Mushrooms, Carrot Cake, and Culinary Training

Well this is likely to be quite a hodgepodge of thought.  I have had two absolutely wonderful days in Battambang and have more to write than probably your desire to read.  But since this is a blog - maybe that doesn't matter so much.

I left Phnom Penh on Wednesday morning.  I took a taxi which is normally quite a bit faster than taking the bus.  In fact the last time I made the trip the driver must have been in a hurry because because we made it in record time but I honestly thought on that it might actually be my last trip ever!  I guess I complained - maybe too much - because Theary arranged for a "better" driver for this trip which in this instance simply meant "slower".  Honestly - before leaving the city - we never went faster than 30 miles an hour!

It took about 4 1/2 hours to reach Battambang but I have to say that it was a very nice drive and Mr. Hao, who kind of reminded me of the Asian version of the driver on "Driving Miss Daisy", did an excellent job.  Good trip.

My trip was a bit of a suprise for Kimlon, Ly Phalla, and the Culinary Training students.  They knew that I would be coming but not the exact day.  I actually wanted to come unannounced because it gives me a better feel of how things are going on a normal day.  Of course when I arrived (about 2:00) they were just getting started after the lunch break and then it ceased to be a normal day.  Since the mushroom production program was built on the property since my last visit the first thing that they wanted to do was show me the mushrooms.  In the pictures below are about 1500 mushroom production packets which are producing several kilograms of mushrooms daily.

A 1500 Packet Mushrom Production Unit

Mushrooms

The mushrooms are being sold to a woman in the market who then resells them.  The money generated from this aspect of the culinary training center is being used to help supplement the purchase of cooking ingredients needed for our CTC student to cook with.  Pretty sweet deal actually.  These mushroom packets will continue to produce for about six months and then need to be replaced.  A similar project is being planned for one of the orphan homes where some of our students live.  SKO orphan home operates on a shoe string and CGI is trying to help them with some income generating project so that they can become more self-reliant.

After the tour of the mushroom project the next item on their agenda seemed to be that I try the carrot cake that they had made earlier in the day!  Since I had not had lunch just the mention of carrot cake started the saliva going but I have had "cake" here before and quite honestly I did not let my hopes run wild.  But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  The carrot cake was honestly one of the best I have ever eaten. 

The Beginning of a Carrot Cake

Class is in session at the Culinary Training Center



On this trip I discovered that one of our girls is no longer staying at the orphanage.  When I asked where she was staying the response was back home with her mom.  A bit confused I began doing some further investigation only to discover that Nimol's father died two years ago leaving her mom to care for her own mother as well as her younger sister.  Without a job mom made the difficult decision to send Nimol to the KNK orphan home where she would be safe and learn some kind of skill.  Nimol came to be a part of the Culinary Training Center after I had met with the director late last year.  Wanting to know more about her current living conditions I asked if it might be OK to call on the family at her home.  Nimol said that she felt it would be fine and so in the afternoon on Thursday I was carried on the back of a moto several miles into what would be the outskirts of Battambang. 

When I arrived at the house I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw.  The house was actually a house - by no means oppulant but not anything similar to what we see in the slums of the city.  We were very warmly received by Nimol's mom and grandmother and offered some bottled water and fruit.  We chatted for quite a while about Nimol's progress both in English and in cooking.  Her mom beamed through most of it and I think that she was pleased that we had come.   She was also very grateful to CGI for the help that we were giving to her daughter and to their family.  I explained that Nimol had "sponsor" in the States that were making her training possible and she said that she hopes to meet them one day and thank them as well.  (That may actually be possible as her sponsors - Scott and Laura Kiesel - are planning to join us on a trip in March of 2012!)  Anyway after quite some time had past I began to inquire about her current situation.  Nimol's mom makes her living by getting up early in the morning and going to a market where she can purchase fruit at a wholesale market.  She then goes to another market where she sits all day and tries to sell the fruit that she had bought.  On an average day she can make about $2.50.  $2.50 divided by four people living in that house is about .62 cents a day!  I thought to myself - what if I only had .62 cents a day to live on?  I can't imagine.

My mind began to race regarding what we might be able to do to help.  Since we are having such success with mushrooms at the CTC I thought that perhaps mushrooms would work for her.  When I mentioned the possibility her face lit up (apparently Nimol has been talking about the mushrooms!) but just a quickly her countenance fell and she said "Mushrooms need water and we don't have any here."  In pursuing this a bit further Nimol's mom said that she has to buy her water from a water dealer.  I wondered how much of the .62 that would eat up.

I asked if anyone in the area had a well.  She said that one person did but they were not willing to share the water.  I asked if it would be difficult or if she knew how much it would cost to dig a well.  She didn't know but others in our group thought it would cost $500.  A bit pricey but doable.  Then someone mentioned that there might be a city water line not too far away.  It would cost to connect but in the end would probably provide a better water supply.  So right now we are in the process of researching options to help Nimol's family - first with water and then with mushrooms.
Before I left I had a chance to circle up and pray with the family and the guests.  It was a good visit.

