Cambodia: Lakes and Snakes!

The last few months have been very eventful as the school year came to a close and I got ready to go home to the US.

Before the school year ended, I took 7 other teachers to visit House of Hope, the orphanage I often visit near the border with Myanmar. We held an English camp at the Christian school nearby for two days and rode bamboo rafts down the Mekong River. It was a lazy and relaxing ride until our picnic break got rained out. The local guides worked harder to stay out of the rain than all of us foreigners. It was quite funny.

The most memorable part of the trip was spent at House of Hope though. We took the kids swimming in the river in their village twice. They climbed and swam all over us. Some brought their shampoo and soap and took their baths right there! On the second evening, we treated them to dinner and made Chocolate Mud, a dessert made of chocolate pudding with Oreos and gummy worms. They loved it. They sang beautiful worship songs for us in English and took turns telling us thank you for playing with them, taking them to the river, and for providing their dinner. I thank God that the non-Christian teachers who went with me had the opportunity to see how God's love can change children's lives. It meant a lot to me to be able to share my passion and burden with other people who also want to make a difference. The other teachers helped raise money and gather donations before we went.

Along with gifts of school supplies, we gave the kids crocheted finger puppets. They told stories and played games with them for 2 hours. They don't have video or computer games, yet they find ways to entertain themselves. It's quite a lesson to learn.

Ok, so onto the snakes. Church of God Southeast Asia had a Relational Leadership Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia at the end of March. The purpose of the summit was to build relationships and networks to further advance God's kingdom in Southeast Asia. At the summit, I got to spend time with friends from college, which was lots of fun. I still haven't talked about the snakes have I? There's a lake near Siem Reap called the Tonle Sap. It's the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and home to over one million Vietnamese refugees. Unfortunately, the lake dwellers struggle financially and use any means possible to make money. Some sell sodas and fruit to tourists, but a more creative way to earn money is to display their pets, which are HUGE SNAKES! They drive their boat right up next to yours hoping that seeing a massive snake up close will move you to give them some money. I had some Cambodian Riel and thought they needed it more than I did, so I gave it to them. After that, they stayed right next to us, while all the other American tourists squirmed uncomfortably, hoping that the boat with the snake would go away. Oops! I'm afraid I caused them to hope and stay close by for a while.