Today is the monthly potluck Sunday at Plains Mennonite Church and I’m bringing something very special. Bitter Melon stuffed with Pork. When I lived in Prey Veng I was told that Bitter Melon treats diabetes, cures cancer, and lowers cholesterol. I was surprised to discover that there’s a basis for each of these claims! Bitter…
Author: Charles
It was three years before I visited S21
Crystal’s recent reflections on visiting Tuol Sleng have had me thinking about my own experience. I lived in Cambodia for almost three years before I visited Tuol Sleng. I saw Kang Kek Iew (Comrade Duch) in person before I set foot in the place where he committed his most horrible crimes. This will be a…
Last Day at Salford
Yesterday was Charlotte and Catherine’s last day at Salford Mennonite Childcare Center. We were first introduced to the center long before we had children when Crystal’s father, Dan Graber, was the interim pastor at Salford Mennonite – the congregation that hosts the Childcare Center. It was our first choice when Charlotte started day care but…
Sending mail to Phnom Penh
During my first term in Cambodia it look months for mail to arrive from the United States. At that time mail was directed through Thailand and then – eventually – made it’s way to Cambodia. If there was civil unrest in Thailand the mail would take even longer to arrive. While Crystal was in Phnom…
Moto Helmets for the Girls
While Crystal was in Phnom Penh she was advised to get moto helmets for the girls here and take them over. I did some research on options – looking for safety & breathability – and ordered the following. LS2 Youth Pink/Black/White 392J Flutter Helmet Typhoon White Pink Butterfly Youth Full Face Motorcycle Helmet Charlotte said that…
Start the Countdown
Our tickets have been booked! We leave for Phnom Penh on August 8. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s going on for us between now and then. Tomorrow: Our first meeting with the wonderful support group from Plains Mennonite (our wonderful home church) June 7: The girls’ last day at Salford Mennonite Childcare Center June…
2019 Drought in Cambodia
In 2009, there was a two week drought during the rainy season that resulted in 5,000 hectares of rice being lost in Prey Veng province. This year, Cambodia is just coming out of a prolonged drought that had the Prime Minister call on farmers to plant rice only once in the dry season. Prime Minister…
Book Review: Don’t Follow Your Heart
I was searching for information on the hymn I Bind My Heart when a blog post entitled Bind My Wandering Heart to Thee by Jon Bloom came up. The article was a compelling read so I decided to pick up Jon’s most interesting sounding book – Don’t Follow Your Heart: God’s Ways Are Not Your Ways….
Flowers of Cambodia
These are a collection of photos of flowers (and a couple other plants) that I took while I lived in Cambodia from 2006 to 2009.
អក្ខរក្រមខ្មែរ
On Friday I’m going to do a short presentation about Cambodia at Charlotte’s preschool and I’ve been brushing up on my Khmer alphabet facts. Did you know that the Khmer language has the largest alphabet* in the world? 74 letters! That’s according to the Guinness Book of World Records. *Japanese and Chinese are pictographs rather…