Pictures from left to right ... Mom, Nimol, Sister, and Grandma

I am a late on new pictures from the dress contest.  I actually have some but the bead work is the slowest part.  I will definitely post some tomorrow.  Please be in prayer for the Common Ground team.  They should be on their way and will arrive here about this time tomorrow!

Until ALL have heard,
Chris   

Day 2 - You will simply not believe this!

I was suppose to leave this morning for Battambang to visit the Culinary Training Center.  Unfortunatly lunch at a less than 5-star roadside cafe yesterday with pastor Sokha did a number on me and after a very very long and uncomfortable night I decided that BTB really could wait one more day.  Feeling better now and plans are on track for 9:00am tomorrow. 

But since I was not going to have a chance to visit the Daughters workshop I asked our illustrious two CGI interns if they would be willing to get some progress photos in my absence.  They agreed and sometime this morning while I was - not on my way to Battambang - they were able to take these awesome shots.  As you can see they have moved from cutting and preparing the individual pieces to now working those pieces onto the dress forms.

By the afternoon I was feeling better and so I started catching up on some email.  I noticed one short note was from Nicole Krajewski so I opened it up.  For those of you who don't know Nicole works part-time with CGI as our creative consultant and dress designer.  She had been following along with the "testing" of the girls and felt that she needed to weigh in on some crenolin and tulle issues.  (I hope that you are impressed that I even know those two words.)  Her biggest issue was using black with gold sparkle tulle if the only beading we were going to have was silver.  I told you - it is a design thing.  Anyway I mentioned to Theary that we needed to inform Navon so that we could make adjustments or possibly make another run to the fabric market.  Well as is often the case here what was intended to be a simple question put all three of our contestants in a panic.  Unknown to me they had made quite a bit of progress on the dresses since the morning.  By 5:30 all three girls - with the dresses - were just checking to make sure their work for the day had not been in vain.  Now for some perspective look once again at the dresses in the pictures above.  Then scroll down to see where we have come at the end of day 2!

    

I guess that I don't have to tell you that I was and continue to be impressed.

Until ALL have heard,

Chris



Starting a Prom Dress

Sometimes my job - especially when I am on assignment and in another country - just doesn't seem like work.  I get to travel and be with friends.  I get to work with people who truly have a heart for the Lord and for the poor.  Isn't there a quote that goes something like "Love what you do and you never have to work a day in your life!"  But then there are those days when you suddenly remember that work no matter where it is - is well - a lot of "work".  Today was one of those days.  To begin with it was incredibly hot as it filled up and then prepared to release the floodgates with a deluge of Noahic proportions.  And then it seemed like everytime I felt we were just about to accomplish something I realized that I was mistaken.  Oh well - there is always tomorrow!

I did have a chance to pass by the Daughters workshop.  All the girls were busy at their machines but our three contestants were already hard at work on their dresses. 

In the pictures below both Sreyroth and Sokchea are working on cutting and sewing pieces of their dresses.  Mala has moved on to ironing the pieces she has already pieced together.

I will be heading out to Battambang tomorrow to check in on the Culinary Training Center.  Some really neat things are in the works related to that project and I am looking forward to writing about them.  Of course we are also experiencing some "challenges" as well and I will write about those too.  Never a dull moment!  

More later!
Chris

Testing 1, 2, 3

A few of the girls in the Daughters Program had been complaining just a bit about their eyes.  So on Saturday morning we loaded up the van and headed to the eye doctor just for a check.  As it turned out a few of the girls do need to be wearing glasses so even though it took most of the morning it was probably a good thing that we got them in.  On the way home I suggested that we stop by KFC for lunch and you would have thought they had won the lottery.  I had no idea that Cambodian teenagers liked the Colonel's chicken quite that much.  Over lunch I sat across from Channary.  Channary, who goes by "Nary", is one of the oldest of the girls in the program and I would say also one of the smartest.  She speaks enough English that we can negotiate with some help a pretty good conversation so I asked her how things were going.  Specifically I asked her if she thought she could make an entire dress yet from start to finish.  In her answer she hesitated just a bit about herself but she pointed to Mala, another one of the Daughters, and said quite emphatically that she could do it.  So I turned my attention to Mala and with Theary's help asked her if she thought that she could do it.  And to my surprise, without hesitation, she said "Yes".  I followed up with another question regarding how long it would take.  Her answer was three day without the beadwork and ten days with it.  (Interesting to note that the beadwork on these ballgown prom dresses is taking 7 days of work!)  So I asked Mala if she wanted to be tested.  She smiled - and as you can see in the picture below - she has a beautiful smile.  The testing, I said, would begin on Monday.  We would go together to the market after church on Sunday and buy everything needed for one prom dress.  Then she would have ten days to make it totally by herself.  My plan was to document the process.  Then I told her that IF the dress was of a quality that could be legitimately sold at the dress shop (Sophia's Bridal Tux and Prom Store) that she would be paid for the work.  Needless to say - the smile just kept getting bigger.  Apparently so much so that it spilled over onto the adjoining table because Sreyroth, another one of our Daughters, said that she could also make a dress from start to finish and that she wanted to be tested too.  Now - I would like to say at this point that I am about to go crazy.  These girls really only began this program about six months ago and already some of them have this level of confidence.  This is really very good!  So through a translator I explain the "rules" to both girls and explain that if they don't pass the final inspection that they won't get paid but that if they are ready the "testing" will begin on Monday. 

