Our Trip from Pennsylvania to Phnom Penh

We were given a ride to the airport by a very interesting young Mennonite from Paraguay. He was volunteering for a year with MCC’s meat canner and planned to enter seminary on his return home. Originally, he was drawn to working as a Missionary in Nepal but had since felt called to the Low German…

Arrival in Cambodia

We arrived Saturday morning to our new home in Phnom Penh Cambodia to a wonderfully warm reception.  After 32 hours of travel, house to house, we were so grateful to simply have arrived!  The Exchange Coordinators, Philip and Belen picked us up from the airport with their smiling 8 month old and transported us home…

First Flights

We will soon be boarding American Airlines Flight 772 to Los Angeles. We are scheduled to arrive around 11:30PM. Our flight to Hong Kong is scheduled to depart at 1:30AM and we have to switch from domestic to international, so we probably won’t have time for an update then. You can track our flight to…

Orientation Plus

We started our final week of orientation today, packed with sessions on international leadership for human resources, responding to trauma and finance. It’s been a great set of weeks with so many conversations about best practice. While I am new to the organization, learning from others about the many positive changes Mennonite Central Committee continues…

Program Skills Week

Orientation has been a whirlwind. While I think that the pacing would be absolutely perfect for someone who doesn’t have responsibilities outside of the session hours, we are finding ourselves with too many things to do. The girls are finally settling into the routine here after so many weeks of a different schedule each week….

The Welcoming Place

Late this afternoon, after several hours of last minute packing and repacking, we set off for Akron Pennsylvania. We’re staying in the Americas House at Mennonite Central Committee’s Welcoming Place. It’s been 13 years but it’s just as peaceful as I remember. Tomorrow we start Orientation with Mennonite Central Committee.

Stages of Grief

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. The 5 stages of grief have been outlined in a variety of books, articles and internet pages. I’ve heard about how these stages are not often linear but cyclical, intertwined, and complex. Grief has certainly never been linear in my experience. But this week I am fully practicing grief in…

Vaccinations

Today we went to a travel clinic recommended by our Pediatrician to get the vaccinations for our move. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the following for visits to Cambodia: All Travelers: Measles and Routine Vaccinations Most Travelers: Hepatitis A and Typhoid Some Travelers: Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis, Malaria*, and Rabies. *There is…

Last Day at Peaceful Living

This morning I ran out to the store around 5:30AM to pick up ingredients for stuffed bitter melon. When I stepped outside I saw a rainbow in the sky. The angle of the dawn on the morning mist was just right. What a sign as today was my last day at Peaceful Living. I have…

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…