Hello and Happy Fall!
I feel like everyone in the western hemisphere is truly in the fall season now, with cold stormy weather and cups of hot pumpkin spice goodness. š Our season is changing, too. The rainy season is almost finished, the wind has started blowing from the north which is always a sign that the cool, dry season is just around the corner. However, I had to dodge mud puddles on my morning jog, so itās not over just yet.
This month was a busy one for us, here are some of the many events that kept us occupied.
The project in the public school that I wrote about last month is complete! We worked with the Minister of Health for Kampot and a missionary to fund it. We drilled a deep well, tested it, installed a pump, pipes, sinks in each classroom, and of course a filtration system. A water bottle filling station was also constructed in the passageway where 160 students and their teachers can access it.Ā Working together with the government presents more challenges for us, but we feel that in the long run itās a good decision. In English we have a saying. āIf you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.āĀ I think that is a good description of the last month working on this project.Ā We’re very pleased with how it turned out, but it was a lot of work along the way! š
Lukas also went out with Pastor Noeurn to install a new filter in a church, and to check on a few old locations. Our partnership with Pastor Noeurn is our favorite working relationship, heās such a knowledgable and kind man to work with. If we could, weād hire him full time! Too bad he already has a job he loves.
Lukas continues to make progress in his battle with manganese! Since moving here he continues to find unsafe levels of manganese in well water. This month he began testing a new type of filter called an āion exchange filterā. Itās locally available and supposed to remove dangerous minerals and heavy metals. His preliminary tests look hopeful, but time will tell. Heās installed two of them now and will take water samplesĀ over the next year to see how long they last.
Another challenge that he has here is finding ultra pure water (water for analyzes). He needs this specialized water to run several of the laboratory instruments, and it’s difficult to purchase. The locally available products are inconsistent in quality, and the imported products are very expensive and taxed at 100%. So, a few weeks ago he came home with a pressure cooker and started building! A few days later he had successfully constructed a distiller! š Ā Yes, you can reply to this email with sarcasm and snide remarks. And no, we arenāt distilling anything besides waterā¦ yet. š
We were able to bless the Lunch and Tutoring Program with some back to school supplies. When we were in the USA some of you generously donated these zip pouches and toothbrushes. Since the new school year started on November 1st, we were able to bless some of our favorite kiddos. We were also able to help our neighbor Tee purchase her public school uniform and school supples, she’s moving on from kindergarten to the 1st grade.Ā
My Thursday evening English class invaded our home one afternoon, bringing with them bags full of seafood and veggies. They spent nearly two hours cutting and preparing hundreds of barbecue skewers. Then they spent two more hours meticulously grilling them over a charcoal fire. We also ordered some pizzas and I put together a pasta dish. Every last bit of food was consumed. It was a fun evening together.
Benjamin got Chickenpox! It was a pretty normal case, a few days of fever and feeling sick, then a week of itchy bumps. He was a champ and didnāt complain too much, and he enjoyed the extra LEGOĀ time with mom and papa. When he was feeling better but not quite well enough to go back to preschool we made a trip to the capital city, Phnom Penh. The Swiss Embasy organizes quarterly networking events for aid work, business and non-government organizations to meet together and support each other. I needed to stay at the hotel with Benjamin, but Lukas went and represented us, and he even got to meet the visiting Ambassador Pedro Zwahlen who oversees the embassy in Thailand and the consulateĀ servicesĀ in Laos and Cambodia! We try to make it to a couple of the meetings each year, and itās fun to go to the big city for a few days, but itās also exhausting and weāre always very happy to come home afterwards.
Well, this letter is getting long, so Iāll wrap it up. November is looking to be busy as well. Hope that you are all doing well.Ā Here’s the photo link:Ā https://photos.app.goo.
Love and blessings,
Jenny, Lukas and Benjamin
Leave A Comment