Fast forward a few hours.  On the way home we all stop by to visit Mr. Hay at this store.  Navon, our Daughters Project trainer, was there visiting her friend and mentor and when all the Daughters arrived it was quite the homecoming scene.  I was anxious to tell Navon about the test so I asked Theary to call her over.  Theary looked at me and said that rather than telling her what we were planning that we should ask her to identify which of the Daughters were ready to make a complete dress by themselves.  This was a great idea because it would confirm without her knowing what the girls had indicated.  Navan responded by saying that Mala was excelling in her sewing ability and that she could do it.  She then mentioned Sreyroth and said that it would not be to much of a problem for her either.  But then she added that Sokchea was also a student that could succeed in the task.  So - just a little suprised - I called Sokchea over and asked her if she thought she could also make the dress.  Now Sokchea lives just a bit on the shy side of life but with the encouragement of her teacher and ALL of the other girls she finally admitted that she could also do it.  I asked her is she would also like to be tested and she said yes.  This is awesome!

So to make a long story short (I know "too late") yesterday after church we went to the market with Navan, Mala, Sreyroth, and Sokchea.  Material for three ballgown style prom dresses has been purchased.  Over the next ten days I will be posting frequent blogs about their progress so stay tuned.

From Left to Right - Sokchea, Sreyroth, and Mala

Until ALL have heard,
Chris

Cambodia Trip Notes - Day 1

Enjoy these pictures!

Pattern making 101

The early stages of a prom dress! 

This job takes a lot of concentration.

Almost done! (And without the help of Mr. Hay!)

A Dress for The Daughters Line!

A new byTavi team in training!

Packing a 25kg box at the FedEx Office! 

Our newest CGI initiative includes about 40 kids from the community! 

I'd say this girl has some natural ability! 

She's 12! 

If focus is an indication of potential then this young man may also have an artistic future.

This kind of makes me hungry!

Pictures from the Culinary Training Center!

These pictures arrived this morning.

The CTC girls are now learning how to make bread.

If they taste as good as they look then I am pretty excited about

heading back to Cambodia in a couple of weeks.

CGI Summer Interns are in the House ... Literally!

Clarrisa Schlegel and Ashton Davey arrived in Cambodia yesterday ready to begin an eight week internship with Center for Global Impact working with the Daughters Project.  Both are college students at Olivet Nazarene University and will invest their summer both with the girls in our program as well as a growing number of younger kids from the community  Their focus will be to teach basic Bible stories, English language, and Art.  Please remember to keep these young women in your prayers as they engage a new culture, build new friendships, and represent God's love in a new way.  The following is a note from Clarissa on their first day ...

The first day, as most first days are, was tiring but very exciting. We visited both the ByTavi project and the Daughters project. It was really neat getting to meet all the women and to see the programs ourselves. Very cool. We really look forward to getting to know them better. Theary discussed with us what the plan for our stay was going to look like. So far, the plan for part of the day is as follows: 3:00-4:30 we will be teaching art to some children from the community, 4:30-6 we will be teaching English to some children in the community and 6:00-7:30 we will be teaching English to the Daughters and some other children that are a little more advanced. There is a women that tutors the Daughters and children from 6-7:30 every day. Since the group has grown we are splitting the group up and she is teaching the newbies and, like I said before, we will be teaching the Daughters and the more advanced. The tutor is anxious to work with us and to learn from us. We will be working with Theary every morning for an hour. She is also very excited to learn. Everyone is so hungry for that knowledge. Even the children. The children are very sweet, clinging to us almost immediately and laughing at our every move. Tonight was a lot of fun. 

Tomorrow we are going to the market with the girls to pick up food for the day then I think we are visiting Phnom Penh with them as well. I am not exactly sure what Theary's plans are, but I'm sure it will be great. 

Theary asked me to tell you that the land next to her house is for sale now. It is ready to be purchased if you are still interested. I guess the owners posted on the internet that it was up for sale. Also, she was wondering what prom dresses should the girls make more of and what sizes. I imagine this might be a better question for Drea or Nicole but I thought I'd relay it first to you. 

The bathrooms under construction up stairs. Theary says that they should be finished in four days. You weren't joking when you said she gets things done quickly! They look like they will be very nice. 

Talk to you later! 

I will be back in Cambodia and have a chance to visit with both girls in about three weeks.

Until ALL have heard,

Chris