shoebox really does
make a lasting impression of love.
Mental note: Send at least one of those every year for the rest of my
life.”
The Plunge:
Second
stop is where two sisters live. One has
polio and the other’s stomach is swollen beyond the appearance of
pregnancy. There were no steps to get
out of the elevated house. They were
shut-ins. Mr. Voeun, my driver and staff
of In His Steps, said to me, “You are the church.”
“I have never
even heard of someone with polio before.
That still happens?” “How do they
go to church? I am the church? I AM the church!”
The Stomach
Feeling:
Stopped
off to buy a cold bean soup that had coconut and I really don’t know what else
in it. It cost 500 riel or about 12
cents.
“I would never
experience half the things I get to if it wasn’t for the relationships with the
locals. Don’t you dare try to pay for
mine Mr. Voeun. Let’s try the
opposite. Twenty four cents is well
within my food budget.”
The Twists and
Bumps:
I
found out that a family that took in an orphan basically used her to go sell
clams on the street. The ministry,
following scripture, cut off the family’s vine.
So many little naked boys. So
many. We checked in with a neighboring
family.
“So the boys
have clothes, they just rather roll in the dirt naked?” “Another woman with polio?” “Her husband died in a fishing accident, and she
still said she’d take care of an orphan?
Is her heart made of gold?”
The Approach
to the Loop:
Next
stop consisted of a family whose grandfather was still alive. A rarity, for sure.
“Everybody
cooks, sleeps, and eats on their ‘dining room table!’ Even 85 year old grandpa sits cross legged on
a bamboo table/bed. Is it true that not
overeating really does add longevity?
The Entrance
of the Loop:
An
adorable orphan, probably 4 years old, with rotten front teeth, a lazy eye,
intellect to match any American-private-school student, and typical childlike
energy stood on the “table/bed/couch,” sang, and danced a tune that an earlier Korean
missions team taught him.
“Where is a
video camera? How come nobody has a
camera? What does define a human’s
worth?
The Peak of
the Loop:
The
next family, who were mending a fishing net; creating an axe handle; and
chewing on fresh tobacco leaves, told us about their neighbor that drank
constantly.
“Only 75 cents
for a liter of liquor that’s high enough proof to light on fire; alcoholism
makes a little more sense now. And
there’s another naked boy.”
The Descent of
the Loop:
Drove
up to a house-read “hut”-that slept eight people in the space as big as my last
bedroom, and it was built over the river.
We were greeted by one of the most adorable little girls I’ve seen on
the World Race then welcomed in by a mother.”
“The river
must get within feet if not inches during rainy season.” “Dear God.
How can this little girl and her two sisters have HIV? How!
Why? God, the mother’s only
prayers were for physical energy, rest, and removal of her internal burden for
her daughters. No car? No bigger house? No bank account? HIV!
All of them! I can’t finish this
prayer.”
The
Entertaining but Not Scary Remaining Parts:
Jumped
rope, played ping pong, and swung on swings with the dozens and dozens of local
children that come five days a week for an additional hour of schooling,
provided by In His Steps, in order to learn English.
“God Bless
Cambodia. May God’s favor rain down on
this land.”
The Last
Hurrah:
I
was asked to teach English to the class of the oldest students.
“They want to
learn. My two years of teaching is
definitely coming in handy. They love
me. I love them. Wherever I move after the race, I’m looking
into teaching ESL classes at a community college.”
Back to the
Station:
Drive
back to the guesthouse.
“It’s 8:00pm. What’s for dinner? Noodles, of course. Special 6:30am departure time tomorrow. At least our rooms have AC this month.”
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*Special thanks for the pictures from Lindsay Fox and Kelsey Sage.
