One of our SALT participants this year is living with a member of Goel Community in Phnom Penh. Goel Community is a fair trade artisan’s association that specializes in handwoven, naturally-dyed textile fabrics. Last week Goel Community hosted their annual Christmas Fair and it reminded me a little of Gift Festival at Fairfield Mennonite. So…
Category: Daily life in Cambodia
Thanksgiving 2024
We had a wonderful time hosting American Thanksgiving here in Phnom Penh. It was a time of good food, fellowship, and discussion. Altogether our guests represented ten nationalities. We invited the SALT and YAMEN participants. Our service workers. Friends of ours and friends of MCC. And some of the Cambodians on our team. After meal…
Harvesting Rice in Prey Veng province
In November 2024, the MCC Cambodia team traveled out to the MCC field office in Prey Veng province to join the team there for some teambuilding and learning activities. This also served as an encouragement visit to the two YAMEN participants placed in the countryside this year. Two members of the team were selected to…
ឆាសាច់គោជាមួយអង្រ្កង | Fried Beef with Red Tree Ants
Last week I was in Ba Phnom district for community meetings with the Primary Schools that are part of our Peace Club project and I was lucky enough to be treated to Fried Beef with Red Tree Ants. These are the same kind of ants that I wrote about before but this time they were…
Crystal’s Birthday over Khmer New Year
This morning we celebrated Crystal’s Birthday during the closing day of the Khmer New Year holiday. It has been hot so we already had the pool set up for the holiday. We invited some of the team over to swim in the pool, play games, and eat cake. Crystal has been spending a lot of…
Deities, Divinities, and Spirits of Cambodia
While many ‘Westerners’ know the fact that Cambodia is polytheistic, rather than monotheistic, they rarely understand the broader implications of this when it comes to fundamental differences between their own worldview and the Cambodian worldview. In terms of spiritual belief and practice Cambodia is far removed from countries that are majority Christian, Muslim, or secular…
Back to Cambodia, January 2024
We spent several weeks in the United States over the holidays so that family, friends, and church could meet Caleb. We also needed to stop by the Washington DC passport agency to renew the girls’ passports. We returned to Cambodia on a 35 hour long journey that included far too long of a layover in…
Stupas and Graves
The Khmer Buddhists who make up the vast majority of Cambodians generally cremate their dead and then inter them in stupas at local pagodas. Some keep the ashes in their homes or spread them at a significant spot, but most inter them in stupas. The most elaborate stupas are reserved for relics or royalty, such…
Briquettes from Coconut Waste
Last year, Charlotte was studying environmental enterprises at school and watched the video about a new business in Sierra Leone that transforms coconut shells into briquettes. This manages coconut waste, prevents deforestation, and provides a charcoal alternative that burns cleaner. In 2021, I wrote about Grilling on our Pot… What I didn’t share is that…
ផ្កាម្លិះ | Jasmine
Phnom Penh has no shortage of olfactory stimulation. Most of which might most charitably be described as pungent. Fermented fish, durian, open sewage systems, and garbage sitting out in the tropical heat are smells that were uncomfortable when I first came. Of course there are also many delightful smells – the scent of rain in…