Home of Hope, January 2025
January is my favourite month in Cambodia. It usually doesn’t rain, and the average daytime temperatures hover around 25-28°C (77-82°F), while nighttime temperatures dip to a comfortable 20-23°C (68-73°F). If only it would stay like this all year long.
🎬 🎥 In the last month I’ve made and effort to collect some “everyday life” video clips for you all to enjoy. Sometimes I forget how unique it actually is to live in Cambodia. You can watch them in the photo link here.
We’ve been living in Kampot, Cambodia for two years now. When we moved to Asia in January 2023, we weren’t sure how long we would stay, so we made a two year commitment. We figured that after that time we’d be able to determine if the project would be successful. Also, Benjamin would need to start school. After much thought, lots of prayers and some wise counsel, we’ve decided to continue on with the Water Project and living in Cambodia. We enjoy our work and life here, the Water Project is definitely making a difference in the lives of needy and orphaned children, and there is an international school in Kampot where Benjamin can attend. We are excited, and also feel peaceful about this decision. We are currently evaluating our last two years of “boots on the ground” and considering some changes that could improve the projects and perhaps provide an element of sustainability in the future. I’ve been reading some books related to Business as Missions, and Aid vs. Trade. We’ve also been thinking a lot about the orphanage model vs. the family care model. In the future, we hope to support more projects and ministries that work to keep children with their families whenever possible.
One more personal update; we’re planning to traveling this year. We plan to visit both Switzerland and Oregon. We are missing our family and close friends, and it will also be a great chance to reconnect with donors and people that want to know more about the projects we are leading.
In January we installed water filtration systems in two locations, Home of Hope and EL Enrichment Center. Home of Hope is a children’s home where 70 children live full time, and EL Enrichment Center is a Christian ministry offering support classes for poor and at risk children. They provide children’s classes in the mornings and afternoons, and teen classes in the evenings. I also taught the hygiene curriculum at both locations, and we distributed around 130 bags with a soap, toothbrush, a small toy, balloons and candy.
Lukas was able to finish the training materials explaining the different types of water filters that we can provide for communities and how they function. He worked closely with a translator, and now it’s finally finished. On Saturday he was able to try it out and it was extremely helpful in communicating with local leaders. You can view the whole document here if you like.
Speaking of training, I’m teaching English again one evening per week. This time I have a motivated and chatty group of teen girls, which is much different than the class I had last year. It’s one of the free English classes available for low income children at New Life Church. This is the same church that has the lunch and tutoring program that Warm Blankets started sponsoring last year.
I also had the opportunity to teach the Hygiene material at the Lunch and Tutoring program this month. The children were fun and responsive, and it was great to visit the project again and see how it’s going. On the day I visited, they were eating rice with fish soup. Who want’s the head? lol
Well, this update is getting long. Hope that you are all doing well.
Here’s the photo link again – photos 🙂
Until next month,
Jenny, Lukas and Benjamin
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