Move it move it

'The Move' has happened.  Last Monday we shifted all our Healing Home gear over to the new home.  As moves go (and I am a man who really, really dislikes the moving process!) it went really well.  However, I never took one pic - and still have not got digital pics done.  Sorry sorry - I got the trusty film camera out yesterday and clicked away but they will take a while to land on the blog. 

Sreynoone, an incredibly sweet young lady who is receiving radiotherapy for a growth in her brain.  She has been with us for three or four weeks now, and our staff just love her. She is losing her hair at the moment and wants to get her head shaved.  Sue has told her she may grow her hair back as a blonde - she just roared with laughter!  Please pray for this little lady.

We have six patients in at the moment plus three kids and two other family members.  There are still about eight people on a waiting list.  I've got one more bedroom to paint and a couple of beds to source so that we can get properly up to speed.

Man of the moment has been Paul, a great young Kiwi guy and a sparkie.  Sorry no pic yet - Paul has untangled wiring birdnests, installed new hot points, moved light switches to sane locations, got the washing line up, done half the shifting load and much more.  Paul together with good friend Andrew Smith have shot off to Thailand for three days (a mission to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border) - they are back on Wednesday so I'll get some mug-shots then.

Helping Heng

Heng has a new home!  After some rehab time in the province, he returned to our Healing Home for a month whilst a wee home was set up for him in a new skills training project.  That was a month ago and we've been out there three times to keep an eye on him and to build a relationship with Sovantha, the man who leads 'Ankor Association for the Disabled'.

Heng (right) with Sovantha and another fella who left his leg behind in a mined field. Heng is doing so well; happily learning to carve jade and happily holding onto Jesus.

 

 

Here is what Heng and his project buddies are learning to do.  The quality is still a bit rough around the edges but to see Heng's pride and satisfaction as he uses his hands to make and create ... it's just great!

Sovantha is an amazing man.  He used to be an army man (a major, I believe) until a landmine took away his legs.  He has got a huge inner motivation to care and to help people who, like himself, have encountered physical disability.  He has pioneered the AAD Cambodian NGO, built a base in Siem Reap and is now still in the process of building another base in Phnom Penh.  The location - literally over the road from the Killing Fields.

Proof-reading a brochure Sovantha has had done in English.  I really enjoy being with this guy - he zips around in his wheelchair; flips himself into the driver's seat of his car; has such energy for his work and a sense of humour too.  Interestingly, Sopheap said 'I have a really good feeling about this man' when she first phoned him regarding Heng.  She phoned four organisations that work (or say that they work) with the disabled - only Sovantha got back to us and 'he has a really kind voice' Sopheap told us.  Heng's wee home is in the background; right side.

Everywhere I go ...

... I end up painting.  It's been like that - in fact I remember an offer to paint the house was a bit of a sweetner with Sue's dad, before I asked to marry her!  So, no surprises that here we are, paintbrush in hand, working to get our new Healing Home ready for July 18.

My dad taught me that three-quarters of painting is in the preparation.  I'm following in the footsteps of some very interesting former painters who found a way to finish their previous job 75% faster.  Susie and Rim, who takes a new position as a cleaner, are sweating it out, cleaning ahead of me.  This is great on-the-job training for Rim, who is quickly learning Sue's standard of what clean means.

Susie up our 3-metre ladder cleaning the front bedroom with a 3.9 metre stud.  She's smiling thru' the sweat - we can ring our shirts out after half an hour of work!

Meet Rim, our sweet new girl.  The front windows got put in yesterday, the new bathroom is nearly complete.  Meanwhile, a couple of bathrooms upstairs have now been ripped out as they were leaking.  I literally found concrete stalegmites (or are they stalegtites? - the ones that hang down!) on the ceiling downstairs underneath!

Here's the house, with alterations well on the way. Our inside colour scheme is pretty basic - cream downstairs to keep things light and to remind us of Tip-Top icecream, and a light coffee shade upstairs to remind us of a real latte.

The contractors bring their families and live on-site for as long as the job takes.  These hard-case little ones have a game they never tire of - they stand in the door and shout 'Barang, barang' ('foreigner, foreigner') at me.  Then they inch closer in 'who's afraid of the big bad wolf' fashion before running away, squealing!  It was interesting to observe them yesterday when a really good storm blew in, with amazing thunder claps.  The kids never blinked; never missed a beat - they are so used to electrical storms.

Rock solid

'Build your house on the rock' takes on a whole new appreciation - here is a very typical foundation of a very typical house in Mondukiri Province.

... and ... the Blog stats tell me that this is 400 postings. Maybe it is time for a layout colour change!

Wonderful Healing Home mark 2

The new and we trust improved Healing Home is happening.  We signed up a 5-year lease at the beginning of this week and plan to move in on Monday July 18.  Between now and then there is a lot of dust flying.

Our land lady, Dore is quite delightful and very happy to make our requested alterations.  The job goes to a contracter whom she knows, and he in turn brings in an extended family of workers.  They come with cooking gear, hammocks, kids and suitcases - and are ripping into the work nicely.

Two shuttered windows have come out from the front, to be replaced with glass windows.  The difference in the light into these two bedrooms is amazing (top) - whilst (above) we now have a stairwell suitable for grown-ups.  A door has been removed and replaced too - see the Susie pic below.

Sue upstairs - my favourite part of the house as it is so light, roomy and leads out onto a real nice L-shaped verandah. This pic was taken the day before the guy started giving us a real stairway.

That would be me, outside holding some paint charts.  I made the kind offer to paint if the owner made the alterations.  I've just measured up and reckon there is 80 litres of paint needed - inside.  Hmmm, a little more work here than I first imagined ...

Sopheap and Sypho checking out the progress today.  We have finally nailed down all the staff changes and hours - quite a few changes with two of our staff moving into full-time, two new positions and some other tweeking.  Keeping all the people happy all the time is not so hard ...

A new bathroom under construction, that is built between and accessible to, two bedrooms.  The far room will have two beds and a wide door to the bathroom for wheelchair access.  All up we'll have 12 beds set up in the new home, plus plenty of overflow room upstairs if needed.

Fixit

Labour is very cheap in Cambodia, so you tend to repair rather than replace.  Fans, a survival necessity here, commonly break down in the Healing Home - we have I think eight fans and there would seldom be a month when one or two of them are not being tinkered with. 

I got this one back today - expertly repaired by my usual shop but this time a little guy.  I asked him in my flawless Khmer language "how old are you".  He replied in flawless English "I am twelve years old".

The fan went in to have the power cord replaced.  To my knowledge, that was the only bit broken.  I got a new-age rainbow fan back - spot the four colours if you can.  It was such a fun Cambodian experience that I just got happier - why object when it is sooo funny?? 

Snacks

Cambodians love to eat - as in they LOVE to eat.  Snacks are a multi-essential part of every day. With their sense of fun and ridiculous, they will sometimes play on words and say things like 'I really want to eat a snake now' or 'I just go to buy some snakes'. 

On my way back from Kratie Province last week, the bus pulled into one of these essential snack stops.  I reckon I would take the snake any day over what was on snack-offer at the stop ...

The sweet little lady seller - and what does she have on offer??

Well, there is Jiminny and many, many of his mates (top) - or there are mounds of roasted, toasted serious-sized spiders on offer.  I tried the spider legs one time in another location - tasted OK if you like wood.  The bodies, which I understand give a gooey mouth explosion, I passed on then - and in all the forseeable future.