Sweet Sothera

Sothera's wee life does not make any sense naturally.  Born blind; abandoned by her overwhelmed mum when she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at age four months; missing a portion of her frontal brain - life to date is an utter tragedy for her.

She has passed all too briefly through our lives - just three days as she moved from a family who had been able to give her temporary care, and on to the Mary Knoll Catholic hospice here in Phnom Penh.  Of course the abandonment and moving is upsetting and Sothera cried 10 hours out of 12 the first night.  Susie chose that we take her home for Saturday and Sunday as she needed 24 hour care and our Healing Home staff had a house full of other patients.

Sue with Sothera in the Healing Home office.  She really fought going to sleep so we got to spend a lot of time with this sweetest of little ones.

Unforgettable.



Kiwi Team

Ten Kiwi's (American team leader Brian is fully received as an adopted NZer) were with us for four days last week, getting a good insight into the many and varied ministries of New Life Fellowship.  They were reasonably varied in age - 'young' Olivia and Emma; 'senior' Maurice (76 years old) and Derna (25+) and geography (Masterton, Tauranga, Wanganui, Auckland ...) - but pulled together as just one of the best teams that we have had on the ground.

Absolutely; they will fit me fine!  Masterton girl Christine Wratt has sewing friends - and now we have some great kids clothing to give away.  Sue and Christine figured out over lunch that they were one year apart in the same school - New Plymouth Girls High.  Another surprise - her dad is good friend and faithful, fruitful evangelist Weston Carryer.  Small Kiwi world!

'Young' Emma with Yart, a much-loved longer-term patient.  Yart and her daughter make bracelets, so even tho' she is ill, she has an eye for likely customers!  The 'small Kiwi world' continues with Emma - her Auckland church, Edge, is where my little sis Heidi is camped.

These pics come from Maurice.  He worked as a photographer for the Bible Society for well over 20 years, plus another five years for Tear Fund.  I talked the poor bloke's ear off - working in over 150 nations in his career, plus packing seriously good camera gear, plus being just a fine man - how often do we get the opportunity to suck international big-picture history from a person like this??

Happiness is ...

After a great family and friends Christmas in NZ, we returned to Cambodia 10 days ago. We returned to the best news of all.  Little Sreynut has a life.

Sreynut first came to us about 8 months ago. The little button needed a hair lip and cleft pallet operation but first her nutrition level had to be built up.  So, we took her in, fed her up and our staff loved her to bits.  The hair lip op was completed and she returned home, awaiting the cleft pallet op.

Sreynut when she first came to us.  Cambodian culture is less than graciously supportive of physical deformities, so this wee mite needed a face-lift.

Home has been tragic for this tiny 2-year-old.  Dad and mum drink heavily.  Dad recently drowned - we suspect, drunk in a paddy field.  A neighbour whose wife is very ill strolled across the road and has taken up with Sreynut's mum.  Mum has a new dodgy love and Sreynut and her older brother and older sister are now palmed off on poor grandma.  But, mum has steadily refused to allow little Sreynut to be taken to foster care.

Sreynut returned to us over two months ago, before and then after the cleft pallet op.  Before we left for Christmas in NZ we said to Libby, the great Aussie lady who has brought Sreynut to us 'please, ask one more time and we will really pray'. Sue is in contact with an American lady who facilitates foster care into Cambodian families.  So Libby sent a staff member to ask again - and mum said 'ok - for $300'  Ahh, no - that would be off the options list!  Then something turned and mum happily went to the local official to sign foster care papers.  Amazing! 

Our staff tell us that a Cambodian Christian couple who have been unable to have children now have Sreynut - and they really, really love her.

With Sue (top) - Sreynut would run to us every morning.  She gave us so many laughs as she would mimick everything that we would do.  And was she ever hungry (above) - she caught up on two years of little food in her time at the Healing Home!