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Today dawns hot and humid. After breakfast downstairs at the hotel, we enjoy some time of worship, devotions, and prayer in one of the rooms. It’s a great opportunity for team members to reflect on why we are here, discuss our challenges, and brainstorm how to make the best use of our time. We know that we are here for only a little while, but we also know that the repeated visits of team members communicate to these kids that they are valued and valuable.
We get an early start this morning to meet up at Heng Lay Studios with some lovelies from the PE4 and PE5 homes. Team member Shirley arrived late last night and we are happy to catch up with her over breakfast. Over the years we have taken each of the girls to the photo studio for the cultural experience of having professional portraits done, and because we haven’t gone in a couple of years, there are now 8 girls from the two homes who are 13 or older and have not gone before. It’s quite an experience that starts with full makeup (including false eyelashes), fancy hairdos, and being dressed and adorned in Cambodian style from a selection of about 50 very fancy tops with coordinating folded and pinned traditional skirts. The process takes about 2 1/2 hours, and the end result will be 3 8×10 photos for each girl. The shop also does wedding planning and rental of wedding attire. The owner talks to one of the house moms about hiring some of the kids to learn hair, makeup, and photo editing – a possible option for some kids who do not opt for the university.
Another journey to Cambodia dawns on June 1st, earlier and longer than usual. This marks my 14th and Mike’s 18th trip, but this is a first for leaving home at 2 am with a planned overnight stay enroute. Three of our trips have involved overnight stays (LA, NY, and Korea), but those were all unplanned and due to missed connections. We are always price-conscious when shopping for flights, but with a Tusculum College student in tow, we were even more focused on finding the cheapest itinerary – United Airlines with a 20-hour layover in Japan. We had exceptionally good service on all of our flights, and the last leg was in the most modern plane we have ever flown with bidets in the bathrooms and glass windows that change tinting with the push of a button.
The team spends a restful two days at Veranda Eco Resort, a densely vegetated hotel that feels like living in the Swiss Family Robinson house. Five team members rent motorbikes for $6/day and explore the area while the rest of us relax at the hotel. We have a great evening of fellowship and fun, playing cards in an outdoor seating area with a few too many gecko friends, and watching the sun set over the ocean. Two days later we are rested and ready to return to the hustle-bustle of the city!
Shortly after our arrival back in Phnom Penh most of the team walks over to the dorm for a short time of fellowship with the students. In the meantime, I’m off to the pharmacy with midwife Bora to
shop for this week’s medical clinic. The team and the dorm students all meet up at Pizza Company for a fun time of conversation, lots of hot-dog-crust-pizza (little wieners embedded in the outer crust, like pizza surrounded by pigs-in-a-blanket), and an exciting televised soccer match between the Cambodia national team and some other country. I’m not a big hot dog eater, but Cambodian hot dogs are ruined for me since some of the kids told me that some Cambodian hot dog are made with cat, and some with rat. It may not even be true, but it’s believable enough.
It’s an early start for our trip to Kep, Cambodia with the kids and staff of all six Prek Eng homes of Asia’s Hope. There are 157 of them, and 10 of us on three buses. They had planned to leave their campus at 6 am to meet us at 7 am in town, but we asked for a 30 minute delay, thinking they would push back their departure time. From our pragmatic perspective, we figured there was no point in rushing since it’s a 2 1/2 hour bus ride and the hotel will not likely let us into our rooms until after lunch. 
We don’t account for the collective excitement and energy of that many kids. Even though we have done this retreat for 5-6 years, the kids still get so excited they are awake and running around at 3 am. For the house parents, the sooner they can get the kids on the bus, the better. We find out later that 2 of the buses left at 6, but our bus sat and waited 30 minutes to make our 7:30 meeting time. I think we’ll plan on 7:00 next year.
It’s not a busy time of year in this lovely seaside town, so we are able to check in on arrival, and the kids are able to get in a bit of swimming before lunch. Our first planned event is a group Bible study at 1:30. We split the kids into 6 groups by age and gender, and send each group to find their own spot to meet. Mike and I have the youngest boys who enjoy acting out some of Jesus’ healing miracles. Mackenzie and Jeanne have the youngest girls who enjoy a lesson with a craft project.
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